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                    <text>---4

AT.U AR

PUBLISHED QUARTERLY
ISSUE X
WINTER 1985 -86

Healing/ Earthplace

�MEDICINE TRADITIONS NEAR HOME . ... ... . .. . ... 1
KATE ROGERS AND HER MOUNTAIN MEDICALS . .. . 3

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INTERNAL MYTHMAKING:
AN INTERVIEW WITH MARLENE MOUNTAIN . . 6

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" THIS IS HERESY!" HOLISTIC HEALING ON TRIAL. .. 9
TWO POEMS by STEVE KNAUTH . .. . .. .. .. ....... 10
CHEROKEE MYTH IC PLACES ..... .. . . ............ 11
THE UKTENA'S TALE . .. .. .. . . ....... .. .. .. . . . . .. 15
CRYSTAL MAGIC ...... . .. .. . ....... .. .. ..... .. . 19
GOOD MEDICINE: "WHAT MAKES A PLACE SACRED?" 20
REVIEW: DEEP ECOLOGY ...... .. .. ........ .. ... . . 21
NATURAL WORLD NEWS . . ...... . ... .. ... ... .. ... 22
"DREAMSPEAKING" ......... . . ... . .. .. ... .. ... ... 24

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FALL KATUAH GATHERING . ........ . ..... .. ...... 27

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�ISSUE X
WINTER 1985 - 86

MEDICINE
TRADITIONS
NEAR HOME

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lite.ILD.ll.y me.an.\ '.to ~ke. whole. 011. Liound' . Whole.null comu
not jU-6t 611.0m phyLi.i..cal well-bung bu.t 611.0m the. w.i..de.11. Li.ta.te.
06 one' ll be.in.g---one. '" Liell6e. 06 .tlw.e, .i..Me.11. LipiJr.,Uu.a.1. balance. an~ 06 Motednuli. lloote.dnMli comu 6AOm a Lie.Me. 06
conne.ctlon- -.to place. and to corrrnun,.Uy. So the. w.i..de.11. c..bt.cle.
11.ee.cUi to be. gJt.Ow.lng .tollXIJl.&lt;U whole.nuli a.6 well a.6 the. in.d.i..v.i..dutd..
Wlwle.nuli o 6 'place.' ..iA v.Ual .to .in.d.i..v.i..dutd. he.ali:h.
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he.al.th. 1n olde.11. cul..twr.u, a C!Oll'lllun.i.ty 'Li Jt.Oo.te.dn.uli ""1.l&gt;
ce.lelJJta..te.d .thltough M,tual. and U:.6 un.i.ve.Jt.6al conne.ct.i..on IAl'U
.11.eme.mbe.1ted ~ugh myth. My~a.IU.ng hah o.1.wayli be.e.n a g.i6.t
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.
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'me.d.i..c.i..ne '•• ._.and hah p11.ov.i.de.d .image.Jty 6011. .the 'li.tu66' 06
dll.e.am med.i..C,,(.rte.
In .tli.i..6 ..iAllue 06 Ka;t{Ul}i---owr. w.i..n.te.Jt. .i.hllue.-- -we. .take
the. t.Une. .to colth.ide.11. the .i.mpoJt.:tance. 06 .the. heali.ng pll.OC!Uli
and owr. 911.a.t.i...tude 6011. U. We hope. U w.i..U move. U-6 de.epe.Jt
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'place' we. call Ka.:tdah .
---The. Ed.i...toM
1

ye.aM . '

People have always doctored
themselves. Archaelogists find traces
of plants that people used for medicine forty thousand years ago. Animals
doctored themselves with plants too.
Everyone has seen cats and dogs eat
grass to clean out their stomachs and
horses will graze through comf rey once
in a while for a tonic ...
Most people in the world today use
plants for medicine. And the 'wonder
drugs' of our westeTn world have saved
many lives in the last fifty years.
But these drugs are unavailable or
impractical for many people, because
of the high cost of pharmaceuticals
and because of the technology needed
to administer them (doctors living in
remote regions , or the technology
necessary to store them such as refrigerators for penicillin in Africa.)
Communities have always had medical specialists--someone who could deliver babies; someone who could set a
bone, pull a tooth; someone who could
straighten out a bent back, or doctor
the animals; someone who could talk
to the troubled--yet always , in our

history as humans, we have looked to
the world of the spirit for healing.
Monks in the Middle Ages said a
prayer for each plant they picked for
medicine. Native American medicine
people pray to the spirit of the plant.
People in hospitals pray for improved
health, and even have healing visions
on the operating table!
So what is 'folk medicine?' I believe that whatever people do to doctor
themselves and others is 'medicine. •
M.D. 's rely heavily on books, studies,
and statistics for information but
they also rely on oral traditi~ns
learned from the professors and from
other physicians. Illiterate mountain
herbalists expand on their knowledge-passed down through several generations
~by doing experiments on plants and
then analyzing the results.
As different as these approaches
might seem, it ' s all a part of the same
cont:inuum--using books and oral tradit .
ions in varying proportions; using
plants in their distilled, synthesized,
or whole forms; or calling on physical

(con.t.il'ILl.e.d on p. 3I

�~-·

'J\..ATUAH)
a

IMClifiliJ#MMiflllillMie!M'llMtlllllti!lfl dPP1!i d'#"j1&amp;'hnz

EDITORIAL STAFF THIS ISSUE:
Scott Bird
David Reed
Richard Ciccarelli
Barbara Reimensnyder
Th011as Rain Crowe
Chip Smith
Judith Hallock
Brad Stanback
J. Linn Mackey
Martha Tree
Marnie Muller
David Wheeler
Michael Red Fox

EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:
Cathy Danna
Jeff Fobes
Kathleen McLaughlin
Bill Melanson

Sally Roark
Sarah Jane Thomas
Mark Yancey

FIREKEEPER: Joe Roberts
EDITORIAL OFFICE
THIS ISSUE:
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Asheville, NC

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Publishing Co.
Sylva, NC

WRITE US AT:
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TELEPHONE:
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'ii0i'8'73

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28723

Spe.c..i.a.l .tlw.ntu. to Va /wt Ma.I&gt; 4 ~ 6°"- .the.

il.lLL4tlrJJ.ti.o n6 on

p:tg u

14 and 20

COVER: "The Blues Pass through" by Marlene
Mountain , painted in acrylics on 2' x 2' masonite
(Healing Series 15, 1983). Adapted by Martha Tree.

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RAISE THE FRUIT

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KA'[\;AH -

-Meridel LeSeur

page 2

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th.i4 ~ a.nd a.U .lt4 Uv.ing, blt.e.a.thi.ng 6"1fl.i.t.!/
me.mbelt.4.

- The EcLltolt.4

The Internal Revenue Service has declared
a non-profit organization under section
50l(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
All contributions to Kat uah ar e deductible
from personal income tax-.--

Kat~ah

Winter 1985-86

�•• • NEAR HOME
( cont.i.llued 611.Dm p. 11
remedies and spiritual powers.
The Native American people say that
medicine is everything: religion, psychology, politics, ecology, philosophy,
plants, ceremonies, community--all
things that we seem to need separate
words for, in English.
Here in the mountains, the Cherokee have evolved and still practice a
complex system of medicine. In their
practice , they use the plants--which
include over 75% of all the medicinal
plants in America~from tropical passiflora vines in the river bottoms to
tundra lichens on the high peaks. Cherokee medicine also uses a sophisticated

understanding of human nature, and of
our 'place in the world.' Ceremonies
address our relationship with 'the
whole '.
The white people--English, Scots,
Irish, and Cerman--wbo established
communities in the mountains about 150
years ago learned about medicinal plants
from the Cherokee. They brought their
knowledge of European plants and beliefs
as well--everything from ustng seeds and
root cuttings, to formulas for removing
warts, taking the fire out of burns,
and even putting a knife under the bed
to ease the pain of childbirth.
Today mountain communities have
hospitals, M.D.'s, chiropractors, ministers, psychologists, and other healing practitioners. And yet another
wave of newcomers in the mountains of
Katuah have been working to establish
healing centers, holistic health farms,
and centers for psychic research.
In the 1960's , throughout the
country, people began to take back responsibility for their own health care.
In the eighties it seems that perhaps
our greatest challenge is to take responsibility for the health of the earth!
Our mountains are threatened by acid
rain (what government agencies mildly
call "atmospheric deposition") ,
threatened by the deposit of nuclear
wastes , by clear-cutting and poisoning of the forests, by development that
erodes land and silts streams and
places burdens on water and sewage
treatment in those communities.
All of us who have felt the healing
power of the mountains, of the earth-if only the 'peacefulness' that comes
from sitting by the side of a mountain
stream--need to respond now to the mountains' need for Health. We must open up
and expand our definitions of ' medicine '
to include the earth and all peoples
as a Whole so that we cannot only survive, but BE WELL.
Barbara Reimensnyder, PhD

BaJtbaM Re.&lt;me.nMtydeJL, a. 11.e.gulalt. contM.bu.to.11. .to Ka.ttra.h, ,(A 4 6ol.Jtt.OIW..t
who ti.vu .in"1iaCon Coun.ty, NC.
1n .tJi.i..6 nut &lt;Vt.ti.c.le., 4 he. 4 ha.11.u
c.ui..th U4 4ome. 06 he.A .ti.me. 4pe.nt c.ui..th
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.thue. moun.ta..in4 .

,
N\TrAH - page 3

KATE ROGERS
and her mountain medicals
The following exerpts come from a
book that Kate Rogers and I have
been working on for several years ,
Kate was born in 1905 in the Ellijay co111111unity outside of Franklin,
North carolina, where she grew up
and where she now lives, near her
large family. In addition to knowing and using over two hundred
plants for medicine, Kate also
sings old ballads and shape-note
hymns and takes an active part in
her church. She and her husband
celebrated their 60th wedding
anniversary last year.
When I first made a tape with
Kate, she started out, "Hy name is
Kate Minervy Rogers. I was named
after both my grandmothers, Kate
Henry and Minervy Moses--tbat was Dr.
Athan Hoses' wife. Hy grandfather
was a herb doctor, Dr. Athan Hoses.
And Mama used herbs; she knowed
everything we ought to do when one
was sick--just go and git this and
go and git that."
I asked Kate how she first began
to learn about plants. She said , "I
started in quite young. We bad big
fields, about twenty acres, and I
carried the water from a little
spring way over in the woods at the

aide of the field. I was the waterjack, I guess you'd call it. I
carried water to where they was
hoeing corn."
"See , on new ground , you can't
plow it and do too good. They laid
off a little first with oxen , but
part of the way was so rough they
had to dig boles to plant the corn.
So they'd dig up all the bloodroot
and may apples as they was agoing."
"And I would put them on top
of a stump, and then I'd run and
carry them, every bit , to the house.
I would run as fast as I could. It
was over half a mile to walk from
the field, and a lot of it was uphill ss ye come back. If I didn't
get to wash the roots then and
put them out to dry , why I would
that evening."
Kate's uncle , John Henry, had a
store where he sold general goods to
the co-unity , and in turn bought or
traded for beeswax, roots, herbs,
corn, chestnuts, and other natural
products. Kate said , "I could take
a pound of bloodroot, and Uncle John,
he sold five cent calico , so I would
get a yard of calico for a pound of
bloodroot and Mama could make me a

lc.ont.inue.d on nut page.)
W
inter 1985-86

�continued from page 3

dress out of it." Kate was five
years old at that ti.me.
"And then I learned about herbs
from Mama. She was Dr. Athan Hoses'
daughter, and she knowed a lot about
them. She knowed that poplar bark,
the root bark, was good to kill worms,
and she'd give it to us. One'd cry
with his stomach hurting, and Mama
would say, 'Go and get some poplar
bark, Kate.' (She always sent me, I
don't know why ). But I'd dig in by
them big roots that went down in the
bank of the road. And I'd get the
poplar bark and take it to the house.
And usually when I got in with it I'd
wash it and fix the tea for the
children."

"Kate digs plants
to make her own garden of
medicinal plants - 'medicals'."
Kate grew up collecting roots to
sell from the woods and newly cleared ground of her family and gathering roots and herbs as needed to
doctor her family. She has continued these two kinds of activities
ever since--she finds and grows herbs
to doctor herself and her husband and
others as needed. She also regards
medicinal plants as a source of income, digging them to sell at the
flea market and through the mail,
which she bas done for years. Her
grandfather too did a substantial
mail order business in herbs in the
late 1800's. In addition Kate digs
plants from the woods and gets seed
to make her own garden of medicinal
plants- "medicals".
Throughout the years she bas
worked as postmistress, in factories,
bas run ruby mines, taken in boarders, and done a variety of jobs
while raising three children, caring
for her extended family, making gardens, sewing, quilting, taking an
active part in her church , and doctoring anyone lolho needs help. Although she has always helped to support her family, Kate says, "Every
ti.me I pick something for somebody,
I just give it to them. Wben I tell
people what to use for medicine,it's
just free, gratis. One person the
other day, they didn't give me nothing, and I didn't expect nothing,
but I know they'll be good to me."
Kate continually adds to her
knowledge of plants by reading books,
experi.menting--mostly on herselfKAWAI:! - page 4

and growing new plants or bringing
them in from the woods. She said,
"They ' re a lot of herbs in these
mountains, but I ain't never found
out what they're all good for. I
know two hundred and fifty, but I
don't know where they're all at.
Two hundred and fifty that I've
used then around here close."
"I grow some, and I find some
in the woods, all along the roads
and so on. And some I bring back
and set out to where they'll grow,
it's like they're alive to me. Well,
they ate alive! But it's like they're a pet. I love them, each one."
"One day, when I was a child,
Mama done a good deed for me and the
plants too. I pulled the flowers.
I'd come in with everyone that I
could hold in my hands, the pretty
little flowers. And Kam.a said, 'I
want to tell you something.' She
said, 'Every one of them pretty
little flowers would have raised
seed if you'd a left them.' She
said, 'If everybody done like you're
doing, everybody could pull up
every flower, and when they got the
flowers pulled, there wouldn't be
no seed to fall back and come up.
That's just a-robbing everything. '
Well, now I'm so particular about
pulling things I want to make seed-I won't pu11 them just because
they're pretty. Because I want them
to keep coming, because they're so
many good plants. And the more I
learn about them, the more I want to
learn."
Kate's great granddaughter already makes tea for her brothers and
sisters using some of the plants her
great grandmother bas shown her. In
the last several years Kate bas spoken to garden clubs and 4-H groups
and participated in local festivals
like Mountain Heritage Day and the
Macon County Folk Artists in Schools
Program.
One day Kate said, "Hy tea, I
think that helped my arthritis, but
I'll tell ye: try to stay happy.
That's one of the best remedies ye
can find. One day there was a girl
come to me, and she was wanting to
know bow to stay young. And I said,
'Why are you asking me? You sure get
old, you can't do a thing about that.
And she said they had told her to
ask me. So I said , 'Well, just try
and be a happy person. Never do anything you know is wrong. If you know
it's wrong, just avoid it. You don' t
have to do wrong. ' You know there's
always things that will happen --none
of us ain't perfect. I've been sad,
and I've had trouble that made me
mad a few times, but it's all in
life. You just I.ave to let the
worst go and live for the better."
"I'm trying to live a natural
life, use the natural things. We're
just learning more about nature all
the ti.me. The Lord put it all here,
and put it here to work, and that's
nature."
Kate Rogers and Barbara
Reimensnyder , PhD.
© 1985

I.t .i.6 .the. moJuthtg o 6 .the. win.tVL

4 olJ..ti.ce:

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Ancient societies all across
the face of the Earth, but particularly in the British Isles and
the northwestern coast of Europe,
have left enduring remnants of their
presence 1n the form of earthen
mounds and barrows, stone structures, and great boulders raised on
end in patterns or standing alone.
The great stone circles in particular, such as the familiar Avebury
and Stonehenge circles, have caught
the modern imagination and are tantalizing clues to the minds of the
old ones, the "megalithic peoples,"
as these societies of builders are
called.
Living in the period from
5,000 to 2,000 B.C. before the
Celtic tribes overran Europe, the
megalithic peoples based their life
on a subsistence agriculture largely dependent on domestic animals.
Apparently the lands were sparsely
populated at that ti.me, and there
was plenty to eat, but their living conditions would have seemed rough
and crude to us, with little to indicate the extraordinary capabilities
required to transport and raise the
great boulders in precise patterns
and aligments.
Time bas shrouded the monuments
1n mystery , and there are many guesses--some academic, some psychic, and
some purely inventive--as to their
original nature and purpose.
Since Professor Gerald Hawkins
of Boston University discovered in
1963 that the Stonehenge circle was
used as a huge astronomical obser-

~,0,j@&gt;~@ljOeJ~~~~
Winter 1985-86

�~~&lt;@'~~~~,i@~~,~~S~@ijfbeJ@~~~~B~".W-~@~G(@W~'
vatory, it has become coaunon knowl edge that solar , l unar , and stell a r
sightings are a pa rt of th e f unction
of many of the megalith ic ston e figures . Yet as mor e is revealed about
this function of t he stones , astronomers marvel at t he knowl edge these
a ncien t people had of our universe,
and are amazed at t he a ccur a cy of the
observation s that are poasibl e with
the g rea t s tones , wh:Lch a t fi r s t look
seem so clumsy .
Enginee r s wo nd e r how t he bouldere were moved over long distances,
a nd how t hey wer e raised with the
tools these stone-age people had at
hand. Professor Alexander Thom,
Emeritus Professor of Engineering
at Oxford University, has demonstrated that a common unit of measure, the
"megalithic yard" as he calls it, was
the basis of the stone figures
throughout the British Isles. He
has spoken of the sophisticated
geometry evident in the design
of the stone figures, and the
mathematical precision with
which they were laid out
and put into place - by
a people of a rustic and
illiterate culture!
But while academics
can point out the astonishing accomplish·.
ments of this ancient
people, the attraction of the stones,
particularly to peo! ·
ple of Eur o pean descent, is a pers onal
one, for the stones
represent a part of
ourselves. They are a
· .;
part of our ancestral

peo-~

between t hem. The s uns ets are emphas ized because the smal.l val.ley
sight s west, giving a long view of
the western horizon.
Lylich i s descend ed from peo ple
who lived in Scotland and northwes tern Europ e . He fel t that bu ilding a
circle and experiencing the mind of
the builder s wa s t he best way to
understand their f eelings and motives.
"My primary reason for building a stone circle, besides wanting
to see what it was all about, was
to make a ceremonial area, just as
I believe my ancestors did . It's a
place to go and be serious, a place
set aside as sacred ground.
''Some people might think it
rash of me to meddle with megalithic

.·:: ·
•

'·
•·

...

··. ·
.:{::_.

.

•

American t r i bes , even the Chinese
pl e ha ve stone monuments in their c ul·i
tu ral his to r y . It is a t r adition that
i s found among ancient peoples all
over the world .
" I n this wa y i t i s a bridge be- ~
t ween us whit e peo ple and the na t ive (@))
Indians that we f ound l iving here
:ii
when we came. It is clear t hat among 'G
th eir oth er functions, the pre-Celtic ~
stone circles in Europe were calendare~
measuring the moon cycles and the
~
yearly solar cycles. The medicine
wheels discovered in this country werf ~
the same. We can trace the solstices ~
and equino.xes through them, so we
know th;lt they were calendar3 for the fl,
native peopl e of this continent.
'8
"The fire-pit at the center of
&amp;
our circle i s one element that we
,
~
borrowed from the Native American
medicine wheels. It's a funny thing,
but none of the pre-Celtic circles
has a fire-pit. All the alignments
pass through the center of the
circles, but they left it un~
marked. I figure they left it
I~
clear for their ceremonies
or for sacred contests
· ···
and games.
"It is natural that
the old European
.
l
. ·; •
tribespeople com(@
· -_.. ·
bined the functions
~
..:·. ..
of sacred sites
if)
and sacred calen~
dars in their
···
circles. The peo··. · ·
ple obviously had
to know when a
celebration was
coming. They
~
sometimes had to
~
tTavel miles to get
there, and they

'4i&gt;

li-

I

~~;:~~E~~~i:~:;~h~~ '·:-:~:~:\\?:~;&lt;~Y}'~~~!r;~&lt;'\~·~ '::~-;~.-:: ·.-.·:=:I.;·; ::~~~=~· -~-s:·?:}:~~ .:}!"~~:~:: :~~%:;~):fil.~C1. -~~~Ft!~:::~t~~:;~

~::!,'!:·~~! :.."!:

something we once

· '' · . &lt;:~(?

c1.-.n·cLeS

were - something we
have lost. If we
~could only unravel
the mystery of the
·.
standing stones, we know we would be
face to face with ourselves at the
other end, looking into our own eyes
with new understanding.
One person living today in Katuah, who wishes only to be known by
his Celtic name, Lylich Crabawr, decided to do some experiential research to try to fathom the true
meanings of the old megaliths.
In bis small valley, close to
the center of his five-acre property,
he has erected a circle of stones.
The four largest ones mark the four
cardinal points of the compass and
are ins cribed with carved pictures
of the plant and animal kingdoms
c orresponding to the powers of each
of the four directi.o ns.
Beyond the circle, outlying
s tones mark the positions of the
sols t i c e s unrises, and the sunsets
f or the sols tices, the equinoxes,
and the

''\:~~;~;t,

a~

' ''&gt;i('?F

sro
··

stone circles, but I feel that I have
an ancestral right to follow this
path . The bloodlines and the cultural
roots of the white people living on
this continent lie back in the tribal
homelands of Europe. White people
have only been a presence in the "New
World" for 400 years, whereas our ancestors have inhabited Europe since
antiquity and developed a long his- ·
tory and strong cultural traditions
there.
"I don't always feel comfortable
adopting some other people's ceremony.
It would be clearly out of place for
me to take up the Sun Dance. I couldn 't build one or run one of thos e .
But I feel that I have some authority
to do some thing in this area. We all
do. European people , Nat i v e Ameri can

1

thore •:.;•:,:::."!~of ;
They had to know

~~

~

in advance.
Y'"'\~ when the sunSo
was
~
I~~
almost in the
~
right place,
•
they would know
~
that there was about a week until
~
the solstice, and they'd go over
there and gather.
"It was also impor tant for an agricultural people to have a calendar. ~
They needed to know when to plant,
when to breed their livestock, etc. It
was a simple matter to set some stakes
or a few rocks in the ground, sighting ~
on some prominent feature of the landscape, and nove them every few days
until one day they didn ' t have to move
them again. With rocks 200 feet apart,
one can measure to within a few days
of the solstice. With sights five
miles apart, it can be done precisely.
"We used that method to l ay out
our alignments. Once we had a megalithic stone c ircle, it was easy to
(@J
s e t up outlying stones. Sighting over ~
the fire -pit at the center of the cir- if1J

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KATL&lt;hl&gt;' - •pa[i.&lt;e

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Wint~ L'9&amp;5-8'6.

�111 (j,rcleJ

7owarJ f-/e.a/1n9:

mtwlene m~~ ~ wnttui "''/U.#t of h~ ~

f'r#wtl""J fh17Ct44 /Alfu°Vh- IJ,(.f,IJ#fa;n,lf4 hey f/Xkitn't .

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"Jw,.t a l..lttle. a6.teJr. he.U.o, he. 6a.IJ6 I 've. got
6ome.th.Utg " - -t®Lte.veJr. .U .U, .U hUILtl&gt; Wl.e. 6.ilr.e..
Tlvte.e. thoMa.nd dothvi.6 woJLth 06 tu.a. 6atJ a tu .ion on .the. mtje.li.n 4he.a.th 06 mtJ 6p.i.na.l c.oll.d.. MS
6U6pe.c..t. (It taku .two lu.i..on.6 .to name. .U comple.te.ltj. J Mo.11.e. pa.ht, e.x.CJW.Wlling, hantU. a.ll.m6, ba.nd
a..11.~und c.hu.t. We.aknU6, c.an'.t d!Uve., l(l16h mlj ha.ur.,
pa.ht.t, no.11. hold .th.Utg6 ve..11.tj we.U.. Bad 6e.e.li.ng .ln my
leg6. Oh no. Con6U6.i..on. Fe.a..11.. D.11.e.o.d.
One. e.ve.n.lng a 6.!Ue.nd v.U.li.6. She. .U a m.i.di.ul6e.
a.nd I a.Ilk hell abou.t me.dUa..t.lon. She. 6li.6 on the.
bed, pu.tll he.11. hand on mlj 6011.e.he.ad, 6ay6 a 600.th.lng woll.d. 011. .two. I n6tantly mlJ m.lnd e.xpandl. a.nd
theJr.e. i6 a. 4.tllange. 6e.n6a..t.i..on I a.m ou.tll.lde. 06 my6 e.f.6. Some.th.lng ma.g.lca.l .U happe.n.lng, 40me.th.lng
handed down 611.0m .the. old day4 o 6 owr. 4.U..te.11.6 , .the.
w.ltc.hu/he.a.le.11.6. She. a.6/l.6 me. .to v.UuaUz.e. the. demon
(li. i6 an UfJly glob, a "b.ig e.a..te.11.," I a.m la.tell. .to
wtde.ll.6tandl , .to MU the. pa.ht bi.to a ba.ll (wh.ic.h
be.c.omu 40 l.tvige. a.nd he.o.vy I'm una.ble. .to U6.t .U
611.0m my c.hu.t, bu.t can 6Uc.k au:n.y pa.JLt6 o 6 .U I and
.to 6.lnd a 4a6e. ptac.e. (Hve..11.a.f. appe.a..11. bu.t a..11.e. nl,,t
.!Ugh.ti • By now I a.m .la.ugh.Utg, e.11.y.lng, talking, c.wr.6.lng. Eve.ntu.aU.y the. 6a.6e. pto.ce. be.c.omu the. loweA
pa.JLt o 6 a .t.11.e.e.. F
loa.t.&amp;tg ne.a..11. me, li.6 11.0ot.6 a11.e.
e.xpo6 e.d and li.6 dangl.lng 11.0ot ha.cA6 a.tta.ch .to mtJ
a.ll.m6 • I .t appe.o..11.6 they a..11.e. .t.11.y.lng .to dJuwJ ou.t the.
pa.ht. Get ou:t .the. rne.o.n-6hli. 4.tu.6 6, I ca.ll ou:t.
Ove.11. a.nd ove.11., get out, go aJAXJ.y I
The. v.U..i..on 6adu and I a.m 6W1. m.iAe..11.0.ble..
Some.th&lt;.ng, howe.ve.11., i..6 cU.6 6Vte.n.t. The. 11.e.leiu.e. 06
a.nge.11., the. mowr.n.lng 06 lo66 , the. nam.lng 06 e.vil.,
have. le.6t empty 6pac.u in.to wh.lch c.an c.om po6.Ue.
.ive. 60Jt.cu. A. .twuWlg po.ln.t. The. .t.11.e.e., tho1J9h,
t®Lt dou .U m
e.an, Jte..11.e. dou .U come. 611.0m'I She.
po.lnt.6 .to my .ta.6.t pa.in.t.lng, 611.0m a. 4 e.M.u o6 women' 4 anc.le.nt 6ymbol4, a .t.11.e.e.. A. 6.tyUz.e.d du.ign
6JLOm old Ca.naan 06 the. 6acAe.d .t.11.e.e.: the. body 06
the. goddU4. ( La..te.11. I l1lft .to 11.e.a.Uze. I had be.en
a.6Jt.a..id 06 #wJtU.ng the. .t.11.e..e., 06 luiv.ing my ptLi.rt go
in.to .U--how Wfte. did I unde.ll.6tand. J The. n.ighl:
i6 long and halt.6h, moll.rl.ing I 41Qlke. and the. e.xCJWc..Ut.tin.g pa.ht .U gone.. Gone.! V.ld the. .t.11.e.e. take. .U'!
You know .U d.id. The. pa.ht .t"4.t .U le.6.t .U be.o.Jta.ble.,
not we.lc.ome., bu.t be.a.11.11ble..
One. a.6.te..11.noon I a.m able. .to M.t.a.x dee.ply (.to
6.lnk .ln.to the. be.di, a.nd the.11.e. i6 anothe.11. v.U.i..on.
Fo.!t. 6ome. Jte.a.60n I unn.t .to be. .in my Uttle. gall.d.e.n.
I .t.11.y a.nd .t.11.y bu:t I c.an' .t get the.Ile.. I qu.i.t .t.11.y.lng
a.nd 6udde.nly I a.m the11.e.. That i6 , mlj leg4 , wh.i.c.h
luive. be.en hwr..t.ing, a11.e. the.11.e., ly.ing among the. we.e.d6
and with the. we.e.d6 glWwing out 06 the.m. W.ith .inv.U.i.ble. hand6 I beg.in to weed the. ga.11.d.e.n, and
oddly e.no1J9h, my l.e.g6. Iv:. e.o.ch we.e.d comu ou:t, 60
dou 6ome. 06 the. pa.in, 6ome. 06 the. 6e.a.ll.. 1 weed 6011.
a long t.ime..
It .U anothe.11. ba.d dD..y. I 6 e.e. my4 e.f.6 ly.lng .in
be.d, 6ull 06 bad 4.tu.66. I unn.t .U ou.t. The11.e. if, a
co1r.k .in the. 6ma.U 06 my ba.c.k. I pull .U out and the.
ba.d 4.tu.66 be.g.in.6 .to dfia..Ot. A ho6e. a..ttac.he.d .to a
(c.on.t.inue.d on next page.I

Winter 1985-86

�v151onJ · Jownfur,e-5

aff1rmatton5 ·;ournf!tj5
.tUllJ moon appe411.6 on mlJ bel.ly. The. moon ,(,/, 6ult. 06
good 1&gt;tLL66 land ,(,!, dJuuuUtg Lt 611.0m a moon 1&gt;1J111bol .i.n
one. 06 mlJ pa.i.nti.ng1&gt; l . The. ho1&gt;e. weMI&gt; .it.6e.l6 .i.nto
mlJ Mvel and 6.ill.h me wlth good 1&gt;.tu66. I am bet.tell..
Some. 1&gt;ay MS doun 't h.ulLt, othe/Lb 1&gt;a1J U dou.
MIJ le.g1&gt; (though .the. tu.ion ,(,!, ne.M. mlJ ne.cld, ho.ve.
pa.i.n. 1 1&gt;e.e. .i.M.lde. .th e.m. TheJte. ,(,!, a caJuiboM.d 1&gt;.tM.p
.i.n e.ach. Slowl.IJ one. o 6 the. 4.tlUP" be.g.i.nl&gt; to /LOU
.i.n.to a .tube.. A6 U 11.oli.4, U catchu up pa.in .i.'1.41..d.e.
U. In ano.theJt v,(,/,.i.on I 1&gt;e.e. mlJ back, .the.n a wooden
table., and on U a ti.nlJ papeJt m.i.nt cup. A 4poon
appe.M.b. Some.how U 4COOpl&gt; bad gunk 6/tOm mlJ 4p.i.ne.
and 6.il.lb .the. cup. Ano.the.IL cup appe.M.b, and 6.i.Ub.
Ano:tlteJt, ano.the.11., ano.theJt.
81J now rruch 06 mlJ 4.tll.e.ng.th, coolLCLina;Uon ,(,/,
back. A pa.i.ntell 611..i.end 4uggutl&gt; 1 pa.i.nt .the. v,(,/,.i.onl&gt;. Tho1&gt;e. we.iAd :tki.Jtg4? lmpo1&gt;1&gt;.i.ble. 1 1&gt;ay, IJU,
almo1&gt;.t a4 .i.6 to .i.nl&gt;,(,t,.t, .the. tlte.e. 11.e.appe.a11.1&gt;--U
,(,!, 1uhole. th,(,t, ti.me.. Then U 1Le.p1t.odu.cu .U:.6 e.l.6
.i.n.to llldnlJ .tll.e.u • They tll.an1&gt; 60M1 .i.nto a clwnp, a
g11.ove., and look "~ .to one. 1 pa.i.nte.d ove.11.
.twe.ntlj IJe.M.b ago. Ago..i.n, ha.i.11.li hang down and a11.e.
like. pe.a v.i.ne. te.nclllil.b. The.If be.g.i.n attac.h.i.ng to my
bodtj. 1 am not a6Jta..Ui 06 hull..tU1g .the. .tll.e.u. MIJ
mind pu.tb .the. ha.i.lll&gt; .i.nto pl.a.cu that hUll.t, two 011.
tlvte.e. .i.n 4ome. pl.acu. Even .i.r. pl.a.cu that jUL&gt;.t Uch.
I talk, olwy, now 1 am go.i.ng a4le.e.p, .i.6 1 move. oJt
.tull.n ovell .the. ho..i.11.4 will. 1&gt;.tay .i.n place.. 1 wilt 6e.e.l.
be.tte.11. cdt e.n 1 &lt;U1n ke.. Much o 6 .the. po..i.n and 6e.aJt go u
thllough .the. Motl&gt;, .i.nto .the. .tll.unk, and out .thllough
.the. le.a.vu- -11.e.clJcle.d.
Somet.i.mu .the. bluu get to me.. 1n one. po..i.nt.i.ng
I am undellg1tound--.i.n 6ac.t, dcwn de.e.p .i.n a g.11.0und
hog de.n--unde.Jt mlJ hoUL&gt;e./moun.ta..i.n la 1&gt;ymbol .i.n p11.e.v.i.0U1&gt; pa.i.nt.i.ngl&gt; J . Thelle. 1 1&gt;.tay 6011. 1&gt;e.veMl da1J1&gt; and
t«tU out :t.he. mood. One. da1J my Jtoom Hentl&gt; .to 6.i.U
w&lt;..th 6loa.ti.ng whe.e.lcha.i.11.li and 1 am 4Ull.Jtounde.d.
Sca11.e.d. Haunted. Ske..tch .the. .&amp;nage., du&lt;.gn U, pa.i.nt
U. Name. .the. 6e.a.1t. 1 am lu1&gt; 1&gt;CaJte.d.
1 look at my po..i.nti.ngl&gt;. 1n mo1&gt;.t 1 am llj.i.ng down.
What ,(,!, th,(,!,? 1 can w:tlk, ca"' .t I? I get m1J1&gt;e.l6 up,
embJtace. the. moon, 1&gt;he. pu.tb out hell aJIJl14 and g.i.vu
me. a b.i.g hug. I be.g.i.n a 1&gt;e.Jt.i.e.1&gt; 06 joUJr.11e.y1&gt;, dJtawn
.in.to .the. pa.6.t, back to uiome.n '" anc.i.e.nt 1&gt;ymboU. (The.
p!t.e.v.i.oUI&gt; 1&gt;e.Jt.i.u ha4 be.e.n 11.uume.d and «n.&amp; 6.i.n,(,t,he.d,
Oil 1&gt;0 1 ltad thought:. l Now 1 am llteMlllJ w&lt;..th .the.
"1&gt;ymbol6," bu.ld.e. .the.m, tallU.ttg w.i.th them, l,(,t,.te.n.ing .to them. 1 come. upon the. temple. 06 A6talt.te.; 1&gt;U
at the. 6e.d 06 goddu1&gt;u .i.n .the. Salto.Jta; 4tand at
the. al.taJt o 6 Mothe.11. Goddu1&gt; .i.n C11.ete. and call. to
lte.Jt along w&lt;..th one. 06 hell p!Uu.tu1&gt;u; dance. and
1&gt;.i.ng w.Uh o.the.11. women o 6 the. woll.l.d.
Back home. 1 6.i.nd goddU4U. have. taken up 11.u&lt;.de.nce. to watch ove.Jt me.. One. n.i.gh.t I am 1&gt;Uti.ng
on .the. poJr.Ch, Nut, .the. EglJp.t.i.an 1&gt;k1J godd.u1&gt; 4Ull.Jtound.i.ng . p11.ote.cti.ng. 1 be.come. &lt;Ulnlte. .that the. j 0U11.ne.1J1&gt; .i.nto .the. pa.6.t have. g.i.ve.K me. COUii.age. 6011. .the.
p.\Ue.nt, 6011. the. 6utUJte.. Me.h·Ull.t, a ve.Jtlj anc.i.e.nt
cow/4 kif godd.u1&gt;, W'.lnde/Lb .i.n to v.i.l&gt;U. All.Ound he.11.
ne.ck lb the. Me.na.t, a 1&gt;ymbol c6 1&gt;.tll.e.ngth, 1&gt;e.xual.
ple.abUJte., and ph1J4.i.cal we.U-be..i.ng.
- Mall.l.e.ne. Mounta.i.n

:. ~

c

..

..- ~

U NE DllAWINO$ ADAl'TW aY MARTHA TllQ

'J '

r1'1

f
s

MOON FILL

f,(i9ht~

of~

"I don't even know what r&amp;ade me sic.It," related
Marlene to us , "I think it was the stress and not
talking to people, being bottled up with pressures
and it came out ( in MS symptoms ) and I went through
a bad period. But maybe that was to be. I'm still
not able to settle down. I'm on fire. But I've had
a warning .•• and the healing. I didn't have anything
to do with it--it just happened and it was a major
healing process that I don't know how to explain."
We as~d Marlene to describe, as best she could,
her healing experience--"! don't even meditate
and that evening I said, 'Let's meditate tonight,
Cindy (midwife/friend) ' not even knowing really
what it was--it was a weird experience and it
happened several times afterward. And it basn 't
happened since (the healing) but it got me through
a period. I guess you could call it a miracle but
not in the old-fashioned sense. I'd love for it to
happen again but I don't know if it would be the
same form." Marlene continued, "What happened to
me ... I know it was from women's past--ancient
Goddess energy. I certainly wouldn't have known
anything like that would have happened or was going to happen. I don't have fantasies , I don't
have rituals, I don't have anything li~ that .. •
and then all of a sudden something absolutely abnormal happened to me . The midwife, Cindy, says I
did it myself. I don't think I could have ever
done it. But it was at the po:lnt that something
had to happen." From these visions, Marlene felt
compelled to paint the images in a series of healing paintings.( see 'In Circles', opposite page)
Throughout our visit, Marlene spoke of releasing her anger and her fears. In speaking of her
wheelchair painting, Marlene conJ:ided, "By the time
I was finished painting , I didn't have that fear
anymore and it has not come back. Maybe I just had
to deal with that fear and my being visual, it came
out visually. ~y fear and painting it through and
putting myself in the midst of it was empowering."
In conversing with Harlene, there is a strong
sense that the expression of rage in s creative way
and a positive vision of healing can co-exist. Some
of her 'outrageous' expressions include her series

lcon.t.i.nue.d on ne.x.t page.I

~&lt;(]
KATUAH - page 7

Winter 1985-86

�WEEDING PAIN &amp; FEAR

\:ifiiJ

\I

of paintings entitled: "a woman's non- commemorative
stamp collection". "They are 'stamps' which will
never be real stamps , " said Marlene. The 'stamps'
speak to the annihilation of native peoples , the
environment, rape, incest, war and nuclear extinction. One simply reads 'women and minorities'. "It's
incredible," continued Marlene, "that in America in
the 80' s that phrase should even exist . "
Besides creatively expressing through the
visual art of painting, Marlene is also a recognized poet of haiku. Conventionally, haiku is
viewed as an apolitical, pure/objective art form.
Marlene though differs with this view and creatively allows her 'grumblings' to come through
this mediUlll as well. She feels that haiku offers
a great deal to women in particular as an art form.
In terms of her paintings, Marlene ' s most recent series is called "Cross Words". The paintings ,
all 13 of them, are of crossword puzzles filled in
with words of what women are called ..• the animals
women are called .. . the food ... the slang body parts,
and so on. "I 'd say that most of my paintings are
for women, but I want men to be involved too. I
think they're called things that they don't want to
be called. If they could see what women are called
and start thinking about what they are called and
what they are supposed to be doing in life, it helps.
We all have to be in it together." Cross Words" allows us to see the disturbing words in a "playful"
and dynamically contained way, effectively taking
away their 'power'.
One of Marlene's older series of paintings
called "the Other" portrays ancient women symbols ,
which she spent a great deal of time researching.
Another series is a "female alphabet" which she
herself 'made up'. She felt the need for this kind
of alphabet and one night the images started coming to her, all except the 'y' and the 'n' which
came the next day. "For a while I would write letters in 'female ' and translate poems into 'female'.
The alphabet just c ame out of nowhere ... or rather
it came out of somewhere, I just wasn't aware of
it. I had to paint them."
IDher early days of being an artist , Marlene
was not aware that there was any avenue in art other than what she, for convenience, would refer to
as the 'male art of New York'. "I bad become dissatisfied with those attitudes." Harlene painted
ten years, got her degree, quit for ten years , then
started again . I n renewing her art again, there was
a period during which she painted a painting every
day for one month based on the theme of the mountain and the moon. The mountain wasn't a specific
landform--it was from within. "I just identified
with i t somehow. A f riend said, 'what 's the name of

~~ ~••&lt;ain' and I didn'&lt; know. I

g••••

i&lt;

&lt;•~••

out that it's me ... It was something that took a
long time. I wanted to change my name to that and
that's partly what the piece is about. ~hat's my art
name and poetry name. That's my real name (Mountain)''
Marlene is not interested in selling any of
her work. Seldom does sbe paint a ' single ' painting.
Mostly, her paintings are in a series of 20 to 40
pictures which need to be displayed together. In
asking Marlene how a ' series' develops, she offered,
"For the "stamp" series, I did a sketch in my sketchbook of a little perforated thing •.• ! don't know
where the image was ••• and then all of a S1.1dden i t
was a series. And t he alphabet just 'popped' out so
I don't know if there is a process. You have to 'go'
with it, you know."
Marlene's work and scope extend far beyond
her own personal realm. She in particular speaks to
women and their sense of wellbeing . "Women need,"
she insists, "to develop a collection of positive
images with which to enrich their art as well as
their psyche. For me, reference to the mountain and
the moon as female is a necessary element in building an aesthetic vocabulary as well as personal identification . Women have a tremendous amount of
underlying texture from which to draw, but due to
distortion, inversion and removal of archetypes, we
haves long journey of rediscovery and reclamation."

'

:;;
.!

.
..

.
"

i..
~

~

"

BENEATH THE SACRED GROVE

Harlene envisions a return of the Mother
Goddess qualities , both on a personal and a social
scale . This return which she feels is happening
("I feel I'm in the revolution, even out here") is
more a process of "searching for rather than giv!!!s .!!.P.· No doubt, though , there-must be a certiiTn
amount of sifting and sorting, declining and accepting, and balancing. There are many more concepts to discover and to embrace than there are
to negate."
"I feel", Marlene continues,"it 's quite valid
to call specific attention to what women create ..•
I'd say it' s very necessary until there is a truer
under s tanding of female sensibilities and her offerings--and, beyond that, of individuality. Today's
woman has much to offer and, I feel, has an obliga tion to give voice. Adrienne Rich aptly says, ' Women
have often felt insane when cleaving to the truth
of our experience. Our future depends on the sanity
of each of us, and we have a profound stake, beyond
the personal, in the project of describing our reality as candidly and fully as we can to each other'."
Marlene ' s journey of personal inner healing
s uggests an approach towards a wider community
healing where visions, dreams and sensations prompt
us towards health. Her organic imagery of mountain,
moon , roots , rock, s leep, sac red grove ..... and of
heslinQ , entering , passing throu gh .. . remind us that
,
we a r e all roo t ed deepl y i n t he natural proce~ '\fiN-;
-- M.M. S J. H.
_'\L_

© ~v
"

0

KATUAH :

~ eg~,e 8

ii ~

ex

c&lt;JW

Winter 1985-86
- HA

~

�"This is Heresy!
HOLISTIC HEALING ON TRIAL
"The Constitution of this Republic
should make special provision for Medical Freedom as well as Religious
Freedom . . . To restrict the art of
healing to one class of men (people),
and deny equal privileges to others
will constitute the Bast1lle of medical science. All such laws are unAmerican Md despotic."
-Be.n.jamht RU6h, M.V., SW!fJe.on
Geneltlll 06 the. U.S. AlurilJ 6 a

6.lgneJL 06 the. Vec.ftvta,Uon 06
1nde.pe.n.de.nc.e. [7745-1813)
"Backed by vast sums of money and
the intellectual prestige of great
universities, decked in all the trappings of modern laboratory science,
and supported by an impressive record
of clinical success, allopathic medicine exerts an influence on our lives
and thinking equal to that of law and
religion. So dominant is it that
many of its adherents are surprised
to learn that other systems of treatment even exist."
-AndJtew WeU, M. V., .&amp;t h.l6 boola
He..alih 6 ~: UndeJr..6.tancWtg
~o ~

Mecac:Lne.

-

AU.e11.na.:ti.ve

In a scene more reminiscent of the
Salem witch trials or the Spanish Inquisition than the informed and enlightened l980' s, Dr. George Guess of
Asheville appeared Dec. 2 for a hearing before the N.C. Medical Licensing
Review Board on a charge that his
practice of homeopathic medicine conflicted with his orthodox practice of
family medicine .
Three other physicians-Dr. John
Laird MD of Leicester, NC; Dr. Logan
Pobertson, MD of Canton and Asheville;
and Dr. Ted Rozema, MD of Landrum, SChave also been threatened with loss
of their medical licenses for practicing chelation therapy with their
standard orthodox techniques.
The unfortunate result of this investigation may be the loss of valuable health services to our communities and the loss of our right to
choose medical treatment that meets
our needs.
These four men are sincere, canpetent practioners devoted to the ideal
of healing others the most effective
way they can. But even being called
before the Medical Licensing Review
Board brings their intentions and
abilities into question. The four
physicians have already been pressured by their medical insurance
~ompanies into dropping their malpractice insurance.
George Guess, M.n., D.Ht . received
his medical training at the Medical
College of Virginia and Southern Illinois University. He was licensed
as an M.D. in 1978. Soon after entering family practice, he realized
KArUAH - page 9

the shortcomings of allopathic medicine.
Be discovered that attaining broad
knowledge, experience, and sensitivity to choose the appropriate technique for treatment offered the most
benefit to the sick. Following these
ideals he studied at the International Foundation for Homeopathy, completing their postgraduate course in
1980. Since then he has studied intensively with the renowned George
Vithoullu!s of the Athenian Center of
Homeopathic Medicine in Athens,
Greece.
In addition to his private practice in Katuah, Dr. Guess has also
served on the board of directors of
the National Center for Homeopatt.y
and as convener for the National
Council for Homeopathic Education.
He is a diplomate of the American
Board of Bomeotherapeutics and a
member of the American Institute of
Homeopathy, as well.
"Homeopathy," be says, "is a 200year-old science of healing that utilizes the healing properties inherent
in naturally-derived products to
stimulate the body's defensive mechanisms to overcome disease symptoms.
"The homeopathic physician utilizes non-toxic, gentle substances
adminiscered according to the 'law of
similars', which states that 'like is
cured by like' (or that bodily symptoms are cured by natural substances
which produce similar effects).
"A focal point for the homeopathic
physician is the uniqueness of the
individual patient. Typically, before focussing on local symptoms,
such as ulcers or arthritis, the homeopath concerns him/herself with the
total psycho-physical (mental, emotional, and physical) state of the patient.
"It is hoped as an end result of
homeopathic treatment that health is
restored gently, speedily, and permanently."
At the recent hearing, Dr. Guess
spent a grueling 8 hours defending
his practice . The hearing evolved
into a basic introduction to the
principles of homeopatlrl.c medicine.
At one point a board member, impatient with Dr. Guess's car eful and
complete descriptions of how he
treated his patients, lamented,
"You ' re losing me, I really must go
on to something else. I know you
understand what you are saying, but
I don't."
Throughout the hearing the Medical
Review Board displayed a total ignorance of the basis and the techniques
of homeopathic medicine, raising the
question that perhaps the Medical
Board is not qualified to judge a
method they know nothing about.
CHELATION THERAPY
Dr. John Laird, founder and director of the Great Smokies Medical
Center in Leicester, NC , is another
holistic healer threatened by the

II

Tho cadu.c~1.1•. the phr•icbft'• abln1

n ..

•111bot of .flnak._ cc.e• fta. • pr•Hd lanlc 1n1ke cult and oracle of ancient
Ct•..C•. hur taken ov•t by the cult of
M.c Jeplo1 1 vho h conaide:red the patTon
of at'dlclne.

Medical Review Board for his practice of chelation therapy. Laird
describes this technique as "an
intravenous therapy of prescription
medicines and nutritional supplements
that is known to inhibit degenerative
symptoms in the body, such as hardening of the arteries, arthritis, and
such."
Dr. Laird graduated with honors
from Dartmouth College in 1969 and
Dartmouth Medical School in 1976. He
·worked in the MAHEC Family Medicine
Residency Program in Asheville before
starting the Great Smokies Clinic.
He now specializes in nutritional and
preventative medicine. Be has directed a variety of national and international symposia on holistic approaches to health care. In addition,
be lectures to both health professionals an.d the non-medical public. He
is a founder and the executive director of the Raphaelite Institute, as
well as a member of the Amer ican Holistic Medical Association and the
American Academy of Medical Preventics.
In assessing the dis-ease of the
orthodox medical establishment, Dr.
Laird looks first within himself.
"I ask what I ' ve done to draw them
into my life. Part of my response is
to understand inwardly what is going
on, and the other part is to try to
figure out a way to reconcile the situation, because we are all One.
" In the course of all this, I've
learned a lot about arrogance. We
must express forgiveness without resentment so that we can be more free
ourselves. The need of this age is
tolerance and that is a function of
the heart."
intinued page 10)
Winter 1985-86

�(continued from p. 9)

Dr. Laird believes that there must
be a recognition that both sides of
this question have contributions to
make . The quacks and the unscrupulous
charlatans will always be with us, and
Laird maintains that there is a place
for an impartial panel of experts to
defend medical ethics and to set minimum standards to protect the public
from imposters who would take advantage of people's debilities for personal gain. But these hear ings, with
George Guess ' s careful and patient
presentation on the one hand, and
board members ' professed ignorance on
the other, calls into question the
competency of the Medical Boar:! of Re·
view more than the abilities of the
physicians called before it.
At present, the Board is composed
solely of licensed physicians who are
nominated by the North Carolina Medical Society, except for one lay member
who is appointed by the governor.
"The Board should be protective, but
not exclusive", says Dr. Laird.
The scope and techniques of medical
practice are expanding at an everaccelerating rate. The breakthroughs
in healing will come from those who
dare to pioneer new approaches and new
techniques. It would be a positive
step to have the Medical Licensing Reiew Board be composed of vell-educated, unbiased physicians familiar with
lternative techniques of healing as
ell as allopathic medicine. The
oard ' s composition could be balanced

to include practitioners of alternative medicine to better evaluate the
merits of different methods of nonconventional healing.
Ever since medical licensing was initiated in England in the 17th century,
the procedure has been used to maintain the hegemony of the practititioners of allopathic medicine. That
system has such a str ong hold on the

JOHN LAIRD, MO

minds and belief of the people of today, that medical associations have
taken on the nature and trappings of
a priesthood that will brook no
challenge to its authority.
But it apparently is time for a
change. 88 people attended a meeting
at the Unity Church in Arden, NC
cal.led to discuss "Medical Freedom of
Choice".

Chad O'Shea, church minister, sai
that he plans to convene a larger
meeting at UNC-Asheville somettme
during the winter to present a panel
of speakers representing both sides
of the alternative medicine issue.
"Our basic attitude," said O'Shea,
"is: 'Let's get together and share
some understanding. Let's look at the
facts' .
"I think that some people's preoccupation with money and material
things has blinded them to some wonderful medical methods that they perhaps should be not only supporting,
but maybe practicing as well!
"For instance, in the view of the
A.M.A., heart by-pass surgery is seen
as an acceptable risk, even though it
is known that 2 out of 100 patients
die on the operating table. It is
estimated that there will be 200,000
to 300,000 heart by-pass operations
next year. That means that there will
be 4,000 - 6,000 fatalities outright
as a consequence of this technique.
"That is not necessarily bad in
itsel f. Yet chelation therapy, which
bas not been known to harm anyone,
and which bas done a lot of good for
a lot of people, is not acceptable to
the A.M.A .. ~ is that?
"We need to explore hard questions like this one and bring them
into the light of day."

�A QUEST FOR

CHEROKEE MYTHIC PLACES·
By Douglas A. Rossman
Many European-Americans, long separated both
physically and spiritually from their own mythological roots, may find it difficult to comprehend
how mythically alive the American landscape has
been--&lt;&gt;nd, to some extent, still is--to Native
Americans. When the famous ethnologist James Mooney made his collection of Ea.s tern Cherokee myths
and legends just before the turn of the century,
more than fifty of the stories were associated
with specific locations in North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia. Mooney's classic publication,
Myths of The Cherokee (1900) , provided detailed
descriptions of these locations but included a
photograph of only one of them, Nikwasi Mound, in
Franklin, North Carolina.
I first read Mooney's book in the late 60's,
was fascinated by the stories, and longed to see
the settings in which they had come into existence. The lack of time, finances, and adequate camera equipment prevented me from pursuing my personal quest in other than a sporadic and incidental
fashion until 1983 , by which time it had occurred
to me that other people in the region-both residents and visitors--might enjoy seeing and benefiting from learning about the significance of
those mythic sites that could still be visited.
Thus was born the idea for Where Legends Live : A
Pictorial Guide to Cherokee Mythic Places. Subsequently the project acquired a principal photographer, William E. Sanderson, and an illustrator,
Nancy-Lou Patterson. Bill, a former graduate student of mine, shared my interest in Cherokee culture, and Nancy-Lou, herself the author of a book on
Canadian native art, had previously illustrated my
dictionary of Norse mythology, The Nine Worlds
(1983).
How to present the Cherokee Names for the sites
and the mythical beings associated with them posed
a real problem. Cherokee was not a written language
until the early 1800's when the brilliant mind of
Sequoyah devised an alphabet of 85 letters to rep-

FORT MOUNTAIN STATE PARK, GA.

.

WH ITESIDE MOUNTAIN, N.C.

i
0

resent the sounds of spoken Cherokee. This system is,
unfortunately, unintelligible to readers of English,
for whom Cherokee names have inevitably been rendered phonetically . Over the years a number of phonetic
systems have been used (same without explanation) , but
no standard usage has been established . I decided to
go straight to the source, so to speak, and was extremely fortunate to obtain the generous cooperation
of Cherokee linguist Robert Bushyhead. He converted
the names given by Mooney into the phonetic system
devised by Bushyhead and Bill Cook, veri£ied or modified the translations of the names given by Mooney,
and provided translations for the "ames not translated by Mooney. Ris patience, enthusiasm , and good
humor were a delight and an inspiration, and the results of his efforts adtt inuneasurably to the usefulness of the book.
It is a measure of Mooney's thoroughness a.nd
preciseness that I was able to approximate the locations of the sites on detailed topographic maps and
subsequently go to these places and find something
that fit the appropriate description. In several
instances involving sites in or near Cherokee, North
Carolina, I was able to verify the locations with
either Robert Bushyhead or Tom Onderwood, a lifelong
resident of the area and a student of Cherokee culture.
For Bill Sanderson and myself, the quest for
mythic sites did not prove to be a routine, dispassionate cataloguing of spots on a map. Like all true
quests,ours had internal as well as external dimensions, and the places we experienced and the people
we met in our search for the sites contributed to
our own spiritual growth. Despite the disappearances
of many sites beneath TVA lakes and the alteration
of some by still other manifestations of "progress",
several of the places we visited still possess the
ability to arouse in a receptive visitor the sense of
(continued next page)

Winter 1985-,86

�CHEROKEE MYTHIC PLACES
being in the presence of sooething
outside the ordinary. 1 most vividly recall the visits to Fort Mountain
--home of the great Uktena-in the
path of an approaching thunderstorm;
T!!llSsee Bald- -home of the slant-eyed
giant Tsulkala-in early spring with
the golden leaves crunching underfoot; and Pilot Mountain--home of
K.anati and Selu, the thunder and
corn spirits, respectively--with a
golden eagle soaring past the summit
in the crisp October wind to help

(continued from previous page)
celebrate "Creation Day." It seems
almost inevitable that such places
would have myths connected with them.
Cherokee mythology has its share
of monsters and none is associated
with more places than the Uktena, the
giant horned (antlered?) serpent that
bears a magical crystal-the Uluhsati
-- on its head. There seem to have
been many different individual uktenas,
but the greatest of them lived in the
Cohutta mountains of north-central
Georgia, apparently at the site of

ULUHTU, THE SPEARFINGER

present-day Fort Mountain State Park.
One of the longest and most complex
of the Cherokee myths concerns a
"search and destroy" mission directed
toward this particular serpent. The
ensuing events are briefly swmnarized
in~ Legends Live: "Only one man
is known to have succeeeded in killing an Uktena and securing the magic
crystal. He was a war captive of
the Cherokee, a great Shawnee conjurer named Oganunitsi. The Cherokee were going to kill him, but
they released him when be pledged
to seek out and secure the Uluhsati.
He searched the entire length of
the Great Smokies and beyond, encountering a series of giant reptileR,
amphibians, and fishes along the
way, but it wasn' t until he reached
Cohutta Mountain . • • that he finally
found the Uktena be had been seeking. Oganunitsi built a circular
trench in the mountainside, set
fire to the pine cones encircling
the trench, and then shot an arrow
into the seventh spot on the body
pattern of the Uktena, which had
been sleeping on the mountaintop.
He evaded the rush of the mortally
wounded serpent and leaping beyond
the fire and trench, was protected
from the stream of venom spewed out
by the Oktena in its death throes.
After seven days had passed, the
birds of the forest had stripped the
carcass so completely that only the
Oluhsati remained. Oganunitsi carried the magic crystal back to the
Cherokee, who were said by Mooney
to still have it in their possession as recently as 1890. "
The 855 foot-long rock wall
that meanders across the southern
face of Fort Mountain does not fit
the description of the circular
trench within which Oganunitsi
took refuge, but some of the larger
"gunpits" along the wall might.
Although the surviving version of
the myth relates that the birds consumed the dead Uktena's bones as
well as its flesh, this seems unlikely and one wonders if, in an
earlier version, the wall might not
have represented the giant snake's
skeleton. The serpentine wall does
remind one somewhat of the Great
Serpent mound in Ohio.
No sampling of Cherokee mythical monsters is adequate that fails
to mention the infamous Utluhtu, or
Spearfinger; a shape changer who
usually appeared in the form of an
old woman. Utluhtu had a long,
bony forefinger on her right hand
with which she would stab and extract the liver from her unsuspecting victim, often a child who saw
her only as a kindly old grand-

--- - -

Wint_!?r )..98!)-86

�mother. Frequently the victim was
unaware his liver had been stolen
until he began to weaken for no
apparent reason, and by then his
death was inevitable.
Spearfinger wande.ed far and
wide through Cherokee country, but
her favorite haunts seem to be the
Nantahala Gorge and near the Little
Tennessee River, where it passes
around tbe foot of Chilowee Mountain.
On one occasion, to make her travels
easier, she started to build a bridge
of rocks up through the sky from
Tree Rock on the Hiwassee River to
Whiteside Mountain. She bad the job
well underway when lightning shattered the bridge, breaking off it's
foundation on the western end of
Whiteside Mountain. Apparently, the
thunders had taken offense at
Spearfinger's bridge, or her behavior
in general, or both. The Cherokee
eventually trapped and killed
Spearfinger, but the mythwise traveler still glances uneasily over
his shoulder when passing through
the Nantahala Gorge on a misty
morning. Or perhaps what he senses
is the shadowy presence of the
inchworm-like Uwtsuhta serpent as
it stretches from one rim of the
gorge to the other.
Not all mythic creatures that
threaten mankind are earthbound.
The Tlanuwa is a giant falcon capable of carrying off a man, a deer,
or even a bear. In Chattanooga and
on the Little Tennessee River below
Tallasee are cliffs where these huge
birds were said to nest . These cliff
faces are still marked with vertical
white streaks that resemble nothing
so much as bird droppings.
Most of the other beings associated with the surviving mythic
sites are more favorably disposed
toward the Cherokee; for example:
Tsulkala, the slant-eyed giant;
Kanati and the other thunders; and
the Nuhnehi, the usually invisible
'"those who have always been here",
who have a number of underground
dwelling places throughout Cherokee
country -- Blood Mountain, Shining
Rock, and Pilot Mountain are the best
known mountains that contain lodges
of the Nuhnehi. Nikwasi Mound also
contains one of their lodges and on
one occasion, when the Cherokee were
hard pressed by their enemies, the
Nuhnehi emerged from the mound to
rescue the Cherokee from their
attackers.
Nikwasi Mound is one of only
three Cherokee mythic places to have
been protected and identified with
a marker. Kituhwa Mound* between
Cherokee and Bryson City has not been

KA'rfae -

page 13

@ DOUGLAS A ROSSMAN
so fortunate. Although it probably
was once the principal ceremonial
center of the Cherokee (the "People
of Kituhwa" as they sometimes called
themselves), repeated cultivation
has eroded it very badly. Unless
16 lJOU. all.e. .i..nt:eJLU.te.d .(.n he.lp.i.ng
steps are taken iDDDediately to pro.to .lde.n:ti.6y a.nd p11.o.te.c.t CheJLoke.e. 1ncii.an ha.Cl!.ed hilU .in t&lt;a..tU.o.h , c.onto.c.t:
tect what is left, the mound will
Thoma.h Ra..ln Cltowe., c./o Ka..tUa.h , P.O.Box
disappear altogether. I hope that
873, Cui.towhee., NC 28723
one of the things Where Legends Live
might accomplish is to arouse sufficient local interest and concern
that the "endangered" mythic sites/ .
such as Ki tuhwa Mound can be saved . _,,
* Kituhwa is another spelling of Katu~.

THE UKTENA

�\U' "'

..._ ,.,.

--- ..

�Esta'sai (pronounced es-TAB-say) was a beautiful
young woman of the ancient Cherokee Indian people. She
~was a cheerful light among the people of her village , and
many of the young men of her village , and from towns far
away desired her, but she had thus far remained unmarried .
~
That was what was bothering her this day, and was why
~ she had come to a forbidden place to pick the berries to
add to her dried pemmican.
She wanted to be alone, and so she had come to the
/ ~ cliffs high above the Nantahala, the "river of the midday
1
o/ sun , " called thus because _the gorge was so deep and the
cliffs so straight that the sun did not shine on the
waters of the river until noon of the day.
Somewhere, deep in that gorge, it was said, dwelled
a fearsome creature, the uktena, a great snake with a
horned head; massive jaws--;;ncasing huge , murderous fangs;
• a great body covered with scales that glittered like fire
./.~ --impenetrable to spear or arrow, except for one small
area on its seventh ring where its heart lay below a soft
spot, the one flaw in its armor. The beast's breath was
noisome and poisonous, and its eyesight was legendary.
1
/ It was from its keen sight that the monster derived its
name, uktena,"it examines closely ".
OntiieC°reature's head was a huge, transparent
quartz crystal, the Ulunsu'ti, the greatest of its kind,
of which it was said it would bring wisdom, foresight,
and great power to whomever possessed it. The crystal
had such power that no human's mind could stand before
, it, and whomever beheld the stone was drawn to it, wheth&amp;j er by desire or enchantment, like a moth to a flame. The
bottom of the river gorge was littered with the bones of
hunters and conjurers who had attempted to kill the
uktena to win the Ulunsu'ti talisman for themselves.
k{j
All this Esta' sai knew, but she had never met anyone
r who had actually seen the uktena,and , in truth, she only
half believed the stories herself, although she had heard
them many times from old ones around the winter fires.
~
The stories did not trouble her that day, for she
~ was young, the sun was bright , and her heart was disturbed by thoughts of romance.
"I am as silly as a ten- year-old girl , " she thought ,
aimlessly flipping a few berries into her bark basket.
"Alitak 'wa , (pronounced ah-lee-TAK-wah) the strongest,
,- most handsome, and bravest young warrior of our village,
seeks me out, and I turn away from him with foolish
/11. words of dreams and visions that I have seen in my sleep"
She remembered him I panting hot and amorously into
her ear as he spoke, and she bad pulled her fur wrap
more closely about her and turned demurely away.
~
"No," she had said. "In a dream I saw myself married
· to a white-headed man, not to you."
'1:
"You mock me!" he had shouted, recoiling as if he had
been struck. Although be had said nothing more, she knew,
/}1. as he whirled and stalked away, that he had almost lost
~control of the passion and anger within him.
"Why did I say that?" her mind wondered . "The words
were out before I could think. They were a great insult
ft: to a young brave.
~:fr
"t would have had much prestige as the wife of such
a warrior, one who maybe would later be a war chief in
the village."
~
But in her heart, Esta'sai knew she did not desire
~

!

,, ---

A,

•r
"r

4.~

the warrior Alitak'wa. Re tolas overbearing and haughty,
and it seemed that all he could talk about were his own
grandiose exploits.
"But , " argued her mind , "the nice things be would
bring you ... "
Suddenly she was oppressed by the sun's brightness ,
the heat of the day , and the war going on in her own
body . She stamped her foot and gave a snort of disgust.
Over her shoulder she heard a chuckle , and from behind a rock glided the lit he figure of Alitak'wa , Esta'sai spun around to face him . The sun gleamed on his body.
Re was beautiful , to be sure, but the smile on his face
u,
was twisted and ugly .
~~
"So the young doe begins to feel some passion for her
buck," he said insinuatingly, as he slowly came closer.
"No!" she said firmly. Her fear gave strength to her
words. "I told you last night, and I tell you again:
there is nothing between us . "
"In a moment," he said , "there will be nothing between us, for one way or another, I am going to have you.
I came to you honorably, and you have tarnished my honor
and my reputation. Now I am going to have my way."
"No," she repeated, stepping away . "Someone will find
out. Someone will know. You will be punished,"
"There is no one here to know." Ris body was trem'f
bling as he stepped toward her again.
"No, no." Tears came to her eyes as she shrank away·
from him. Her foot felt nothingness. To her horror she
realized she was at the brink of the cliff. The world
went white and swam before her eyes .
"No-o-ol" she shrieked, and threw herself backwards,
away from his clutching hands.
Esta'sai braced herself for the crushing pain of
impact, but strangely enough , it did not come, The cliff
walls grew darker and darker around her , until she could
see nothing, and it seemed like she was falling through
~
a dream. Time slowed. Her body felt weightless. I t seemed 1-fj
that she would fall eternally.
Ber reverie was jarred by a sudden splash! into chill
ing water. But instead of the hard stones of a shallow
;f
j
river bottom that she expected, Esta' sai felt herself go- ~
ing deeper and deeper into the waters of a seemingly bottomless pool. Her mind rebelled. It was impossible for
such a deep pool to be in the shallow river bed. But by lft
instinct her body kicked and struggled upwards until she ~

bA

�reached
of air.

t~

surface, panting, faint from shock and lack

now, withholding nothing.
"I am out of my time. I am the last of my line, and
I know my doom is near, so I am going to tell you of my
She looked about her. It seemed as if she had fallen
kind that it may serve to guide your species, which has
into a different time, mournful and darkened by the shadcome to be dominant upon the Earth in this age."
J~ ows of a gloomy past. She looked upwards. Framed in the
In her mind Esta'sai felt a comnand to remain silent.
~narrow slit between the sheer walls, she could see the
She listened.
light of her own world. It was unreachable to her now ,
''1 am but a shadow of the greatness of my kind. Long ,
but it was still a comfort to see. Somehow, inexplicably,
long ago, before 'time' was, even, my ancestors, the
deep in the bright blue sky of full day, a single star
dragons, the greatest and most glorious creatures ever to
71 shown brightly.
live in this realm of being, swam and played in the eleThe sight gave Esta'sai hope. The slow current carments. At that time the elements were three: air, fire,
ried her against huge rocks, and she clung to one and
and water~and the dragons were the center.
~i lay across it gasping. Weakened and exhausted, she slept.
"The world was unformed then. There were no tides or
'f' In her sleep the single star still hung before her vision.
directions by which to order the world. The dragons were
She was awakened by a low rumbling like thunder. She
themselves, but they kept the sense of everything within
thought she could still see the star before her eyes ,
themselves. It was through them that the world continued
~ but then it began to wobble and sway as if it were movto exist. The world was theirs, and they were free to fly
~ ing slowly, ponderously , toward her. The cavern walls
through the swirling winds, dive into
boomed, and Esta'sai realized that she was in the presence fettered oceans, and bathe and play in the surging, unfree-burning
of the ~· Her eyes were riveted by the shining crysfire."
tal in the monster's forehead. She could not take her gaze
off of it. The creature's presence filled her mind. She had
The uktena's gaze withdrew behind its heavy-lidded
eyes. Its voice grew distant.
~~o~::~ses. Her own mind was laid bare to its probing
"They were magnificent to behold. Their every moveA
ment and their very being was an expression of freedom.
~
She could smell the uktena's foul breath. She could
They were greater, indescribably greater, and brighter,
o/ feel its strange, alien nature and the blood of the many
humans it had devoured. Yet, through all the loathing she
indescribably brighter, than I. It is impossible to tell
how they were, for they could change their aspect as need
instinctively felt, Esta'sai was drawn to the creature,
or desire arose. In the fires they would blaze brilliant
~ not only by the power of the Ulunsu'ti stone, but also by
ed
!fa sense of aloneness so deep i t had become a part of the
r
and orange, rising up huge over the flames. They
~· 9 very being. Esta'sai, born and reared in the prowould become long and slender, shimmering blue and green
tective circle of the tribe , always among her friends and
in their scales as they knifed through the waters. They
_a kin, felt a pang of sadness in her heart for the solitude could disappear into the skies in the lightest and pur~ the uktena had endured .
est of blues, or they could stand out sharply as a rain,
'fiie"iiiOnster dragged itself near her. Its great head
bow of bold colors arcing through the realm of the winds.
~ loomed over her, blocking out the surface world. The Ulun''I can imagine it: the sheer delight of my ancestors,
&amp; au 'ti sparkled in the darkness of the chasm. The colors
dancing among elements that were completely wild and un~ Ofthe uktena 's thoughts swam hypnotically in the intertamed except for their unifying presence. They breathed
ior of the great stone , binding Esta'sai's attention.
the living dragon-fire, the breath of life for all of
She stood slack-jawed, staring at the jewel, not even
creation.
noticing the uktena 's breath, hot and rank, curling about
"In each of the dragons, the elemental knowledge of
her body like smoke. The great serpent slithered nearer
the world was joined, and therefore they knew everything
to her until its bead was quite close , and it scrutinized
in its purest form. Thus, I am able to know everything in
her closely with one baleful red eye--an eye that was
this world, even as you do now, because everything is but
cold, calculating, and completely amoral. The uktena
a combination and a transmutation of these basic elements.
hung its massive head over a huge boulder and iitiir';;(i at
"That is why the dragons were aware that they were
the maiden for a long time, as if looking into her
bringing about the downfall of their race even as they
thoughts. Then , almost casually, it lifted one of its
wer~ accomplishing it.
scales with one of the four long and deadly claws on its
"Their life-principle was the dragon-fire. It burned
.~right foreleg and scratched its own leathery skin, prowithin them, and was also their breath--shooting out in
ducing a drop of blood so red it was almost luminous in
magnificent streams of flame. Instinctively the dragons
the shadowy pit. The uktena reached forward and touched
knew that their fire and the water should not mix, but if
the reddened claw to her lips.
they flew low over the waters and shot down a burst of
Instantly Esta'sai's head was alive with visions ,
fire like a lightning bolt from the sky, they would feel
strange sights, sounds, and sensations that flitted by
a shock of intense, ecstatic energy that coursed through
so rapidly they made her head swim: great winged creatheir bodies as the connection was made. It was sheer
tures of beautiful, shining colors cavorting in the
pleasure, satisfying and fulfilling. Every part of their
skies; the rush of wind, the touch of cloud; red volbeing was renewed , and they would scream and moan with
canoes; pain, violence, and the stench of burning
delight. They knew that this was the beginning of their
flesh; and strangest of all, she could hear all the
own decline, but that was not a time for limits, for that
voices of her own world, distant yet iamediate, all at
was no 'time' at all, and limits were unknown.
once and yet each distinctly--rabbits thumping in their
"So it had to be. 'The seed that brings to birth
burrows ; the hawk calling to its mate; grass stretching
contains its own destruction,' it is said. Yet, if things
upwards in the sunlight; tree roots penetrating ever
had not been exactly so, the dragons might have continued
deeper into the earth; and the quiet, even song of the
to evolve in harmony with the world, and maybe the dominriver flowing through its bed~all these and everything
ant species now would have been beautiful, enormous dragelse she heard and knew. She was not surprised in looking
on-creatures ... "
into the serpent's red eye that she knew it as well.
The uktena's eyes glowed like embers for an instant,
"Yes-s-s," the creature's sibilant votce spoke in
the Ulunsu'ti flashed a defiant red and then faded.
her mind, although its mouth did not move, "the uktena"But it could not be so. For the stars are different
sense is yours now. You are connected to us who are--th'e
now, and the dragons have been bound like the other ele4:1 very roots of the Earth, and through us to everything
ments of the world.
of the Earth." The voice was even and unsentimental. If
For when the living fire of the dragons touched the
there was any pain in its loneliness, the creature had
waters, it created a new element and new forms of 1 tie
mastered it completely .
never before seen in the world. A new chain of evolution
"They say among those of your race that an uktena
was begun.
always speaks truly, but it only tells what it ~its
"Invisible at first, this new life wave spread. As it
istener to know, and there is always a purpose behind
spread, it began to coalesce. And as it came together,
~ the telling. This is true, but I speak plainly to you
the new element did what had never been done before: it

4.1

~-"'~~~~

-~

~~. ~ ~ -~~~'

~--~--~~

~

�-~&gt;&lt;

~~~-

found its own center and began to define a shape.
"First, there was a p1ace to stand, aod then there was something
standing there. Something huge, dark, and forbidding--doom for the
wise, shining dragons. It was the first of the giants. The element
earth was present in the world, aod the giants were the embodiment

orrt.

"There was enmity between the Biants and the dragons immediately.
It was unavoidable. The sight of the bri1liant dragons pained and
blinded the giants, so recently emerged from the depths of the waters.
The dragon-fire touching the water jolted them with a painful shock,
so they would strike out in fear and anguish. When one happened to
hit a dragon , that creature would scorch him with a blast of hot
fire or rake hill with its claws. In this way , struggle against the
dragons became a part of the giants' very nature.
''As soon as they could stand upright, the giants would pick up
rocks of the new-made earth and throw them at the dragons. At first
they were clumsy, and their eyesight was poor, so they could not
see where they were aiming. But they acclimated rapidly to their
conditions. Their enmity for the dragon race was the impetus for
their evloution.
"Evolution," the uktena continued, "demands the presence of
time, and so the idea of limits came into the world. The limiting
factor for the dragons was the giants. Their blind flailing grew
more deadly, and in time they picked up the stone clubs that later
--carved , fashioned, and even crudely decorated~ became so much a
part of them that they were almost extensions of their stony bodies.
"They would stand waist-deep in the oceans and knock the glittering dragons from the skies. Eventually, they built themselves
continents to stand and move about on.
"They could never k:Ul the dragons. The dragon's immortality is
too strong for that. Their primordial minds are linked with the
basic elements of the world, and if the dragons should die, this
world would disintegrate until new elements of life appear in the
cosmos.
"But the giants did bring down the beautiful flying creatures.
They turned the Earth into a prison for the dragons. They put them
in deep holes, covered them over with earth, and sealed them with
the power of their earth spirit. The mountains of today outline
the sinuous dragon forms buried below. But the life-giving dragonfire is inexhaustible. It sti11 burns, even today , in the depths
of the Earth, I t turns the plain rock into caverns of beautiful
jewels. It flows through the Earth into all things that live, and
the dragon's mountain sepulchers are places of special power.
"Sometimes water flows to the surface from sources so deep
that it is warmed by the dragon-fires and comes from the Earth hot
to the touch. This water has special healing and rejuvenating
powers, because it has been touched by the vitalizing dragon-fire .
'Other water carries a sulphurous, fiery taste, and in other places
the Earth herself is on fire deep underground.
"The giants passed on in their time, never knowing why they
acted as they did or of their role in the evolution of the world,
But they prepared the land for the spirits that inhabit it today,
and now it is the time of the humans.
"The old ones of your people knew the Earth power that comes from
the dragons, and they revered my ancestors. In those times the northern star, the center of the sky, was in the eye of the dragon constellation. Things are different now, different influences are abroad, and

the people have forgotten.
"I am just a shadow of the great ones who were before me. Centuries of enmity and loathing have turned me into this creature who lives
in the dark, shadowy places of the world, resembling some worm more
than my own ancestors, the dragons of old, who sailed the free winds."
The uktena spoke flatly, without bitterness.
11
0ne of your kind is coming soon to kill 1te. He will rip the
Ulunsu'ti from my forehead. It is a11 over. I go now to Gahuti (Cohutta Mountain) to meet him. They will never know how things might
have been. We will never meet in council between our races. Never
will chosen leaders among the humans tsste the uktena blood, as you
have done, and know the secret lives of the things of the world." The
monster spat , and its spittle landed on a rock and sizzled as it
burned a hole into its core.
''The mind of the human species is a circle, just as the world is
a circle, and the combined mind of the human race encompasses the
being of the world, just as the mind of an individual dragon encompassed all its world. So you join together and live in tribes to make
your prayers stronger and to gain a wider understanding among you ,
and it is good for you to do this.
"There is another change being made which will be evident to you
soon, but it is not clearly defined as yet. It is not for you to know

�DAVID WHEELER

Drawings by ROGER STEPHENS

�ocigi.nal drawta.a by lichard Cicc.ar·e.111

Q.WVLtz CJt.yi..tai..6 a11.e. 6owu:C heJte. .in

Ka.ta.ah and had an. .i.mpoltto.n..t plac.e. .in
tlte. myt.h and i. p.ilt.l;tual .U6e. o6 tlte.
na.t.&lt;.ve. pe.ople. heJte.. The. CheJtoke.e.
me.d-i.c-i.n.e. pe.ople., who had a t.tlt.ong
IWVl.e.ne.u and a clot. e. k.ini. ILi.p wUh ;th. e.
poweM and e.n eJtg.lu o 6 .th.l6 a11.e.a., ui. e.d
.the.m e.x.te.ni..i.vel.y .ln CeJte.mon.lu 6011.
c.le4M.lng, he.a.Ung, and cUv.lna.t.&lt;.on.
The. poweJt 06 CJt.yi..tai..6 .l-6 t..tlU
ava4.a.ble. .to u.i. .toda.y. Tapp.lng t.h.a..t
poweJt dou not 1r.e.qu..iAe. i.pe.ciJLt .tlr.a..ln.lng oJt h.ldde.n, uo.teJl..lc knowte.dge.. It
t..i.mply 1r.e.qu..iAu .tu. .lng" - be.com.lng
n
6am.iU.alt wUh a CJtqhta.l and ope.n.lng
to ,(,U, 11.neJtg.i.U •
11

Quartz crystals are a natural formation resulting from a combination
of silicon dioxide and oxygen atoms
forming a solid unit of light. Clear
quartz has a natural ability to resonate with other crystalline structures that can enhance the function
of the human body, restoring natural
balance.
Quartz is considered the stone of
the White Light and the First Ray and
can serve better than any other mineral for balance and healing. They remove blocks in energy fields and can
be used in areas where negativity has
congested the atmosphere. Crystals
clear the way with light.
Used in meditation and healing,
crystals can bring on change by
their interaction with the psychi.c
centers of our beings. The crystal
has an effect on the physical body as
its subtle electrical energy vibrates
with the electrical pulses of the
body structure.
CLEANSING

A crystal must be cleansed before
being used. The simplest method is to
place the crystal in an uncontaminated, free-running stream for seven
days. Another method is to make a
solution of one cup of sea salt, one
cup of cider vineg'ar, and one gallon
of spring or distilled water. Soak
the crystal in this solution for ten .
minutes of more. Use only as much
solution as needed and reserve the
rest for another time.
"Charging" a crystal will advance
the frequency of the crystal and
allow the keeper to achi.eve goals
that the mind bas yet to discover.
When a planet moves into the area
of 26 degrees from any zodiac sign, a
galactic activation for the crystal
can take place. Check an ephemeris
to find when the Sun or other planets are at 26 degrees. Tllis degree

marks a frequency centered by cosmic
law.
The energy of the Sun is used for
magnification, so the Sun's midpoint
in the sky (noon) is the best time
for charging a crystal. Knowing
that the entire life force of this
planet depends of the energy coming
directly from the Sun, one will see
the significance of charging crystals
during the Sun's midheaven.
An hour is a good length of time
to leave the crystal to the Sun ' s
energy. After the process . is complete,
bring the crystal indoors and wrap it
in a soft, dark, cotton cloth.

sew ENERGY
Crystallography is a culmination
of a variety of sciences all interwoven. The 26 degree galactic activation point not only relates to
the angles of a crystal in its molecular structuring but also to the
dynamic point of the galactic center.
This in itself displays a triangle
effect, and capturing that pattern
in the crystal will allow the crystal to emanate a standing columnar
wave (SCW) energy. It is believed
that the technology of Atlantis was
based on the use of SCW energy, as
opposed to the technology of today
which is based on the Rertzian wave.
Wind funnels, elec~rical storms,
cyclones, and tornadoes are all examples of SCW energy patterns. Much
of the electrical phenomena of the
human body, such as brain waves and
nerve impulses, are also forms of
sew energy.
When using crystals for healing,
color and sound can be incorporated
into the stones to focus energy on a
certain area of the body, particularly the spinal chakras. The healing potential of charged crystals
can be maximized when color and
sound are added to the program.
The following is a method used to
program a crystal for a specific
purpose in the healing arts. Other
methods of progr amming will come to
one who opens the imagination to the
possibilities of crystals.
Take a set of seven crystals , and
place them one at a time in a pyramidal structure at the verg negatif ,
the area known as the " king ' s chamber" . This is the point of highest
concentration of sew energy .
Use seven colored transpar encies
in a proj ector or affixed to a desk
lamp to power the seven crystals .
As each crystal is lit , sound the

note that relates to that color. The
harmonics of a guitar or the sound of
a flute work well .
PRIMARY

MUSICAL
NOTE

COLORS

CllAKRA

red

root

c

orange

spleen

D

yellow

solar plexus

E

green

heart

F

blue

throat

G

indigo

brow

A

violet

crown

B

Each crystal should receive three
to five minutes of color and sound
programndng. Done daily for seven
days, this will insure that total
mergence of all the frequencies has
taken place. Once a set of seven
crystals is completed, wrap them indiVidually in dark cotton cloths,
using colored thread to code each
wrapped crystal.
By attaching a string to each
crystal with silicon glue, they can
be used as pendulums to heal by
opening and closing the energy centers. Use the crystal corresponding
to the chakra and hold it over the
energy center, allowing it to become
filled with the heali.ng frequency
from the crystal.
PRAYER AND MEDITATION

Quartz crystals may also be used
to advantage in prayer and meditation.
Crystals have a propensity to bend
light rays to a bO degree angle, so a
triangle of light can be constructed
using three quartz crystals, all facing the same direction. Focus can be
placed on the triunal formation by
establishing a connection between the
mind ' s eye, the light center, and a
Visualization of the projected
thought.
The possible uses for quar tz are
limitless. It would appear t hat the
quart z crystal is an opening door to
a new dimension in consciousness .
Through it one can see the many facets of exist ence and per haps discover the secr ets frozen in its light .
-excerpted from the bookl et Quartz
Crystals and Other Gemstones by
Diannah Beauregard

�;,_

I\

I•

I '.

WHAT MAKES A PLACE SACRED
Thi.6 .i.66ue.' l&gt; "Good Me.cli.c.i.ne." .U. e.xeJtpte.d 6Mm a
lUteJt we. Ae.ce..lve.d 6Jtom a .tll.ad.U.iona.l CheJtoke.e. .li.v.lng
ht Ka.tifuh to the. U.S. F011.ut SeJtv.i.ce. conc.e.Jmi.ng theht
plan6 60Jt c.letlll.-c.utl&gt; and t.i.mbeJr. l&gt;a.le.l&gt; .i.n Me.al&gt; aJLOund
Ata.11.ka Fa.U.6 and the. Raven C.li.6 66 ht the. Cowee. c.omrrKJ.ni,ty 06 Mac.on County, N.C.

I'd like to say when I look at a tree I see it as
one of my own relations, and I se7 it's natural beauty,
and I see it giving me the ve:y air that I breati:ie· I
see a house in that tree, chairs and tools and firewood
for cooking and heating. 'PG we all have many purposes,
so does a tree . .And that's what makes things sacred.
The Cherokee people traditional~y see the :iver~
and streams as living beings. With it we had life.Without it we had death .. So that entity or energy in that
water that gives life we called a 'spirit'. 1\nything
that has a spirit is alive.We call it the 'long human
being' or the 'long person'. There are m~ny taboos
about the river. That's the reason the rivers were
clean and fresh when the non-Indians came here.
The 'long human being's' head l~es i~ th7se mountains. 'JIB it rushes down the mountains, it gives power
and life to all living things. The legs, the torso, the
arms of ' the long human being' are diseased, but the
head is still alive and reasonably disease free, due to
the Forest Service and National Park Service .
l\ATIJAH - page 20

What I would like to see, since
we can't do much about the rest of
the body, is to keep this part of
the body healthy and strong. When
the head dies, we all die. If all
I have said does not explain why
the head of the 'long human being'
is sacred, then I don't understand
the meaning of 'sacred ' ,
I look at it this way: The Indian people were placed in this land
as caretakers . I think that the
Indian people understood that and
saw that as part of their purpose,
or the Europeans would not have
found such a bounty when they came
here--a bounty based on their value
systems.
Now the Europeans are caretakers and a lot of our people have
forgotten that purpose and only
dwell on the wrongs that happen to
them. I think that our purpose is
quite clear: we are still c aretakers, but another burden has been
placed upon us, and that 's to teach
you to become caretakers.
The area of the Alarka Falls
("Raven Falls" or "Kalanu Falls" )
and the waterfalls i tself are sacred to us; as are the Raven Cliffs
("Raven Place" or "Kalanun'yi").
Those places have been used for
years beyond memory. The falls
were used as plunging and fasting places . The Raven Cliffs was
a place where bad stuff was taken,
buried, or was sent there ...
What makes these places sacred
to us is their personality. 1\nd
their personality is made up by
physical structure: by the four
leggeds, the two leggeds, the
wingeds , the roots, the insects
and water creatures. The combination of these things gives a place
its personality. Ind then these
personalities sometimes attract
spirits, which have their 'personality.'
When people practice medicine
and they need a certain personality to use in healing ceremonies,
conjuring, or just to help the
People, all the things above make
this place sacred.
/.lnd if you're a person that
needs to bring something bad--a
disease or the badness taken from
someone and buried there--if you
need to do the ceremonies that
make this stuff stay here, and you
go to this place and the personality which you sought is no longer
there, because some of the medicine
has been removed, where do you go
then? There are fewer and fewer of
these places for us to go.
Our places are narrowing every
day ...

,

Winter 1985-86

�REVIEW:
By

J.

Linn Mackey

Deep Ecology or Shallow Moralism?

Deep Ecology:Living As If Nature
Hattered:Bill Devall and George
Sessions (Salt Lake City, Ut;
Gibbs M. Smith, Inc.1985)$15.95
The very term Deep Ecology is
apt to send shivers of anticipation throuRh the bre.ast of a bioregionalist. It seems to prollise to
unite two bases which lie at the
heart of the bioregional movement.
One basis is the insight emerging
from the science of ecology which
informs our minds on both the dangers of a growth orientQd industr ial culture and points us toward
a practice of how to live in harmony with the structure and process
of nature of w
hich we are a part.
The second basis is a profound
spiritual union with nature which
deeply touches our intuition and
hearts so that we want to act out
of awe and reverence to preserve
the natural world.
Unfortunately, a great title
does not a great book make. This
review will argue that Deep Ecol~ does not deliver on the promise of its title. This is because
the authors both sever our deep intuitive communion with nature from
specific religious traditions and
reduce the complex and subtle interactions revealed by ecology to a few
moral principles. We end up then in
this book not with a deep ecology
but a shallow moralism.
Let me hasten to add that I
applaud the authors' radical critique of the antiecological practice and attendant "environmentalist"
rationalizations of the dominant
culture. I suspect that most bioregionalists would support the
authors' radical programs for preserving and expanding wilderness
and "letting nature be" in place of
resource development. Indeed , the
strongest part of Deep Ecology is
what the authors have to say in
their critique and on these issues.
Neither am I questioning the
depth and co111Ditment of Devall and
Session's personal stance toward
nature. What I am questioning is
whether the authors have delivered
on the promise of their title, i.e. ,
to unite a deep spiritual union with
nature with a sophisticated and
subtle science of ecology.
Central to the author's conception of deep ecology are the
ideas of holism, the interconnectedness of everything, and biocentric equity, by which they mean that
"all organisms and .mtities in the
ecosphere, as parts of the interrelated whole, are equal in intrinsic worth." Devall and Sessions
would have us believe that there

is what they call a minority tradition in history that emphasizes
these notions. In fact, there is
no single minority tradition; there
are only minority traditions. It
is not honest histography nor does
it give an accurate picture of the
way the world works to go bunting
through the past in search of certain concepts or key words and, when
finding such, to claim a significant or causal connection. Scientists (not historians, who know
better) have attempted to write a
hi~tory of science that way , searching back through the past for any
thinker, for example, who used the
word "atom", then arranging these
chronologically, as if this said
something meaningful about the development of the modern concept of
the atom. It doesn't!
Yet this is akin to what Devall
and Sessions have done. They have
searched through past and present
thinkers and movements looking for
advocacy of holiam and/or biocentricism. They find one or both of
these notions in a diverse group of
past and present thinkers sod movements. But what have we learned by
assembling such a collection? I
would argue very little indeed. It
does not tell us how these notions
of holism and biocentrism arise and
function within a belief or philosophical system or how the philosophical or belief systems arise
and function within a whole cultural matrix. But until we know this,
we have only meaningless juxtaposition and vacuous abstraction, not
real life. We need more, much more ,
than this if we are to move to a
culture that lives and develops
harmoniously with nature. We need
to understand the subtle dialectics between a culture's values ,
practices and the specific natural
world in which it is embedded. We
need a bioregional analysis.
Devall and Sessions seem to
believe that they can set up some
moral principles and change the
world. No doubt a society dominated by a biocentric value system
would treat wilderness and resource development radically different
than one holding homocentric (human centered) values. The problem
before us though, is how to move
from a culture totally dominated
by homocentric practice and ideology to a society dominated by biocentric values and practice. What
do the authors have to off er us
toward the solution of this absolutely crucial problem? They propose
that we ask "deep questions" and
that we cultivate "meditative experience" . The problem here is that

these approaches have been standard
in the Western tradition since the
time of the Greeks. While it is
true that they sometimes lead to
biocentricism, they more importantly have lead to our current bomocentric and profoundly antiecological society.
In the end then, Devall and
Sessions are proclaiming an abstracted moral principle of biocentricism in a society in which homocentricism and domination of nature
reigns and is procl aimed through
every organ, institution and media
of society. One suspects that Deep
Ecology is not going t o change the
world, offer any reali stic hope for
such a change, or even make any converts to a biocentric position, At
beat it is mo r alizing to the already
moral!

Deep Ecology suffers from diftuae and disconnected roots and a
lack of hard-beaded analysis. It
suffers from a double amputation.
Religion , philosophy and ideology
are first severed from the cultures
in which they are intrinsically embedded and then certain principles
like biocentricism are further excised from the religious and philosophical systems in which they are
intrinsically interwoven (a totally
unecological act). In so doing, the
heart 1a amputated from the body,
the spirit from muscle and sinew .
Deep Ecology takes us in the opposite direction from wh:ich we must go
to really change society. That direction is to reunite spiritual intuition and values with practice in
a specific place. This is the way of
bioregionalism.
Deep Ecology mentions bioregionalism favorably in several places
and would draw bioregionalism into
deep ecology. I would argue that bioregionalism has little to learn from
this book . Bior egionalism is a
movement to reconstruct culture
harmoniously within a specific, natural region. As such it is a practical hol1811. Culture means material
practice---providing the necessities
of food , clothing and shelter as
well as politics, customs, law, morality, values and religion. It is
human existence and meaning in its
fullness and totality, not simply
some principles abstracted from
religion or philosophy. As such,
it is real people in real life
embedded in specific place in real
day-by-day, nitty-gritty existence.
It is only here--in the totality
and fullness of practical living
in a place, not in some set of
doubly abstracted principles, that
an evolving and harmonious dialectic with nature can be constructed.

~

Winter 1985-86
- iL' rAA

�o~
NATURAL
WORLD

NEWS
PROTECTING
SACRED SITES
Jla"'ral Vodd lew s....,k•

Elders of the Eastern Band of the
Cherokees have appealed to the USFS
to stop the Little Laurel Timber sale
in Macon County, NC as it will "desecrate" two sacred sites adjacent
the sale: the Alarka Falls and Raven
'Cliffs. Appeals 1570 asks the USPS
not to log or use herbecides near
these sites and justifies the request via the Native American
Religious Freedom Act. It was also
stressed that the USFS needs to
realize the importance of sacred
sites to all peoples and that the
issue here is not how a forest
should be managed but rather how the
integrity and power of sacred sites
should be upheld.
The Appeal was turned down by the
National Forests Supervisor for NC
and is in the hands of Regional
Forester John Alcock in Atlanta.
While the offical comment per iod is
closed, continued support is important .
Write: John Alcock
Regional Forester, USFS
1720 Peachtree Rd. , NW
Atlanta, Ga. 30367

KArUAR - pllgi! 122

DOE PLANS FALTER, COMMUNITIES ORGA NIZE
In Nove111ber of 1985 the Department of Energy was to have narrowed
its choice of Nuclear Waste Suppositor y sites from the 236 under
study to 20 "possible" locations.
Widespread public involvement and the
Department's own negative findings
have caused the DOE to postpone,
until January 1986 their annoucement
of selection. This is their second
postponement since November 1985.
While Oak Ridge, Tennessee is the
most likely site for the Monitored
Retrieva ble Stora ge facility (the HRS
is a way station for waste headed to

the Suppository). the associated transportation routes are still under study
and the DOE has admitted that they are
open to negotiation.
Strategy and organizational meetings along the "likely" routes are
becoming more numerous. The Highlander
Center hosted such a meeting for community action leaders from east ern NC
to western Tennessee. Over three hundred citizens of Madison County , NC
met this november, providing another
voice in this effort to stop the
DOE's part in this country ' s nuclear
energy policy .

EPA SEARCHES FOR ACID RAIN CLUES
~lnu.ral

WOl'ld Mew Strvic•

Rumor has it that the EPA has
contracted with private research
groups and other government agencies
to find where and to what extent
"Acid Deposition" is affecting the
Southern Appalachians. Similar
studies have recently been conducted
in New England and the Northwest.
The work here will be conducted
in 30 to 40 watersheds located in
east Tennessee, western North Carolina, north Georgia and northeastern
South Carolina.
This study consists of the

gathering of data in the following
areas: forest cover types, land use,
soil and water chemistry and the various climatic factors affecting this
area. This information will be comcompiled by the EPA , plugged into its
data base and analyzed.
While no public information is
presently available, it is speculated
that the results of this study will
be used to trace "Acid Deposition"
back to its source and later used
in court actions aimed at "cleaning
up" the problem.

ONLY YOU CAN SAVE THE BEARS
M.atu.ral *&gt;rl.4 tf-"'9

Se.rvic•

According to biologists at the
North Carolina Wildlife Resources
Conmission, poaching and other
illegal bear hunting is an old and
intractable problem. The biggest
threat to bear populations, as for
most wildlife , is continuing habitat
destruction. Even if poaching remains at a constant level, it spells
disaster for the bears as habitat
shrinks due to increased clearcutting
and road building. The survival of
large predators and omnivores such
as bears requires vast,roadless areas
where contact with humans is kept to
a minimum. Forest Service logging
roads make bear habitat more accessible to poachers and slob hunters.
In North Carolina, the Wildlife ·
Resources Commission's primary means
of measuring the bear population is
the number of legal kills reported
each year. With shrinking habitat
and increased road access, the few
remaining bears are vulnerable to
hunting pressure. The effect of this
is that the kill level stays high
while the population declines, possibly beyond the point of recovery.
Using bait to attract bears is a
popular slob hunting practice that
has recently been made illegal. The
usual technique is to hang sacks of
food, sweets, or rotten meat on trees ,
attracting bears to an accessible area
where dogs can pick up the scent.
Hunters then monitor the dogs' posi-

tion from access roads using vehicles,
CB radios, and even radio collars on
the dogs. Hunters don't need to leave
the saftey and colD.fort of their
vehicles until the dogs ' baying indicates that the bear has been treed
and can be shot with a minimum of
effort and skill on the part of the
hunters. Baitin_Jt was often used at
the edge of bear sanctuaries to draw
protected bears out where they could
be letally killed. A new law that went
into effect October l makes it illegal
to use bait to attract bears on public or private land.
Wildlife enforcement officers say
it is impossible to control poaching
and baiting without help from concerned local citizens. Some states
have toll-free hotlines to report
hunting violations, and can dispatch
an enforcement officer to the scene
quickly. In North Carolina, call
1-800-662-7137, South Carolina 1-800922-5431, Tennessee 1-800-262-6704,
Georgia 1-800-241-4113. A number for
Virgina could not be determined.
To participate in the Bear Action
Network to document incidences of
poaching and other illegal bear hunting activities, contact:
.'aul Gallimore
Long Branch Enviornmental Ed. Center
Big Sandy Mush Creek
Leicester, NC (704)6e3-3662

..

Wintq.r _1985-86

�HORSEPASTURE RI VER TO FLOW ON:
SMOKE GETS IN

A GRASSROOTS SUCCESS STORY

YOUR EYES
Ntituu.J Morld Nev•

~ erv 1c.

Spruce Pine-Mitchell Systems Inc . ,
an incinerator plant owned by Charles
Foushee continues to burn hazardous
wastes. The smoke causes irritation
of eyes, nose, and throat. People
have developed "allergies" since it
opened five years ago. It has burned
corn crops nearby. The heavy metals
coming out of the smokestacks are
above permissible standsrds set when
its permit was reissued early in 1985.
Fores~ Service botanists have linked
the emissions to tree deaths surrounding the plant. Homes remain un-

Since the spring of 1984 a grassroots group, Friends of the Horsepasture, have rallied support for the protection of the Horsepasture River and
her 5 waterfalls from an out of state
invesbnent group, who plan to build a
hydroelectric dam. While this ill-fated tax write off has faded, further
public support for the Borsepasture
has brought about Natural and Scenic
River designation by the North Carolina General Assembly and most recently, appropriation of funds by the U.S.
Congress to the United States Forest

sold, land values are dropping, water

Service for purchase of the 350 acre

is becoming contaminated.
Because of these gross violations
of all applicable standards, Mitchell
Systems has been fined, has had its
air quality permit revoked and was
issued an order of compliance when it
was discovered that its environmental
liability insurance coverage was no
longer in effect. Since it did not
comply with regulations as of December 2nd, the N.C. Department of Human
Resources ordered the plant closed.
On December 5th a local resident
brought a $250,000 lawsuit against
Mitchell Systems alleging that discharges and odors f ran the plant make his
home unfit for human habitation.
Community response has been escalating rapidly. 150 people from all
over Mitchell county gathered at a
recent meeting to air their demands
and frustrations. Outside professional
consultants have been hired and they
are learning what program consultant
Millie Buchanan called "effective involvement." Citizens are bringing
pressure on state officials to release information, they are helping
the legal and technical consultants
collect data, and they have exposed
a large flaw in due process procedures
regulating waste disposal.
Why is the incinerator still
burning? No insurance, no permit,
and still the smoke settles on cars,
houses, children and streams. Local
people in Mitchell county are fighting
national problems: lack of control
and an inability to enforce laws
governing the disposal of hazardous
wastes. Charles Foushee has appealed
both the insurance compliance order
and the air quality permit revocation. Until these appeals have
been decided upon, Mitchell Systems
is free to burn wastes. "If be
operated a bar and served alcohol
to minors he would be shut down
immediately and kept shut during
the appeals process:• said one involved person.
Why is Charles Foushee still
allowed to serve emissions hazardous to the health of Mitchell
county?

Leder tract. This will allow for protection of Turtleback, Rainbow and
Stairway Falls (the others are owned
by Duke Power.)
Bill Thomas, Chairperson of the
Friends o f the Horsepasture, points
out that a special thanks goes to the
private conservation group, Trust for
Public Lands. The Trust, through its
own funds, secured an option to buy
the Leder property at a Forest service appraised price. This protected

K.\Tl'.\11 - !Mge :!3

the river from develo?11ent while Congressional appropriations were sought.
In doing so, Thomas says, TPL has incured a $70,000. debt primarily in
option costs, which will not be refunded by the Congressional appropriations. It is the hope that all the
"Friends" will continue their support
by sending tax deductable donations
to the Trust via FROTH so they can
continue their preservation efforts.
Most recently, the N.C. Department
of Natural Resources and Community
oevelopnent is preparing a management
plan to "preserve" the river in its
natural state and offer guidelines
for recreational use. This is the
first step in" placing the river under
the protection offered by the National Wild and Scenic River Systems. Gov.
Martin is expected to request Interior
Secretary, Don Hodel, for this status.
Hore info:
FRIENDS OF THE HORSEPASTORll
P.O.Box ·272
Cedar Hountain,NC 287lij

A QUESTION OF STANDARDS
CHAMPION WASTE PERMIT
){U'U.rAl

~ld

N...,. Suvi.c:•

As of mid-November, the EPA has
stepped in to resolve differences
between the states of Tennessee and
North Carolina and the color of water
in the Pigeon River at the state line.
Being contested is the NC Division of
Enviornmental Management ' s 1985 waste
water discharge permit for Champion
International ' s Canton paper mill:
the amount of color in its ef f ulent
and its affect on water quality down
stream.
This summer the EPA voided this
perlllit and informed the DEM that the
permit did not canply with the required federal Clean Water Act
guidelines . DEM countered by saying
it might not have statutory authority
to implement all of the EPA's recommendations.
Tennessee has filed suit against
NC and Champion stating that the 111111
should be required to meet their
clean water standards . It is here we
find the crux of the legal and political debate. Water quality in Tennessee is based on a "narrative
standard" which states that color
units in waste water shall not exceed
"background levels" which can be
treated by conventional methods. They
have further "interpreted" this color

standard and assigned a value of
50 ppm.
Paul Wilms, Director of the DEM
states that all of the EPA recommedations have been met except those that
pertain to the 50 ppm . color standard.
It is their feeling that Champio~'s
new Ultrafiltration test system and
oxygen enrichment equipment will
maintain water quality and thus cOlllply with the NC permit. They also
contest Tennesse's 50 ppm. color
standard stating that it has been
arbitrarily derived and not scientifically based and as a result no~
legally enforceable here in NC. At
present, NC has not assigned numerical standards for color levels in
waste water.
Champion is presently filling
out its EPA perlllit application and
is legally operating under the DEM
permit. They have also signed a
"Special Order of Consent" requiring further testing of color removal
technology with a review by DEM personnel this spring. EPA is expected
to draft a new permit this spring
with a public comment period to
follow.
(NWN continued next page)
Winter 1985-86

c

�. - - - - - - - - - - - - - . . . . , - - - - - - - - - - - - - ,W!@\Yf@\Vl@Wr@Wf@\Yl®\V!@\Yl@\YI@

O;t

NATURAL VIRUS CHALLENGES
CHESTNUT TREE BLIGHT

NATURAL WORLD NEWS
continued

PROJECT FIREHAT
AWARENESS
TRAINING
Each year, firefighters in
North Carolina risk exposure
to hazardous chemicals. As
first responders, firefighters
and other emergency response
teams are the front line in
dealing with hazardous materials.
They and their communities particularly need to be more aware
of potential hazards in households, in agricultural operations,
and at Slllall businesses.
The dangers these chemicals pose can
be reduced if firefighters ar e more prepared for specific risks and have appropriate resour ces available to handle
them. L8ck of information at the local
level has been identified repeatedly as
a problem in emergency response planning
for hazardous material incidents.
Project FIRERAT (Hazardous Awareness
Teamwork), funded by a grant from T.V.A.
to the University of North Carolina at
\sheville has recently been started in
WNC . It's aim is to assist Buncombe,
Haywood, Henderson and Madison counties
by collecting information on risks in
the COlllDunity. Through a series of workshops with local volunteer fire departments, FIREHAT addresses specific areas
of concern identified by local, regional ,
and state emergency response professionals. Some of the topics covered are:
laws governing handling of agricultural
chemicals, transportation of hazardous
materials and the new North Carolina
Right-To-Know Act. Future plans include
3 video to further inform f i r"ef ighters
and public alike .
For mor e information contact;
PROJECT FIREHAT
102 Tacoma Cir .
Asheville, NC 28801
Cam Metcalf
Millie Buchanan
254- 4414
253-4423

Scientists at Michigan State
University have discovered a virus
which inhibits the American chestnut blight. An estimated 3.5 billion trees died between 1904 and
the early 1950's. With the demise
of the chestnut came a decline in
bear populations due to a marked
decrease in available mast each
fall.
Being studied is a naturally
occurring virus which infects the
chestnut blight fungus. The fungus
damages the tree under the bark but
does not affect the roots. Keeping
the fungus in check allows the roots
to send up sprouts then allowed to
form healthy trees. The origin of
the virus remains a myster y.

"POST NO BILLS"
• n w ""ve' U • cva
c•l

S~

Billboard landscapes blocking your
view? Then write to your U. S.Senators
and urge them to support Senator John
Glenn's proposed legislation which would
in effect abolish billboards . The bill
would prohibit destruction of vegetation along highways in front of billboards, close loopholes in the current
law which allow for signs in rural
areas, and ban new signs from zoned and
unzoned co11111ercial and industrial areas.
It would also establish a 5-yenr moratorium on signs in unzoned commercial
or industrial areas made "non-conforming" by this bill and would require
them to come down following the 5year period.
Write: Senator
, U.S.Senate
Washington, DC 20510

NATIVE BEARS THREATENED
BY RUSSIAN BOA RS

Unchecked populations of wild
boar s in the Great Smoky Mountains
Nat ional Park are depriving native
animals (especially bears) from sixt y per cent of the acorns needed to
s urvive the winter months . In an
attempt to secure an ecological balance in the park , rangers trap the
boar and release them outside the
park wher e hunting is permitted.
Local hunting organizations and
some rangers would like to see the
trappings increase .
Alr eady five organizations have
co-signed an appeal against widening the present range of the boars
and thus keeping their destructive
ways confined. Raving received national attention has taken the appeal
to Washington. But the real issue is
back in the park where the ever increasing population needs definite
thinning .
Perhaps re-establishing a native
wolf population in the park would
allo~

for a more natural

Karen Paquette
"The Mo.g.&lt;.ca.i. Chil.d" ht al.£ o6
.the chil.d who dlt.eam.6 a.uxlke oWt.
memo.11.y 06 whe.11.e ~ beg.in ... .the chil.d
tL6. • •

who

dJL~

aunke. the. g11.e.a.t 'comhtg

.to9e.the.11. place' on

owt

EaJLth Mo.the11..
HO/"

We a.11.e a.t.t. chil.dlt.en .to9e.the.11..

--Scout tee
How important is it to pay attention to dreams? Peoples from al.most
all societies and cultures on earth
throughout time have used dreams to
deepen awareness, explain reality,
and foretell the future. These have
been characterized by 'culture pattern dreams', visions, and ordinary
individual dreams consisting of cultural phenomena or subjective personal
experience. Much attention has been
paid to every physiological and psychological aspect: poets bespeak
dreams, mythmakers spin them, and
visionaries live them ••.
The importance of 'dreamspeaking'
is becoming more evident as creative
consciousness is accepted as a valid
process in a world where science and
mysticism are finding common ground.
If we look at the essence of what it
ia to dre11111 and not 'means', we come
closer to understanding the power and
the process of the dream's potential.
' Night dreaming ' is a bodiless
experience . It is a networking of dimensions unhindered by ear thplace exi stence . Here, we are guided by our
leaders , goaded by our 'monsters ' ,
and sung to by our muses ..• On the
other hand, ' daydreaming' is the experience of fantasy, of creative visualization, and of reverie. The former is usually receptive; the latter,
creative. If our 'somewhere over the
rainbow ' dreams are not coming true
for us, perhaps i t is because we have
'pu t aw the things of the child' in
ay
us too securely. As adults we must
learn ~o allow ourselves to be re-enchanted--to look to the child, the
one we once were who is still within
us, and to the child who walks beside
us as son, daughter or friend.
Can we rememher when the simplic-

preda~~

L---------;,.;.-...:~--:.&amp;,.••ey-• --y s• em ._ _ _ _ _ _ _ _...,. Wl@\Vl@\Yf@Wl@\V(@\'(/@'r(f@\Vl@ WI@
pr • eco• s • t••
Winter 1985-86

�ity of our ' higher' visions were cloud
scapes changing with the breeze? When
our ladder to higher consciousness was
a tree limb? The abandonment of lying
face-up, open and vulnerable to the
greater expanse of the sky let our
imagination be free. It was easy to
absorb the knowledge of hidden things,
represented by clouds, into the more
imaginative parts of our being. Remember the joy? The Adventure! ...
If we can relive that ma&amp;ical moment in time, remembering that the
child we once were is still there
(covered, now, by our layers of
'adulthood'), we can tap into the
'stuff that dreams are made of'
anytime. Remembering dreams not only
means remembering sleep consciousness but also means capturing the
essence of the creative proc ess (i.e.,
the 'magic momenta') that are the
energy structure of our visions.
Knowing we can still 'p13y' is essential to our life's work of manifesting
our dreams ss reality.
In structuring our future we must
also look to the generations to come-to the children. We can help our
sons and daughters stay open to their
creative processes by encouraging
their 'daydreaming'. We can do this
by way of a morning ritual: of sharing dreams upon awakening. Doing this,
we find it becomes progressively easier and more natural for our children to remember the nightland visited if we do it regularly with them.
This practice adds another d1mension
to the life we share with our children.
It is important not to dismiss our
children's nightmareil'With only reassurances. Children have a great ability
to understand symbols and inner meanings. If we complement their own fantasies with simple 'truths' we might
find that they will begin to look forward to their nightly adventures. In
this way we give our children a way to
experience and accept their 'inner
life ' in a way which m
any of us adults
were not allowed to do at a younger
age.
Perhaps John Prine, during a recent visit to our Katuah region (Asheville Music Hall, 10/31/85), summed
it up best in this way:

WE WERE TN A HOUSE WTTH BOTH OF OUR VTNTNG
ROOM TABLES PUSHEV TOGETHER ANV VAV'S HOUSE ANV
MOM'S HOUSE PUSHEV TOGETHER. WE WERE ALL GETTING REAVY TO HAVE SUPPER TOGETHER ANV ETHAN
WAS TN COLLEGE ANV GRANVIi.A WAS IN HER APARTMENT. I WANTEV TO FLY ANV GET THEM BECAUSE
WE WERE HAVING A BTG PARTY AT OUR HOUSE ANV
SO T WALKEV OUT THE VOOR ANV 1 FLEW TO
ETHAN'S COLLEGE ANV 1 GOT HIM. I HELPEV HTM
FLY BACK TO GRANVMA'S HOUSE. 1 GOT HER ANV
BOTH OF THEM VIVN'T KNOW HOW TO FLY ANV SO
I HAV THEM HOLV MY HANVS AS 1 FLEW. WHEN WE
GOT BACK TO OUR HOUSE WE SAT VOWN AT THE
TABLE ANV SAW A BIG CAKE ON IT. WE VIVN'T
KNOW THERE WAS GOING TO BE A CAKE THERE. WE
ATE THE CAKE ANV THEN WE WENT INTO THE LIVING ROOM ANV HAV A FAMILY HUG.
Ab.i.ga.il., age g, who4e
pa.II.en.ti. cUVOIJ..Ced

when

4he 11n.t&gt; 6oWL.

"Dream in' comes easy,
Like the first breath of a baby~
Like sunshine feedin' daisies-Like the love hidden deep in your
heart.''
... as does the following dream by
this e ight year old:

A CHILDREN'S PAGE
~

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Winter 1985-86

�DRUMMING
,,

LETTERS TO KATUAH

•

Dear Folk Thanks for the latest KatGah, with
the pertinant articles on the threats
to this area's life. Acid rain and
nuclear waste are not metaphors for
apocalypse, they are part of it .
I am still stirred by memories of
the sullUller solstice ceremony at Sam's
Knob. The dominant image in my mind is
of a people-crystal hung in a rainbow
pouch above one of Gaia' a vital organs
now in need. The crystal is a little
chipped and sort of jagged on one end,
and it has cracks in it, but it works.
I don't know how it works, but I know
it works.
We had a fall equinox celebration
here involving sweats at Zephyr in
their huge blue sweat lodge. People
wove wreaths out of vines and flowers.
Each year people bring whatever ripe
fruits are on hand, and Bob AveryGrubel takes them and makes them into
wine. Around the fire this year we
drank wine from the two previous
years. We chanted all our chants and
sang a lot of songs. I read a poem
which went something like:
We are allies and
can ill afford
to fight amongst ourcellves
we can ill afford
to fight amongst ourcellves

Dear Katuah I have been thinking about the humans' connection
with nature, mainly because I am concerned about my
relationship with the Earth. The past two years I
have been able to begin fulfilling a dream - a dream
of achieving harmony with and awareness of the Earth,
her native spirits, muses, plants, and animals •....
the Great Spirit that breathes through all, beyond
tangible boundaries.
Last year and this past summer were especially
profound and strengthening, living in the mystical
mountains of Katuab with people who understood and
were striving to live i n harmony too . Working in a
garden, harvesting her fruit, feeling the sun, rain,
early morning fog and dew; sensing my emerging woman.
I found that the Earth is full of surprises boundless knowledge, unsurpassable strength. Waking
up as darkness rotated into dawn, meeting a companion
in the pasture by the saw mill as the Sun burst
through the trees over the mountains. Sleeping outside , sensing the roundness of the all-powerful
sphere beneath my body.
"Woman" is a powerful sense, I found, feeling the
cycles and circles and the bond between myself and
the Earth ...•• growing . Such strength and insight can
be gained from active involvement with Mother Earth!

Knowledge that can only be felt and inwardly heard,
beyond human words.
Now I sit in the morning sun upon the western part
of this continent. In this changed atmosphere , it is
easy to forget, easy to become passive and let Mother
Earth with her unlimited knowledge and opportunity,
her infiniteness, slip away.
I will continue to strive for my goal, which I hope
will always be just beyond my reach, forever expanding. My "environment" is wherever the River leads me.
A human being can be forever hopeful. I make sure not
to miss the new day's da~"!l ....•
Peace,
Celia Wissler
Central California
After seeing the cover picture on the fall issue
of K.atuah, my lady and I went to the Joyce Kilmer
Memorial Forest. We thought that i f those two poplar
trees in the picture were still there, then we would
find the bodies of the chestnut trees there, too.
Sure enough, lying behind those two old poplars
were three huge chestnuts. They were covered with
moss, and we could climb up on them and walk a long
way! It must have been amazing to see them standing.
Ralph Morgan
Webster, NC

There's plenty but there's
not enough to spill it
on the ground
when we work together
love will reach around
We are allies and
can i l l afford
to fight amongst ourcellves
we can ill afford
to fight amongst ourcellves
Take Heart ~
Will Ashe Bason
Travianna Farm
Check, VA

!&lt;.ATl'..\H - page 26

Winter 1985-86

�On Swtday, Oc..tobe11. 13, 1985,
tfWi;ty-6.&lt;.ve. people. came. toge.the11. 6011.
the. annua.l l&lt;a.tLulh Fall Ga-theM.ng . We.
had a c.hanc.e. to .6 e.e. .6ome. 6ac.u be.h.&lt;.nd
namu we. had known 6011. a long ilme ...
and we. had a c.hanc.e. to tatk wUh. ea.eh
othe11.. We. .&amp;poke. abou:t oWtAe.l.vu .&lt;.n 11.e.Wi.on to th.&lt;..6 land:

_A._~:Jr

1t;~·~
.~-f
(J
":~'\
'

''

"I live down in Georgia. The land down there is so
poisoned, that we can't even be sure about the drinking water. I want to grow an organic garden , but a
garden can 't be certified down there, because there's
no telling what was put on the land when it was planted in cotton.
"We came up here to Katuah because the land seems
so much less disturbed. This seems like a powerful
place to get in touch with the land. 1 hope everybody
who lives here remembers how they are blessed and will
protect this land to keep it alive and healthy."
- Morgan

"For a long time I was looking inside myself for a
spiritual change and a spiritual experience. Now l
feel myself coming out, and I am moved by concern for
the Earth and her creatures. Once again I am feeling
earthiness. l think that now l need to bring my spiritual part to a practical level, working on the Earth,
being of service. In doing this, every thought we
think is important, because thought is creative . It
brings the spiritual down to the material level.
"Each of us has a purpose for being here. For myself, I want my actions to come from the heart. I
want to make permanent changes in others and in myself - changes that bring us toward unity, not separation.
"People and groups can teach each other. Every
little bit is illportant. I f we leave out anything,.
then it's not whole. I'• looking to see whole people
and a whole Barth. It's good to know a little bit
aore of ay purpose."
- Linda

"Looking around us we see ecological disaster, and
looking at our society we see a great spiritual void.
The two are interconnected. We can't ever be whole on
the spiritual level unless we are biologically well.
"For example: I don't like clearcuts. I heard once
that it takes 40 acres of trees to print one issue of
the N.Y. Times. Since then I haven't bought another
newspaper-:-r-go to the library if I want to see a paper. That may seem insignificant, but it's an exam;ie of an action moving from the spiritual to the
mental to the political realms."
- Donald

'

"This is an age of personal transformation. Our
personal change is a metaphor for the changes the
Earth and our universe are going through. l want to
learn and listen, a.nd translate these lessons into my
life and work. 11
- Les

"Those who care about life have to come together
to reinforce each other in a multitude of ways to make
us all strong enough to live through the coming changes. We must do thia if we are to survive as a species .
"We have to keep in mind that this culture is real.
It exists. It is not people, it is not a government.
It is an energy form, and it stands against everything we value.
"We need to be strong and dedicated . We need to
have the will to stay together, to keep our ideals,
and to make our visions happen. Otherwise it won't
happen. If we believe something, we have to eat that
way, think that way, live that way."
- Andy

" We need to have a positive dream, a positive
vision. We need to focus on that and head for it
straight as an arrow.
"Looking around me, I see others changing, and I
see myself changing. We need to take the world as it
is, the good with the bad, and, starting with this,
to make it new. We need to affirm a positive future
and our ability to create it. We need to affirm our
ability to dream."
- Judith

It

~

an .&lt;.Mpi.11..i.ng da.y •••••••

Le.t' .6 aU 06 U6 ge.t .toge.the.11. 60.I!. the.
Katful.h Sp!Ung Ga-thell..&lt;.ng. See. you the.n!

#"
"-~TUAH - page 27

Winter 1985-86

�cfReLes

cle, I began with small stones and
sticks that I stuck in the ground at
the right time on the right days.
Later when I found a good rock and I
had the time, I'd haul it back there
and stick it in.
"This is the most primitive way
of making the simplest types of observations. It is now known that the ancient Europeans could predict eclipses by watching the moon. This is remarkable, because the key to predicting an eclipse is a slight wobble in
the moon's orbit, and this wobble is
visible only every 9. 3 years when the
moon is at the northernmost and southernmost points of her orbit. These
people were considered illiterate!
Bow could they have kept that information long enough to establish a repeating pattern of observations?"
THE PATIERNS IN NATURE

The stone circles acted as a
bridge between the Earth and the sky
for the early peoples. l:lumankind is
ever searching for patterns. It seems
to be in our nature to seek out the
order in our ever-changing world. In
their role as astronomical observatories, the rock monuments_pass on to
us the excitement the ancients felt
in discovering the cosmic order in
the movements of the heavens.
"At one time," said Lylich, "when
it turned winter, people didn't kn.ow
if it was going to be spring again or
ot. But when they could look at the
sun, and see it turn back, they could
say, 'Look! It ' s following the same
pattern it did last year!', and
they'd know everything was going·
long alright.''

(continued from p. 5)
There is also a power in the
Earth. Whether physical and/or spiritual it is capable of turning dowsers'
rods or making an electromagnetic
charge measurable on a gaussometer.
The Cherokee Indians of Katuah were
aware of this and recognized sacred
sites that were sources of spiritual
•power here in this land (see page 11).
It is said that th~ standing stones
of pre-Celtic Europe were also conductors for this mysterious Earth energy,
sometimes called the "dragon power"
and symbolically represented on the
great stones by spiral designs chiseled with great care onto so many of
the monuments.
It is surmised that this power was
readily perceptible to the ancestors
through senses that we have lost to
civilization, and that generating
and using this energy was a central
feature of the ceremonies and rituals
held at the sites.
"I hear stories," said Lylich,
"of people who touch big standing
stones and feel a tingle or a shock,
or who ·lose their balance and fall
to the ground. There are also stories
of strange electromagnetic effects or
weird weather associated with them.
"No one has told me that they
have felt that in our circle. Mostly
what I feel is a solid, massive,
rooted-in-the-Earth, basic-type feeling. Maybe that's what we need today."
This could very well be so, The
movements of the heavenly bodies,
which so transfixed the old ones, are
now proven and documented to the point
of being commonplace. But the connection to the Earth that the old ones
took for granted is only now being rediscovered by Mother Ela's children.
Perhaps by helping us to remember,
the stones are helping in a healing.
"Making this megalithic stone
circle was slow, but it wasn't difficult," said Lylich. "The time was
right and it felt like we were moving with a flow of something already
happening.

"The number four is a sacred
number to the Cherokees, and it seemed to be important in the construction of this circle . I was 40 last
year when we built it, and that was
the 400th year of European settlement
in North America--dating from the lost
colony of Manteo. It was also the
444th year since DeSoto's expedition
in 1540, which was the first time
white people penetrated these mountains.
We have had our way with this con-·
tinent for 400 years.The four directions, the four seasons, the four
rounds of a sweat lodge; 1n many ways
the number four signifies a completed
cycle. I think it means that we've had
our time here, and that now it's time
for something else to happen.
"It's time for a change 1n our attitude. We've been screwing it up for
400 yef.rs, maybe now it ' s time to
straighten it back for 400 years.
That ' s about how long it would take to
restore the wild places the continent
had when we first approached its
shores."
RESOURCE READING: Earth Magic by
Francis Hitchings (Wm. Morrow &amp;
Company, New York City, 1977)
- D.W.

Ly.Uch (;)[.(tba.wtL may be cont.ac.te.d
tlvt.ough Ka;tUah; Sox 873; CuLlowhee,
NC 2872;--

Pmvidin~ Pen&lt;&gt;n.1l Sttvicc
Allin~ Your Boal&lt; N..,.U

704.264.5866

In Speciali:od Fields

Books Q,.J

ThingsL~ ...
GARY HEMSOTH
!loolutlJ..-

?08 Blowu&gt;g Rock Road
Boone, Nonh Camlonn Ul607

A \'ARIF.TY OF
WHOJ.F.Sot!E BAKED

coons

SOI AH PllOUlJCTS WAIER ANALYSIS

RAN UAL l C lANIER
704 293 5912

:{AITAH -

page 28

llWY. 101
Rf. 68 BOX 125
CULLOWllEE, NC 28723

Winter 1985-86

�WINTER SOLSTICE-YULE The
longest night, light is born. This
is a time for community earth ceremonies and celebration. See Kat6ah
issue 06 for a suggested Winter
Solstice Earth ceremony.
CULLOWHEE, NC
"The G eat Forest: An Appalr
achian Story," ongoing through January 6, 1986. At The Mountain Heritage Center.
17

ASHEVILLE, NC
Dr. H. Ray Evers of the Evers
Clinic, Cottonwood , AL, one of the
most successful institutions offering alternative medical treatment
in the country , to speak on "Holistic Healing and Freedom of Choice"·
UNC-A, Humanities Lecture Hall· '
7:30 pm.
'
19

ASHEVILLE , NC
Christmas Caroling at Craggy
State Prison. Bring flashlights,
songsheets provided. Parking limited
Please carpool. (ABCCM Jail and
Prison Ministry). 7-8 pm.

HOT SPRINGS, NC.
Southern Dharma Retreat Center
will sponsor a 7-day meditation retreat, which will be led by John
Orr, a former Buddhist monk who now
lives and teaches in the DurhamChapel Hill area of N,C. The retreat
will cost $190., which includes all
meals and lodging. For further info
call 704-622-7112 or 704-254-1351.
28

3

BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC.
David Wilcox-original and
traditional folk tunes. Exceptional
guitarist, storyteller , singer and
songwriter. McDibbs, $2.00 9pm ,
16

BLACK M1'N. 1 NC .
Harriet Witt Miller-slides on
Halley ' s Comet, McDibbs, $2.00,
9pm , Children free , No smoking.
18

ASHEVILLE , NC.
Martin Luther King, Jr. prayer breakfast. Key speaker-Shirley
Chisholm. Call 253-37ll

FEBRUARY

28

ASHEVILLE,NC.
A concert in the Great Hall
by The Community Chorus of UNC-Asheville. Free Admission. Grove Park
Inn.4:00-5:00 pm.

BLACK HISTORY MONTH For
event info, call Y,M.I. Cultural
Center (704) 252-4614

29

2

CANDLEMAS-the light quickens.
GROUNDHOG DAY

7

MARS BILL, NC.

ASHEVILLE, NC.
A concert in the Great Ball
by The Asheville Junior Symphony .
Free Admission. Grove Park Inn.
4:00-5:00 pm.

•

Opening night of The G e.s t
r
Forest: An Appalachian Story Exhibi
at Rural Life Museum. Public Showing Feb . 8-April 29.
9
HALLEY'S COMET reaches perihelion .•. its closest point to the
sun. Earth, though , will be on the
opposite aide of the sun from Balley' a Comet so it will be impossible for us to see it.

Dr. Robert A. Resnick
CHIROPRACTIC PHYSI C IAN

MARCH
..;....we/ve,, now
l'Y\oved to
01.At"' Y\CW

off1ve .....)(

NATURAL FOOD STORE
&amp; DELI

CELEBRATING OUR 10th YEAR

'3'3S Me-vv imon Ave.
Ashe.vii le NG z~eo1
(704 ) 255. 6333

160 Broadway
Ashev ille, N.C. 28801

Open 1 Days A Week
Monday • Friday

(704) 253-7656

9:00 a .m. · 8:00 p.m.

Where Broadway
Meets Merrlmon
And 1
·240

9:00 a .m. · 6:30 p.m.

Saturday
Sunday
1:00

.m. · 5:00 .m.

2-15 WOMEN'S HISTORY CELEBRATION
Events at UNC-Asheville ( cal
(704) 258-6588) and A.S.U., Boone
( call (704) 262-2170) &amp; elsewhere .
8-21 HALLEY ' S COMET. Look south
in the sky before sunrise.
18-25 CENTRAL AMERICA WEEK For
program info, call (704) 252-9167
21-23 BOONE , NC.
Appalachian Studies Conferenc
Center for Continuing Education ,
Appalachian State University ,

herbs , na tive pla nt s, pere nnials,
flowers, fruit trees, bulbs,
bedd ing pla n ts.
80 Lakeside Drive
8/ IOl hs of a mile from Hdrdee'!&gt;
in Franklin, N.C .
fo r informdlion call 524·3321

M ALAPROP'S
BOOKSTORE/ CAFE
BOOKS -

CARDS -

RECOROS

81 H4YWOOO ST. ASHEVlllE. NC 29801 704-254-8734

KA7f A - pa ge 29
H

Winter 1985-86

£

�LIFE DESIGN: A counseling/consultant
service; addressing communication ,
cooperation and a centered, focused
approach to ENJOYING your life!
Group Workshops , Individual and Family Sessions. Located at 5 Ravenscroft ~. Asheville. Phone Cat Gilliam
at 254-8140 or Lorra Streifel at 2535575.
RURAL SOUTRERN VOICE for PEACE
(R.S.V.P.) is a network of people
in rural/small city communities
in the Southeast who are working
to build the nonviolent alternative systems and lifestyles that
can bring peace to our world.
Publishes RSVP Newsletter. More
info : RSVP, Rt 5 Box 335, Burnsville , NC 28714

NICARAGUAN COFFEE. Delicious,
roasted coffee beans or ground
coffee available for $6.00 a lb.
Contact: Steve Livingston (704)
257-3019

IN 17th YEAR OF PUBLICATION, Akwesasne Notes is a Journal for Native
and Natural Peoples, covering world
events which effect indigenous peoples. For subscriptions or tax-deductible contributions: AKWESASNE
NOTES, P.O. Box 196, Mohawk Nation ,
Rooseveltown , NY 13683-0196.

liEADWATERS: What is your experience with water? Would you share
your experience in your own means
of expression (poetry, story, dance, music) for a performance and
recording to explore and celebrate the beauty and purity of the
mountain headwaters? We will focus
on water in all its aspects-our
goal is harmony. If you would like
to be in a core group to create
this production, contact Bill Melanson, P.O. Box 628, Asheville, NC
28802
T'AI CHI , a philosophy you can
dance to. Mondays 7:30-9:30 pm
at 70 Lexington Ave . Asheville
with Harold Miller.
APPALACHIAN GINSENG COMPANY. Stratfiied Seeds, Seedlings, 2-5 year old
Roots. P.O . Box 547 , Dillsboro ,NC.
28725
ALTERNATIVE METHODS for controlling
garden pests- send $2 . 00 to Joe
Armstrong, Rt. l,Box 121 , Bardstown , KY. 40004 .
If you have experience with methods
of pest control that do not rely on
synthetic pesticides, send your contributions to the "Alternative Methods
of Pest Control" list being compiled
by Joe Armstrong. Copies of the list
available for $2.00 and a long SASE
from address above

SELF-RELP CREDIT UNION has now
opened a branch office in Western
North Carolina through the State
Employees Credit Union system. For
more info: Write: S.R.C.U., P.O.
Box 3259, Durham, NC 27705, Or go
by: State Employees Credit Union,
200 All Souls Crescent, Asheville,
NC/telephone: (704) 274-4200
We are makers of Bamboo Flutes, Each
of our flutes is capable of a twooctave range. They are electronically
tuned, burnished, and lacquered. For
prices and more information, write:
Wood Song
Rob Yard
Route 3, Box 120-3
Floyd, VA. 24091
BACKROADS TOURS - A 32 page collection
of self-guided motor tours through the
rural areas of the Virginia Blue Ridge
-$2.75
Laurel Publications
Route 1
Meadows of Dan , VA
24120

WEBWORKING is free.
Send submissions to:
Katuah
P.O.BOX 873
CULLOWREE, NC
28723

·waterman
ram pumps

Q
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&gt;

1\~ll~I
~a-Wr~

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'

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T -SHIRTS
E:1c h ori11 i n;il

••

lf@~ia:n

hand screened in 5 colors

on lhe line~l 100%
pre-shrunk cotton

PaY

"why
to pump water when a
ram pump wiil do it for free ?"
Send for free brochure
C. Hollifield
355 Cedar Creek Road
Black Mountain, NC 28711
(704) 669-6821
~

'&lt;ATI:..\H -

page 30

short a nd long sleeve t·shirts.

I

Sho11 Sleeve •1 ppcl S&amp;P C/f£CJ&lt;.H.a,"'41( I
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Bloclc Beor 0 Silver 0 Ton 0 White Phone
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or wnle for brochure

0

0

Winter 1985-86

�OUR ERROR

We neglected to put the by-line on
the excellent article on "Acorn
Bread" in the fall issue of Katuab.
The article was written by S~
·Bear - herbalist, counselor, and
co-director of the Pepperland Farm

Swi:lit.sfi 8 Degi .:l&gt;l11xk .JJ(ai.."1;1'
~i~ 8 1'.Jfaril!J 13afa11ct1~/

Cerrffi£cl

Camp.

628-1537

GET BACK! ISSUES OF KATUAH
ISSUE TWO - WINTER 1983-84

ISSUE SIX - WINTER 1984-85

Yona • Bear Hunters •Pigeon River
• Another Way With Animals • Alma:
Poems • Becoming Politically Effective • Mountain Woodlands •
Katuah Under The Dril l • Spiritual Warriors

Winter Solstice Earth Ceremony •
Horsepasture River • Coming of
Light • Log Cabin Roots • Mountain Agriculture-The Right Crop•
William Taylor • Forest's Future

ISSUE SEVEN - SPRING 1985

ISSUE THREE - SPRING 1984

Sustainable Economics • Bot
Springs • Worker ownership • The
Great Economy • Self Help
Credit Onion • Wil d Turkey • Responsible Investing • Working
In The Web Of Life

Sustainable Agriculture • Sunflower_, • Human Impact On The
Forest • Childrens ' Education •
veronica Nicholas : Woman In
Politics • Little People •
Medicine Allies

ISSUE EIGHT - SOMMER 1985
ISSUE FOUR - SOMMER 1984
Celebration: A Way of Life•
Katuah 18,000 Years Ago • Sacred
Sites • Folk Arts in the Schools
·Sun Cycle/Moon Cycle • Hilda
Downer• Cherokee Heritage Center• Who Owns Appalachia?

water Orum • Water Quality • Kudzu
• Solar Eclipse • Clearcutting •
Trout • Going To Water•Ram Pumps
• Microhydro • Poems: Bennie Lee
Sinclair, Jim Wayne Miller

ISSUE NINE - FALL 1985

ISSUE FIVE - FALL 1984

The Waldee Forest • The Trees
Speak • Migrating Forests •
Horse Logging • Starting A
Tree crop • Orban Trees •
J.\corn Bread • Myth Time

Harvest • Old Ways In Cherokee •
Ginseng • Nuclear Waste • Our
Celtic Heritage • Bioregionalism
Past, Present, And Future • John
Wilnoty • Healing Darkness •
Politics Of Participation

I

KATUAH: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalach ians
B~x 873;
Cul l owhee, N~rth Carolina 28723

ORDER FORM

For more i n fo : call Marn ie Muller (70 4) 252- 916 7

Name

Regular Membership ••• • • $10/ yr .
Sponsor • • .••••..•• •• • •• $20/ y r .
Contr ibutor • • . • •• ••• ••• $50/ yr .

Add r ess

Enclou .d .i4 ,
.t~.l.4 t66o~t

c ity
Area Code

State

Zip

$
4n

txt~A

.to 9.ivt
bo o4.t

Back Issue s
Issue 2
Issue 3
Issue 4
Issue 5
Issue 6
Issue 7
Issue 8
Issue 9

@ $2 . 0 0 = $
@ $2.00 .. $- @

$2.00 =

s--

@ $2. 00 • $- -

@ $2.00 •
@ $2 . 00 @ $2 . 00
@ $2.00
TOTAL PRICE •
postage p a id

$-$=
$
$==
$_ _

I can be a local contact
peraon for m area
y

Phone NUilber

KA rf AH - pa~e 31

Wint er 1985-86

�</text>
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                <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, Issue 10, Winter 1985-1986</text>
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                <text>The theme of the tenth issue of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; is on holistic healing, folk medicine traditions, and sacred places. Authors and artists in this issue include: Meridel LeSeur, Kate Rogers, Barbara Reimensnyder,  Marlene Mountain, Stephen Knauth, Douglas A. Rossman, Nancy-Lou Patterson, D. Massey, David Wheeler, Roger Stephens, Richard Ciccarelli, Diannah Beauregard, J. Linn Mackey, and Karen Paquette. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, 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. </text>
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                  <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;,&amp;nbsp;was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span&gt;, 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.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; 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.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This digital collection is only a portion of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah&lt;/em&gt;-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 &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;. 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.</text>
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                <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, Issue 11, Spring 1986</text>
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                <text>The eleventh issue of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; 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. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, 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.</text>
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ATUAB

$JOO
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ISSUE XII

) " SUMMER 1986

�LIVI~ IN 'THE GARC&gt;EN..............................................•...•...............1

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Tl-E
Nl.n.EAR FEFERENDl.M..---···..····----·······-··········-···.3
SHIIT'Ali&lt;E•••.••.•..•.•..•.......•......••••..•........................................................4
"Tl-E WATER CYCLE": A PC:EM...................................................•..6
'THE SACRE.D SCA,RAB.•...•...•...........................................................7
CIRCl.ES
~UNICATIC:&gt;l'il-................................................•...8

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fEVIEW: JHEWISE VOMN HERBAL
FOO Tl-IE Cl-tll.DBEARI~ YEAR...........................................9
REVBV: 1HE SMALL-scAl..E AQ.JACULTI.JAE BOOK..........10
C3C:XD MEDONE: TOOA,COO.........................................................12
SUN ROOT.....•...................................................................................14
POEM: "THE HCMESTEAD ~ HORN MCX.JNTAIN"....-.............14
"HD..AHl'VlJ_.": THE FORMATIQ\J OF 1HE
APPAl..ACl-tlAN ~NTAINS.............................................15
NATIJRAL ~ NEWS..............................................................19

'1l£ WIUDNTIEE": ACHILDREN'S STORY......-.................25

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LtUING 1 THE: GAPlOc(\)
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"The garden", as it is known in the community below,
occupies a small clearing among the folded ridges of the
Black Mountains. In the summer the Rarden blooms
profusely. Flowers, shrubs, vegetables, and trees crowd
toget~r in what first appears to be a wild disarray of diverse
colors and textures falling over the stone terraces stacked up
the hillside. A tiny log cabin and gnomish yurt stand at the
edge of the trees to one side, while "the pavilion", a large
buildmg that is both work space and community danc~ hall
looms above.
In the midst ofthe riot of Rrowth, partners Joe Hollis
and Rhea Rose Orm1Jnd work, looking like the small
human figures in the middle of a Chinese paiflling. Joe has
been on this site for 15 years now, intuitively creating an
enviroMMnt to meet his particular needs of habitation, and
consciously attuning and adapting himself to his chosen
niche.

KATUAH - page 1

ISSUE XII
SUMMm 1986

by Joe Hollis
illustrations by Rhea Rose Ormond

"I came here with an idea to start a garden. It took: me
a couple of years to clear trees and to build this cabin where I
live now. But then I started to garden. I started right in front
of the cabin, and I've been working out since then. The soil
is good here; there's a lot of leaf mold in it. But it took: a lot
of clearing to get out the roots, the stumps, the black:benies and the rocks. It is extremely rocky in this hollow. Some
kind of landslide ended up here. The rocks are all jumbled;
you can see how they ended up on top of each other. As I
began to dig them out. I made rock piles. Then. to get rid of
the rock piles, I made walls. Now this whole hillside is a
tcrraccd garden, and the terraces are still growing. There arc
rock piles down there right now waiting to get laid up.
"I started with the standard flowering percnniaJ plants poppy, Sweet William, bulbs. All good, sturdy local
varieties that I'd get by trading with old ladies down in the
neighborhood. Then when I bad some walls laid up, I got
the idea to put strawberries among the stones. Once I had the
notion that plants could help tie the walls together, I stumbled
into the world of rock gardening. For many people, rock
- continued on p. 13
Summer 1986

�'

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EDITORIAL STAFF THIS ISSUE:
Rob Messick
Martha Tree
Martha Overlock
J. Linn Mackey
David Wheeler
Will Ashe Bason
Chip Smith
Mamie Muller
Michael Red Fox
Scott Bird
Brad Stanback
Judith Hallock

EDITORIAL ASSISIANCE:
Joe Roberts
Brooks Michael
Jeff Fobes

EDITORIAL OFFICE
THIS ISSUE:
Asheville, NC

PRINTEPBY:
Sylva lk.rsls1
Publishing Co.
Sylva, NC

WEITEUSAI:

TELEPHONE:
(704) 252-9167

Kmih

Box 873
Cullowbee, NC 28723

COVER· Rob Messick

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Statement ofPurpose
Here in the southern-most heanland of the Appalachian
mountains, the oldest mountain range on our continent,
Turtle Island, a small but growing group has begun to take
on a sense of responsibiliry for the implications of that
geographical and cultural heritage. This sense of
responsibiliry centers on the concept of living within the
natural scale and balance of universal systems and laws. We
begin by invoking the Cherokee name "Kariiah" as the
old/new name for this area of the mountains and for its
journal as well.
The editorial priorities for us are to collect and
disseminate information and energy which pertains
specifically to this area, and to foster the awareness that the
land is a living being deserving of our love and respect.
Living in this manner is the only way to ensure the
sustainability of our biosphere and a lasting place for~
ourselves in its contifll4ing evolutionary process.
) ,
We seem to have reached the fulcrum point of a "db or
die" situation in terms of a contilll4ed quality standard of life
on this planet. It is the aim ofthis journal tO db its part in the
re-inhabitation and re-culturation of the Kamah province of
the Southern Appalachians. This province is indicated by its
natural boundaries: the New River vicinity to the north; the
foothills ofthe piedmont area to the east; Yona Mountain and
the Georgia hill.s to the south; and the Tennessee River Valley
to the west.
Humbly, as self-appointed stewards with sacred
instructions as "new natives" to protect and preserve its
sacredness, we advocate a centered approach to the concept
of decentralization and hope to become a support system for
those accepting the challenge of sustainabiliry and the
creation of harmony and balance in a total sense, here in this
plaa.
We welcome all correspondence, criticism, pertinent
informa1ion, articles, artwork, etc. with hopes that K1l1fJ.gh
will grow to serve the best interests of this region and all its
living, breathing family members.
• The Editors

The Internal Revenue Service has declared K.aWAh a
non-profit organization under section 50J(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code.
All contributions to KilWlb. are deductible from
personal income tax.
Summer 19 6

�I

THE IMPORTANCE OF SAYING "NO"

'

THE NORTH CAROLINA NUCLEAR WASTE REFERENDUM
by Avram Friedman
On May 6, 1986, 93% of the
electorate in North Carolina rejected the
location of a high level nuclear waste and
spent fuel repository in that state.
At first glance' this event may not
seem astounding, but its political
significance is potentially far-reaching and
could mean a watershed of good news for
environmentalists on the local, state,
regional, and national levels.
The news of this referendum is still
so fresh that as of yet many organiz.ations,
active individuals, and politicians have not
grasped the meaning of what has happened.

A Powerful New Tool For Local
Organizations
A powerful tool has just been handed
to anti-nuclear waste, anti-nuclear energy,
and environmental organiz.ations in North
Carolina State officials and politicians who
have their fingers lifted to the winds to
sense the public mood, just ran into a
hurricane. 1t is now a matter of public
record that Nonh Carolinians almost
unanimously reject participation in one part

of the nuclear fuel cycle. Politicians can
now be effectively pressured into taking
further environmentally responsible actions.
For example, since the referendum,
the Citizens for a Choice on Nuclear Waste
(CCNW), of Jackson County, has informed
every state legislator that North Carolina
should not enter into a "compact" with other
southeastern states that would result in this
state receiving all th~low-level radioactive
waste produced by the entire region.
CCNW told the politicians that the public
would be informed how each legislator
votes on the issue when the decision is
made this July in Raleigh. Will politicians
dare to stand against 93% of the public in an
election year?
Although the entire 93% cannot
necessarily be transferred from one related
issue to the next, a politician can only use
the information available to him/her to draw
assumptions about the public mood. The
only concrete indication available at this
time, concerning nuclear issues, is the waste
referendum. Combined with the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant accident in April, the

THERE WILL BE NO "SUSPENSION"OF
To those who have worked on the related
issues of the nuclear waste dump, the
Monitored Retrievable Storage Facility
(MRS), and the transportation of nuclear
waste through the mountains of KatUah, it is
blatantly obvious that the recent
announcemer.t l.&gt;y Energy Secretary John
Herrington that the search for an eastern
waste suppository has been "suspended" is
a political move designed to take the heat off
the incumbent administration until after the
next presidential elections, at which time the
hunt for the second nuclear waste
suppository will be continued at full force.
It is hard to believe the degree of
callousness of those who would toy in this
way with the hopes, the dreams, and the
expectations of the people who live in the
affected areas. Ultimately, their scheme will
backfire, because eventually the people will
know that they have been disenfranchised
by the machinations of the technocrats who
seem to wield so much power in
government While it may put people to
sleep for a time, in the end it will serve only
to drive home the realization that doing
away with nuclear involvement altogether is
the only permanent solution to the problem
of nuclear waste.
Besides the obvious goal of
manipulating the electoral vote, the strategic
purposes of this move, the "suspension
announcement", are twofold:
First, the nuclear consortium hopes to
divide the anti-waste movement They hope

KA

AH-page 3

that by offering a false security to the
residents of the eastern states, they can
increase the pressure on the western states
to force a nuclear waste dump on them.
Onoe this is accomplished, they will then
tum their full attention to the goal of
establishing a second dump site in the east
The bureaucrats' second purpose is to
create a lull in which they might establish an
MRS facility in eastern Tennessee. The
MRS always has been and still is the !'mt
step in the strategy to bring a nuclear waste
dump into the Appalachians. Allowing the
MRS to be emplaced would constitute an
engraved invitation to emplant a nuclear
waste suppository in Katfiah sometime in
the future.
In one way the "suspension"
announcement is helpful. It makes clear the
difference between the politicians who are
working in the interests of the people of this
area and in the interests of the land itself and
those politicians who are working strictly in
their own interest or on behalf of large
corporations in other parts of the country.
Those who do not care about this land and
its people are parading about crowing, "It's
over! We've won! It's all finished now!"
They are trying to disarm us and put us to
sleep in the face of an impending nuclear
catastrophe.
But the leaders who have the interests
of the people at heart are cautioning that the
mountain interstates are stiJJ prime routes for
the transportation of nuclear wastes and still

referendum bas dramatically shifted the
burden of popular support to the nuclear
industry. Anti-nuclear groups will find it
much easier to convince politicians that the
safe political ground lies in opposing nukes.
In addition to the political leverage
gained in dealing with legislative action,
anti-dump groups and individuals will now
find it much easier and safer to carry out
further actions against the U.S. Department
· continued on . 26

DISBELIEF
opposing the MRS. A truly conscientious
leader would exhibit the courage to call for a
moratorium on the construction and
operation of all new nuclear facilities, but a
leader of such caliber has not yet stepped
forward.
The "suspension" of the nuclear
waste dump plan in the east does not mean a
suspension of interest on the part of the
DOE, but rather the suspension of a
panicular strategic approach that has proved
a failure. The DOE is simply going to
approach its self-chosen task more
carefully, trying to diYide and then conquer
the anti-suppository movement and to
disarm the people of Katuab in hopes they
would awaken one day in the future to be
faced with afait accompli in the form of an
MRS facility installed in Tennessee just
waiting to package high-level radioactive
wastes for a second waste suppository in
Appalachia.
If this country is to have a nuclear
future, and there is no doubt that this is
what the DOE, the present political
administration, and the giant energy
corporations desire, there will necessarily
have to be a second nuclear waste dump.
The recent "suspension" of activity makes
clear our task: to expose the actual
environmental and economic costs of
nuclear power and to promote the
development of a more viable fuel to power
our future.
,
ummer 1986

�by Michael Red Fox
The generic name is Lentinus e®des,
but say "shc-i-ta'-kee" if you want people to
know that you arc talking about an oriental
mushroom that has become a popular item
in western urban gourmet cuisine. Long
known in both China and Japan as "The
Emperor's Food" and jealously guarded by
Samurai warriors, shiitake today offers the
more democratic promise of being a
low-cost way to diversify small farm
income and to improve the health of regular
users.
Demand for the dark brown,
wide-gilled shiitakc mushrooms far exceeds
the present supply. Why the demand?
Because as well as being renowned for its
flavor, the easily grown mush.room resists
bruising and spoiling and can be quickly
pickled, canned, or dried (remaining
nutritious for 13 months). Using beat to
dry shiitakc enhances certain popular navor
characteristics. Shiitakc rehydrates well and
when cooked maintains its color and impartS
a smokey. full-bodied, aromatic navor
while maintaining a delightfully delicate,
fleshy texture. It can be added to any dish
which uses the familiar white mushroom,
though much Jess shiitakc is needed.
Shiitakc has twice the protein value of
the common mushroom and contains all
eight essential amino acids in proportions
similar to that or milk and animal nesh. It is
low in calorics and contains large amounts
of B vitamins and minerals.
For centuries, the Japanese have
priud the health· giving benefits of shiitake.
Now modern research shows that shiitake
reduces scrum cholesterol, strengthens the
immune system against viral diseases, and
bas prevented or caused remission of certain
typeS of tumors in mice.
Sbiitake already generates more than
$1 billion annually in export sales for Japan.
There arc nearly 200,000 shiitake growers
in Japan raising 161,000 metric tons of
shlitake every year.
Toby Farris, head of the USDA
Mushroom Project in Asheville, NC,
estimates that small farms in KatUah can
increase their incomes 30% by growing
shiitakc. But he suggests that small farmers
gradually develop shiitakc cultivation as a
stabilizing second income rather than trying
to turn it into a get-rich.quick scheme.
Market price of fresh shiitake is
anywhere from $4.00 - 20.00 per pound.
This price varies according to the quality of

GROWING SHIITAKE - HERE'S HOW

There arc six key cultivation phases in
growing shiitakc, each of which requires
careful attention. These arc: 1) obtaining
viable inoculum (spawn) in pure culture and
storing it until use, 2) preparing logs for
cultivation, 3) inoculation, 4) laying the logs
to favor fungal growth, 5) raising the spawn
to favor fruiting, and 6) harvesting and
storing the crop.
Spawn: Shiitakc spawn is usually
grown on small dowel or peg-like pieces of
wood 3/8 to 3/4 inches in length that are
supplied in sealed autoclaved plastic
containers. Occasionally it is grown on
sawdust.
The spawn should be moist, generally
white, and appear rather fuzzy. Spawn may
be kept as long as one year under
refrigeration. The retail cost of spawn
varies widely, so it would pay to carefully
check different prices and quality.

the product and the location of the market
A com of oak firewood can sell for as
little as $30.00. That same cord of wood
could produce between $1,000 - 2,000 of
shiitake during the average five-year life
cycle.

Preparing the logs: The most
important ingredient of a good shHtakc farm
is a sustainable source of hardwoods,
prefcrabTy oak,. 6CCCii, or hornbeam. Softer
hardwoods, such as poplar and maple arc
being used experimentally to nurture
shiitakc mushrooms, but whether they have
a commercial future is still uncertain.
White, black, northern red, and chestnut
oak wilJ hold onto their bark and maintain
the proper moisture content for shiitake.
Thick-barked trees, such as locust, hamper
the inoculations and spread of the shiitakc
spawn.
A growing area is necessary that
provides protection from direct sunlight
(70-85% shade is best) and from strong
winds. Nearby there must be a good source
of clean water.
Shiitake is a non-pathogenic fungus
and will not grow on living tissues. It
survives on dead wood only and must
establish itself before competitive fungi
colonize the wood. For these reasons, only
live trees arc cut for shiitakc cultivation.
Cutting the live tree is best done in the
fall or winter to capture the supply of sugar
stored in the dormant wood. Also the bark
tends to stay on the logs longer if the trees
arc cut when the leaves arc gone. Keeping
the bark on the logs and keeping it intact is

�critical for proper moisture control and to
block competitive "weed" fungi
Logs are cut to 3-5 foot lengths and
may be 2-8 inches in diameter. Branches
may also be used. Seal the ends of the logs
with a latex paint or soft wax to provide a
moisture barrier and to keep out the "weed
fungi". It is important to keep the exposed
log ends from coming in contact with the
soil. Therefore, never skid the logs from
the forest. Soil contact greatly increases
contamination of the logs. Stack the logs
off the ground for six weeks to allow the
natural defense mechanism against fungi to
die off and allow the moisture level to adjust
to 50-70%.
How will you know when the logs
have reached the proper moisture level? It
can be measured by slicing off the end of a
log and weighing it This figure is the net
weight Weigh the cut end again after it has
been dried overnight in a warm oven. This
figure is the dry weight. Subtracting the dry
weight from net weight gives the weight of
the water in the slice. Dividing that figure
by the net weight of the piece gives the
percent of moisture in the log.
Before inoculation, scrape lichen,
mosses and debris off the logs without
damaging the barlc.
Inoculation: Inoculation is best
done when daytime temperatures are 50-60
degrees F and the coldest weather is past.
March and April are the best times to
inoculate. Inoculation should be done in a
shaded area to avoid direct exposure of the
spawn to sunlight
To inoculate the logs, drill holes 6-8
inches apart in a row along the length of the
log.
Insert a dowel in each hole
immediately after drilling. Space the rows
so that the holes are staggered and 2-3
inches apart around the citcumfercnce of the
log. Tap the dowels in gently with a
hammer and immediately brush over the
plug with a thin layer of wax. Growth
begins almost immediately under favorable
conditions. If sawdust-grown spawn is
used, the holes should be completely filled
with the sawdust-and-spawn mixture.

Laying: In practice, most failures in
shiitake cultivation have been traced to
incorrect stacking of the logs in the "laying
yard" that creates conditions that favor
"weed fungi" instead of the shiitake.
Logs should be laid at a 45 degree
angle to encourage growth of the shiitake
mycelia. They should be reversed every 2-4
months to encourage even mycelial growth.
In addition, the logs may be soaked in water
for 18-24 hours if necessary during
exceptionally dry periods. The optimum
conditions in the laying yard are
temperatures between 59-82 degrees F and a
relative humidity of 80-85%.
Raising: The following winter the
logs can be moved to the "raising yard".
There they arc laid nearly upright or stacked
log cabin style and kept shaded and moist
until fruiting.
A relatively dry log surface will help
discourage the growth of surface molds.
Therefore, if logs are watered artificially,
they should be watered thoroughly for a
relatively short period of time. Studies
show that if motsture is maintained near
70%, a 50% increase in production will
result, but light, frequent waterings should
be avoided.
In commercial production,
dehydration of the logs followed by soaking
in cool water 55-70 degrees F is often done
to stimulate fruiting. Logs that have been
dehydrated usually produce bumper crops
within a week of being soaked! Soaking
also tends to eliminate cerUin kinds of
pests.
Any logs that lose their bark should
be discarded. Old logs should be disposed
of in a separate location a good distance
from the cultivation site.

logs ca.n provide 3-5 years of consistent
cropping of shiitake mushrooms.
Cultivated in the Orient for more than
400 years and praised as the "ginseng of
mushrooms" and "elixir of life'', shiitake
offers special promise for small farmers in
Katuah.
Happy 'shrooming!

SOURCES OF SHIITAKE MUSHROOM

SPAWN AND CULTIVATION AIDS:
Fruiting: Shiitake is capable of
fruiting only after the mycelia have
completely colonized the log. First fruiting
usually occurs early in spring or in late fall
of the year following inoculation. At this
time, a fuzzy white fungal growth can be
seen at the cut ends of the Jog in the
sapwood area, especially just under the
bark. From this time on, conditions should
be altered w favor fruiting.
To fruit, the fungus requires abundant
moisture, sufficient air movement, and little
exposure to light Fruiting is favored by
cool nights of 46-72 degrees F followed by
warm days and a constantly high relative
humidity of 85-90%.
When the mushrooms appear, the
caps begin as round buttons and flatten out
as the mushroom matures. They will
eventually reach a size of 2-6 inches in
diameter. A flush of shiitake may last a
week.
Harvesting:
Mushrooms are
harvested as the cap begins to open to
expose the gills. Fresh shiitake can be
stored under refrigeration in ventilated
containers for 2 weeks.
Continuing Harvests: After
ceasing to produce mushrooms, the logs
must be rested for 3-6 months in an
environment similar to the raising
conditions. Winter conditions in KatUah
ordinarily would not damage the mycelia as
they lay dormant, ready to flush again
during the next spring and again the
following fall. Properly treated and cured,

American Forest Mushroom Association
P.O. Box 1362
Asheville, NC 28802

Ellie Corporation
Route 1
Arvonia, VA 23004
Mushroompeople

P.O. Box 158
Inverness, CA 94937
Dr. Yoo Farm
P.O. Box 290
College Park, MD 20740

REFERENCES:
Shiitake News ($25 I year)

from Forest Resource Center
Route 2, Box 156-A
Lanesboro, MN 55949
Shiitake Oardcnine and Fannin&amp;
by Bob Harris ($3.00)
CUltiyation of Shiitake The Japanese forest

Mushroom. on Loes
by Gary Leatham ($1.50)
How to erow Forest Mushrooms CShiitakel
by Daniel D. Kuo and Maw H. Kuo
($10.45)
(Books listed above are available from
Mushroompeople)

"

�KATUAH - page 6

Sum.mer 1986

�I have been _successfully
experimenting with scandt1'cctles and their
larvae as an answer to the problem of
disposing of human waste. After eight
years of 'field research', I feel I can now
pass on what I have uncovered to .Ka.1Wih
readers.
Scarab beetle larvae eat fecal matter
with a vengeance, turning it into a flaky,
dry, odorless substance, which can later be
used as a fertilizer. It is an extremely
sanitary process, and no flies venture near
the scarab beetle's domain, as they'll eat fly
eggs too. The waste becomes so broken
down or compacted that an individual could
not fill a two foot square bole for many
years no matter how much food be
consumed.
A change of location will not confuse
the beetles, provided it is not too far away.
All you need do is dig a new hole and bait
it, and when spring has been around for a
while, the beetles will be in the base of the
hole awaiting your return. They will roll the
fecal matter into little balls and lay their
eggs.
You may cover the hole with the
luxury of an outhouse, or simply cover it
with plywood so the scarabs won't drown
when it rains. And as a matter of courtesy I
avoid urinating on them. An empty jar will
suffice for thaL Also avoid using lime.
In peak summer months, one visit to
the outhouse will be disposed of in a matter
of minutes, provided you have built up a
good population. They slow down activity
when the nights get below freezing, and
when the days no longer hold wannth they
become dormant, not noticeably becoming
efficient again until late spring or early
summer. I know one fellow who kept his
larvae warm enough to keep them active
throughout the year so that there was no
gap. I have an alternative outhouse that I
use a few months out of the year. This past
year my larvae did not close up shop until
early January, but I kept a number of the
larvae alive on into the winter by placing a
large frying pan over them. On cold ni~hts
this was warmed by a candle I placed m a
jar covered by a metal lid punched with
holes. I would pull it all off in the mornings
and all the little things would be huddled
under the operation. But I began to worry
that I might be interfering with their normal
life cycle or that when the new adults came,
they might cat the balls with the eggs. In
any case, on the coldest night of the year
they perished. Either the candle went out,
or after setting up my little rig, trembling,
with a flashlight in my mouth, I forgot to
light the candle. They must have cocooned
or died thinking I was crazy.
I think they can be kept alive in the
KA

AH-page 7

winter, but at this time I would recommend
keeping a batch to survive the winter and a
batch to keep their natural cycle for this
region.
Facts on scarab beetles arc mentioned
in some texts, but utilizing their
undertakings has never been considered,
nor their effectiveness realized. At least not
since the Egyptians, who regarded both
beetles and their larvae as sacred.
My variety of beetle is indigenous to
the piedmont of South Carolina. They arc
black and arc about the size of a quarter. A
smaller, colorful variety has infiltrated their
ranks in lesser numbers.
I do not have any good pictures of
them. I have a very overexposed slide of
one beetle. The slide was taken under far
too powerful a flash. The photographer
should have gone with a bright light (but be
was stressfully lazy). Usually they arc very
gentle and docile, but this poor beetle must
have bu.med its retinas out, for it went
berserk - I never knew they could move that
fast I put it back in the gallon jar to take it
back home, but somehow it escaped,
probably into the environs of the car, and I
have felt quite sick about it ever since.
When you get to know them, you will know
that this is no joke.
I have never considered turning this
operation into a business, though the right
person with the right setup could easily do
so. If the dung ball gets rolling I could bask
in the knowledge that I had done
humankind, Mother Earth, and life itself a
great service. I do not really eat enough to
punch them out in vast quantities, though I
do have more than enough, and usually feel
obligated to make sure they get enough to
eat during their active cycles. If I bad a
larger setup a.n d more active, shitting
humans, populations would soar. And I
could go to Europe!
I personally started with about 60
larvae. I expect 7- 10,000 by late summer,
but it could be in the millions with more
food. Sending larvae is a way to start a
herd. They arc clean and easy to ship. I am
willing to give away starter colonies maybe for a $10.00 mailing and handling
fee. And if someone is enterprising enough
to get a business going, a bumble royalty
would not insult my virtues.
Neither the larvae nor the beetles arc
offensive to the sight or in any other
manner. They are man (sic) and beast at
their finest hour.
For more information, contact
Corry
P.O. Box 5242
Columbia, SC 29250

The ancien1 Egyptians Wt!refascinated
by the small scarab beetle. The scarab
beetle, Scarabeus sggr, "lays its eggs in a
ball of dung some two inches across,· this it
subsequen1ly pushes around with its rear
legs with great determination, loohng for a
suitable crevice in which to deposit it.
Inside the ball, the larvaefud on the dung until they eventually break through the ball
to freedom. This was regarded by the
ancienr Egyptians as a most mysterious
process of self-generation: the young butlu
appearing from a ball qfdung aµr they had
been helped only by a single scarab butle.
Jn a grand analogy, ii was a beetle thal was
seen to be rolling the sun itself over the
eastern horizon, as the climax to the
self generative processes thal had taken
place during the night. The beetle itself
became a symbol for the change of state
from deaJh to rebirth, which was ofprimary
interest to the ancienl theologians, who
described it in sorru: ofthe long tats ofthe
royal tombs in considerable detail. The
beetle also became one ofthe most popular
symbols of ancien1 Egypt and small scarab
seals were made in mi/JWns, a tradition thal
continues to this day. It seems too, that
parts of the mysterious functions of this
beetle have never been lost since ancien1
times; early in the presen1 cenJUry the village
women of Thebes ate these harny black
insects which were supposed to aid their
fertility, and many properties similar to the
ancient symbolisms are attributed to
Scarabeus sacer in the writings of the
mediaeval alchemists."
from valley Qf tbc Kines.
byJohnRorru:r, 1981.

~
Summer 1986

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KAWAH - page 8

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~

Summer I 986

�Review
Wise Woman Herb al
Childbearing Year

for

the

by Susun S. Weed
published by Ashtree Publishing, POB 64,
Woodstock, NY 12498
($ 6.95 plus $ 2.00 for shipping &amp; handling)
reviewed by Ise Williams
For more than a million years Wise Women have used
herbs - ga1hered, eaten, tended, loved herbs - and taughl their
daughters the wisdom of herbs in the cllildbean·ng year.
In Europe, five hundred years ago, men tortured and
burned the Wise Women who healed with herbs, the
midwives, the ones who celebrated the cyclical ways.
Calling them witches, they burned them in millions and
broke the flow of mother-to-daughter transmission.
In the Americas, their sons in later years killed the
medicine women and c11randeras. the Wise Women of the
New World. Then they denied the existence of Wise Wome"
in history.
Without our connections ro each other and the Earth,
withollt our mothers' wisdom, we forgot our power. When
we were told that we had no souls, and no minds, and no
sisters, we believed it was true. When they cold us that
childbearing was too difficult for women, midwives, and
herbs, we believed it was true.
Bm the Wise Women live in our dreams, our visions,
our deepest munories. We hear their whispers, and we
listen..
Wise Women herbalists see the whole herb, the
physical forces and the subtle forces, and respect the
wholeness. Wise Women make use of rite color, form,
spirit, and substance of a plant, using it as a whole, not
dividing it into parts and seeing power only in the HactiveH
principle. Wise Women lcnbw thaJ we are each whole and
unique, in an individu.a l, everchanging, symbiotic
relationship with herbs.
Wise Woman healing is grounded, earthed, rooted.
The Wise Woman accepts herself and her changes, her
moods, and her bleedings. She tends to birthing and dying
withaur alienaiion from herself or rite ones site helps. Site is
open to the life song surrounding her, she ~ the secrets
of the herbs. Fairies appear to her; devas bless her. All that
she needs for health and well-being grows within the fall of
her foot.
This book speaks to the Wise Woman in you - the
pregnant woman - aT1d to the Wise Woman in your mare,
lover, midwife, doctor, childbinh educator, and friends. It is
based on the belief that you are capable of observing yo1u
own body, heart, and mind, responding to the messages you
receive during the childbearing year, and caring/or yourself
in a context of loving s11ppon and assistance.
·from the introduction

Thie; is a wonderful herbal. one that I'm sure will
become the companion of many a pregnant woman, and also
a resource that goes far beyond lhe childbearing year. Since
pregnancy is a period of growth which couches on all aspeccs
of our lives, I find many of the issues covered are also
applicable to the situations of my non-pregnant friends,
women and men alike.
The dedication makes clear the spirit m which lhe book
is written:
May the six directzons empower tlus medicine work. May it
be pleasing to my grandmothers, the a11ciem ones. And may
it be of benefic to all beings.

One of lhe chapters, titled "Herbal Pharmacy", covers
very concisely how co respectfully encounter planes in our
environment and how to safely tum them into water-.
alcohol and oil-based herbal medicines. le is an excellent
and comprehensive guide for everyone desiring to take
responsibility for their own health care.
KATUAH - page 9

The book is written in the Wise Woman tradition,
which views everything as cyclical and deeply
interconnected. In these ancient traditions, once owned by
each tribe and each people, women were the gacherers and
growers of herbs, the nunurers, and the healers. Today
more and more men are beginning to work out of the same
stream of consciousness. However, in our society the oral
tradition has been brutally interrupted by the medieval witch
burnings. A large body of knowledge was destroyed and
losL We are only now beginning to reclaim it. Healing
ways evencually were narrowed down co male-dominated
allopathic medicine, which is linear in Lhink.ing and promotes
a world view of black and white, of sickness versus health.
Wise Woman healing begins with nourishing and nurturing
and reseIVes dramatic interventions as the last reson.
"Wise Women understand the attunement built into our
cells after thousands of generations nourished on wild foods,
the special kinship our bodies have with the vital elements
condensed in herbs", says Susun Weed. Consequently
you'll find in this Wjse Woman Herbal references to other
pertinent publications, addresses of conscientious herb
businesses, appendices that list herbal soun:es of vitamins
and minerals, and recipes for herbal preparations. There are
lovingly handwritten notes in the margins that give the names
of herbs in different languages - including Russian and
Chinese! A comprehensive index makes it easy to locate
specific information.
Susun's knowledge cenainly could fill many a
volume. I hope that Susun will find the time to be a prolific
writer, besides being an avid gardener, homesteader,
naturalist, feminist artist, and travelling lecturer/workshop
facilitator. Presently, her busy schedule takes ber from coast
to coast, attending herbalists' conferences and sharing the
knowledge extracted from 20 years of studying and working
with medicinal herbs.
The Wjse Woman Herbal is written with compassion
and from direct experience. It is not just another compilation /;:;41"
of facts retrieved from other books. What a blessing!

p

'* Elder

The fragile, cream-colored flowers of Sambucus
species, when tinctured., provide a superb remedy for treating
infants' fevers. Elder blossom tincture seems to encourage
balance in the mechanism which regulates temperature. It
reduces frighteningly high fevers without fail. Put one drop
per pound of body weight directly under your baby's tongue,
or slide the dropper alongside your nipple and administer the
drops while the baby is nursing. (Measure the drops into a
spoon, then take the correct dose into the empty dropper.)
The dose may be repeated as often as needed; it is completely
harmless. The fever usually begins to decrease within a few
hours of the first dose.
Stories abound about the dangerous Elder. And there
is a story told all over the world, in different cultures and
various versions, of the woman who lives in the Elder.
Sometimes she is called the Elder Lady, sometimes Elder
Woman, but my favorite name for her is Elda Mor.
The stories say that Elda Mor is a Wise Woman who
has taken the shape of a tree in order to heal her children.
She is powerful and she demands respect. If you wish to
have her help, you must honor her. If you abuse her, or fail
to ask her permission to take part of her, Elda Mor will
poison you.
Elder grows somewhere near you; look and ask for
her. When you find an Elder bush, develop a relationship
with Elda Mor. Visit with her from time to time. Then,
when the Elder blooms, go out in the moonlight and tell her
of your desire to heal with her magic and her knowledge.
She wilJ respond, granting permission for you to take her
sweet flowers. Thank her and put up your tincture
immediately, capturing moon beams, Elder dreams, and the
ancient wisdom of women in your bottle.
From The Wjse Woman Herbal for the Chjldbearine Year

�Review:

THE FRESHWATER AQUACU LT URE BOOK
A handbook for small scale fish culture in North America
The Freshwater Aguaculture Book· A Handbook for Small
Scale Fish Culture jn Noah America; William McLamey
(Point Roberts, WA 98281; Box 147; Hartley and Marks,
1984) 600 pp. 150 illustrations; appendices, index.
available from the publisher for $40.00 plus $1.00 handling.

The need/or aquaculture arises from the same root as
thaJ for agriculture. It is commonly accepted thaJ it would be
impossible to supply human demands for meat solely on the
basis of hunring wild game, or to provide all our fruits and
vegetables by foraging in the naJUral environment. Yet most
of the world still obtains fish in this manner, through
traditional "capture" fisheries based on natural stocks .....
The current world harvest of about seventy million
metric tons per year is not nearly enough to go around, much
less to keep pace with the demands imposed by a
still-increasing human population. The obvious solution is

oquacubure.
- The Freshwater Aquaculture Boole
Bill McLarney was trained as a fisheries biologist at
John Carroll University and the University of Michigan. He
was a co-founder and director of aquaculture studies at the
New Alchemy Institute in Massachusetts, which for 20 years
has done pioneer experiments in ecological living. He
presently divides his time between Fran.k lin, NC in Katiiab
and Costa Rica, where he is director of New Alchemy's
Central America project
In the l 970's McLarney and his co-workers at New
Alchemy developed innovative techniques for small-scale,
low-budget fish culture. Because of their careful study,
observation, and creativity, many of the methods developed
then still stand as the simplest and most efficient available
today.
McLamey has distilled his years of experience and
research into The Freshwater Aguaculturc Book. He has
taken on an ambitious project, and has succeeded in giving
us a highly useful tool: a comprehensive manual for raising
all known varieties of food fish (as well as some types of
aquatic animals) in all the areas of Turtle Island where
fish-raising is feasible. There are also sections on
greenhouse and closed system culture.
McLamey's work is by far the most complete
collection of factual material on the topic to date, but it is also
of importance that he writes from a perspective that respects

the needs and conditions of local ecologies and the "hidden"
economic value and practicality of the efforts of small
producers. This makes The freshwater Aquacul!ure Book
eminently appropriate and a very valuable resource for people
who choose to worJc in the context of their own particular
locale.

WORLD AQUACULTURE
The introduction to the book is a brief survey of the
history and practice of aquaculture around the world. But in
the course of the world overview, McLarney breaks down
these two primary values, ecological awareness and
decentralization, into a set of principles which underpin the
information he presents throughout the book. Illustrative
examples are drawn mainly from the Chinese aquaculture
system, which McLamey regards as the most highly
develo~ in terms of simplicity, productivity, efficiency,
and minimal environmental disruption. But although the
language is "fish culture", the principles expressed could
serve as well to ensure the sound operation and long-term
survival of any type of bioregional enterprise.

Keep in mind thaJ part ofthe secret ofChinese fish culture is
in making the best use of a given local ecology and materials.
However, consider this: The currem average production of
traditional pond polyculture in China is said to be over 4 ,000
lb/acre/year (4,412 kg/ha/yr). (Much higher yields are
achieved in southern China and in southeast Asia, where the
growing season is year-round.) This is accomplished
primarily through the use of fertilizers, with no processed
feeds whatsoever, with virtually no technology, and using
ancient methods developed without benefit of scientific
research . The products of Chinese pond polyculture have
traditionally been available widely and cheaply; they are an
important factor in the nutrition of the Chinese people, as
well as in Chinese high cuisine. Chinese aquaculture may
also be regarded as ecologically beneficial, as it provides a
facility f or recycling organic "wastes".
The effect of s.kik must be considered for any
enterprise in terms of economics, necessary labor, and
relation to the surrounding environment to determine what is
truly the most effective and appropriate system. l l i
Freshwater Aquaculture Book emphasizes the simplest
possible systems that require the least capital investment and
are easiest to construcL

INTEGRATED FARMSTEAD

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KAWAH - page JO

Surnrnerl986

�From the many aquatic habitars available, rite Chinese chose
the small pond as providing the best combination of
prod11ctiviry and manageability. Though aquaculrure has
subseque111ly been pracriced in virmally every orher type of
aquaric environmen.t, the truth of this rarely acknowledged
insighr remains. Ponds are nawrally present in many
localities and may be constructed, by hand labor if necessary,
in nwst other places. As compared to larger laJces and the
oceans, a higher percentage of pond warer is relatively
shallow, hence more productive and easier to harvesr.
Srreams represent a rheorerically more productive
environment, but use of flowing waler often raises
comperirive situations with regard to water righ1s,j1Shing,
pollution, ere

culrure or eaJ comnu:m carp, and aquaculrurisrs had to seek
other fishJo raise. It was found rhar if one stocked several
kinds offish - say one which fed on the botrom, one which
fed in
mid-water, and one which could eat green leaves
provided by the farmer - grearer yields would be achieved
rhan if one stocked the same number of common carp only.
This was the beginning ofpolyculture. Through trial
and error and observation, Chinese fish culrurists eventually
developed much more complex polyculrures, in some cases
including as many as a dozen species. These culrure systems
are ofren unique to a particular locality, having taken
advantage of local conditions, availability of stocks ofj1Sh,
feed, or ferrilizer marerials.

WASTE UTILIZATION
What we wish to create are living systems, but it must
be remembered that these living systems are always parts of
greater ecosystems or natural communities and can only be
considered as parts of the larger whole. This concept
Mclarney calls jntemrion.
It is nor customary in Norrh America 10 rlunk of bodies
of water used for intensive aquaculture as parrs of a total
farm ecosystem. A commercial fish/arm is afHh.farm period. Yet inregrarion of terrestrial and aquaric crops and
byproducrs is part and parcel of many rraditional Oriental
food-producing systems. The Oriental approach, which is
more ecologically sensirive and less dependent on
technology, may be difficult to adapt to a large-scale
commercial situation in North America, but the small,
diversified/armer, parricularly the/armer for whom fish is a
subsistence crop, would do well to study it.
The related principlcS' of diversity and~ are basic
m considering any living community. Application of these
two ideas can work to stabilize and maximize the productivity
of a fish farm, as they do in nature.
It happened that the family name of the Tang emperors was
Lee, which has the same sound as the Chinese word/or the
common carp. For a time it was considered sacrilegious to

trout, e totem spirit of the Appalachian
The cul tu
waters, is well covered in The Freshwater AQuaculturc
.RQQk, and author Bill McLamey emphasizes methods that
are suitable and affordable for the small farmer and
homesteader. Bass-bluegill combinations do well in ponds
in all but the highest elevations of Katuah, but trout will
always be most in demand as the pre-eminent Appalachian
food fish and as representative of the cold, pristine waters
beneath forested slopes that so many people come here to
find.
Trout have special requirements for their culture and
require strict adherence to certain conditions to do well.
They thrive only in cold water (50-60 degrees F) and require
a high dissolved oxygen content (7 ppm) to simulate the
freshness of a running stream - moving water is the best
habitat.
Trout are almost exclusively carnivorous and therefore
require high-protein feeds. Because they favor cold water,
they grow more slowly than do other fish species, and they
are very sensitive to excessive handling and pollution.
Cold water environments have a low nutrient-carrying
capacity, so cold water food chains are shortened. Few
intermediate-size or vegetarian fish share natural trout
habitats. Therefore, trout ponds are essentially monoculture
situations, which seems to violate the principle of
diversifying the fishpond, but trout are virtually the only
accepted food fish that can be grown in cold water, and their
popularity makes their culture worthwhile.
Because The Freshwater Aguaculture Book is a
compendium of information covering fish-raising throughout
Turtle Island, no one fish farmer will be able to use all the
information the book contains. The best way to use the book
KA AH - page 11

It is said in the study of ecology that a climax system,
the most stable community possible at a given location,
develops many layers of use for available materials, so that
very little energy leaks out of the system.
In human terms, this is stated as "Recycle!", and an
important negative cntcrion of a system's effectiveness is the
amount of waste it generates. A system truly integrated
within itself and in the natural surroundings produces a
rninimum of waste.
The Chinese seem to have recognized rhe value of
pond fertility early on, and to have understood thatfish could
be grown more cheaply through fenilizarion with "wastes"
than by direct feeding with marerials which could be eaten by
other livesrock or by people.
These basic principles, which are also basic to the
ideas we choose to call "bioregional", are underlying
assumptions to the text of The Freshwater AQuaculture Book
and are inherent even in the structure of the book itself. For
in presenting fish culture, McLamey does not set out pat
formulas or a dogmatic school of practice. Rather, he 1)
introduces the fish and their habitat requirements, 2) gives
- continued on p. 24
is to read it through one time to get an overview of
aquaculture, the conditions that need to be considered, and
the options available, then to go back, aided by the
comprehensive index, and look up the special requirements
of the fish to be raised and find the most appropriate
methods.
Whether one wants to raise trout commercially for sale
to restaurants, operate a catch-your-own trout pond, or just
have a convenient source for a quick supper in the back yard,
trout raising has a place on almost any small farm in Katilah
where flowing water is available.
Among trout species, the rainbow trout (Sa/mo
gafrdneri ) responds best to culture. The native brook trout
(Sa/mo fontinalis) are smaller, prefer colder water, and grow
more slowly. They are therefore raised only when the farmer
has a specific market or a specific personal preference for
them. Brown trout (Salnw trutta ) are the preferred fish in
commercial hatcheries for stream stocking. Of the three
species, brown crout are the hardest to catch, most tolerant of
pollution, and attain the greatest size where food is plentiful.
But the browns are sensitive to overcrowding and the least
favored for eating, and so a.re not widely cultured as a food
source.

DESIGNING A TROUT FARM
The type of enclosure in which the fish are contained is
determined by the amount of moving water available and the
size of the operation desired. Ponds are easiest and most
economical to construct for the amount of water contained,
but raceways (defined by McLamey as any enclosure where
there is a constantly moving CWTCnt perceptible throughout)
as used in commercial hatcheries, can produce more fish in a
given area of available space. McLamcy discusses the
advantages of each and gives siting and design
considerations.
Trout feeding is another important variable that is
- continued on . 21
Summer 1986

�TOBACCO
We have been told that no non-food plant has had so
great an impact on humans as tobacco. It has affected the
whole world. It is a plant native to this continent, Turtle
Island, but now there is not a country in the world that does
not use tobacco in some fonn or other.
The elders say that tobacco is an ancient planL The
native Cherokee people call it the Old One or
Tsal Agayun1i. They believe that after the lichen, moss
and fem that the fU'St plant was ginseng and the second plant
was tobacco.
Native people consider plants to have a gender and a
personality like people. Medicine plants are plants used for
direct healing by treating a disease of the body or by altering
a person spiritually. European science would say that it is
the "active principle" in the drug that makes one well Native
people call the healing power of plants the "spiritual
personality" of the planL Healing with plants was based on
the principle of using something positive to get rid of the
negative or bad thing causing sickness. The spiritual
personality of tobacco used in the traditional way was female
and positive.
We have been told that there were two original types of
tobacco used by native people. The old tobacco, Nicotiana
rustica, has yellow blossoms, the other, Nicoriana tabacwn,
has pink blossoms. The old tobacco has about ten times the
nicotine content of the tobacco raised commercially today.
The old tobacco was jealously protected by the Cherokee. It
was not usually traded with other tribes, but the
pink-flowered tobacco was a common trade item.
We have been told that the old tobacco was used for
ritual and medicine purposes. It was raised in a special way.
A medicine person would go into the woods and plant the
tobacco seed in a spot he would clear by burning. They
might plant eight or ten of these patches so that no one would
see the tobacco. The tobacco would lose its power if
someone else saw it growing.
We have been told that tobacco was smoked in a ritual
at the beginning of any important councils. The hopes and
prayers of the people were sent up to all of the creation as the
smoke rose to the heavens. It was also the custom to smoke
tobacco when someone visited another person's lodge. The
pipe was brought out and liL It would be passed around and
everyone would take one or two puffs of the sacred smoke
before the conversation would begin.
We have been told that tobacco was used also in
fasting and on vision quests. It helped a person fast because
it cwbed the appetite and suppressed the need to sleep. The
old tobacco of the Cherokees also helped to bring dreams and
visions.
We have been told that the pipes in which tobacco is
smoked arc important Native people have medicine pipes
and social pipes. Social pipes are made from clay or stone.
- page 12

Medicine pipes are carved from soapstone. The Cherokee
carved pipes are made from red or black soapstone. The red
stone is preferred, but it is hard to come by so that most
medfoine pipes are black. Images, say of a totem spirit or
animal teacher are carved on Cherokee pipes. A medicine
pipe never "belongs" to an individual. It is given to a person
by someone who thinks they are ready for the pipe.
Sometimes the pipe is a new one carved by the giver.
Sometimes the pipe bas been passed through several hands.
An individual is considered the caretaker, not the owner, of
the pipe. It is their responsibility to see that the pipe is
passed on in a good way. "A good way" means that the
pipe's new caretaker will take care of the pipe, use it
responsibly, and in tum pass it on.
We have been told that tobacco was an integral part of
a special ceremony to protect a sick person from "liver
eaters". These were people that bad the power to create an
illusion. They did not actually have the power to tum
themselves into an owl or raven, but they could create this
illusion. That is bow they moved abouL They would come
into a lodge and kiss a sick person or a person nea.r death to
taste the sweetness of their breath. The liver eater would
then draw the power from the liver of the suffering person.
This would immediately kill the person and the liver eater
would receive however much time that person had been fated
to live to extend its own evil life.
We arc told that in the ceremony to protect the sick
person, the medicine people would drive four sourwood
stakes around the lodge. They would then go into the sick
person's lodge and make a fire with sourwood or wood from
a tree that had been struck by lightning and had lived. They
would heap up the hot coals into a pile. Then they would
take a pinch of fine-ground "old" tobacco and hold it over the
coals. When the tobacco was dropped. it would fall in the
direction from which the liver eater was coming. If it hit
directly on center, then the liver eater was in the room or
above the roof. Theo another pinch of tobacco was dropped.
If it sparked or made an explosion, a person in the
community would die in four or five days, and that person
was the liver eater. That was how they killed the liver eaters.
We have been told that native people used the old
tobacco as an insect repellant on plants. It works well on
everything except tomatoes. Tobacco extract was spread on
beans and on the silks of the com. If insects eat the sprayed
parts they die, but usually the scent confuses the insects so
that they are not attracted. The only thing that eats tobacco is
the tobacco worm. Native people used the extract of the
nightshade plant to kill the tobacco worm. The extract was
made by boiling the nightshade plant in water and spraying
the water on the tobacco plants.
We have been told that tobacco was also used as a
poison. Pure nicotine is deadly in a dose as small as 100
milligrams. The nicotine was used on blow darts for revenge
killing. The darts would be soaked in nicotine for a long
time before they were used. The blow gun and poisoned dart
were used only in this way. They were never used in war.
It is true that native people never used tobacco as a
personal drug as it is frequently used today. It was taken
into the body only sparingly as part of a ceremony or ritual.
Used in this way, it promoted healing. The way it is used
today causes addiction and illness.
We have been told that among the Cherokee there are
tribal secrets about tobacco that cannot be revealed. When
these secrets are taught within the tribe, the one who receives
the knowledge promises not to reveal iL Keeping this lore
hidden is done not for the sake of the knowledge itself, but
as an obligation to the person who passed on the secret
teachings.
~
Summer 1986

�THE GARDEN - continued from p.l

gardening is a lesson in applied ecology. It deals mainly
with alpine plants, and rock gardeners go to extreme lengths
to duplicate exactly the conditions we have here: lots of
tumbled-down rocks and perfect drainage, yet deep moisture.
"In the terraces I was planting shrubs and vegetables,
and a few trees as l could obtain them, so it was all
progressing at the same time. All these beds are mixed
flowers and vegetables now. They say flowers help the
vegetables, but that is a meaningless distinction. They all
flower. They all should be here in as much diversity as
possible.
"A lot of my training has been learning by mistakes.
My gardening plan is simply to set out plants that I like, of all
different varieties and types and see what naturalizes and
multiplies. The plants you see here are the plants that have
survived a natural selection process at this site. I've used a
lot of self-seeding annuals. They pop up each year, and I
leave them where they're appropriate and pull them up where
they're in the way. They fill in all the holes.
"Berries are a good crop for around here. This is good
nut and berry country. It's easy to see, they grow so well in
the wild. Did you know that blueberries only became a
domesticated crop during the l 940's? Before that, people
found all they needed on the hilltops. The plant was brought
under cultivation under the auspices of the TVA right in this
area. They gave kids a piece of cardboard with a hole
punched in it If the kids could find a bush with berries that
wouldn't fit through the hole and could lead the growers to
it, they would earn $1.00. That's how they developed the
first cultivated varieties of blueberries.
"We're going to grow a lot more strawberries. We
became acquainted with an everbearing variety that produced
right up to Thanksgiving last year. Really good fruit! We
also have bush cherries, lots of currants, rosehips, barberries
- lots of food for wildlife. That helps to blur the line between
cultivated and uncultivated aspects of the garden.
"I've found that the easiest way to work is to use the
natural energy flows. For instance, we get some colloidal
phosphate, some lime, and some cottonseed meal for
fertilizers, but we try to bring as few materials up the hill as
possible. We plant rye in some of the beds in the fall and in
the springtime we turn it in with handforks. We pile the
weeds we pull out of the garden - it seems to generate a big
heap every three weeks.
"The creek that flows through the garden brings down
leaves during the spring floods. The stream is normally
buried by the landslide, but if it rains hard enough the stream
rises to the surface. [f it rains mal1:t hard, the stream will
flow right through the garden and on down the hill. But if I
wait until it's raining enough so that the stream recedes back
among the rocks inside the garden, I can go uphill and rake
leaves into the water and they'll be dropped off right where I
need them. They are deposited as wads of leaves mixed with
silt. I have to collect them quickly because the mixture rots
fairly fast. If I come back too late, it's already part of the
soil. It's a wonderful system: during one short season in
spring I can skim off a little of the surplus fertility."

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Joe is a quiet individual. He can be goaded to
excitemmt when talking abour the plant.s or the people thaJ he
Loves, bur he is generally content to let the obvious evitknce
of the garden speak for him. He has spent marry moonlit
nights and many winter months thinking about his
relationship to the garden and the natural mountain
landscape, however, and this shows up when he can be
coaxed to speak ofthe deeper levels of his garden experience:
"The garden is a mandala (a circular design) that
expresses our understanding of the place we live. This
garden is my conscious attempt to live in the context of
nature. 'Paradise' means 'to be perfectly integrated in
nature'. The prevalent vision in western culture of a life in
accord with nature is the Garden of Eden, where human.kind,
Adam and Eve, were given the garden and charged to 'dress
and keep it' in the beautiful words of the King James version
of the Bible &lt;Genesis 2: 15).
"But 'paradise' does not have to be an idealized place.
It is a way of living here, wherever we're at right now. It is
a co-evolutionary process - we change together. Living and
learning, 1 transform myself to live as this place demands,
and as part of the process I also transform this place into my
personal paradise.
"Eugene Odom had a more technical vision of the ideal
human niche, which he called 'the ecosystem manager'
whose function is to maximize the productivity and
perpetuate the survival of the system. The ecosystem
manager rearranges the growth of the natural environment a
little - snipping something here, starting something over there
- and s/he gets paid a little bit by all the diversity of other
creatures in the system
"It's a similar position to that of a bear or a wolf. If
there's too much of something, that's what the bear or the
wolf gets to eat that year. The service they perfonn for that
plant or animal is selection and population control, which is
to the benefit of that species. By keeping ecological balance,
the manager gets enough off the top to keep him or her alive
and functioning. By caring for the ecological principal, one
gets to live off the ecological interest An unlimited number
of people could devote themselves to that task, and it would
provide for all of them.
"Odom's somewhat mechanistic definition hinges on
food supply as the determining factor. This is basic, but the
idea of creating a niche also has to do with being surrounded
by beautiful things when one walks out the door. Our
aesthetic sense is a natural organizing system. It is a fine
form of positive feedback that is much underrated in our
culture. In this society the basic standard is the economic
one which is expressed in terms of profit and loss. But what
I'm saying is: 'Enjoy it!' Be spontaneous in gardening.
Trust that intuitive sense of rightness that we all have in us.
It is at least as true an indicator as the profit sheet of the
health and productivity of a natural community.
"Historically, some anthropologists believe that the
'Paradise' myth refers to the transition from a hunter/gatherer
economy to an agricultural economy. Rindos, in his book

7J;=---:;:::::=~~~~ar·(iSth'-~:BF:::::_.--,r - continued on next page

�- continued from p.13 THE GARDEN
The Orieins of Amcu!ture. puts the changeover into the
context of co-evolution, saying that there were changes on
both sides. The hunter/gatherers were working with plants maybe by weeding preferred crops or by planting some
selected seeds - and while the plants were changed to be
more what the people wanted, the people were also changed
as they developed certain behaviors to encourage these plants
- disturbing the ground, staying in one place,
experimentation, selection, and observation. These two
processes together produced the gradual development of the
agroecosystem.
"I think to some extent the people were seduced into it
Perhaps it was the plants who domesticated the people. I like
to think that certain plants tricked us into devoting our lives
to changing the world for their benefit One could look at it
either way.
"The food surplus produced by agricultural techniques
had the effect of increasing human population. This resulted
in a new context for human life as specialization developed
and people became more involved within the framework of
human society and less involved in the wider circle of nature.
The human sphere continues to expand. It is replacing the
diversity of nature with human diversity, and we are the
worse off for it
"A 'niche' is a way of describing an organism from the

ecosystem's point of view: it is the relationship of the
organism to its environment and the flows of energy and
matter. Because there have been no effective natural checks
on the human population, we have created an unhealthy niche
for ourselves, called 'civilization'.
"'Paradise' is a genetic memory of a time when
humanity was integrated into the natural environment. It
could be summed up as a continuing, spontaneous, intuitive
response to the world. But that spontaneous response to the
real conditions of life is buried under millenia of accretion of
cultural elaborations on the distinction 'good/evil'.
"The garden as you see it here is a conscious attempt to
invent and occupy an appropriate niche. Using the
knowledge of modern civilization, I am attempting to work a
way back through centuries of physical and behavioral
programming (our 'needs') to a real relationship with the
Earth, a transition to a natural support system.
"More and more," Joe reflected, "I'm beginning to feel
I should specialize in the flora of the Black Mountains. It's
such a beautiful habitat, and no one else has taken it on. I
need to get out there, spend more time in the woods, find the
specimens with the biggest fruits find the particular clones,
the things that should be propagated, and work with them,
get really involved....."
- recorded by DW

SUN ROOTS
The Sun Root is a native American vegetable which
was under cultivation by many tribes, including the
Cherokee, when white people arrived here. These white
people, for mysterious reasons, ignored this Indian name and
called it Jerusalem Artichoke. The Latin name is /leliaruhus
tuberousus, which means "sunflower full of swellings".
This is an accurate label because Sun Roots are a sunflower
with large, edible roots.
By whatever name, this is one of the world's most
practical and easiest to cultivate vegetables. They are started
from a piece of tuber in the spring, much like potatoes, and
are perennial in practice since even a very careful harvest
leaves enough tubers for the next year's crop. The stalks are
6 to 12 feet high and are topped by beautiful brown and
yellow flowers which smell a little like chocolate. Most
varieties produce mature tubers in 120 days, but the
Columbia and Stampede varieties are about 30 days earlier.
Tubers can be harvested any time during the fall, winter, or
early spring when the ground is not frozen.
Nutritionally, Sun Roots are interesting because they
have very little starch. Their carbohydrates are stored in the
form of inulin, which is composed of fructose molecules.
Humans lack the enzyme inulase which is necessary to break
down this inulin, so most of the calories of Sun Roots pass
through our systems unused. What is used is the protein,
which is of very high quality and high in lysine, and the iron
which is present in large quantity. These qualities, along
with their good taste, high quality fiber, and satisfying
crunch make Sun Roots a very good, low calorie snack food.
There are people at work developing the "artichip".
Sun Roots are an excellent feedstock for fuel alcohol
stills because of their large yields and the fact that inulin,
unlike starch, does not need to be broken down before
fermentation. They are also a very good potential source of
commercial fructose. A flour made from dried sun roots is
good tasting and high in protein. A protein extract can be
taken from sun roots which is 60- 70% high quality protein
and could be used to feed the world's hungry people. The
tops of this versatile vegetable are already finding commercial
use as an animal feed
(This information is taken from The ArticboJce
Connection; Rt 2, Box 157; Spartansburg, PA 16434.
Subscriptions are $10 a year and it comes out on a quarterly
basis.)

THE HOMESTEAD
ON HORN MOUNTAIN
Long ago
someone climbed to the top of this mountain
and dug a well.
This is the place, marked
by an elderly pine.
I part a way through the overgrowth
with my stick
to the black brackish water in its circle of stones.
This is mystery:
the circle,
older than the pine,
stone more ancient than the mountain: water
as eternal as all circles.
Someone lived here and drank that water
and disappeared under moss and bramble.
The ground is littered with rocks
of a fallen homestead.
The well is a shaft of memory sunk in the ground.
Turning to scribble a note to myself
I start to the sound
ofa motor.
since I last climbed Hom Mountain somebody
has cut a road just above the old homestead,
I can see the cigarette
in the driver's hand as a yellow truck comes
trundling past -

r duck below the bramble like the spirit of ruin
that haunts this place,
diving back down the black shaft
of undrinkable remembrance
past the names of mountains and roots of pines
down to the fertile aquifer of earth's
forgetfulness.
Stephen Wingeier

;e:t'

~
KAfUAH - page 14

))t
Summer 1986

�by 4 cords

hanging down ·

the island earth

from the sky vault

suspended

of solid rock

east

west

floating

north

south

in a sea of water

�0
750 MILLION

ON1CF.
-

650 MILU ON

I
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n
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A(~

The southern Appalachians have evolved in a series of
collisions of fragments of continental or island-an: material at
the eastern edge of North America.
About 750 million years ago magma rising deep from the
interior of the earth split a megacontinental expanse into at
least two large continents
Laurentia or proto-North America
Gondwana or proto-Africa
and at least
two continental fragments that included the Inner
Piedmont-Blue Ridge fragment and the Carolina slate belt
fragment ...
Volcanism started in the island an: of the Carolina slate belt
fragment some 650 million years ago.
...500 million years ago
the basin between proto-North America and the
Inner-Piedmont-Blue Ridge fragments began to close...

beyond the arch
in Galunlati above
when all was water
the animals were very crowded
and wanting more room
they wondered what was below the water
Dayunisi, the little Water-beetle
offered to go down and see if he could learn
It darted over the surface in every direction
but could find no firm place to rest
Then it dived to the bottom
and came up with some soft mud
which began to grow and spread
on every side until it became
the island Earth

500 MILLION
Most of the rocks at the swface of the southern Appalachians
are highly defonned metamorphic ones ... older than or
contemporaneous with the horizontal sedimentary strata
under them ... suggesting that roughly 415 million years ago
the swface rocks began to be transported as a thin sheet for at
least 260 kilometers over the eastern continental margin of
the land mass that was to become North America.
...from 300 million to 250 million years ago, the last major
compressional event was the Alleghenian orogeny. This
mountain-building episode can be attributed to the collision
of proto-North America and proto-Africa (or perhaps South
America) to form the supen:ontinent of Pangaea.
...a segment of the African
(or South American) continental shelf underthrust the eastern
margin of the Carolina slate belt fragment resulting in a
fold-and-thrust belt that went in the opposite direction...the
southern Appalachians...
...western Africa and northern South America
all have belts of folding and thrusting...
The Mauritanide
mountain chain of western Africa is characterized east to west
by a series of belts that are similar in some ways to the
Appalachian belts.
... the Mauritanids are a mirror image of the Appalachians...

�~75

MILLION

200 MILLION

300 .. 250MILLION
··....
'····· .......

at first the earth was flat
and very soft and wet

...

-~{_,:.:,+~. -

.·

the animals were anxious to get down
and sent out different birds to see if it was dry
but they found no place to alight
and returned to Galunlati

.....•

,,·

t

••

at last it seemed to be time
and they sent out the Buzzard
and told him to go and make ready for them

.

·············· ·········

:

..·········.

'7..

\

~

....··

...
··············

the Great Buzzard flew over the earth
low down near the ground
when he reached Cherokee Country
he was very tired and his wings
began to flap and strike the ground

...

.·

..···

and wherever they struck
the earth was a valley
and where they turned up
there was a mountain

...
...
...the continents that now border the Atlantic were joined 200
million years ago like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to fonn
one huge expanse of land ... a megacontinent Pangaea...
At that time North America began to separate from Europe,
Africa, and South America.
·
As the continents drifted apart the Atlantic
Ocean was left in their wake.
As the Atlantic grew the current
continental shelf was built up off the eastern coast of North
America (and off the western coast of Africa and the northern
coast of Sou~ America).

when the animals above saw this
they were afraid the whole world
would be mountains
so they called him back
but the Cherokee Country remains
full of mountains until this day

...·

.·

.....

.·

••

.

�--

..
(

J
.

:•

...······ .

...

.··

.,...•

when the world grows old

and the earth will sink

the people will die

down into the ocean

and the cord will break

and all will be water again

written by Jeny Trivette

drawings by Rob Messick

�0 --"
NATURAL
WORLD

NEWS
NANTAHALACO.BROUGHTTO
U.S. SUPREME COURT
Natunl World News Service

Since 1976, when Henry Truett of
Bryson City, NC filed suit against the
Nantahala Power Company to protest the
high costs resulting from hydroelectricity
being drained from the mountains of KatUah
to fuel the Alcoa aluminum plant in
Marysville, TN, the question "Who owns
the mountain water power?" has been a
botJy-contested issue in this region (see
Ki1V.ah #3).
.
The dispute came to a head April 21
as arguments were heard in the US Supreme
Court from attorneys for Alcoa and for the
Committee for Low-Cost Power, a citizens'
group from five counties in Ka!Uah.
The case was an appeal by Alcoa of a
North Carolina State Suptcme Court ruling
handed down last July that awarded $29
million in refunds to Nantahala customers
because of practices by the company ~t .led
to excessive rate costs. Two other surular
decisions by the court awarded the
ratepayers another $16 million in refunds.
The conflict goes back to the very
beginnings of the ~ant~hala Power
Company and Tapoco, its sister company
which operates two hydroelectric dams on
the Santeetlah and Cheoah Rivers. Both
companies arc registered as public utilities,
but both arc also wholly-owned subsidiaries
of the Alcoa Corporation. All the power
from the Tapoco Company has gone to
operate Alcoa smelters in Tennessee,
although since its inception th7 coml?any ~
been receiving the benefits of us des1gnanon
as a utility. Tapoco has never be~n
responsible to regional customers, and 1n
1960 even tried to sell its high-power
transmission lines to the Duke Power
Company. But while "fapoco power .has
been flowing down the nver to Marysville,
the Nantahala Power Company has been
supplementing its hydroelectric power with
expensive, imported, nuclear power
generated in Tennessee .by the.-rv:A. The
North Carolina court recnfied this difference
by declaring that North Carolina ratepayers
should retroactively be charged as though
the cheaper Tapoco power were available to
them, which would result in a total of $45
million in refunds.
Alcoa attorneys maintained in the
Supreme Court hearings that the Nort!1
Carolina courts had overstepped the1t
boundaries and were trying to set rates for
power generation between states, citing a
KATUAH - page 19

1971 Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) ruling that Tapoco had
no obligation to make its power available to
the Nantahala Company. Alcoa attorney
Rex Lee stated before the court, "What
North Carolina has done ... is to take from
Tennessee a share of power which properly
belongs to Tennessee."
But William Crisp, a Raleigh lawyer
who has worked with Nantahala ratepayers
for 25 years, explained meticulously and
eloquentJy that this was not a case of one
state's interest against another's, but "a
flagrant example of a corporate giant, a
multinational. taking over public assets for
its own benefit" Pointing out that the
ruling of the NC Supreme Court did not
actually divert any power, but instead
created a "roll-in" where both companies
were considered as one for ratemalcing
purposes, Crisp made it clear that the issue
was whether the hydroelectric resources of
the mountains shouJd be used for public
service or private profit. Alcoa has
attempted to develop its subsidiary company
Tapoco solely to divert water resources
from Kanfah strictly for its own benefit,
Crisp maintained, which in effect has forced
the ratepayers in the mountains to pay the
difference for Alcoa's cheap hydroelectric
power.
Alcoa has threatened that if they do
not win continued access to the mountain
water power, they would close their
Marysville plant, terminating o~er l,~
jobs in East Tennessee. Responding to this
threat, the US Steelworkers Union, Local
309, which represents the Alcoa plant
workers, joined the corporate appeal as a
"friend of the court".
"If they had known the true facts of
the case," said Veronica Nicholas, Jackson
County commissioner and witness to the
Supreme Court hearing, "I don 't believe
they wouJd have taken that position. If we
could talk with them people-to-people, I
thinlc they would see that the corporation is
trying to victimize us all in pursuit of its
interests."
,

BIG MOUNTAIN UPDATE
Na!W'al World News Service

The Big Mountain issue - the
proposed removal of 10,000 to 15 ,~
Navajo (Dineh) and Hopi Indians from their
ancient homeland • remains critical. In 1974
Congtcss passed legislation (P.L. 93-531)
to settJe a so-called "land dispute" between
the two tribes calling for the removal by
July 7, 1986 (see Kutfah #11).
CoincidentJy, this area known as the Four
Corners is extremely rich with high-quality
coal and uranium deposits. Peabody Coal
Co., among other energy giants, is
extremely interested in the resources o~ the
area. It appears, however, that a rrunor
victory has been won.
In early May, 1986, Ross Swimmer
of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and
Ivan Sidney, Hopi Tribal Chairperson, said
that they wouJd not forcibly remove Najajos
(Dineh) from what they and the U.S.
Government call "disputed land". The Hopi
Tribal Council is a creation of the Bureau of
Indian Affairs and the traditional people feel
that the Tribal Council is a sham and docs
not represent their interests. Swimmer
sought an opinion from the U.S. Solicitor
General who s.Ud that July, 1986 was
merely a target date and was not cited within
the actual law. Sidney commented, "We do
want those Navajo off our land."
This delay in the forced .remo~al ~s
just that - a delay. Perhaps the intention 1s
to allow the media and public attention on
the issue to subside. The Big Mountain
Legal Defense is still urging citiz.cns to ~te
letters to U.S. Senators and Represent.aUves
demanding the repeal of P.L. 93-531. If
you write a letter and receive a form
response, BMLD is asking that you wr!te
and write again to establish dialogue with
those in power. Send copies of your letters
as well as copies of responses to:
Big Mountain (JUA) Legal D/O Committee
2501 N. 4th St Suite 18
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
Write them also for updates and local
contactinformation,orcall(602)7~

LOWER WEST SLOPE OF
GRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN UP
FOR SALE
N11unl World News Sctvice

AIRPORT PLANNED FOR
JULIAN PRICE PARK
Nllunl Wor1d News Service

The Watauga County Commission is
trying to build a county airport in Julian
Price Park, part of the Blue Ridge Parkway
near Blowing Rock, NC. The National
Park Service is strongly opposed to an
airport on Park Service land, but much of
the lobbying for the airport is going on over
their heads at the Department of Interior in
Washington. The secret agenda ~or the
airport is a new highway connec~g the
high country ski and resort are~ directly
with the Charlotte metropolitan area.
National Parle land couJd not be obtained for
the construction of a highway, but ~ere is
apparently some precedent for putnng an
airport in a National Park. Once the airport
was OK'd, the highway could be put in to
provide access to it and the developers
would have their way.

The lower west side of Grandfather
Mountain in Avery County is up for sale
and threatened with development as a ski
resort Hugh Morton, one of Grandfather
Mountain's owners, is adamant about
protecting the upper elevations of the
mountain, which is designated as a North
Carolina Natural Heritage Area. A new
hiking trail is being construe~ t~ ~la?C
the classic Shanty Spring trail which 1s in
the area to be sold.
,

~

_
. ' J

...~~,fii;·}...... ~.
'~"'-~
. -

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:.

'

, ..\IV'

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- continued on next page
Summer 1 86

�.·
USFS 50-YEAR PLAN
IN THE MAKING

OUR "CHAMPION" IN COURT

Nalllnl World News Service

The dispute over the discharge
standards of the Champion Paper Company
plant in Canton, NC is heating up. In recent
months charges and countercllargcs have
been flying, there llas been a furious
shllffiing of papers, and two solemn collrt
decrees have been ordered. Yet the Pigeon
River is still smelly, mllfky, and rolling
with foam as it flows into Tennessee.
On March 31 Judge David Scntclle of
U.S. District Court in Asheville declared
that the Champion Paper Company would
have to apply for a federal wastewater
discllarge pennit from the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) while litigation
continues in the controversy over the quality
of the Pigeon River waters.
The decision arose from an
unprecedented move by the EPA, which in
November of 1985 stepped in and
superseded the right of the North Carolina
Environmental Management Commission
(EMC) to issue Champion a wastewater
discllarge permit (as reported in KaW1h.
#10). Under the national Clean Water Act,
the issuance of discharge permits was
placed under the jurisdiction of the EPA, but
the agency has traditionally delegated that
power to state environmental regulatory
agencies and acted only in a supervisory
capacity.
In January of this year Champion
responded to the EPA's action by filing suit
in the District Court to void the agency's
authority in the Pigeon River dispute. The
company simultaneously filed a motion for a
tctnporary restraining order to release
Champion from obtaining a federal permit
while the primary lawsuit was in the courts.
It was this motion that was struck down,
compelling Champion to apply to the EPA
for a permit to operate until a ve.r dict on the
request for a permanent injunction is
reaclled.
The EPA move to strip the state EMC
of its power to dispense a permit to
Champion implied that the federal
government saw extraordinary neglect in
enforcement of basic environmental
standards by the state agency.
In a prepared statement read last
January, Champion manager Oliver
Blackwell disagreed with that assessment,
praising the state for a "professional job" of
determining operating standards for the
factory. This may have to do with the fact
that in recent years the EMC has issued
"variances" and "special consent orders"
which have allowed Champion to operate
below existing norms in the most
controversial areas of regulation, water
temperature and color, instead of
comprehensive and enforceable discllarge
directives.
Apparent neglect on the part of the
state environmental agency turned into
apparent collusion as state attorneys sat at
the same table with Champion lawyers in
the district courtroom to argue that the
corporate giant should be allowed to have its
way with the Pigeon River without federal
interference. "They shouldn't have taken
the power away from the state," said
assistant state attorney general Don Oakley.
Although Champion did reluctantly
comply with the judge's order to submit an
application to the EPA, the company's
pending suit will definitely delay a stringent

The US Forest Service (USFS) is
soliciting active citizen input on its revised
version of the 50-ycar management plan for
the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests.
According to Bob Cunningham, US
Forest Service planner in the Asheville
office, Forest Service staff have reorganized
their data and are now compiling the
preliminary results for their new plan.
During the latter part of June and July,
Cunningham will meet with individuals or
representatives of any interest groups who
wish to discuss the data at the Forest
Service office in Asheville.
"We're going to be building the new
plan as we interact with the public on it,"
said Cunningham.
Maps and brochures interpreting the
environmental effects of each of the Forest
Service plans will be available to the public
at the USFS District Offices free upon
request
The Forest Service is inviting
comment on the new plan. Take them up on
it! Although they would like people to come
to their Asheville office, cards and letters
from those who cannot go to the city Yi.ill
make a difference. Let the Forest Service
serve us. Tell them how you feel about
their policies, either in person or in writing:
George Olson, Forest Supervisor
US Forest Service
Box 2750
Asheville, NC 28802
~
(704) 257-4200

P'

KA

AH - page 20

Natutal Wodd News SeMcc

permiL "It reveals the company's true
stripes," said Pigeon River Action Group
activist Jim Harrison. "They won't spend a
nickel on the environment unless they're
absolutely forced to. The money (and
paper) they arc squandering on legal
entanglement would be far better spent for
real action to restore the river."
In another collrtroOm in Nashville,
the Tennessee State Supreme Court on April
21 threw out a lawsuit brought in 1983 by
the government of that state against
Champion that wollld have required the
paper company to pay civil damages of
$10,000 per day since 1977 to compensate
for the degradation of the river in heu of a
total river cleanup. The suit, as argued by
Tennessee deputy attorney general Frank
Scanlon, was based on Tennessee
environmental protection laws, particularly
clauses regulating water color standards,
which are much stricter than the North
Carolina laws tlnder which the Champion
plant is operating.
But the collrt ruled that one state has
no jurisdiction or control over another
state's environmental laws, even if laxness
or environmental neglect causes damage tllat
extends over state lines.
After receiving the disappointing
ruling of the Tennessee high court, deputy
attorney general Scanlon vowed to carry the
case on to the U.S. Supreme Collrt. There
would seem to be some basis for this, for,
short of discarding the whole patchwork
system of state governments, there needs to
be some remedy found to accommodate the
blatant disregard by the natural clements of
the illegitimate state boundaries.
It would be unfortunate if this ruling
were allowed to remain as a precedent, for
the whole issue of atmospheric deposition
("acid rain") hinges on the ability of one
region to convince the hllman inhabitants of
a different region of their accountability for
destruction of a distant habitaL In this
ever-shrinking world, it is imperative that
we recognize the evidences of Ollf close
interdependence. Much is at stake.
WRITE!
There is sometlling we can do to help
the Pigeon. The conditions of Champion's
operating permit are being decided right
now by the EPA. Write to:
Jack Ravan, Regional Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
345 Courtland SL NE
Atlanta, GA 30365
Ask that the new permit determine the
maximum limits for color and water
temperature, and that minimum levels of
dissolved oxygen be maintained.
Please send a copy of your letter to:
Dick Mullinix
c/o Pigeon River Action Group
P.O. Box 105
WaynesviUc, NC 28786
Summer 1986

�COMMUNITY ALERT:

BUNCOMBECO.THREATENED
BY WASTE INCINERATOR
Natun.I World News Service

The
Buncombe
County
Commissioners are being pressured to
pursue a co-incinerator (for burning both
municipal sewage sludge and solid waste)
as a means to relieve the growing problems
of sewage sludge and over 600 tons per day
of solid waste going into the landfill on the
French Broad River.
In order to qualify for a $5 million
EPA grant to help with new sewage
treatment facilities, the Commissioners must
decide prior to June 31, 1986 whether to
pursue the technology of incineration.
URGENT NEED FOR PUBLIC
HEARINGS!
Please write the commissioners,
Curtis Ratcliff, Jesse Ledbetter, Wayne
Montgomery, Tom Sobol, and Doris
Giezentanner to request that a series of
public hearings be held on the question of
mcineration to examine the potential health
risks from:
•
Hazardous air emissions (dioxin,
dibenzo-furans, acid gasses, ethylene
dichloride, toxic metals, etc.)
•
The disposal of toxic ash residue
(heavy metals and other contaminants)
•
The inability to adequately screen out
hazardous wastes from entering the
incinerator
Buncombe County Commissioners
POB 7435
Asheville, NC 28807
252-5536

CLEARCUTTING
BATTLE
MOVES TO JACKSON COUNfY
from a repon by Pcny Eul)'

Proposed clcarcuts in the Nantahala
National Forest in Jackson County have led
residents to organize a county chapter of the
Western North Carolina Alliance to preserve
the natural diversity of the forest
Sites on Greens Creek are scheduled
to be clearcut this fall if citizen action cannot
change the Forest Service's plans. Other
clearcuts adding up to an estimated 300
acres of land are planned during the coming
decade in the Sheeps Knob, Dicks Creek,
Terrapin Mountain, Buckeye Gap, Fall
Cliff, and Pinhook areas.
Petitions bearing the names of over
300 Jackson County residents demanding
that the Forest Service change its cutting
methods have been sent to the USFS
Regional Office in Atlanta. The next move
in the campaign to save the Jackson County
forest areas depends on the response of the
Forest Service to the petitions.
Clarence Hall, head of the Jackson
County group, said, "I walked the area they
plan to cut on Greens Creek with Marcus
Moore and some of the Forest Service
people. They acted real nice and were much
easier to talk with than they have been in the
past. They made some changes for us smaller areas to be clearcut, leaving some
spots of timber, things like that
"They seemed like they were very
willing to compromise, but I think that the
Gramm-Rudman Act has hit them hard, and
they're not going to compromise any further
than what they've been cut back to already."
WNC Alliance

SOURCE SEPARATION, RECYCLING,
AND COMPOSTING ARE PROVEN
- ~ALTERNATIVF.S!
, ..p repared by Long Branch Environmen~
Education Center (704) 683-3662
/:"'

HERE WE GLOW AGAIN!
Natural World News Service

Five western North Carolina counties
are being seriously considered in the search
for a suitable site to receive the low-level
radioactive waste (LLW's) from eight
southeastern states. The eight states
(Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi,
Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina, and
Nonh Carolina) have joined a Southeastern
Compact to deal jointly with the waste
problem, but many North Carolina citizens
are demanding that North Carolina
withdraw from the compact if the burden of
waste disposal is to be shouldered by that
state alone. The compact will choose one of
its member states as the host for the
low-level waste dump site by July 14, 1986
and locations in Burke, Cleveland,
McDowell, Polk, and Rutherford counties
are being closely examined for a potential
low-level nuclear waste dump site.
The term "low-level" is actually a
mis-nomer as the category is defined as all
radioactive wastes that are not specifically
classified as "high-level".
This
encompasses a wide range of materials,
many of which arc as deadly as high-level

KATUAH- page 21

P.O. Box 117
Murphy, NC 28906
Call Clarence Hall at (704) 586-2056 for
/
more infonnation.

wastes. LLW s can in fact be potentially
more dangerous in many cases because
there are no stringent safety standards for
the handling of low-level radioactive
materials.
The most massive and most
dangerous of the low-level wastes produced
in North Carolina come mainly from the
nuclear power plants which account for
approximately 87% of the volume and 97%
of the radioactivity. Citizen groups are
suggesting that power plants manage their
own waste in safe, on-site, storage facilities
at their own expense.
The remaining wastes - mostly
medical, industrial and research wastes - a
lot of which are short-lived - could be
managed by the state in a small storage
facility. It is important, the groups advise,
that there be fi2 landfills and that various
low-level wastes be separated according to
radioactive life-span and managed in
above-ground, monitored, retrievable
storage facilities.
For more info, contact

- continued from p. 11
TROUT FARMING

dependent on the size of the operation and
the intensity of culture employed. Most
trout farmers now use dry commercial feeds
because of the high protein requirement of
trout, but live foods are often less
expensive, can sometimes be produced on
the site, and have the advantage of
producing trout flesh that is pink in color
and tastier than that of commercially-fed
fish, which is white in color.
McLamey discusses several
possibilities, including feeding trout meat
wastes or slaughterhouse offal, starting a
worm-raising operation to complement the
home fish farm, using "bug lights" to
capture insects, and even the trick of putting
a rotting log upstream to be a free, natural
culture medium for live trout food. Feeding
times, feeding amount, and many other
specifics are also covered.
Methods of harvesting and handling
fish are outlined in detail in the book. Trout
can be harvested by seining, various kinds
of trapping nets, or by draining the pond to
capture all the fish. An "umbrella net"
dangled under the feeding place is an easy
alternative for a partial harvest, but the
fishing rod will never be totally replaced for
the home pond.
McLarncy gives
suggestions and complete instructions for
the use of various nets and traps. Pests,
predators, diseases, and contamination by
silt and pollution are also discussed.
Appendices to the book give
additional infonnation on cooking the fish, a
summary of their characteristics, and
resource information on standard reference
works and sources for supplies and further
advice.
"Experience is the best teacher", but
The Freshwater Agyacutwre Book is an
excellent place to start a fish-raising
operation.
Bill McLarney is offering an
aquaculture consulting service for fish
farmers in KatUah. Inquire by letter to:
1176 Bryson City Rd.
Franklin, NC 28734

~

j:Y

h erbs, nct t ive plcsnl!;, f1erennidl:.,
flow~rs,

fruit lrees, bulbs,
bedding planl:..

80 lakeside Drive
8/I01hs of a mile from turdee'li
in Franklin, N.C.
for infurmdlion c:all 524·3321

Millie Buch;man, Clca.n Water Fund ~
(704) 253-4423
/:"'

Summer 1986

�RUMMING
..

LETTERS TO KATUAH

In Dwellers jn the L,and. Kirkpatrick Sale states: "What
makes the bioregional vision different -- in any foreseeable
future, anyway -- is that it asks nothing of the Federal
government and needs no national legislation, no
governmental regulation, no Presidential dispensation" (p.
169).
But it seems to me that the bioregional movement
cannot simply wait for the exhaustion of the world's supplies
of fossil fuels to make long-distance transportation
uneconomical and thus force the world to adopt bioregional
economies. The carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere
by the combustion of fossil and biomass fuels will so
drastically change the climate of all pans of the earth as to
fundamentally alter the biotic potential of every bioregion. In
order to prevent that, it would be necessary for all industrial
nations to begin ~ to phase out the petroleum, coal,
automobile, railroad, and merchant marine industries. That
would require political action, since those industries will not
voluntary go out of business. How else could a liveable
bioregional world be brought into being?
Ed Price
Sylva, NC

Dear Friends,
I have r;ad and enjoyed the K.aWah. I am broadcasting
on WUM radio on Sundays at 1:45 P.M. I sing sacred
songs, read poems, Bible, and etc. I am sending some home
remedies from an old New York doctor book published
1919.
Kate Rogers
Franklin, NC
LEMONS
Heartburn - Slowly suck the juice from one to two lemons,
which is generally sufficient to give relief.
Colds - Add the juice of two lemons to the same quantity of
strained honey, and mix thoroughly. Take a teaspoonful of
this mixture every ten or fifteen minutes.
Rheumatism - Take the juice of several lemons every day and
in a short time all signs of rheumatism will disappear.
Corns - Bind a piece of lemon over the com every night for
four or five nights.
Asthma - Persons suffering from asthma should drink the
juice of two or three lemons every day.
Headache - The juice from half a lemon added to a cup of hot
water sweetened with honey will generally relieve the most
severe headache.
(For more on Kare Rogers, see Kmfil.lb.1110 - Eds.)

KA

1 offer you a quote that has been a source of great
power for me:
Remember thaJ you live always wuler the protection of
some mysterious force. T.hi.s...ffU« i~ ~.Therefore, true
self-defense does not stop with defending oneself against
others, but strives to make oneself worthy of defense by
nature herself ... When your mind and your acts become OIU!
with narure, then narure will protect you.
Fear no enemy; fear only to be separated from the
mind of nature. If you are on the right path, nature will
protect you and you need not fear anything. Trust nanlre and
do not worry. Leave both your mind and body to narure.
Do not recognize friend or foe in your mind. In your
heart, let tlwre be generosiry as large as the sea, which
accepts both clean and unclean water. Let your mind be as
merciful as namre, which loves the smallest tree or blade of
grass. Let your mind be strong with sincerity thaJ can pierce
iron or srone. Repay the favors of nature, work/or the good
of all, and make yourself a person whom nature is pleased to
let live.
Koichi Tohei
(in Ajkjdo, The Art of Self-Defense I
The spirit and practice of the martial art of Aikido can
give us some idea of principles that can successfully be used
in political resistance. My knowledge and understandfog of
Aikido are limited, so I speak as no expert, but to my
understanding Aik.ido works with the "flow" of energy and
does not confront force with force. Instead, it allows the
opposing force its expression and then moves to turn the
opposing force to its own disadvantage. The Aikido
practitioner will allow an attacker to lunge and with a simple
movement will use the attackers own energy to send him
reeling. Aikido works with centering and directing the
body's energy or ,Ki. That's an oversimplistic explanation,
but it might give you an idea.
Translating the principles into action is what presents
the challenge. Obviously we can't match force with the
nuclear power industry, the chemical industry, or the
technological forces which are killing our Mother Earth. The
Indians tried to stop it with force years ago, and look what
happened So how do we keep it from happening and stay
sane at the same time?
First, maybe we have to give up the notion that ~
have to keep it from happening. If this crazy absurdity of the
modem world were not a part of the Great Spirit's plan, it
would not be happening. And maybe it's going to have to
get even crazier before the majority of humans arc going to
pay attention. Once during a discourse with a "psychic
being", l expressed a great deal of concern about the rampant
commercial development that was placing all our best food
growing land under concrete and asphalt I was advised that
the disease must run its course and not to base my life on
fighting the disease, for if I did, when the disease vanished
so would my life.
So do we just give it up as hopeless? Absolutely not.
F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, "The test of a first rate
intelligence is to hold cwo opposed ideas in your mind at the
same time and still retain your capacity to function. You
should, for example, be able to sec that things are hopeless
and yet be determined to make them otherwise."
It sounds a lot easier than it really is. Once we begin
the work in earnest in our own hearts, then the Great Spirit
may guide us to other action. If we try to tackle the "evil"
without purifying our own hearts, then we simply give it
more energy and make it stronger.
We are not alone. Many people all over this planet are
facing similar situations. We live in a world that is extremely
unbalanced and full of great suffering. For this reason we
must develop and hold a clear vision of the world as we wish
it to be - happy, healthy, and filled with life. Affirm that
vision every day. Don't let negatives get in the way. Our
vision is our prayer. Keep the vision foremost and clear.
And we must not wish ill on our perceived "enemies" -- this
is not Good Medicine. Pray for happiness, health and peace
for all beings on the Earth Mother.
Dan Vega
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Summer 1986

�Dear Folks,
l am writing you concerning your promotional material
for your Spring Gathering. I think .K..iUia.h is a great
publication and I think your having a gathering is a good
idea. Snow Bear came to our Fall Gathering last year and
was on the teaching staff with Grandfather Wallace Black
Elk, Grandmother Grace Spotted Eagle, Buck Ghost Horse,
Ron Evans, and others. We really like Snow Bear and
promote his camp through our newsletter.
The way you have stated "SACRED SWEAT
LODGE" on your promotional material can be easily
interpreted to mean that you are selling the sweat lodge. I
hope you are clear about what you are doing. I don't believe
that Snow Bear would in fact charge money for a sweat.
SeUing ceremonies of this type is as offensjve as having
Christian sacraments offered on a sale basis. Advertising
sweats as a prominent clement of a for-sale program is also
offensive to many people.
I wish you no harm. Several of your staff know me
personally. I would appreciate some cla. ification on these
r
matters. We all make errors and it seems that errors of
advertising and pubHcation are very easy to make and once
made propagate rapidly.
Sincerely,
Art Horn
Marietta, GA
An,

As the person who drew up the flyer for the ~
Spring Ga1hering, I am the person to respond to your letter.
Thonks very much/or raising the issue. We appreciate your
lerrer and the spirit in which it was offered.
We did nor consider the Gathering as something that
was for sale when we put together the flyer. The money
mentioned represented our guess as to the minimum amount
we would require from each participant ro cover our basic
expenses for renting the camp and providing our food. All
work on the Gathering was volunteer, as is all work on the
Kiufimljournal. Nobody took any money home, unlike a lot
of spiritual seminars put on by some white people (and a few
native people, too, who have been mentioned/or Hselling"
sacred gatherings and sacred objects). If we had been fasting
in a wilderness area, the Ka1Uilh Gathering would have been
free.
I did not show the flyer to Snow Bear before sending
it out. If I had, he said he would have advised me 10 take the
sweat lodge off the page. He had some good words about
that. He said that regardless of our circumstances, it is an
historical fact that white people have consistently taken the
tra&amp;tions ofthe native people and abused them. We cenainly
do not want to do that. On rlie contrary, I mentioned the
proposed sweat lodge so people would know that we were
seeking the highest possible spiritual level for our meeting,
not to produce the opposite effect. So with that in mind, we
thank you for poillling our attention to this mistake, and I
rrust we won't re,,ea1 it.

David Wheeler

~Friends,

It seems desirable to consider some positive
alternatives to the wasteful and dangerous burial of high level
nuclear waste in "solid" rock. So, here is an alternative
pattern that seems worth consideration:
( 1) Instead of transporting dangerous nuclear waste to
an individual repository, why not keep the waste at the site
where it is produced, thus avoiding the danger of
transporting these dangerous materials. If persons in a given
location produce such waste, and probably benefit financially
from the operation, it seems only fair that those same people
should deal with the waste; not persons in some distant
location.
(2) High level nuclear waste contains a great deal of
energy. Instead of heating rock with that energy, it is
suggested that the energy be converted directly to some
useful form. (e.g., it is estimated that the 70,000 tons of
waste proposed for burial in a permanent repository would
yield, in a 256 year period, over 60 billion dollars worth of
energy at $.035 per kwh.)
(3) The present method of using thermal fission
processes, with the demonstrated danger of catastrophic
meltdown, is a relatively inefficient means of obtaining
electrical energy. It is possible to ~izc direct coo version to
electrical energy by slowing the beta and alpha particles in an
electric field. The direct conversion could be used with
suitably processed waste as weU as with nuclear fuel now
being used in wasteful and dangerous thermal fission
reactors. (Note: Some of the nuclear physicists who
demonstrated the conversion of matter to energy in the early
experiments with Fermi wanted to develop safer, more
efficient conversion schemes for commercial use. The
politics of that situation led to the present dangerous and
wasteful methods, rather than the safer and more efficient
processes proposed by those early pioneers in nuclear
physics. It may be time to pay attention to the suggestions of
those expert and creative persons.)
(4) Placing large amounts of collected waste in a
localized region is contrary to the teaching of the old ones.
The forests, meadows, waters, winds, and earth processes
tend to scatter and diffuse matter. Large concentrations may
be an expression of humankind that is destructive and
hannful when out-of-tune with nature.
(5) Instead of spending over 9 billion dollars to place
dangerous waste in the ground, why not spend that money
on research and development that would use the waste for
useful purposes and help to preserve the natural ways given
to us?
(6) Those of us in Katuah (Katuahins?) can come
together to encourage alternative, more constructive patterns.
The epic of nuclear processes on earth demonstrates
again the power of the mind to rcaHze signillcant new
patterns. That power of the mind can be used to help form
these new patterns into beautiful and useful configurations.
Fear, greed, and ignorance can be replaced by peace,
fairness, and understanding.
Harmony is a possible alternative.
Ho,

Peregrine Falcon

KATIJAH - page 23

John Artley
Hot Springs, NC
- continued on p. 24

�- continued from p. 23

Dear Folks at~

Dear~.
I wrote to the President of the United States and
enclosed the pullout section on the nuclear dump plan from
the spring K.ci.ah.
Yesterday, I recieved a two page typed letter written
"on behalf of President Reagan" in response to my letter
"regarding the Nation's second repository program." The
letter and a folder of materials came from the Department of
Energy.
According to the letter, "the DOE evaluated, with State
assi.stance, existing publicly available geologic and
envuonmental data ... to identify preliminary candidate
areas.''
In my opinion, North Carolinians should be asking,
"Where was Gevemor Martin during the time that South
Carolina's Governor was in Washington, D.C. fighting to
protect that state from being dumped on more than they
already have beenr' Arc the people aware that Governor
Martin is from South Carolina?
Also, the people should be made aware that
Congressman Bill Hendon accepted campaign funds from 18
out-of-state nuclear power companies of $250.00 each plus
donations from in-state companies. Isn't it reasonable to
assume that he would feel obligated to them rather than the
people of this state? Isn't it possible that he may not be
well-informed on the potential threat to the lives of the people
in thC: vicinity of a hazardous nuclear waste dump as we arc?
Consider the fact that he recently made a "mistake" in voting
[Qr the MRS budget and that he has not been successful in
getting one bill through Congress in over three years.
If we are to be successful in protecting ourselves and
future generations from a nuclear holocaust, we must get
involved in the political process and elect public officials who
w~ be responsive to our urgent requests to protect our
envuonment
DOE anticipates "recommending to the President three
sites for characterization for a second repository in the early
1990's." Let's be sure that the people of wesrcrn North
Carolina have someone in Washington, D.C. to care for YJnotjust big industry.
Sincerely,
Esther c. Cunningham

Franklin, NC

- continued from p. 11

'I

.

. . I am mtei:ested in_ proi:notin~ home music-making -smgmg &amp; playing music with friends and writing songs.
Those of us who were not born where we have put down
roo~ become part of local culture, and can bring our insights
&amp; light co a place ... music is my way of doing it. I love
spontaneous music-making &amp; sharing. rt turns us away
from mass culture (TV &amp; MTV, etc.) and gives us a beauty
and richness we can share.
Als~&gt;, in a mystic~! sense, our singing and playing
adds music of a human kind 10 a place long after the music
has stopped. M~st of my son~s sing about nature anyway.
Human bemgs neeg to sing. Nature loves the singing.
Thank you for .Katlulh's song.
Love,
Cindy Crossen
Pittsboro, NC
Dear friends at Kill!.ah.

We appreciate your kind words for our publication and
the Backroads column. We have seen young people,
families, older people, and combinations of all of the above
taking those tours. They occasionally stop by to say hello
and all of them have been very nice people who appreciate
the very things we would like to preserve about the Blue
Ridge. We know that, like everywhere else, growth is
inevitablC:, _but we hope to ~ abl~ to guide that growth along
more posittve, non-destrucuve hnes. We feel one way is to
create an awareness of what is here and has been here. In the
past two years, The Mountain I.aurel has attracted national
attention, so we must be on the right track. We have no
degrees in journalism, but follow only our instincts. We try
to present mountain people and their ways and mountain
places in their true light and give people a "taste" of what
mountain life is really like.
Susan Thigpen, Editor
The Mountain I.aurel:
Monthly Journal of Mountain Life
Route I
MeadowsofDan, VA 24120

,,#
,P'

AQUACULTURE

basic background information for each stage of the
fish-raising process, and 3) offers a variety of techniques to
handle the different fish species in different fish farm
situations. The result is that fish farmers are able to design
their own individual aquaculture operations that arc tailored
to the particular conditions of their environment and the scale
at which they want to work.
The freshwater Aguaculture Book is a multi-leveled
statement In its form and in its content it speaks to the
question of what arc the true and enduring values that will
make fish culture or any other enterprise a truly satisfying
and life-enhancing occupation. Many people will benefit
from the practical infonnation and advice McLamey offers on
fish-raising. It can only be hoped that some will respond as
well to the deeper discourse that seeks to define what is truly
appropriate and lasting. Ultimately, these values can only be
realized through experimentation and practice as part of a
continuing process of maintaining our "place", the point
where we arc in balance with the natural world, but il is most
helpful to have a guidebook to help point the way.

If we are to speak of an aquaculture for small groups
and individuals, it will ultimately be up to us, as small
groups and individuals, to create it. Fortuna1ely, despite the
gaps in our knowledge, there is much that we can do right

now. Some of what we can do is contained in this book.
The implementaJion of this information and the testing of
these ideas will be an important step toward a more diverse
and imponant future for aquaculture in North America.
reviewed by David Wheeler,

KA

AH-page 4

1

,, .
~•

l:11mmer 1986

�A CHILDREN'S PAGE

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AH - page 25

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- continued from p. 3
SA YING "NO!"
of Energy. With the knowledge that the
citizenry of this state is solidly behind them,
activists can organize without fear of local
h~tility from state officials. More people
will be likely to participate in civil
disobedience, for example, if it comes down
to ~at It's nice to know you're in friendly
temtory.

Rererendums on Other Issues?
When the Nonh Carolina legislature

decided to place the high-level nuclear waste
issue on the ballot, it broke a longstanding
rule against holding referendums. Indeed, it
was the first referendum in the history of the
state on anything but a Constitutional
Amendment or a bond issue, both of which
are required by state law.
Many other groups, representing a
multitude of causes, have been clamoring
for state-wide referendums on their issues,
only to be rejected by the state legislature on
the grounds that North Carolina traditionally
has a "representative form of government".
This means that the people elect officials
who in turn are supposed to make all the
important decisions for them. This is an
archaic interpretation of democratic
government which amounts to tight fisted,
autocratic control and discourages a
participatory role by the citizenry. This
philosophy of government has ruled North
Carolina and the entire Southeast since the
Revolutionary War, and kept this state in the
political dark ages. Many states, by
contrast, have instated an "Initiative
Process" whereby any group or individual
can circulate a petition for a referendum and.
once the required number of signatures has
been achieved, it is placed on the st.ate-wide
ballot In some states, such as Oregon and
Maine, initiatives become binding laws if
voted on and passed by a majority of the
people.
Now that the North Carolina State
Legislature has broken with tradition by
placing one referendum on the ballot, it will
be hard to rationalize the denial of others.
The pressure from lobbying groups will be
enormous. Perhaps the stranglehold of
authoritarian rule is finally beginning to lose
its grip and a new political age is dawning.

National Significance
On a national level, the results of this
referendum have great meaning.
. As much as the ~t of Energy
denies that politics enters its
decision-making process, politics will be the
~iding factor in where, if anywhere, a
high-level nuclear waste repository will go.
There is no safe method to bury
nuclear waste and there is no safe place for
nuclear waste. No geological location is
suitable. Everywhere is on top of some
water table. The DOE is merely in the
process of finding out where they can put
the repository so that it will be economically
suitable for the nuclear industry and where
people will let them put it without major
political upheaval.
They have now
discovered, to their disappointment, that
Nonh Carolina is not that place.
In addition to putting the DOE on
notice, the waste referendum has sent out a
signal. to the rest of the country which is of
great importance. North Carolina and the

southeast is not known for its leadership in
en.~ental issues. Quite to the contrary,

this region has been the most politically
conservative and industry-oriented. The
fact that this state has taken such an
overwhelming stand in opposition to nuclear
waste bas particular significance. The
referendum has given North Carolina
leadership potential on a national basis in
regard to the nuclear waste issue. The less
conservative st.ates, threatened with the
dump, will in all probability, hold similar
referendums of their own in the near future.
(Wisconsin held a referendum prior to
No~ .Carolina and rejc:cted the dump with a
maJOnty of 89%.) This turn of events will
create a block of st.ates from different
regions of the ceuntry in alliance with each
other. and ~pposcd to the misguided process
that 1s being used to deal with nuclear
waste. Io essence these states will
spearhead a national movement which could
lead to the demise of the Nuclear Waste
Policy Act of 1982.

•.»o0 • A variety 1J{
~f,..i""'"" wholesome baked goods
OC4 Chesterfte!d tttU
next IO French Broad Trading Co.op

Potential is the Key Word
The referendum in North Carolina has
come and gone. Those of us who worked
bard to make it a reality have tasted a small
measure of success. But the real fruits of
our labor are yet to come, and it will involve
a committment to years of hard work to
bring this saga to a happy conclusion.
The referendum has generated a great
potential to bring about all the benefits
outlined here, but the potential will not be
realized unless people make a concerted
effort to take advantage of the momentum
we presently have, to direct that momentum,
and to create the future scenario we desire.
Let's use this referendum for what
it's worth.
If you live in a state other than North
Carolina and wish to help instigate a
referendum in your state, CCNW might be a
good source of infonnation for you. Write:

NATIJRAL FOOD STORE
&amp;DELI

CCNW
P.O. Box 653
Dillsboro, NC 28725

Avram FriMman and the CCNW group first
initiated the idea of a NC nuclear waste
referendwn this past winter (see ~
#ll).
,

Open 7 Days A Week

160 Broadway
Asheville, NC 28801

Monday - Friday
9:00 a.rn. - 8:00 p.m.
Saturday
9:00 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Sunday
1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.rn.

(704) 253-7656
Where Broadway
Meets Merrimoo

And 1-240

ACUPUNCTURE ASSOCIATES
of
ASHEVILLE

Mary C. Majebc
258-9016

KurtKochek

258-0837

Naoki Kubota
254-9236

Acupuncture, Nutritional Counselling, Chinese Herbology, Shiatsu
Summer 1986

�N'flBe. tJ.

- --ea-t L alces r- g-on-. C a- ca - Sh-asta, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.:..,__
Gr
- - - e i
- s -dia,
_

'The larger functi.oning of bjoregions
leads to a consideration that the Earth be
view~d pr~marily as an inlt!r-related system
of b1oreg1ons and only secondarily as a
community of nations.
'The more massive bureaucratic
nations of the world have lost their inner
vitality because they can no longer respond
to the particular functioning of the various
bioregions within their borders. A second
difficulty within the massive nations is the
exploitation of some bioregions for the
advantage of others. A third difficulty is the
threate~ devastalWn of the entire planel by
the conflict ofmassive bureaucratic nations
with their weaponry capable of continental
and even planetary devastation . To break
these nations down into their appropriate
bioregiona/ communities could be a possible
way to peace.
'This bioregional mode of thinking
and acting is presently one of the most
vigorous movements taking place anywhere
on the North American continent. Its
comprehensive concern is leading toward a
rt!()rdering ofall our existing establishmenrs:
the political-legal, the commercial-industrial
communications, educational and religio~
establishmenrs.
N

Upper Sonoran, Ohio River basin Hudson
River Estuary, and Katuah as ' well as
others. The regions themselves were
reercsented - the land, the plants, the
animals, as well as the humans. The focus
of the Congress was on the whole
ecological community of North America Turtle Island.
At the final plenary session ofNABC
I it was unanimously agreed that a second
North American Bioregional Congress
should convene in 1986.
Now plans are underway for NABC
1I! It will be hosted by the Great Lakes
Bioregional Congress (GLBC) from August
25-29, 1986. There will be a conference
style format at the beginning of the week
followed by the convening of the formal
Congress later in the week. Some major
areas of ecologically-based work which will
be represented at NABC D are:

~xhibit ~air.

The format of the Congress
itself will .be at the discretion of the
representallves.
The NABC I was
structured to include NABC Standing
Committees (Agriculture/Permaculture
Econ?mics, Forests, Culture &amp; Arts, etc.}
~ectln~ on a regular basis plus small
d!scus~1on .groups meeting to discuss
b1orcg1onal 1ssues and practical strategies
as well as plenary sessions.
'
Throughout the week there will be
amp!~ . time for informal networking,
socializing, and celebrating.
I_'. contingency from Kat6ah will be
a~tendi.ng NABC II and is developing a
b1orc;g1onal .presentation and exhibit for
sharing with the other bioregions.
~ponsors of NABC II from Appalachia
include: Katiiab: Bjorc~onal Journal of the
Southern Appalachjans. Indian Valley
Ce~~r for Holistic Living and Learning
(Wilhs, VA), Lon~ Branch Environmental
Educatio~ Cen~ (S~dy Mush, NC), and
A~p~ach1a-Sc1ence 10 the Public Interest
~LIVlng~ton, KY).
For additional
mfonnaoon, contact
Mamie Muller
~
(704) 252-9167
P"'

All Species Rights
Appropriate Technology, An:hirecture, and Design
Bioregionalisrn...Cooperatives/Communities
Cul1we/Ans •• .Ecological Politics/Green
Ec~Feminism'Posl patriarchlal values

Politics

Educalioo...Environmental DefensdConservatioo
Forestry/Agrofaesuy

Holistic Health Care/Healing
Land Stewardship...Native People's Rights

Organic Agricu ltute/Pennaculture

- Thomas Berry in
Bjoregjons.· The Context for Rejnhabjtjng
the Eqrth. 1984

Peace/Equality/Justice...Regional Planning

In May of 1984, over 200 participants
from all over the continent attended the first
North American Bi~egional Congress ...
representatives from bloregional, ecological
an~ sustain~bility-oriented groups, and
nauve and tnbal organizations. Bioregional
areas represented included the Prairie
Ozarks, Cumberland-Green watershed'

'

Renewable Resource Development
Responsible lnves1rnent
Spiriruallty/Sacredne.WCeremony
Sustainable F.conomics/BU$iness
Water Quality

....• as weU as others.

The Conference time will include
papers,. panels and special
b1oregional presentauons,and a bioregional
"".orks~ops,

~a~e,

~~
T-SHI RTS

Each ori2inal desi 2n
hand screened in 5 colors
on the finest 100%
pre-shrunk cotton
Short SIMVe

Long SIHVe

short and lon2 sleeve t-shirts.
110

ppd. rSEJIP CJrFOC

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Red-failed Hawk D Ecru
long
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ULTRAVIOLET PURIFICATION ANO FILTERING SYSTE"IS
SOLAR PRODUCTS WATER ANAlYSIS

RANDALL C. LAN IER
704 29359 12

H W Y 107
RT. 68 BOX 125
CUL LOW HEE, N C 28 723

KAT AH - page 27

Joe Roberts
258-1038
734 Town Mountain Rd ,

01vrd Reed
253 2846
Ashtville. NC 28805

. nmml'r IQRI'\

�20-22

e

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13-18

Slippery Rock, PA
A People's Conference on the
Fate of Our Forests. Slippery
Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA;
sponsored by The Earth Regeneration and
Reforestation Association (fERRA); More
info: TERRA c/o Elfin Permacu!ture; P.O.
Box 202; Orange, MA 01364; (617)
544-7810.

28

20-25

28-July 5 Burnsville, NC
Southern Appalachian Wilderness
Encounter led by Doug Elliott; hiking
camping, foraging in the mountains - for
info, write or call: Doug Elliott; Rt 4, Box
137; Burnsville, NC
28714 (704)
682-9263.

Nantahala River
Nantaha!a River Festiya! - River
cleanup, environmental awareness
programs, biking, Bartram Trail walks,
swimming. Free camping; meals available.
Reply to: Brett Poirier; US 19W, Box 41;
Bryson City, NC 28713.
21

Summer Solstice-Full Moon

Celo Community, NC
Full Moon Party - Drumming,
dancing; bring instruments, snacks, high
spirits; "Mountain Gardens," 3020
Whiteoak Creek Rd. (704) 675-5664.

Pre-register: Southern Dharma Retreat
Center; Rt. 1, Box 34H; Hot Springs, NC
28743.

28

Great Smokies Park
Greeory Bald Azalea Hike
Smoky Mountain Field School, see 6121-22
28

Banner Elk, NC
R2an Mountain Hike North
Carolina Nature Conservancy; P.O. Box
805; Chapel Hill, NC 27514.

21

21

Swannanoa, NC
O_penine Concert of Swannanoa
Oamber Festival at Warxcn Wi1son Co!!cze
William Nelson and Werner John. 8:00
P.M., Kittredge Theater, WWC.

Hot Sprlngs, NC

Goddesses Arnone Us: An
Empowr;rment Retreat for Meo and Women

Black Mountain, NC
Timmy Abell Irish &amp; Traditional.
McDibbs, see 6121.

28-29

Great Smokies Park
Mt. LeConte Lodee Hjke &amp;
Oyernieht Research Qn Wild Mammals Qf
the Sm2kies: A Hands-On Course Qn
Animal Life jn SmQky Mountain Streams
Smoley Mountain Field School, see 6121-22

Il1LY

~

July
Genius Qf fubn Juliys WilnQty Cherokee Heritage Center.

21

Black Mountain, NC
John Pabey Conte.mporary of
Leo Kottke. McDibbs; 119 Cherry St;
B!aclc Mountain, NC 28711.
21-22

13-15

Farner, TN
Herbal Retreat at PeJ&gt;perland
Fann Camp; herb walks, foraging for wild
foods, identifying medicinal plants, etc.
$65.00 meals &amp; lodging/adults; children
6-16, $15; under 6, free. (704) 494-2353.
Leicester, NC
"Positively StQppine tbe Dump"
Celebration - Fuodraiser. Music, food,
volleyball and information. Sandy Mush
Community Center 12:00 Noon - 8:00 PM.
14

Great Smokies Park
Identification of Fems Smoky
Mountain Field School.
Non-credit
programs. 2016 Lake Ave.; University of
Tennessee; Knoxville, 1N 37996.
22-28

Brasstown, NC
June Dance Week English,
American &amp; Scottish country dance and
song. Tuition $130 plus lodging and meals.
John C. Campbell Folk School, see 6/15.

14-22

Sam's Knob
Mountain Reeional Rainbow
Summer Solstice Celebration Contact:
David Recd, (704) 253-2846 (before 9:30
P.M.).
Brasstown, NC
June Festival Choice of classes
in mountain singing, recorder, and
dulcimer; or crafts. Tuition $130 plus meals
and lodging. John C. Campbell Fol.le
School; Rt. l; Brasstown, NC 28902.
(704) 837-2775.

5

Alum Ridge, VA
Psycho Chiroloey Seminar on
psychological hand interpretation with
Muzawir. $25 or barter, free camping.
Pre-register: Penny Royal Educational
Center; Rt. H C 67, Box 171 ; Alum Ridge,
VA 24051 (703)763-3728.
6-7

Turtle Island
"Circle Qf Lieht" - Prayers for
protection of the Hopis and Dineb
threatened with forced removal from their
sacred land by the U.S. Government. From
midnight July 6 throughout the removal
deadline date of July 7.

15-21

23-27

Horsepasture River

Pretty Pictures &amp; Politics: visual

Environmentalism
Appalachian
Environmental Arts Center; P.O. Drawer
580; Highlands, NC 28741.

6-7

Celo Community, NC
"Mountain Gardens" tour and
perennial plant sale; 3020 Whiteoak Creek
Rd., (704) 675-5664.

18-21

Bakersville, NC
RhQdQdendrnn Festival
TRAC; Spruce Pine, NC 28777.
Raleigh, NC
l.ow-Jeyel Radiation Waste Rally
to urge the NC General Assembly to get out
of SE Compact (see ~ p.21) Maio
speaker: Brost Schori, biosafety radiation
officer at Dartmouth Medical Center. At
State Capitol, starts 9:00 am. more info:
(919) 832-7491.
17

25-26

Raleigh, NC
NC Al!ematiye Faonine Fjeld
Jlu. Promising new approaches for a
sustainable agriculture. More info: Dr. R.
H. Miller; Dept of Soil Science; P.O. Box
7619, NC State University; Raleigh, NC
27695-7619.
26-29

Swannanoa, NC
SwQCds intQ Plowshares
Peace Studies programs in higher
education. Warren Wilson College.
Swannanoa, NC 298-3325 (x231).

10-Aug 3 Blue Ridge Parkway
MQuntain Sweet Talk Two-act
play by The Folkte!Jers. Folk Art Center
Theater. More info: Mountain Sweet Talk;
c/o The Fol.lctellers; P.O. Box 2898;
Asheville, NC 28802 (704) 258-1113.

�11- 19

Alum Ridge, VA
Psychic Allunement Seminar with
Tom Williams and Muzawir. Explore the
self-healing abilities we all possess. S200
or barter; bring food, pre-register. sec 115.

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9-10

Willis, VA
The Herbal Medjcjne Chest with
Susun S. Weed. Contact: Indian Valley
Holistic Center. Rt. 2, Box 58; Willis, VA
24380.
11-17

Willis, VA
Women's Wellness Week
Bodywork, herbal medicine and medical
self-help, see 8/9.

12

West Jefferson, NC
Bluff Mountain Hike North
Carolina Nature Conservancy, see 6128.
14-25

Elkins, WV
Augusta Heritage Arts fair food, crafts, and !otsa music! (3
workshops by Doug Elliott as well: herbs,
woodslore, basketmaking) call : (304)
636-1903 for info.
As heville, NC
39th Annya! Soythem Hiehlands
Handicraft Guild Fair. Asheville Civic
Center, (704) 298-7928.

16

Alum Ridge, VA
Environmental
Harmony
Workshop with Edward J. Kesgen of
Sunshine Weavers. Cost $35 per person,
$55 per couple; bring food. Pre-register by
8/8. see 11
5.
19

13-20

Asheville, NC
French Broad River Weck,

Featuring:
Sept. 13 RIVERFEST - AU-day event on
the Asheville waterfront celebrating the
French Broad River - raft rides, games,
crafts, displays. Music by Mike Cross and
local musicians.

Celo Community, NC
full Moon Paay - sec 612 ! .

17-20

19

Celo Community, NC
full Moon Paey - see 612 l.

Great Lakes Bioregion
North American Bjoregional
Coneress 11 NABC 11 Office; Bioregional
Project; New Life Farm, Inc. Box 3;
Brixey, MO 65618. Regionally: (704)
252-9167.
25-31

Banner Elk, NC
Bie Yellow Mountain Hike NC
Nature Conservancy, sec 6128.

Also raft and canoe trips, hikes, displays,
contests, river clean-up throughout French
Broad River Weck. Dates not set at
publication time. Call or write:
Bill Eaker
Land of Sky Regional Council

19

25 Heritage Drive
Asheville, NC 28806
(704) 254-8131
for dates and details.

SEPTEMBER
7-8

20-26

Brasstown, NC
Multi-Media Week I Basketry,
Pottery, Blacksmithing &amp; more. John C.
Campbell Folk School, sec 6/15.

Celo Community, NC
"Mountain Gardens" tour and
perennial plant sale; see July 6-7.
18

21-25

Swannanoa, NC
The Many faces of PeacemaJcjng,
Elderhostel class on global understanding.
Warren Wilson College; More info:
298-3325 (x231).

,.st3~

.~CJ,_ .

-.

Swannanoa, NC
Facine the Nuclear Winter Njght:
Options and Actjons. World Affairs
Institute. Warren Wilson College,
Swannanoa, NC (919) 786-5233.
25-27

Modica! Sell-Help

30-Aug 3 Swannanoa, NC
fellowship of Reconcjliation
National Conference Key speakers include
Wendell Berry, Dorothy Cotton and Miles
Honon. Contact: Rural Southern Voice for
Peace; 190 I Hannah Branch Road;
Burnsville, NC 28714.

Celo Community, NC
"Moyntajn Gardens" tour and
perennial plant sale; sec July 6-7.
3-16

Brasstown, NC
Mountain Traditions Stone
Carving, Dulcimer &amp; more. John C.
Campbell Folk School, see 6/15.

8

Brasstown, NC
Mountain Music Concert with
Homer Ledford. John C. Campbell Folk
School, see 6/15.

-

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S1'1'C.//Jfi (} fXtp ~(11.1&lt;tf ~f.1.wqr
:R!t~ ti 'R.;faritJ 'f3.1f..111rn~q -

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August 11·17
Wldl H-S-WMd, c.,..,_ M_.t, MD.
Hd 8od1 w...... udMlllklM Mtndldl Mclno..a

"!ltffJ D:&lt;'\1u_y.u .W•11
255-19M

IHDIAH VALU!Y RETREAT

- 2ao.sa.w... vA2-110317-

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13- 18

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20 -22

27-29

July
4-6
11- 13

6211-15J7

SOUTHE:RN DHARMJ\ RE:TRE:J\T CE:NTE:R
SUMMER SCHEDULE
Q11ddcuu

Eamgy,~DJKn&amp;

AUGUST
3-4

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HMology
P•- . l l S -

WOQIXD1'8 w.a&amp;Jll!a W%llX

Asheville, NC
Bele Cher Festival; Downtown

Asheville.

f(1

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25-27

Celo Community, NC
Full Moon Paey - sec 6121.

ama111

Lii

Ao

B'-lttll Cm M= 1Dd Wgmm

with Roger Woolger. Ao iouoductloo to
the universal feminine archeiypcs aod ao
exploration or their meaoiog to us.
:Cai Cb! Cb11m - Ihc E11cmlm E11cm with
Harold Miller. A wec.ltend CllploratioD ioto
the way of oot-doiog, or dancing the
Mystic Spiral, or creating your own
Formless Form.
A ~iRllllDI MGdllllhlD Yl';ks=Dd with
Rodney Smith. RodDCy will provide useM
guidlll(:e aod instruction in medication aod
will be available as teacber-io-re11dence
June 30 through July 3 for those who wish
to do private retreats.

2S-27

SRWL with Harruoo HobU~lle, Ph.D. A
weekend or mediUtiOD aod discuuioo
~latlog Buddhitm and ChriJtlaoil:y.
Miad[11lan1 Mcdi111l11a with S11110
Augenstein. Medlutlon aod momnt to
momen1 awareness are the focUJ or this
week.cod.

Aqust

Xllll !Qt Xlllll Wb11lc l.iCI&lt; with BODDe
Kelly. Adaptiog yoga to daily 1etivitia aod
individual needs.
22- 24 A Bjau! z,o Wi:ckmd with S&amp;ody Stewar1.
The way or the selllesa self.
29 .
~ Hs:1lia1 I•:r Imi11 Mt:dilltiSZD IDd Cal
Sept I K.11.u. with Anna Joy Oaybeart. A
comp~hens lve ioll'Oductlon to Ille ll)(:le111
Taoist pr1ellces.
12-14 I2iss&lt;cD1laa lb' Cbd11 Seed l1!'.ilbia with
A ~ilHlllDI Mcdllaliaa W"l"ad with
John YungbluL Exploring Christlaoi1y and
Rodney Smith.
relatiag the mystical upcrieoce of Christ to
lcsi1b1 Mcdi111i11n IDd lb' Li!c ac 1bc
meditatioo and. cootempla11ve prayer.
Southern Obarma Retreat Center is localed in a ~moie area of the Smoley M
ountains near Asheville, North
Carolina. For further information about Southern Ohanna or about aoy or the programs above, call or write:
SOtrrH.ERN DRARMA RETREAT CENTER

8-10

RLI, Boll 34-H; Roi Sprio&amp;J, NC

28743 (704) 622-7112

�Hoaldeas GARDENING NEWSLETTER - A
monthly review gleaning the mos1 practical and
innovative ideas from hundreds of teehnical
iniemational horticuhural publications - S 10 per
year; sample copy: SI. Route I; Gravel Swhch,
KY 40328.

ACCESS is a free lelephone infonnation service on
peace issues including mili1ary spending,
environ.menial impacts of miliiary activity, conflicl
resolution, elC. Your only charge is your
long-distance phone call. ACCESS I is (202)
328-2323.

ln!m!arianal pmnacuhgrc Seeti Yearbook - The
annual bulletin, direciory, and resource guide for
pen:nacultvre practitionen; $10.00; Box 202;
Onnge,MA 01364.

DRUM WORKSHOPS - for children of all ages.
lherapeutic massage - Relaxes lhe body &amp;
mind...Call Martha for more info 11 (704)
252-2420.

MOON DANCE FARM HERBALS - herbal salves,
tincnues, &amp; oils for birthing &amp; family heallh. For
brochu~ please write: Moon Dance Farm; RL I,
Box 726; Hampton. TN 37658

HOLOGRAPHIC ASTROLOGY - Every part of a
hologram con1J1ins all !he info abou1 the en1ire
hologram, and each ctll in your body contains all
!he genetic data about your whole body. Similarly,
every body conlains all Ille infounation about lhe
entire solar sysiern - you are !he solar sysiem and
each of your planeu is ooe of your potentials. Olan
&amp; Consul11tion, SS0.00 Harrie1 Witt Miller (704)
689-4617.

FAIRGLEN FARMS offen organic, biological
feniliz.ers for fmn md garden. Send SASE for price
lisL Biologically-grown produce IO sell? We SC
interested in acting IS cooperalive nwketing agenlS
with other growers. Wriie: Rouie 1, Box 319;
Clyde, NC 28721.
HOW - TO - BOOKS: "Gemstones, Crysials &amp;
Healing" by The.Ima Isaacs - 30 mineral families cl
oompleie descriptions ($8.00); "NllUJ'e's Pantty" by
David Wilson - 100 wild edible foods ($3.00); "The
Soler Energy N0tebook" by Rankins cl Wilson use lhe sun for home heating ($6.00}. Please add $I
~:Jpping per order. Lorien House, POB 1112,
Black Mounlain, NC 28711.
1HE RAINBOW LODGE, a conference ctnier and

reirea1 facility, is available for workshops, reueais,
ete. - Write: RL 4, Boll 4636; BWrsville, GA
30512.
CRAFTS FROM SALVADORAN AND
GUATEMALAN REFUGEES IN NICARAGUA:
Cards, plaques, boxes, puzzles, patt:bes; This irade
benefits refugees directly. Brochure from:
Dry Creek Cooperative Trading
918 Jennings CL
Woodbu.ry, TN 37190
a oon-profil oraaniz.ation.
UGHTWORKS - luminous fabric window pieces
by Cathy Scou; 734 Town Mountain Rd.;
Asheville, NC 28804.

FRIENDS OF 1lfE MOUNTAINS is a grassrOOlS
organization involved in !he conservation and
proiection of !he soulhem Appalachian highlands.
RL 2, Box 2279; ClaylOll, GA 30525.
CHEROKEE CLEANSING lEA - over a doz.en
herbs (makes app. one gallon) - $1 .SO from
Medicine Canoe Products; RL2, Box 90-E; Old
Fon. NC 28762.
ELACHEE NATURE SCIENCE CENTER dedicaled IO !he undemanding and apjX1!Cialion of lhe
nawral world. For membership or visiting info,
write P.O. Boll 2771 ; Gainesville, GA 30503.
AMRITA HERBAL PRODUCTS - Comfrey,
Eucalypws, or Golden Seal Salve, Lemon or
Lavender Pace Cream. Made wilh nawral and
essential oils and love. Send for brochure: RL 1,
Box 737; Floyd, VA 24091.
AMERICAN MINOR BREEDS CONSERVANCY
is saving endangered breeds of farm liveslOCk. If
you keep any minor breeds or know of olhen who
do, please lei AMBC know. $10 10 join. AMBC;
P.O. Box 477; PillSboro, NC 27312.

CUSTOM CELTIC HARPS - A'Coun Bason;
Travianna F1rn1; RL 1; Check. VA 24072.
Shares for sale in FLOYD AORICULTURAL
ENERGY CO-OP; par valued at $100 each. Will
Bason; Travianna Farm; Rt I ; Check, VA 24002.
•AS WE ARE" - Women's music by Pomegrana1e
Rose, a four-woman group playing lively original
music. Casse11e llpe avail.able for $9.00 ppd. from
RL 2, Box 435; Piusboro, NC 27312.
INDIAN VALLEY RETREATS - We offer
individual or group reireats on our 140 acteS of
rolling meadows, wooded r:raiJs, fresh waier streams
and clean air in the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains
of Soulhwes1 Virginia, IS miles norlh of !he Blue
Ridge Parkway. Reireats can be lailorcd 10 your
needs, wilh as much or as little guidanct and social
imerx1ion as you wish. We have rustic cabins,
privaie or semi-private rooms or camping. $10 per
nigh1 per person, bed and breakfasL Indian Valley
Holistic Center; RL 2, Box 58; Willis, VA 24380
(703) 789-4295.
THE LONE RECYQ ER -- Comic book advenwres
of humankind's early suuggle to combat
was1efulness. $4.00 pp. from Long Branch
Environmenlal Education Cenicr; RL 2, Boll 132;

~._~.•::~~o

""

Send submissions io:

K.o.DWi
P.O. Boll 873
Cniiownee, NC 28723

BIG MOUNTAIN - 10,000 traditional Navajo
people lhreaiened with removal by US govemmenl
IO make way for coal and uranium mines. Support
and donations needed. Write: Big Mountain Legal
Defense/Offense Committ.ee; 2501 N. 41h SI.,
Suile 18; Flags1aff, AZ 86001 (602) 774-5233.
At ARTIIUR MORGAN SCHOOL 24 swdents and
14 staff learn iogelher by living in community.
Curriculum includes creative academics. group
decision-making, a work program, servict projects,
extensive field trips, challenging ou1door
ellperiencts. Write: 1901 Hannah Branch Rd.;
Burnsville, NC 28714.
GREEN RIVER RESEARCH JOURNAL exploring lhe connections beiween body. cools, and
land. Send $1.00 for sample copy io: Boit 1919;
Brattleboro, VT 05301.

APPALACHIAN GINSENG CO. - Cuhivaied
American ginseng, siratlfied seeds, seedling roots T-Shins wilh ginseng logo, $9.00 ppd from P.O.
Box 547; Dillsboro, NC 28725.

KA

AH - page 30

MALAPROP'S
BOOKSTORE/CAFE
BOOKS - CARDS - RECORDS

FOUR WINDS VlLLAGE - health and spiri1ua1
reireat; home for children in need. For visiting info,
write: Boll 112; Tiger, GA 30576.

61 HAYWOOD ST., ASHEVILLE, NC 28801
(704) 254-6734

Summerl986

�K1Hfiah. wants to communicate your thoughts and
f eelings 10 the other people in the bioregiona/ provirlce. Send
them to us as letters, poems, stories, drawings, or
pho tographs. Please send your contributions to us at:
Kmflgh; Box 873; Cullowhee, NC 28723.
The fall Kitiiah, Issue XIll, will collect our thoughts
and experiences of "Death and Dying". The deadline for all
submissions for that issue is August I.
Please send your ideas for a theme for the winter issue
of .Kat:Y.im.

Medicine-- .Allies

GET BACK!
issues of Katuah

full color
T-sfiirts
In the traditional Cherokee Indian
belief, the creatures in the world today are
only diminutive fonns of the mythic beings
who once inhabited the world, but who now
reside in Galuna'ti, the spirit world, the
highest heaven. But a few of the original
powers broke through the spiritual barrier
and exist yet in the world as we know it.
These beings are called with reverence
"grandfathers". And of them, the strongest
are KfilWi, the lightning, the power of the
sky; Utsa'nati. the rattlesnake, who
personifies the power of the earth plane; and
Yunwi Usdj, "the little man", as ginseng is
called in the sacred ceremonies, who draws
up power from th.e underworld.
Each is the strongest power in its own
domain. Together they are allies: their
energies complement each other to form an
even greater power. As medicine allies,
they represent the healing power of the
Appalachian Mountains.
The medicine powers of Katiiah have
been depicted in a striking T-shirt design by
Ibby Kenna. Printed in 5-color silkscreen
by Ridgerunner Naturals on top-quality,
all-cotton shirts, they are available now in
all adult sii.es from the Km.ah journal.
"To show r espect for this
supernatural trinity of the natural world is to
in turn become an ally in the continuing
process of maintaining harmony and balance
here in the mountains ofKatUah."
To order, use the form below.

ISSUE TWO - WTNTER 1983-84
Yona - But Huniers - Pigeon River Another Way With Animals - Alma Becoming Polilically Erreclive •
Mountain Woodlands - Katii.ab Under lhc
Drill - Spiritual Warriors
ISSUE THREE - SPRING 1984
SUstainable Agriculture - SuoOowers Human lm.pect oo the Forest • Childrens'
Education - Veronica Nicbolas:Woman
in Politics - Little People - Medicine
Allies

ISSUE NINE - FAll 198S
The Waldec Forest - The Trees Speak Migrating Foresu - Horse Logging Starting a Tree Crop - Urban Trees Acom Bread · Myth Tune

ISSUE FOUR - SUMMER 1984
Waier Oram - Water Quality - Kudzu Solar Eclipse - Clcarcuttin8 - Trout ·
Going to Water • Ram Pumps Microhydro - Poems: Bennie Lee
Sinclair, Jim Wayne Miller

ISSUE TEN - WINTER 198S-86 Kale
Rogers - Circles of Stone • Internal
Mylhmakiog - Holistic Hcalln8 on Trial
- Poems: Sieve Koauth - Mythic Places The Uktena's Tale - Crystal Magic "Dreamspeaking"

ISSUE FIVE- FAll 1984
Harvest • Old Ways in Cherokee Ginseng - Nuclear Wasie - Our Celtic
Heritage - Biore8ionaliJm: Past, Present,
and Future - John Wllnoty - Healio8
Oarlcness • Politics of Participation

ISSUE EL£VSN - SPRING 1986
Community Planning · Cities and the
Bioregional Vision - Recycling •
Community Gardening· Floyd County,
VA • Gasohol • Two Bioregiooal Views Nuclear Supplement - Foxfire Gamca
-Good Medicine: Visions

ISSUE SIX - WINTER 1984-85
Winter Solstice Barth Ceremony
Horsepastu.re River • Com.log of lhe
Light - Log Cabin Roou - Mountain
Agriculture: The Right Crop - William
Taylor - The Future of the Forest
ISSUE SEVEN · SPRING 19&amp;S
Sustainable Economics - Hot Springs Worker Ownership - The Great Economy
• Self Help Credit Union - Wild Turkey Responsible Investing • Working in the
Web of Life

KATUAH: Bjoreeional Journal of the Southern Ap_palacbjans
Box 873; Cullowhee, North Carolina 28723
For more info: call Marnie Muller (704) 252-9167

Regular Membership........$10/yr.
Sponsor.......................$20/yr.
Contributor...................$50/yr.

Name

ISSUE EIGHT· SUMMER 1985
Celebration: A Way of Life - Ka!Uab
18,000 Years Ago • Sacred Siles - Folk
Ans in the Schools - Sun Cycle/Moon
Cycle Poems: Hilda Downer - Cherokee
Heritage Center · Who Owns
Appalachia?

Address

Back Issues
Issue#
@ $2.00 = $
Issue# - -@ $2.00 = $ - Issue#--@ $2.00 = $ - Issue#--@ $2.00 = $- Issue#--@ $2.00 = $ - Complete Set (2-11)
-@ $15.00 = $_ _

T-Shirts: specify quantity
color: tan

M

Enclosed is$
to give
this effort an extra boost
I can be a local contact
person for my area

State

City
Area Code

Phone Number

KATUAH - page 31

S
L

@ $9.50 each ............$_ _

XL

Zip
TOTAL PRICE =
postage paid

$_ _
Summer 1986

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                <text>The twelfth issue of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; covers a variety of topics, including, nuclear energy issues, shiitake mushrooms, trout farms, and the Cherokee people's historic use of tobacco. Authors and artists in this issue include: Joe Hollis, Rhea Rose Ormond, Avram Friedman, Michael Red Fox, D. Newton Smith, Rob Messick, Corry, Ise Williams, David Wheeler, Stephen Wingeier, Jerry Trivette, Perry Eury, and Marnie Muller. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, 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.</text>
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$JOO

ATUAH

ISSUE XVI
SUMMER1987

Coming of Age

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INTERVIEW: HELEN WAITE. .............................................................3
POEM : "VISIONS IN A GARDEN"....................................................5
THE VISION QlJEST............................................................................6
FIRST FLOW .........................................................................................8
THOUGHTS ON INITIATION.............................................................9
ARCHETYPES OF MALE INITIATION.............................................9
LEARNING IN THE WILDERNESS................................................. 12
CHEROKEE CHALLENGE ..................................................................15
NATURAL WORLD NEWS................................................................16
VIEW FROM THE CORNERS: "VALUING TREf;:S"......................19
TURTLE ISLAND TALKING ............................................................20
YOUNG PEOPLE'S PAGE..................................................................25

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ATUAH

ISSUE XVI
SUMMER 1987

f'om time immemorial,
aJ the onset of sexual maturity

the young peopk would leave
the tribe and go out, each one
alone, into the world to meet
the elements, be tested a11d
taught, and find out who they
really were.
They would make a bond,
often expressed in the form of
an animal spirit ally, with their
homeland that would be a
foundation for their adulthood
and a continuing source of
strength. Thereafter, for all
their lives, they would know
with a deep and certain
awareness that the waves from
their every gesture rippled to
the farthest reaches of creation
and that the power that flowed
through them was the force of
the all of life.
These expeditions into the
wild te"ain of the soul were
ritualized and became an
important part of community
life. The community was
revitalized and the social bonds
were strengthened as the old
ones offered their wisdom to
the young, and the young ones
dedicated their exuberant life
energy to the continuance of the
tribe and the life ofthe world.
In our times, the continuity
has been broken.
The land is still there • all
knowledge lies just outside our
doorway, just off the side of the
road - and life continues to
pulse in the bodies of the young
ones coming of age. But that
crucial connection in which
these were joined is largely
missing. Today we must drill
into our intelkctual minds the
message that was aJ one time a
matter of cellular certainty:

KATIJAH - page l

that we are part of a wider
community of life, and we need
to take responsibility for our
participation in the Earth
family.
But that urge to seek
ourselves in the wild and to
touch the wild in ourselves is
instinctive and deep, and there
are yet those willing to bring
the young ones to the threshold
of the world, to the edge of
their own being, and say, "You
must take the next step alone,
but I will be here. I will wait
for you, and I will be
watching."
Even without the benefit of
the old traditions, these leaders
of the coming generation are
woking for new forms and new
guidance to re-establish the old
continuity and reunite the two
circles, the circle of the world

and the cyc/,e of our lives, and
make them once more single
and whole.
In this issue of KatUah.
some of these teachers and
guides speak to us ofhow they
are bringing young p eople out
from civilization to meet the
world and some of the lessons
that are there lo be learned. In
speaking of these things, they
offer to us the same challenge
that each young person meets
when they stand on the brink of
adulthood: to open to the
world, to kt iJflow through the
body into the soul, to feel its
power, and by following that
power back to its source, to
once again come upon the
essential nature of our
existence and touch our deepest
roots.

Summer 1987

�H

EDITORIAL STAFF nus ISSUE:
Snow Bear
Scott Bird
Julie Gaunt
Judith Hallock
Rob Messick
Mamie Muller

Michael Red Fox
Chip Smith
Brad Stanback
Manha Tree
David Wheeler

EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:
Sylvia Fox
Than.le you again, Kathleen!
Special lhanks 10 Bob Wiesclman

EDITORIAL OFFICE
nus ISSUE:
Asheville, NC

PRINTED BY:
Sylva Herald
Publishing Co.
Sylva, NC

WRITE US AT:
Katiiab
Box638
Leicester, NC
Katuah Province 28748

TELEPHONE:
(704) 683-1414

COVER: "One must become chaos, ro give binh ro a dancing
star....." (Picasso) - by Manha Tree
Diversity is an important element of biorcgional ecology, both
natural and social. In line with this principle, lWWib cries IO serve as a
forum for discussion ol rcgiooal issues. Signed articles express ooly the
opinioo or the authors and are n&lt;ll oecessarily the opinions of the
KaWab ediLOrS or Stlff.
The Internal Revenue Service has declared Klu.Wih a non-profit
organization under section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. A II
coniributions IO KA1UWi are deductible from personal income tax.

CORRECTION

We apologize to Milo Guthrie and to our readers for
neglecting to put his name as author of the excellent article
''The Promise of Biosexuality" on page 12 of KruYfil! #15.

'Ult{VOC~TWN

lHE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BIOREGION AND MAJOR EASTERN RIVER SYSTEMS

Statement of Purpose
Here in the sowhem-most heanland ofthe Appalachian
mountains, the oldest mountain range on our continent,
Tunle Island, a small bw growing group has begun to talce
on a sense of responsibility for the implications of that
geographical and cultural heritage. Tlris sense of
responsibility centers on the concept of living within the
natural scale and balance ofuniversal systems and laws. We
begin by invoking the Cherokee name "KatfLah" as the
old/new name for this area of the mountains and for its
journal as well.
The editorial priorities for us are to collect and
disseminate information and energy which pertains
specifically to this area, and to foster the awareness that the
land is a living being deserving of our love and respect.
Living in this manner is the only way to ensure the
sustainability of our biosphere and a lasting place for
ourselves in itS continuing evolutionary process.
We seem ro have reached thefulcrwnpoinrof a "do or
dieH sirnarion in terms ofa continued qU111iry standard of life
on this planet. lt is the aim ofthis journal ro do itS part in the
re-inhabitation and re-culturation ofthe Kamah province of
the Somhern Appalachians. This province is indicated by its
natural boundaries: the Roanoke River Valley to tlte north,
the foothills ofthe piedmont area to the east,· Yona Mottntain
and the Georgia hills to the sourh; and the Tennessee River
Valley 10 the west.
Humbly, as self-appointed stewards with sacred
instructions as "new natives" to protect and preserve its
sacredness, we advocate a centered approach to the concept
of decentralization and hope to become a support system for
those accepting the challenge of sustainability and the
creation of harmony and balance in a total sense, here in this
plaa.

We are nourished by OUT Mother the Eanhfrom whom
all life springs. We must understand OUT dependence, and
protect her with our love, respect, and ceremonies.
The natural law says that the Eanh belongs ro our
children seven generations in the future, and we are the
caretakers wJw must understand, respect, and protect
E Te No Ha for all life.
The faces ofthe future generations are looking up to us
from the Eanh, and we step with great care not to disturb
OUT grandchildren.
from a mes.rage to the Unittd Nations
GtMral Assemblyfrom the
Navajo-Hopi
Traditional Circle ofElders,
August, 1982
KATUAH - page 2

We welcome all correspondence, criticism, pertinent
inforrnaJion, articles, ariwork, etc. with hopes that Kmflah
will grow to serve the best interestS of this region and all its
living, breathing family members.
- The Editors

With the next issue, the K.WAh journal will be changing
from a tabloid format to a magazine format. This will mean
better quality paper and more durability, as welJ as a
two-color cover. We're looking forward to the shift and we
hope you will be pleased with it. Coincidentally, this
upcoming issue, Autumn '87, will also mark the fourth
anniversary since KfilYAh began publishing.
Summer 1987

�The Eagle has always represented the soaring
spirit.....
Of all the birds who fly between Heaven and Earth,
the Eagle ascends the highest.....
But even the Eagle, born to fly, hatches from the
egg into a nest .....
Now, on a bright day in the early summer of his
life, the young eaglet crouches on the edge of
the nest.....
Until this moment, the woven circle of sticks has
been the bounds of his world.....
Within the nest.food came; all the young bird had
to do was wait.
Within the nest, it was familiar; if the young bird
stayed, mother would always return.
Within the nest, it was always safe; all the young
bird had to do was not look outside.
Now.for the eaglet, hesitating there, the nest is a
center point in a much greater circle that
extends to the horizon in every direction unknown, dangerous, exciting, and free.
The young eagle spreads his wings and leaps into
the boundless sky.....

To the American Camp Association, Helen Waite is the
director of the Eagle's Nest Camp near Brevard, NC, an
accredited summer camp for boys and girls that is now
entering its sixtieth year ofoperation and its third generation
ofcampers.
But during the summer months, to the young people
attending Eagle's Nest Camp, Helen Waite is "Bending
GrassH, medicine woman of the camp tri~. a leader and a
~cher by virtue of the love and respect offered to her.
Helen Waite works confuJe111ly and capably on both levels
of her life, giving the young people who attend Eagle's Nest
an excellenl place in which to explore, grow, and change,
and then e111ering with them into that special place and rime to
help guide them through their changes.

Helen: One of the important clements we utilize in camp is
"myth-time". This is an underlying aspect of every camp
activity.
I see a summer camp experience as being about
relationships: relationships between the camp members,
relationships between ourselves and the Earth, relationships
between our split inner selves, etc. In order to learn from
anything or anybody, one must first acknowledge one's
inter-relationship with that other. Once this connection is
recognized. the relationship can be seen as the bonded space
between the two. The speed of learning is the quality of lhat
space. Camp is the connection field, and we put our attention
into creating quality bonding.
"Myth-time" is what makes this possible. It is "the time
before time", the beginning of lhings. By being aware of the
"myth-time" that always lies beneath the surface of our camp
activities and our relationships. we create a circle, a tribal
circle, within which our relauonships grow - honest, strong,
and deep.
We humans arc like gods and goddesses in that we can
create prodigious amounts of constructive effort or
prodigious amounts of chaos. I think we have to return to
"myth-time" to relearn lhe true nature of things and to
re-connect the two halves of our soul, before we can
undertake "initiation", which is talcing a big step "forward"
into the next stage of life.
~: How docs this sense of "myth-time" make itself
felt in the course of camp life?

Helen: "Myth-time" appears in some situations more
clearly than others. All the campers do routine ch.ores as part
of the camp flow. They learn to take care of themselves by
making their beds and taking care of their cabin areas, but
they also take part in camp maintainence, doing dishes,
making bread, carrying out the compost, tending the
gardens. These are tasks that simply need to be done, but
they also build relationships. The campers arc learning to
serve and to take care of others, and although they may not
realize it, they are going back to beginnings. By baking bread
they learn the basic nature of bread - the primary
relationships that exist before the plastic wrap goes on. The
gardens teach them that the Earth is a patient giver. By caring
for the animals, the campers come to know them and learn
the relationships between all species. By doing subsistence
work, the kids learn basic things about the world with the
right side of their minds, even as they are consciously
acquiring basic skills with the left side of their minds.
The presence of "myth-time" is more easily seen when we
do story-dramas in the evenings. We start from old Indian
tales, creation stories usually, but as the kids go from there
and create their own stories, these dramas begin to present in
mythic terms what is happening in the camp at the moment.
The kids write their own scripts and make their own
costumes. We encourage them to use natural music - drums,
flutes, and sometimes guitar - to emphasize the basic
relationship with the Earth.
Katiiah: One of the main driving forces of the adolescent
transformation is the awakening sexual energy. Do you deal
with that at the camp?
Helen: Very much so. First of all, groups are co-ed. We
want to have the boys and girls interacting together. We want
to encourage strong, natural relationships. In the greater
culture young people usually follow roles that on the one
hand deviously try to ensnare someone of the opposite sex,
and on the other band domincerin&amp;lv try to ensnare someone
of the opposite sex.
At camp and on field trips the kids are involved in real
situations that often demand courage and physical stamina.
When everybody is pitching in on a difficult task or talking
openly together in a group circle, the sham tends to fall
away, and they deal with each other more as individuals and
allow each person to make their own, unique contributions.
- continued on page 4

KATUAH - page 3

Summer 1987

�• COlllim.aed fiom NC 3

Relationships arise that arc based on friendliness and arc
deep and enduring. We see big changes. The girls in
particular become more assertive.
Often in a group there is one girl, whom I call the
"goddess" or the "queen of beans", who takes an active role
in the other girls' lives and relationships.The "queen" takes
confessions from the other girls - I'm amazed sometimes
about how frank they are! - and negotiates relationships.
Sometimes she gives her blessing; other times it's "Off with
his head!"
We talk about siruations like this in the girls' circle, and I
ask them, "Do you like having her decide on your life and
decide whom you should like?"
Usually they say "No", but if they say "Yes", then it's out
in the open, and we set up basic ground rules about bow to
carry it on.
Another approach is to act out the
situation. I sometimes say, "Sarah, you
be Betty. Jane, you be Sue. Now what
would you say, if she came up and said
this: ..... " It's often very educational for
the kids to see how the others perceive
siruations they're all involved in.
There are also times when a boy will
do something like go into a girl's trunk
and snatch out her underwear, because
be thinks that that is a powerful act. But
it's actually an act of domination. The
girl has bad something that's close to
her, something very private and
personal, exposed against her will.
In a siruation like that, I might take
the ones involved apart from the group
and talk with them about the different
levels and the different meanings of the
word "rape", trying to be very frank
and open so it can be seen as something
manageable and not a dark sin someone
will be condemned for. I might express
it in terms of old stories of gods
abducting goddesses, or I might
suggest they act out parts of Troilius
and Cressida or another story like that something so that the basic relationships
are very clear to them.
These arc valuable experiences .....if
we confront them. So we always try to
confront them when they occur. We
spend a remarkable amount of time
doing that. Of course we do horseback
riding, swimming, and all the regular
camp things, but we spend a great deal
of ti.me in learning siruations like these.
But to be learning experiences, there
bas to always be someone there who is
aware and understands the implications
of the siruation in order to take advantage of it and bring it to
a satisfactory resolution.
In the evenings when we have our shows or
entertainment, the kids will let it all out, and we'll see them
really strut their stuff. That's great - that's up front and real,
and if a camper does have some attra.ction as an actor/actress
or a story-teller, that's quite valid. That's their real self
coming out

KllWlb: "Initiation" is used to mean peak moments that
mark stages in a process of transformation that is acrually
gradual and happening continuously. But at certain key
points one can stop the action and say, "A change is
happening here," by recognizing and celebrating the occasion
with a ceremony or ritual. Arc there cenain ways these
moments are recogniz.ed in camp life?
Helen: The first major initiation is for a camper to leave
home. This is "moving into the tribal circle". Our society is
so fragmented that this sometimes is a major growth-change
for a child and often the most important single event of the
camp experience.

KATUAH - page4

Every camper receives a camp name. I work with an
Indian lore group, which is a "tribe within the tribe". They
receive their names in a little ceremony which is held at a
small waterfall. Each camper has already chosen their name,
and they crawl through the waterfall into a small crevice
behind, getting completely wet in the process. They are then
called back out by their new name.
I start with the campers to whom this is a challenge of
medium proportions. This docs not make it seem like a light
thing of no consequence, but at the same time it encourages
those who are more afraid. Because the situation is a
ceremonial one, the lcids all go through with it, even though
it may be a big step for some. There is something about
ceremony and ritual that brings out the deepest and truest
aspects of people. The sense of "myth-time" gives meaning
to the situation.
There is also an element of sacrifice
in the ceremony. That is one reason it is
hard for some of the kids to go under
the waterfall. Beyond just thinking
about getting their clothes wet. there is a
part of them that realizes that they have
to give something up, that "something"
being their old identity, to receive a new
name and a new identity.
For the older kids, we have a
program called Hanre, which is roughly
analagous to the "walkabout" or other
ancient puberty rites in which the young
people went out to seek power and to
learn about themselves in the context of
the natural elements. But while young
people in ancient times who had grown
up in the circle of the tribe went off on
their own as individuals, our campers
go off in a group of kids their own age.
Hante challenges their physical abilities,
which gives them a feeling of
accomplishment; it gets them outside in
close touch with nature; and, not least
imponantly, it tires them out. They do
activities like rock-climbing, whitewater
kayaking,
making
a
mountains-to-the-sea bicycle trek, and
hiking. The "Odyessy Trek" is an
11-day, 100-mile walk along the
Appalachian Trail.
Being able to take care of yourself
completely is an important part of that
stage of life, and the Hante group
provides for itself totally: they live in
their own area, and they cook all their
own meals. That means if they come
back late from somewhere, and they
decide they want supper, they have to
decide to prepare it, too. They also
prepare and pack alJ their own food for the "Odyssey" hike.
We have two food dryers, which the campers built for
themselves, and they dry food and make "pemmican" (which
is actually my grandmother's fruitcake recipe with a lot more
fruit and nuts added) to take with them on the trail.
While they're hiking, each camper carries their own food
and equipment for the whole 11 days in a 45 pound pack on
their back. The group cooks supper together over a
communal fire, but each camper is responsible for their other
two meals each day. They have to ration their food for
themselves. If they cat it all up before the bike is over, then
it's gone.
The mountains and the woods have an effect on the
kids.The "Odyessy" is a journey back to our first home, the
wild places. These mountains are very special. They are
powerful teachers, and they will work on anyone who will
make the effon to get off into the backcountry.
Body movement itself is important Jusr the rhythm of
feet on the trail can set up a meditative state that changes the
kids' consciousness.
On the trail we always have a sunset ceremony each day.
We gather and pass a "talking feather" so that each camper
- continued on page 28
Summer 1987

�Visions in a Garden
A light green voice
lihs my eyes from the leaves:
the Goddess of Green Things
is approaching me.
Between okra and squash
and tomatoes she comes
smiling at the com rows
through the green song she hums.
She·s the mistress of mustard greens
an oracle of onions
proctor of pumpkins
serenader of squash.
She·s the governess of garlic
enchanter of eggplants
leading the lettuce
in a growing symphony.
With no written rhythms
of the cycles and seasons
she sings to tempt the turnips
and beguile the green beans.
With leafy green lyrics
highlighting sunshine and rain
she conducts the orchestra
of my garden and
fertilizes my brain.
Tat&amp; Andres

�by Snow Bear
Conirary to what others may say, the
dominant culture has evolved cenain "rites
of passage" for young people. Drug,
alcohol, or toba.cco abuse; early sexual
relations; and the thrill of fast and reckless
driving are ways that our youth sometimes
signify to themselves and to their parents
that they are emerging into adulthood. These
things arc glorified by the television,
movies, and advertising that control the way
children of the dominant culture think.
I was initiated by my father into the
world of men when I recieved a gun from
him at the aic of twelve. This is still an
imponant moment for many young men
in this area. It is a statement of trust for
a father to place a gun, and therefore the
power of life or death, into his son's
hands. It is a major responsibility to
accept a gun, for if it is used carelessly,
a human life could be ta.lccn.
But hunting is also an excuse for
the father and son to go out i.nto the
woods together. It was a very
meaningful time to me. When one is
hunting, one is very quiet and sensitive
to the presence of other living things.
Of course there is the adrenalin rush of
squeezing the ttiggcr and ending a life,
but, for me, a large pan of the initiation
consisted of being alone with my father,
silent in the forest
Today, I have come to feel that
receiving a gun is not a good token of
maturity. Our forests arc small and
ovcrhuntcd. Where I live we can nor
afford to continue killing the few
remaining animals. I strongly believe
that today our young people need a
siitnificant emcrience i.n1Q. life; we
should not place such an emphasis on taking
life.
Before, when hunting was a way of
life among the native people, a successful
hunt was a matter of human survival;
hunters took the lives of their fellow
creatures with a spirit of thankfulness based
on revcrancc. Today the gun removes us
from panicipation in the life and death of the
animals we hunt. When someone shoots
down a buck from 100 yards away, they do
not have to know the animal as well as if
they had to get within bowshot. They arc
removed from the pain and terror in the
animal's eyes at the time of death.
I put down the gun at 14 years of age
when I discovered I would rather sec
squirrels jumping through the treetops, and
the deer grazing peacefully under massive
oaks.

HELPING TROUBLED TEENS
MAKE TIIE PASSAGE
Part of my family's work is to reach
out with understanding to youth at risk and
adjudicated youth. In our Second Home
Program we take young people into our
family (my wife Khalisa, Jody (14),
Leilana (6), Johanna (3), who is
handicapped). For two months to a year,
they arc part of our life and work. We tutor
them in all their school subjects; if they are
high school graduates, we do remedial work
and indepcndant academic study. They learn
agricultural and building skills, receive daily
counsel, and extend their physical and
emotional limits through wilderness
challenge activities - backpacking,
KATUAH - page 6

visioN
QU£ST

being self-centered to thinking of things
ouLSide themselves and providing for needs
other than their own.
Another challenge is to see that whatever task they are given is done well. The
kids that come to us often do the minimum
expected of them at home or in school and
make linle effon at personal achievement. In
school, when a student "fails", it is
assumed that they cannot do any better.
Usually they do not~ to do better. In our
one-on-one tutoring, we carefully go over
every mistake made, and the work is redone
correctly. The result of this has been that in
a four hour learning day, kids who were
labeled '1earning disabled" passed the
achievement level of their peers going to
school seven hours a day.
We are also, literally, a "second
family" to the kids. We live in a family
context, and we spend most of our time
at home. We grow food and make
meals together, clean house and cut
firewood together, and serve the people
who come to the school group
programs, seminars, and summer
camp. Teenagers from the city are used
to having school, the movies and
hangouts be the setting for their lives.
In our experience, the kids with the
least family life are the most messed up.
We give them membership in a family
that is physically together. There is a
feeling of having an extended family
built on a foundation of understanding
and acceptance, trust and love. It is
something solid to move out into the
world from, and a place to return to
when things get hard

TirE VISION QUEST
whitewater canoeing, horseback riding, and
primitive camping skills.
Most of these young people have
come from the urban culture and have been
damaged by negative "rites of passage".
We try to replace those negative rites with
positive qualities that will serve them
wherever they choose to live.
The first order of business is to
introduce them to the real world. Not the
"real world" as they thought of it • which
was largely concrete and fast action, but the
living world that sustains us.
Connectedness with the earth is healing to
human beings, no matter where they are
from or bow they grew up. When a person
is surrounded by the beauty of living things
and the songs of wind and water, the spirit
begins to heal. no matter how wounded it
is. I try to bring knowledge of the plants
and animals to these young people, because
it is easier to feel close to familiar things.
Along with this, we present them
with personal challenges: responsibilities
successfully fulfilled, communicating
honestly and openly, showing energy and
initiative in all their work. We extend our
trust to them unless they have betrayed it by
being dishonest with us.
Responsibilities successfully fulfilled
usually lead to a feeling of confidence and
strength. As teenagers become proficient at
handling responsibility, we tum over to
them more responsibility for their own
lives, and with that comes more freedom,
which is what they keenly desire.
A good beginning is taking care of the
horses. Keeping them watered, fed and
exercised takes a young person beyond

As a single rite of passage, the Vision
Quest is the form I most strongly relate to,
simply because of what it did for me and the
influence it had on my life. My
understanding of the Vision Quest is that it
is a time of solitude in the wilderness, of
fasting and prayer, of self examination; a
time of discovering one's beginning gifts
(strengths and virtues), and limitations,
one's medicine name, and how to be of
service to others.
Two of the teenagers with us in the
Second Home Program chose to go on
Vision Quests. One boy tried to do a
four-day quest fasting alone in the woods,
using only water and sage herb. When he
began, be thought it would be an easy thing
to accomplish, but he returned after a day
and a half in the woods. The fasting had
been bard, but the "aloneness" was what
had driven him back.
He said he had been scared of what I
would say, but I told him, "What I think
matters very little. The important thing is not
to be ashamed. The Vision Quest is a
teacher. You thought it would be easy to be
with yourself alone, and you found that it
was not so. You learned something about
yourself, and therefore the experience was
not a failure."
The other person to attempt the Vision
Quest was a woman 20 years old. She had
stayed with us when sh.e was 15, and had
been visiting us regularly ever since, so she
was truly "family" to us. She completed her
vision quest, in the course of it facing up to
some difficult things about herself, and
came through in a very strong way.
Nowadays few people pass directly
Summer 1987

�into adulthood from pubeny. I know that
was true for myself. My body was mature
quite awhile before I was, and I am still not
finished! I have had six people ask me to
help with their Vision QuesL Most of them
were in their twenties or thinies before they
began even asking the 4uestions that led
them to make the passage.
In the old days when a girl reached
the age of 13 or 14 it was time to begin
raising a family, and she had to be ready for
it. Now there are people in their fonies
looking for answers and feeling that they
have missed something. Whenever these
people ask me, I tell them that they have not
missed out, that this change does not come
at a set time for everyone, and that it is
never LOO late to go through the transition.
Those people who come to me
asking my help with their Vision Quest,
come because they k:now me, and they
know the effect my Vision Quest had on my
life. The first thing I tell them is that there
are other people who can help them better
than I could. Then, if they persist, I warn
them that, because we are not the Old
People, what worked for them in one way
may not work for us in the same way. I
warn them not to expect dramatic,
thunderous visions. Then, if they still want
the experience, I make sure that they
themselves choose the conditions of their
quest.
There are two main possibilities. One
is a quest for a personal vision to gain better
self-understanding and a purpose in life and
to find a beginning place on the world
medicine wheel. This is best helped by
fasting, personal prayer, song, and selfcxamination. The other possibility is to fast
for the benefit of all living beings. In this
fast I encourage people to make a medicine
wheel and walk, first LO the east where they
make a song or prayer, then back to the
center, and then to the south, where they
make a song or prayer, continuing in this
way around the medicine wheel for the
whole day, or as long as their strength holds
out. Several people have mixed the two
ways, doing the first for two days. and then
the second for two days more.
PREPARING FOR THE JOURNEY
We prepare for the Vision Quest first
by exploring the person's purpose in
choosing to do the quest, agreeing to the
conditions of it (how long, in what place)
and passing on any necessary instructions,
such as how to build a medicine wheel or
how to bless the Vision Quest site. Then we
go to the sweat lodge together with a few
carefully chosen friends to help us. In the
lodge we sing and pray to strengthen and
purify ourselves for the healing work ahead.
After the sweat lodge, we fill the prayer pipe
in a sacred manner. If the person has their
own, we fill it, seal it, and that person holds
that pipe every waking moment of their
quest. My prayer pipe is filled and scaled,
and every sunset during the Vision Quest I
hold it to make prayer and song to send my
power to them. Also at sunset I leave water
and sage for them at a place near the site of
their Vision Quest
At the end of their time I meet them,
carrying my prayer pipe. We do not say
anything until we have smoked in silence,
then the person relates what has happened
during the time of the Vision Quest.
Of panicular importance to me is to
KA TUAH - page 7

know what living things visited them in the
course of their fast and what they thought
and felt in the presence of these beings.
Even the smallest messengers of the spirit
arc imponant., and often they have very
strong powers. I tell people, "Until you can
receive a fly or an ant as one of your
relations, you won't be able to receive the
eagle or bear."
One woman was visited by a spider
that dangled just in front of her eyes. She
watched it for hours as it went about its
work. They became sisters and she learned
much.

drumming of
the woodpecker
echoing
always there
with the trees - yakking
laughing
i don't know where
a feeling
ifollow
i am the forest
around me
the activity
i am the creek
the mus
the violets
and the bees
i am the branches spreading
into the sky
the sun in your eyes
which vanishes suddenly
the clouds
birds come around

a rabbit
Only after we talk of these things do
the people tell me about their dreams. Even
on a Vision Quest, most people's dreams
that I have heard have been quite ordinary. I
am not a spiritual dream interpreter, but I do
give my thoughts and observations as a
fellow human being. Dreams arc valuable
because they arc often the battleground
where peop.lc contend with the fears,
doubts, and things they do not like about
themselves.
In consenting to aid people in their
Vision Quests, I am not trying to set myself
up as a teacher. I do this with people whom
I feel arc my. brothers or sisters. I do this
first as a friend. Today many people cannot
find elders who know the way of the Vision
Quest to aid them. Lacking thi.s , I consider
that for them to have this experience with
the help of a friend is better than not to have
it at all.
Everyone I know who has taken a
Vision Quest has returned from it
strcnghthcned, humbled, and deeply
moved. On the Vision Quest we come to
know ourselves and our world in a way
words cannot express.

they don't mind
the rain
somethingfallsfrom a tree
and lands with a thud
stay here long enough
and you will know
there are no secrets
i can't describe whaJ
i understand
the entire meaning
seems to be
almost here
coming
from
everywhere
a/la/once
i can't even see
guided by the wind
whispering in my ear

- Patrick Clark

Snow Bear has bun co·dirtctor of
Farm Camp with hU wife Kh.alisafor
niM years. lie is a naturalist, htrbologist. and
/
follower tf native Earth ways.
Pep~rland

Medicine s.h.i~ld by Snow Beu
Photo by Rob Mcuick

Summer 1987

�..

an experience that was hidden for them ...and where they can
pass onto her, my daughter, in an atmosphere of empowerment,
something that they will in a sense be giving to themselves that
they have learned in their own time. I love any and all
ceremonies.
Do you have any specifics as to how or where you'd
li ke to shar e this ceremony with your daughter? W h o
would you invite? Where will you hold your ceremony

?
Bonnie: When the event occurs, my daughter has requested that
she would like to go out with the family for a special dinner at her
favorite restaurant. We have quite a few younger daughtefll also
and I think it would be beneficial to them co be a part of this
celebration and to understand that this is a "big" day --their
sister's special day.
My daughter and I would then create within the following
few days a ceremony for her and some women friends, mutual
friends, and we would come together in our teepee.
How do you feel about this?
Hannah: A little strange...
Bonnie: What is strange? Do you think this ceremony will help
you to feel less strange?
Hannah: Probably
Do you feel this way because you know tha t other
girls your age do not have this type olf ceremony?

first flow
We are here today 10 ta.l k about something very special

Hannah: Yes
Do you want to gather together with other girls your
age?
10

a

Hannah: No, grownups, but not girls in my class.
Bonnie: Would you like to share with us an impression that you

woman --her initiation into womanhood. Two friends are here

got from the Amazon lndians?

with me .. .Bonnie Freed, mother and her daughter Hannah, 12
years old. We've come here to discuss the celebration for this
daughter's soon-to-come puberty.
Julie Gaunt , interviewing for .Katu.ah

Hannah: Yes, I watched this movie called Emerald Forest
about this boy who got lost in the Amazon and these Indians
kidnapped him and he grew up with them in their tribe and when
he got old enough, they put ants all over him and this made him
change into a man.
Bonnie: That was the symbol of his passing into adulthood.

What is it that has inspired you to want to celebr ate
your stepdaughter's coming into womanhood?

Would you like to go through that?
Bonnie: I read a wonderful article in Mothering magazine about
a community in California that celebrates the coming of age of the
young men and women in their community, boys when they tum
13 and girls when they experience their first menses. It just really
inspired me because I feel that whenever we put out or put in
front of us an intention, it draws to itself 'like energy'. ln other
words, if we choose to celebrate a certain time or coming of age
and we do it with an energy, we draw in real positive energy and
we give it emphasis. ln a loving and powerful way, my daughter
will gain some of that strength in her experience.
I believe that it is important, in whatever way we can, to
acknowledge and reconnect ourselves to the rhythms of our
bodies and also our Earth. These acknowledgements are
powerful for us as human beings. There is a rhythm to our lives,
our bodies, and to our planet . As a culture we have become very
disconnected from these rhythms. So it is very helpful for us to
create our own ceremonies from our own instinctive beingness
and to empower each other to enact them.
I felt very attracted to this particular ceremony as it is
presenting itself in my life--having a daughter who is coming
along very much into puberty. I feel this could be beneficial to all
of us. I want to say though that we do not have to follow any
certain ceremony. although we can draw from other ceremonies
and learn from them. We should go ahead and create out of our
hearts, our love, and our own instincts, ceremonies for passages
so that all of us feel connected to our deep inner rhythms.
I can re-affirm my own feminine wisdom, my own ageless
womanhood, and bring my daughter this celebration that will
create a groove..or a flow .. where her life can have a
direction... where other women will also come together and
affirm for themselves an experience that was difficult for them, or
KATUAH - page 8

Hannah: No. (laughter)
Bonnie: l think it's important to acknowledge that it is a bodily
symbol of passage into adulthood.
Hannah: It's scarey!
Bonnie: Why do you feel it's scarey?
Hannah: I don't know.
Bonnie: Do you feel it will be less scarey if you share with other
women about how they felt and what becoming a woman meant
to them?
Hannah: Yes.
What 's often scarey is the unknown. We a r e talking
abou t somethin g that you h ave not yet e:rcperi enced.
This is something you've never been through, so it's
na tural for you to be scar ed.
Bonnie: So many adolescents don't have an acknowledgement of
their passage and so they use other ways to try to establish it, like
rebellion and pushing the parents away. Nothing they do seems
right to them and they drive too fast, do drugs or whatever they
can. If we as parents take that opportunity to acknowledge this
passage, perhaps it will free them from these confusing times
where they are trying to prove they are adults--if we allow them
to become adults.
Resources: "Self.(jenerated Ceremonies", Foster, S. &amp; Little, M. in
Molherlng. Winter 1986. The article is excerpted from an upcoming book
by Foster &amp; Little entitled Crossjng !be Threshold; Contrnrnvrarv

7

Rites of Passage and lnjtjation at SjgniCicant Stages oC !.jCe.
Also Earth Wisdom, Dolores LaChapelle.

Summer 1987

�THOUGHTS ON INITIATION
In connection with the topic of initiations, I have been
having thoughts, particularly in relation to young people coming
of age, and, I agree, it's vital work. In the past year I've spent a
lot of time growing toward an understanding of what's lacking
for teenage kids these days and how to provide opportunities for
them to find and follow their own visions in a positive cultural
context.
Today's adolescents are the Pluto conjunct Uranus
generation born into the nuclear/mass media age of insanity and
deep global transformation.• They need to develop the inner
resources necessary to cope with the unbelievable stress built into
our social environment. They don't need more information. They
don't need dogma in any form. They need iniuanon mto their
own private, collective mysteries. There's a fierceness of spirit in
kids these days that demands to be grounded in timeless reality to
enable them to find strength, compassion, and clarity within,
while chaos and change rage unchecked about them.
What is initiation?
ft is a self- or group-induced experience that frees one to

encoun1er one's highest self, one's deepest truth, and one's most
expansive vision of reality.
What are the functions of such an experience?
To provide opportunities for people to find and trLtSt their

own myths to live by and to aid them in all life transitions by
leading them 10 their own connection with rhe Great Mystery.

. l~IJI

And ritual?

Ufe is a ritual, wherein we learn to bring feelings and ideas
into physical reality and to enjoy the process. Along the way, we
are all constantly being initiatied into greater awareness and
responsibilicy by every instant's dreams. Occasionally we take
the time to recognize the miracle of the moment and to honor it:
ritual.
We need more of those moments of recognition and
remembering. We need to do it for ourselves and for each other,
and a group ricual provides a structure and context in which it can
happen. It is exciting and comforting to be with others who are
also daring to get back to their essential selves. It confirms the
power, beauty, and reality of the experience we are all sharing.
Someday I wish to do initiation rituals with young
adolescents. I would ger them our into nature, let them go wild,
and then bring all that energy back to Earth in grounded group
mediui.tions. I would teach them how to focus all that fine cellular

energy in healing ways by channeling it through their hearts. I
would give them time, space, and encouragement to find their
own deep connections with both the Eanh and the Stars. We
would explore and share our discoveries through artwork,
poetry, music, and dance. The initiation would be into our
infinitely creative selves and into the healing power of love.
Rituals would grow out of each person's dreams and
awakenings, deaths and creations. The ri1uals would be each
person's narratives of reality as experienced both inwardly and
outwardly and would serve as bridges between the two.
Thank you for existing Maggie Schneider

ARCHETYPES OF MALE INITIATION
by Rob Messick
The first initiation of a human being into the world occurs
at binh. At this sacred time an infant instinctively needs to bond
with parents. As with other primates, this bond is made through
touch and is crucial to the healthy and associative development of
an individual throughout his or her life.
Due to the large skull and brain size of our species, we are
born somewhat prematurely, so that we can pass through the
pelvis. The infant is helpless for many months after birth and
must have support from parents or other adults for the survival
not only of the body, but also for the transmission of human
culture through language and other customs.
Likewise in human evolution, puberty has also become
premacure to the begetting of an adult into responsible life in a
community. We can reproduce before our highly structured
societies can accommodate the effect of this urge. Near puberty
we need a bond slightly different from that required at childbirth.
We seek relationships with other adults in the community and
with peers of both the SlL!lC and the opposite sex.
There are three basic themes in initiation rites of a youth
into adulthood: sepfJation from parents and siblings;
transformation of roles and attitudes; and integration into the
village or community through apprenticeship. The main purpose
of initiation practices for young men is to start them on paths into

the community, away from the influence of their immediate
families, yet still being in proximity to them. Many cultures of the
past, and some today, recognize this coming of age time as basic
to the health and longevity of a people. The industrial era, or
"civilii.ation" in general, has created an environment where these
essential bonds are easily jeopardized. It is deprivation at 1hese
important junctures that can lead to isolation or disinterest in the
cohesive contacts human beings need.
Adolescence is basically a result of our descent into
"civilization" and the hyper-industrialiw:I era which has created a
kind of extended dependency. This period starts after puberty and
can last into a young person's twenties. Through schools, jails,
factories, and military posts we have institutionalized the
spontaneity out of a boy's rite of passage until it hardly exists any
longer. Instead of a sudden initiation near puberty, the process is
dragged out over many years, which sets up obstacles that can
block an individual's ability to integrate into a meaningful role
within a community.
It is doubtful that we will ever be able to give up
adolescence and fully initiate young men into adult roles a1
puberty. There is much to be absorbed of what humans have
learned about Universe and our place in it. Yet the initiation
process must be started at or near the time of puberty t0 avoid
confusion. Some cultural event needs to happen, so that a boy
knows that be is accepted and that the other members of the
- continued on page 10

KATUAH - page 9

Summer 1987

�"Initiation is a critical time in
which the direction is set for the
next generation of humanity."

•

:..:- .J.'

J1.t;.'

... ~ - -- ----

._..!_;i.}..:...

lllusintion from a painting by Greg Smith

ARCHETYPES OF MALE INITIATION
corthJed flan precedlrG page

community are ready for him to change. It can be done through
tests or trials of strength or endurance, or through vision quests
in times of fasting and searching.
Initiation is a critical time in which the direction is set for
the next generation of humanity. Adults in a village or community
need to give great attention to young people going through these
changes because the time of cultural bonding can pass swiftly,
and for a youth the complexity of finding worth in the world is
already frustrating. In these times of great emotional intensity,
neglect is the root of misery for individuals and societies. The
effects may be delayed for a time, but the response, assistance or
abuse, that is offered to a human being in time of need shows the
true health or illness of a society. If we mishandle these
responsibilities, we cause suffering.
For the initiation process to fully flower, a boy must find a
role model or set of role models with which he can readily
identify. The archetypes, or pre-existing forms., that manifest in
these role models are basically those of the Warrior and the
Husbandman. Throughout all human systems these
complementary aspects exist
An individual becomes a miniature of the whole human
experience, re.fleeting into and being reflected by all that is good
and all that is bad in it. Each person has the capacity to give life
and to take life as well. We live out the full circle of our decision
to die with peace or with killing. Either path requires great
courage.
The Warrior is partially represented in the range of
de.~b1.lctive role models offered by the present dominant western
culture. Militarism is the primary culprit in this psychological
tragedy, not only in terms of wars fought among nations, but
also in communities, the family, and especially within a man's
soul. Militarism seeks to break the spirit and split the heart and
mind of an individual and then call these powers back in the
allegiance of a state or cause. This is done by manipulation
through fear and rupturing or perverting lhe ties with family,
peers, and community. There is a false discipline in this
alienation from deep human bonds, which ultimately denies a
sustentative initiation into life. Militarism also perpetuates the
myth that the only evil enemy is somewhere outside the self,
neglecting the necessary struggle to conquer the enemy within. A
real initiation should clearly teach that the potential for doing
wrong exists in everyone, but that the power of choice exists
also. It is only through self-examination that the faults of our
species can be clearly identified and transformed.
KATUAH- page 10

The personae that arise from a long-standing tradition of
militarism become deceptively enticing, and appear to offer roles
that are important and economically worthwhile to those on the
verge of initiation. These destructive male role models ultimately
weaken and often tear apart the social fabric of human beings and
the sacred web of life on this planet.
There is a need for strong, alternative male example in this
society. The archetype of Husbandman offers a vital option. The
practice of Husbandry is defined as male caretaking, not only in
helping to raise a family but also in tenns of growing food,
caring for other species, and being a contributing member in a
community. This involves a deep and spontaneous motion away
from the trodden paths of destructive male energies toward those
that plant good seed and provide a place for them to grow. Also

"Sensitivity and the ability to love
and be compassionate are essential
to human survival, as are the
qualities of being determined and
forceful."
involved in this creative process is the wisdom that recognizes the
generations to come. Planting for the future joins the human path
with other life in such a way that humans become a kind of
permaculture, adapting and innovating within a bioregion as an
interconnected yet distinct structure.
The Husbandman attempts to integrate and heal within the
human community. This does not mean that men should become
effeminate and passive. It means that the strength of male energy
can be expressed through beneficial roles within a community. It
is important for a male to be in balance with the female part of his
soul. Sensitivity and the ability to love and be compassionate are
essential to human survival, as are the qualities of being
determined and forceful The love within the heart of our species
can flourish when we respect our connectedness.
Initiation is a call to face the Wanior and the Husbandman.
This initiation rite should exist to allow a boy to listen to his inner
voice, with guidance and wisdom from elders, to determine what
path he must take. Initiation for a male is successful when it
evokes conscience even in the midst of fear; when it shows that
both archetypes exist within him.

Summer 1987

�Katuah Spring
Gathering
KATIJAH - page 11

Summer 1987
'( .,'.Lq • 111\U l IVI

�ADVENTURES IN THE REAL WORLD:
LEARNING IN THE WILDERNESS

SLICKROCK EXPEDmONS

and so perhaps our adolescent rites of
passage should be less specific and less
strucrured than in a deeply-rooted society.
On the trips I lead, our goal is to learn
about ourselves. I keep the groups small.
There are five boys or three father-and-son
pairs in each trip. The fathers and sons take
a siit-day trip, and the boys take an
eight-day trip, of which five are spent
hiking and three in canoes. I supply the
people taking part with everything except
their clothes.
The Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock
Wilderness Area is an ideal place for our
exploration because it is high, rugged
country and contains one of the largest
remaining stands of old-growth forest in the
Southern Appalachian Mountains. This is a
portion of the Appalachians that remains
unaltered, and with Lake Cheoah to the
north for canoeing, I feel that this area
offers a deep experience of the basic
elements of the natural world.
On the trips I emphasize survival
skills blended with experiences of naturt!. I
want the kids to learn how to make a camp,
how to cook, and how to clean the site so
that there is no trace of camp remaining. At
the same time, I want them to learn to
identify plants and animals and to know
which plants are useful to the camper.

complete the trip. After two or three days it
is as easy to continue up the mountain as it
is to go down, and each boy wants to keep
up with the others.
When we SW1 out, the boys have a
hard time concentrating on any one thing.
They are noisy, and their minds are going in
20 different directions at once. But when
they get out in the deep woods among the
mountains, there is a sobering effect. When
we are camping out on Stratton Bald, for
instance, which is a 5,000 foot high grassy
bald, there are miles of unbroken forest all
around us, and it gives a sense of the
enduring strength of these Southern
Appalachian Mountains. It is humbling to be
up there on your own resources, so far
away that the nearest town is just a small
glow on the horizon and overhead is all of
the immense, dark sky. lt makes one feel
not quite so gigantic in the world, but more
a part of the world.
I would also like the boys to gain a
sense of the world in and of itself. I hope
that more than once on every trip each boy
has an opportunity to forget aU about
himself in contemplating some aspec1 of
nature, whether it is a butterfly, a tiny
flower, or something as awesome and
frightening as being on top of a mountain
and seeing a thunderstorm come in at eye
level.

by Bun Kornegay

Burr Kornegay is an experienced
wilderness guide, having led trips since
1971 when he started taking people into the
Adirondack Mountains of New York Stace.
Now he takes groups of boys 11-16 years
ofage and f ather-a11d-son groups to explore
rile Slickrock Wilderness Area in Graham
County, NC.

We visited and talked wirh Bun, and
he told us how he brings boys to and
through a particular rite of passage. This
initiation helps the young adolescents to
discover and work with a new, mature
perspective.
There is nolhing that one could call an
"ideal initiation" as such. An initiation
implies a very definite idea of the status that
a person is being initiated into. There are
some very elaborate and enduring initiation
rites among tribal groups. The ceremony for
boys who are passing into manhood in the
Masai tribe of Kenya is an elaborate ritual
that lasts several days. The Masai have, in
the course of a long, unbroken tradition,
come to a very clear idea of what a man is,
and their initiation prepares the boys for
that. Perhaps for them that is an ideal
initiation, because it makes everything very
definite. The boys know exactly what they
are heading for, and are led there by a
carefully defined procedure.
The way our society is, I do not
believe we can have that sort of thing. And
perhaps it is not so desireable anymore to
know so clearly what a man or a woman is,
KATUAH- page 12

"Any kind of rite of
passage slwuld be a challenge
to the young people
involved. It should test them
to what they believe is their
utmost to utilize both their
mental and physical
endurance and to draw out of
them qualities that they did
not know they had."

At the end of the trip the boys will
know a way of camping that works. The
next time they go out, they can add their
own ideas and do things their own way, but
they always have the basic knowledge that
they can live well in lhe wild.
Any kind of rite of passage should be
a challenge to the young people involved. It
should test them to what they believe is their
utmost to utilize both their mental and
physical endurance and to draw out of them
qualities that they did not know they had.
While hiking, I have had boys say that they
were going to literally die right at that
moment at that very spot on the trail, but I
have never yet had a boy who did not

Summer 1987

�"It is humbling to be up there on your own
resources, so far away that the nearest town is
just a small glow on the horizon and overhead is
all of the immense, dark sky. It makes one feel
not quite so gigantic in the world, but more a
part of the world."

I want them to sense the age of these
mountains. That is another aspect of
learning their place in this world: to
remember how long these ridges have been
here.
Another thing I hope to bring to the
boys is some degree of organization and
self-discipline. This is an important aspect
of attaining adulthood, because another
name for a teenage boy is "disorganization".
Camping is literally an exercise in getting
one's life together for a time. Trips demand
a lot of attention to details, or else a boy
might find himself unable to locate that
poncho or that flashlight at a time when he
needs it.
When we are on the expeditions we
do everything as a group. The boys do not
carry their own rations or cook their own
meals.We rotate duties, and the meals are
packed so that in one package is everything
for a complete meal for the whole group.
I run a tight ship when we are in the
woods. I do not allow the boys to run off
this way and that, because that is taking a
chance that they would get bun or get lost.
The boys soon realize that they are going to
have to work and play together to be both
safe and comfortable in the woods.
When I am leading these groups of
boys I have to remember that I'm offering
myself as an example to them. When I was
young and in Scouts, I remember how I
looked up to my Scout leaders. It's a natural
thing. This is an imponant influence for a
young person's behavior. Out in the woods
I try to set an example of an "outdoorsman"
in the fullest and best sense of the word: one
who is not only a skilled camper, but
someone who sees nature as more than just
something to exploit

KATUAH - page 13

I have to be a teacher, a guide, and a
counselor, but sometimes I like to just be
one of the boys. I like to swim and play
"king of the mountain". I like to have fun
too.

J have had boys who were considered
"problem cases". One boy who came the
first summer had been diagnosed as
hyperactive and was on two or three
different types of medications. He had been
in a lot of trouble at school, and the
psychiatrist who was working with him
advised me to not accept him on the ttip.
He was an active fellow. It was hard
to wear him out, but there was not a mean
bone in his body. That first year, I saw he
took his medicine every day, but he was still
as hyperactive as any boy could be. It
appeared that the medicine was having no
effect at all
He came out again the next summer,
bringing all his medicines with him, but I
did not remind him about it, and he did not
take his medicine the whofo time we were
out. He was so much better! Calmer, mvre
responsible, much more pleasant to be
around.
I told his grandfather about this when
he came to pick the boy up. The boy's
mother later told me on the telephone that he
bad not been on any medication at all since
that trip. That was a kind of initiation weaning from Ritalin!
Many of today's outdoor recreation
activities reflect a desire to conquer or
dominate the world, a trait that runs deep
within our culture.
The world does naturally present us
with obstacles, and surmounting these
obstacles as they confront us is very
imponant to our development. But on my
expeditions I downplay external thrills.
There is a lot of challenge and adventure in
living outside and exploring rugged, wild
country. If someone goes out with the
purpose of dominating or overcoming
nature, they are using it to build up their
own ego. There is a big difference between
that and going out to humbly learn about
oneself.

For mQre information on Slickrock
Expeditions, wntact:
Burt Kornegay
P.O. Box 1129
Cullowhee, NC 28723
-recorded by Stephaen De/or, Didier Cuzange, and
David Whttkr

Summer 1987

�more

ADVENTURES IN THE REAL WORLD

WOLFCREEK Wll.DERNESS SCHOOL
by Curry Morris
Wolfcreek Wilderness School in
Blairsville, GA has been offering programs
for teenagers for 15 years.
The school recognizes the natural
environment as the ideal locale for
self-realization and offers a variety of
outdoor courses to promote self-reliance and
personal growth. The school also has
mountain heritage programs that teach
aspects of the land-based cultures of the
Cherokee Indians and the early white
setllers.

"I'd like to leave you with a little
thought I've been thinking about ..... it's
about finding the "rhythm of life" .... .'The
Rhythm oflife" is like truly good music: if
you have to ask what it is, you'll never
know. You and the people at Wolfcreek
showed me how to find my "rhythm of
life". Thank you." - C (Sclwol course)

One of the school's most specialized
offerings is a 26-day outdoor exploration
program for teenage boys in trouble with the
law. For many of the boys the program is a
last alternative to long jail sentences. The
program is not specifically therapeutic or
rehabilitory, but is based on the premise that
challenging experiences in contact with the
world of nature can put a boy in touch with
deeper and truer inner resources untapped in
life on the urban streets, that can serve as
the foundation for a new awareness of self
and can lead to a new relationship to
society.
During the summer one- to
three-week courses are open to individual
youths of all ages.

Wolfcreek Wilderness School
Rt. I, Box II90
Blairsville, GA 30512

KATUAH- page 14

OU1WARDBOUND
by Doug Silsbee
Outward Bound was conceived when
a British shipping magnate observed that, in
several instances when his ships were
torpedoed in the North Sea, it was often the
older, more seasoned sailors who survived
in the lifeboats, while younger, physically
stronger seamen perished.
Outward Bound founder Kurt Hahn
began the program as an experimental
approach to train younger seamen - not in
survival skills per se, but in fully utilizing
their own tenacity and inner resources in
difficult circumstances. The program was
continued in British private schools as a
training course for adolescents. Hahn's
vision was to strengthen society by
improving the individual's self-concept,
sense of responsibility to others, and
awareness of Lhe potential to achieve
seemingly impossible goals.
There are now 30 Outward Bound
schools in the world, one of which is
located on Table Rock Mountain, NC. The
North Carolina Outward Bound School runs
wilderness-based courses in a number of
places in Katiiah, from Linville Gorge and
Grandfather Mountain to Standing Indian
and the Chatooga River. The goal of the
school is to create powerful emotional and
spiritual experiences for the 2,000 students
that take part each year.
The programs offered by the organization
are personal growth and values oriented,
and wilderness is an important component
of the training experience. Participants,
many of whom have never slept outside in
their iives, spend from 4 to 23 days outside
with a group of 10 to 12 other students and
two instructors.
Courses take place in the wilderness
because of its inherent spiritual value, and
because it is a new and unfamiliar
environment for most of the participants,
and it is a much less complex emotional
environment than civilized society in which
to learn about oneself.

fears: of falling, of not looking good in
front of their peers, of being alone, of
failing. By dealing with the external
challenge of the activities, and the internal
challenge of their own fears and perceived
limitations, participants come to better know
themselves.
Other activities focus much more on
the group, and impel group members to
come to terms with conflict, to look hard at
their own decision-making processes, and
to find new and more effective ways to
work together towards a common goal
Outward Bound experiences are
different from most initiation rites in that
they do not occur at a set time in a person's
life, and are (usually) not proscribed by
someone else as a prerequisite for coming of
age. There are special c-0urses offered for
educators, adult women, people over age
55, corporate executives, alcoholics, and
cancer patients, but a majority of Outward
Bound participants are adolescents, and for
these the course provides a powerful and
meaningful "initiation rite" into adulthood.

NC OurwardBound School

121 N. Sterling St.
Morganton, NC 28679

,y/1
p

Course activities are designed to place
people under a manageable, yet significant,
degree of stress. Rock-climbing, a specially
designed ropes course, whitewater
canoeing, hiking. solitary time in the forest,
and runs on mountain roads and trails are
new and challenging experiences for most
of the participants. Many of the activities
require inctividuals to confront their own
Summer 1987

�adventure, education about the tribe's
cultural heritage, and community service.

In 1979 Gil Jackson, head of the
Family Services office on the Cherokee
Indian Reservation, and Earl Davis, a
former Peace Corps worker, began the
Cherokee Challenge program in response to
problems they saw among the youth of the
Eastern Band of the Cherokees.
"Most of the kids felt poorly about
themselves," said Davis, "and that feeling
arose specifically because they didn't feel
good about being Indians. Any time they
saw Indians portrayed, it was in a negative
way - the image they had was that Indians
were at best poor and slovenly and at worst
public drunks.
"Cherokee Challenge was begun
initially because the kids needed to know
that there was a lot in their Indian heritage
that they could be proud of. We want the
young people to feel good ~of who
they are, not in~ of who they arc.
"That was in 1979. Now the
organization's concept has broadened
somewhat, because we have found that
when the kids think better of themselves,
they do better in school, they're more fun to
be around, and, in general, they're bener,
healthier people."
The Challenge groups from each
township on the reservation and in
Robbinsville are organhed into gru ups
called"clans", after the fu~cient Cherokee
clan system. Participants arc 11-14 years of
age and mostly boys. One clan has a mixed
membership of boys and girls. The others
meet separately.
Cherokee Challenge activities stress

KATIJAH - page 15

All aspects of the Challenge program
are group oriented, and the canoeing,
rock-climbing, hiking, and caving
eitpeditions, said Davis, "help the group
members to learn about themselves and
about each other. The trips get the kids
outdoors, where they learn new skills and
learn how to get along with others."
On one caving expedition the group
went to cast Tennessee near Craighead
Caverns (now the tourist attraction Lost Sea
Caverns), which archeological excavations
have revealed was formerly used for council
meetings or ceremonies by the native
inhabitants.
'The group went into large caves near
there," Davis related, "so they could
experience the wonder of the caves and feel
the annospherc their ancestors felt 200 years
ago when they gathered there for an
initiation or a meeting."
Service work - picking up trash,
splitting wood for the elderly, visiting at the
old people's home, to name a few of the
activities - helps the children in getting along
with the community and points them toward
worthwhile ways to fit in. "It shows them
that they, too, have a role in the life of the
community," said Davis.
As a part of reclaiming pride in their
native heritage, the children have been doing
sweat lodge ceremonies under the tutelage
of Nora Montelongo and her son, who is a
pipe-carrier for the Cherokee nation. The
sweat lodge is a sacred rite of bodily and
spiritual purification that in fonncr times
was practiced before any important mission
was undertaken. In the lodge the children
learn chants and songs in the Cherokee
language, which otherwise is not widely
spoken among the young people on the
reservation.

In speaking of the ceremony, Davis
said that the young people are expected to
approach it seriously and that "they are
taught that the sweat lodge is a valid way to
communicate with God, the Great Spirit, the
Life Force, or whatever we want to call that
part of ourselves."
The Cherokee language has proven a
stumbling block, however, in the cuhural
preservation project "Fading Voices", which
is an interview program fun ded by a
foundation grant in which young people
from Cherokee Challenge were to go among
elders of the tribe to record their stories,
reminiscences, and details of the way tribal
life used to be.
"We haven't been able to get as much
participation by the kids as we had at first
hoped," explained Davis, "because the old
people are more comfortable speaking in
Cherokee. It is their native tongue, and they
can express themselves beuer in their native
language. Since so few of the kids know
Cherokee, many times they got left out of
the conversation.
"Since we have been under some
pressure to produce materials in order to
comply with the conditions of the grant,
much of the work has necessarily been
taken over by adults familiar with the
language. However, I hope that later on we
can turn the kids loose with tape recorders
to get interviews in the way they want to.
This oral history program is extremely
valuable - any time one of those old people
passes away, something irreplaceable is lost
- but it would also be valuable for the kids
to have the experience of communicating
with the ciders, even if we don't get a foot
of tape from it."

"We want the young people
to feel good because of who
they are, not in spite of who
they are."

Material from the "Fading Voices"
interviews will be printed in a special issue
of the Journal of Cherokee Studies
published by the Cherokee Historical
Museum.
Working on a shoestring budget and
relying largely on volunteer help from the
community, Cherokee Challenge has made
strong beginnings in the formidable job of
picking up the broken threads of Cherokee
tribal tradition and reweaving them into a
meaningful community life for the youth of
the tribe today.
/

Cherokee Challenge
P.O. Box507
Cherokee,NC 28719
Cheroue Challenge is a Mn·fJl'ofil organization.

Summer 1987

�NATURAL
WORLD

NEWS
THE BUTTERNUT IS DYING
by Clyde Osborne

The white walnut, another of
America's great nut and timber trees, seems
headed for extinction, says Bob Anderson,
a plant pathologist at the Southeastern
Forest Experiment Station near Asheville,
NC.
Better known as the butternut tree,
this walnut species has been hit by a fungus
disease known as the butternut canker.
"And no one is doing.anything about
it," Anderson said as he pointed out tree
after tree in the Bent Creek drainage basin
being devastated by the disease.
"There's not a single scientist in the
nation trying to find a solution to this
problem. A pathologist at the University of
Wisconsin worked on it for 10 years, but he
retired three years ago, and no one has taken
up his work," Anderson said.
The disease was first found in 1967
and has spread rapidly. In 1966 a survey in
North Carolina and Virginia found 7 .5
million butternut trees in the two states.
A new survey which has just been
finished found that there are only 2.5
million left, and almost all of them are
diseased.
Cankers spread around branches and
trunks, eventually killing the infected trees,
although each canker lasts for only one year
and then heals over. Eventually the trees are
girdled by canker after canker in the bark
and the cambium "right down to the wood",
according to Anderson.
The chestnut tree, decimated by a
blight disease, has continued to live because
it continually sprouts from the roots left in
the soil. But the butternut doesn't send up
sprouts from the roots.
And sadder yet is the fact that the nuts
of diseased butternut trees are not viable.
The disease puts the trees under extreme
stress. The nuts produced are useless for
propagation. "So unless some answers are
found by someone, it looks like the tree is a
goner," said Anderson.
A pathologist in Virginia told
Anderson that he had found a few butternuts
which seem to have some resistance to the
disease.
If these resistant trees could be
propagated, he said, they might be used to
restock forests where butternuts have been
eliminated or are being killed.
The butternut tree is basically a
northeastern American tree. Like many other
northeastern species, it grows in the
Appalachian mountains, but is uncommon
in other parts of North Carolina.

KATUAH-page 16

Butternut has been used for furniture,
cabinets, fine woodwork, and panelling. Its
wood is lighter than that of black walnut.
But it has been an economically valuable
tree just like its cousin over the years,
although it has never been as prevalent .
The black walnut seems to be
resistant to the butternut canker, Anderson
said, "although you can infect the tree
manually by intrOducing the fungus into it"
And occasionally, black walnut
saplings, if under stress, will show signs of
the disease. Still the disease does not seem
to be a threat to the black walnut.
Reprinted from the Asheville Ci1ill.l1 by
permission.

THE AMERICAN CHESTNUT
Nawral World News Seivice

The American Chestnut was the: most
generous tree in the forest., giving nutritious
nuts for humans, livestock, and wildlife.
The wood was lightweight, rot resistant,
and had a beautiful grain. The bark was an
excellent source of tannin. The native
chestnuts grew 30% faster than oaks, and
even surpassed the rate of growth of Tulip
Poplar. A mature American Chestnut tree
could be over 100 feet tall and have a
diameter of 10 feet or more. And
furthermore, the chestnut composed 25% of
the Appalachian forest trees, growing
everywhere from deep rich coves to dry acid
ridges.

The American Chestnut is now extinct
within its native range, except for the
shrubby sprouts that grow from the old root
systems. It is the victim of a fungus disease
called "the blight" that was accidentally
imported on some Chinese Chestnut trees
around the turn of the century. The blight
kills the trees by forming a canker just
underneath the bark, which spreads until it
eventually girdles the tree. The Cninese
trees evolved with the blight for thousands
of years, and are resistant to it, but the
American Chestnut had no resistance. The

root systems of the trees survive and
continue to send up new sprouts, but the
blight usually kills these before they grow
large enough to produce nuts.
Because of the American Chestnut's
generosity and dominance of the eastern
forests, its demise is considered the greatest
biological disaster in recorded history.
There have been many disappointing
attempts to bring the trees back, but it seems
that the time has finally come for a
breakthrough in blight-resistant American
Chestnut trees.
The Chinese Chestnut is
blight-resistant and produces large nuts, but
it is a cultivated orchard tree and could not
survive or reproduce in a wild forest
ecosystem.
The American Chestnut
Foundation is undertaking a "backcross"
breeding program that will result in a tree
with the blight resistance of the Chinese
Chestnut and the forest-type timber growth

of the American Chestnut. The initial step
in the backcross breeding program is to
cross a Chinese with an American chestnut.
This bas been done before, but the offspring
usually resemble the Chinese parent in their
growth pattern and only about half of them
are able to resist the blighL With backcross
breeding, the blight-resistant half of the
Chinese X American offspring are crossed
with a pure American Chestnut.
Approximately half of the hybrid offspring
of this cross are blight-resistant, but since
they are 3/4 American Chestnut, they will
exhibit more of a forest-type growth pattern.
Working with only the blight-resistant half
of each generation, the backcross step is
repeated to bring in more and more of the
American Chestnut growth pattern while
retaining the blight resistance acquired from
the original cross with the Chinese parent.
If the American Chestnut Foundation can
get the financial support it needs to continue
the backcross program for 20 years, we
should have a blight resistant chestnut tree
that is almost identical to the native
American Chestnut. (Then we'll have to get
out our hoedads and stan planting chestnut
trees on those Farce Service clearcuts.)
There is yet another ray of hope for
the American Chestnut. The blight, a
fungus disease, has become infected with a
virus disease in some areas of the country.
The infected blight is known as
hypovirulent, and even the non-resistant
chestnut trees are usually able to survive
infestation by bypovirulent blight. If the
hypovirulent blight spreads and replaces the
killing blight, then the old American
Chestnut root sprouts that are already here
in the forest will be able to grow to

Summer 1987

�maturity. The drawback to hypovirulence is
that there appear to be many different strains
of the blight fungus, and each strain of the
blight can only be affected by a compatible
strain of hypovirulent blight The American
Chesmut Foundation is sponsoring research
on hypovirulence aimed at isolating
hypovirulent strains that can spread
naturally through the forests.
The American Cllestnut Foundation
publishes an annual joumal and accepts
tax-deductible contributions. Contact:
Dr. David French, Treasurer
The American Chestnut Foundation
c/o Dept of Plant Palhology
University of MinllCSOla
St. Paul, MN 55108

For more information on chestnuts,
subscribe to:
Cheslllutworks
RL I, Box 341
Alachua, FL 32615
($10 per yenr - 2 issues)

NATIONAL FOREST PLAN:
CONTROVERSY CONTINUES

TIIB GYPSY MOTii COMETH
Nalllral World News Service

The "public input" meetings were
well attended, yet an eerie silence persisted
throughout. Most had already heard of the
millions of acres defoliated in the
northeastern states. Few came to debate or
question the proposed treatments. AU came
to find out just what was to take place.
At stake was the fate of 11,000 acres
of private and federal lands in Clay County,
NC. The Fires Creek watershed bad become
the site of a "spot infestation" of the feared
gypsy moth and had received a personalized
environmental impact statement and a
custom-made "eradication program".
The gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar
L., was imponed into this country in 1869
in an attempt to create a silk-producing
moth. The rest is history. What the future
bolds for us here in Southern Appalachia
may come as a surprise, for the gypsy has
arrived.
The gypsy moth is more than an
out-of-state transplant. It is a symbol of our
mobile society. It is highly adaptable and
has no natural predators here. The larvae
spin silken threads and are carried by the
four winds. The adult moth lays eggs on
any object near at banct, thus hitching a ride
to faraway and exotic places.

Natunl World News Service

The 15-year management plan for the
Pisgah and Nantabala National Forests was
made official in April and immediately
elicited another storm of protest from both
local and national environmental watchdog
groups.
At issue were three points insened
into the plan in Washington after a
compromise draft plan was submitted from
the US Forest Service regional office. The
first point said that if timber demand
increases, the maximum acreage liable for
cutting could be raised from 586,000 to
846,420 acres. The new plan also called for
a study to assess that demand, although the
last study was completed only two years
ago. The new plan also called into question
the status of three areas declared as
wilderness in the draft plan. A brief
statement insened into the final document
said that wilderness designation for Craggy
Mountain, Lost Cove (Avery Co.), and
Harper Creek (Avery-Caldwell Co's.)
would be subject to review and "possible
modification by the Chief of the Forest
Service, the Secretary of Agriculture, and
the President."
The Western North Carolina Alliance
was already intending to appeal the plan
because of the high level of clearcutting
called for in the Pisgah and Nantahala
forests, but the Wilderness Society, a
national environmental group, said through
spokesman Ron Tipton that the insertion of
the three points into the plan would almost
cenainly result in an appeal from that group
as well. Tipton indicated that other
environmental groups might join in the
action.

Its food source is primarily the
foliage of oak trees, but it also feeds on
hickory, poplar, birch, and cherry leaves,
while a menu of 500 species of shrubs and
vines is also available. Fruit trees, some
nursery stock, and evergreens such as
spruces, helmlock, and pines are selected as
well by older larvae. The primary goal. of
the larvae is to eat, and after the first molnng
this becomes a twenty-four-hour-a-day
obsession.
The effects of defoliation are varied
and depend on several factors. Dry sites
with shallow soils seem to be more
susceptible than protected sites where
moisture and organic matter are adequate.
Yet, slow-growing trees may survive
repeated defoliation better than fast-growing
timber. Healthy trees can withstand one or
two consecutive defoliations while stressed
trees and evergreens succomb after one
attack. Even the healthiest tree will exhibit
dieback and a 30 to 50% reduction in
diametric growth. Defoliation weakens trees
and valuable energy reserves are used to
refoliate. Weakened trees are attacked by
other opponunistic pests and usually die.
Defoliated areas are subject to
increased levels of runoff and
sedimentation, increased temperature, and
ultra-violet light levels at the forest floor and
waterways. Larvae droppings are a stream
pollutant Mast crops would be drastically
reduced. The overall change in plant and

animal species composition would be
cataclysmic.
It was obvious that some action had
to be take.n. The Southern Appalachian
region is considered to be more favorable
than any other area previously occupied by
the gypsy. Conditions in Clay County we~
shown to be more than adequate to sustatn
very high population levels. AdditionallY,
clearcutting to favor oaks, the current
management technique iJn the National
Forest lands, encourages infestation and
timber loss while mixed hardwood stands
are less susceptible.
Unless remedial action against the
moth was taken, the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APffiS) of the
US Department of Agriculture, acting on a
congressional mandate, could quarantine all
timber products, nursery stock, horticultural
and agricultural crops, and regulate the
movement of mobile homes, RV's, and any
object that could harbor eggs and increase
the spread of the insect The result of this
quarantine would be socio-economic chaos
in the region.
Because of the large acreage of the
Fires Creek tract, aerial spraying was
accepted at the public meeting as the o.nlY
viable method of attack. Several chenucal
and biological alternatives were proposed to
curb the infestation. Each came with its own
dangers.
The dangers of introducing synthetic,
chemical insecticides are widely known,
thus the treatment was not seriously
considered. The idea of biological control
was the preferred alternative.
It was agreed that two foliar
applications of a liquid formulation of
Bacillus thuringiensis (Bl) and Dimilin
(Diflubenzmon) would be sprayed 7 to 10
days apart at the onslaught of larval
feeding. Bt would be used along waterwars
and Dimilin throughout the steep mountatn
terrain.
Bt is a naturally-occurring bacteria
which when eaten by the larvae, induces
digestive paralysis and death by starvation
within three days. It has a relatively small
target group of insect species. EPA bas
given it a "full registration" and has not
assigned precautionary restrications for use
over water. The Bt spores are degraded by
sunlight in 3 to 12 days bot may persist in
the soil for several months before passing
into the food chain. It is "essentially
nontoxic" to mammals, birds, fish and other
animals. Treated areas may be re-entered
once the spray has dried.
.
Dimilin is a harsher but more effecnve
treatment. It belongs to a group of
insecticides known as growth regulators. It
targets insects having exoskeletons and kills
by interfering with the molting stage of their
life cycle. EPA considers Dimilin to be
"moderately to extremely" toxic to insects
and aquatic invertebrates and "slightly" toxic
to mammals, fish and birds. lt has a soil
half life of 1 to 3 years and "will not
accumulate in organisms as it degrades and
passes through the food chain." Research
on the use of parasites and sterile male
moths as natural controls has shown
promise, but the methods are still oriented
towards small "hot spots."
It was the opinion of the expens that
this treatment would control the gypsy moth
with minimal environmental impact. A
- continued on page 18

KATUAH - page 17

Summer 1987

�--------- ,;::II_.·.

.

w--- _i_ _ trca - cn - co-n- u _ i_ _l_ 8 4 8 5 - - -tsim lar _ -tm -t, - d -c-ted n 9_ --- . ---"""""
.;~,~~~=·--------C- &amp;_ - - E- -- -A
- P L_RAT- S ARE over thousands of acres along the
Tennessee-North Carolina line (cast of
Johnson City and west of Boone), provided
hopeful results.
In early May spraying on Fires Creek
was completed. Monitoring of the area will
continue for several years. The local feeling
is "what's done is done and it had better
work."
But the gypsy moth is advancing
south at the rate of 6 miles per year.
Rcgardlcssofthcdcgrccofcontrol achieved
in watersheds such as Fires Creek, the
gypsy moth will enter Katuah in
approximately 20 years and within 35 years
will become well established throughout the
bioregional province.

WASTE TRANSPORTATION
Natural World Newi

The Monitored Retrievable Storage
(MRS) facility that the US Department of
Energy wants to locate in Oak Ridge, TN
may rum into a semi-permanent repository
for all of the nation's high-level nuclear
waste.
Faced by widespread citizen
resistance, DOE hopes for completing a
nuclear waste repository by their 1996
contract deadline have faded into the
distance. The MRS is currently the favored
alternative as a storage place for the spent
nuclear fuel rods that will be passed over to
the government in that year.
If the MRS were to be built, 13,400
shipment-miles of radioactive nuclear waste
in railcars and 6,200 shipment-miles in
trucks would pass through the Katiiah
mountain area annually, according to figures
released by the Southern States Energy
Board. Without an MRS facility,
3,700-5,400 shipment-miles of wastes
would pass through the mountains annually
during the next few years.
Responding to this threat, citizens
from 13 states met in Maryville, TN in
response to a call by the Blue Ridge
Environmental Defense League to devise a
strategy to counter the proposed MRS and
the problem of nuclear waste transponation.
The group coalesced into a new
organization,
the
Southeastern
Environmental Network and agreed to work
on nuclear and hazardous waste
transponation problems and to encourage
alternative fuels and energy sources.
The new organization represents a
consensus that local people need to take the
initiative in determining new directions for
energy policy. The feeling was that if the
people did not do it for them.selves, nobody
would, and that local groups needed to
make their needs clearly felt in the legislative
chambers and, in effect, "lead the leaders"
to better solutions to questions of energy
generation and waste disposal.
KATUAH- page 18

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STATE ENDANGERED LIST

·z~;!:: .#~. NC Wildlife Resources Commission

r"i ,..

!~J/_.

The North Carolina Wildlife
Resources Commission is seeking
legislation that would create an official state
list of animals that arc endangered,
threatened, or of special concern in that
state.
A bill now under consideration by the
NC General Assembly would allow the
Commission's Nongame Advisory
Committee to name members to a council of
wildlife scientists. Those experts would
develop and use standard criteria for
identifying and placing animals and birds in
the three categories.
Debbie Paul, manager of the
Nongame Section of the Division of
Wildlife Management, said, "We have rare
species of particular interest in North
Carolina that aren't on the federal list. There
are several unofficial lists of rare animals,
but none developed under scientific review
or using standard criteria."
Some animals already considered
endangered in Nonh Carolina include the
peregrine falcon, the bald eagle, and th~
eastern cougar.
•

,

MOUNTAINS GET THE SHAKES

NUCLE A_ .....,
- - _ R

WASTE," SAYS DR. SMELLO
Nauual World News Sa-vice

How far away is the Shearon Harris
nuclear plant from the mountains?
As close as your electric bill, CP&amp;L
ratepayers learned at a NC Utilities
Commission hearing in Asheville May 20
when company representatives told a
stunned audience that they were seeking a
26% rate increase over the next two years.
The revenue is largely to pay for the $3.8
billion Shearon Harris facility, which went
into operation on May 2.
CP&amp;L spokespeople did offer to give
customers a reduction in fuel rates and an
overcharge refund, -which would panially
offset the effects of the increase during the
first year, if consumers agreed to swallow
the proposed rate hike.
Many of the people who jammed the
hearing were elderly people on fixed
incomes who may have remembered the
exuberant early days of nuclear power when
officials promised "power too cheap to
meter".
The Harris plant was criticized
throughout its construction for consistently
running over budget, but only later will
consumers learn about the "hidden costs" of
the Harris plant, which are not figured into
cost estimates for nuclear power: the price
of radioactive waste disposal and of
"decommissioning" (tearing apan and
disposing of the irradiated building
structures) in 40-50 years when it must be
taken out of service. Environmental coSts,
of course, never show op in corporate
accounting.
Or. Smcllo, a colorful clown ,
attended the meeting wearing a sign saying,
"CP&amp;L rates are a nuclear waste". Smello
accurately summed up the feeling of the
meeting at the end of his address when he
said, "I may look like a clown, but CP&amp;L is
areal joke."
/

Narural World News Service

An earthquake registering 4.2 on the
Richter seismic scale shook parts of Katiiah
during the early-morning hours of March
29, 1987. Sheriffs' departments and rescue
squads received several calls from alarmed
residents, but damage by the tremor was
limited to pictures shaken off the walls.
The quake centered
30 miles
southwest of Knoxville, TN, but the effects
were felt as far cast as Andrews, NC.
Katiiah is located in the Appalachian
Seismic Zone. According to the Tennessee
Eanhquake Information Center, this wne is
a weak spot in the Earth's crust where two
major tectonic plates meet and overlap.The
two plates generate great stresses where
they press together. The seismic rone is an
area where that pressure is likely to be
released in the form of an earthquake.
The last major quake in the
Appalachian Zone was a movement of 5.8
magnitude in 1897 that was centered near
Pearisburg, VA. The March tremor was the
first to register over 4.0 in 13 years.
According to the eanhquake center,
the Appalachian Seismic Zone is an active
area, recording 25 to 30 shakes per year,
but most of the activity registers under 2.0
on the Richter scale and is not perceptible to
humans.

NEWS
The senate was held hostage
today
by strongwomen who fired
brilliant bursts of metaphor
over their heads
and then escaped
into a waiting
Future.
The Right Hemisphere Liberation Army
has claimed responsibility.
• Will Ashe Bason

Summer 1987

�MONITORING TIIE 'CIDE
SEASON
It's summertime again in Katuah!
Time for sunshine, birds, flowers .....and
poisonous chemical sprays.
Many farmers, companies, and
government agencies use herbicides and
pesticides for fast, effective, and highly
tocic weed and insect control. Farmers
spray pre-emergent herbicides to discourage
weeds in their com and tobacco. Railroad
companies and state transportation
departments regularly spray railroad beds
and roadsides, utility companies poison
powerline right-of-ways to keep them clear,
and the US Forest Service blankets selected
areas in the National Forests with herbicide
sprays from helicopters. Throughout the
growing season, farmers protect their crops
with pernicious, long-lasttng pesticides.
Suspended particles of these liquid
sprays drift great distances through the air.
They enter the food chain by being inhaled
or ingested in contaminated water and food.
The sprays are highly foen, carbon-bound
chemicals, so instead of being broken
down, they accumulate in the bodies of
humans and animals.
Acute exposure to pesticides and
herbicides cause a burning sensation in the
skin, eyes, or throat, and forms congestion
in the head and lungs. There may be
swelling and aching in these areas and
coughing.
Sub-acute exposure may cause only a
listless, achey feeling and a low resistance
to virus. This level of exposure is possibly
more dangerous in the long run, because the
cumulative effects may result in cancer or
other degenerative diseases years later when
the cause is hard to pinpoint.
A group in Floyd County, VA
is surveying the effects of toxic
sp rays among their community
members and encourages groups in
other parts of Katuah to do the same
by keeping records of spraying dates
and locations and watching for any
apparent differences among family
and friends.
"If we all do this and compile our
records," they say, "we may notice a
pattern, and we will have more information
with which to stand up and say that most
spraying is unnecessary and unsafe."
Contact: Nancy Barnhardt
P.O. Box 417
Floyd, VA 24091

A VIEW FROM THE

by Mchael Hockaday

CORNERS

Valuing Trees:
A Thought Burl Had
Nowadays I was thinking: what Is
a tree worth anyways, In the year of its
cutting, and in its lifetime, that being a
history of everytime we change it? One
half a tree becomes a stud framed In a
wall as long as it stands, forever worth
about a dollar twenty-nine. That's what
you paid for it. Sure, it helps (or
doesn't help) hold up a wall, a door, a
window, but its inherent value as a
stud has been fixed, done with,
forgotten behind a layer of fabric,
sheetrock, paneling. Done for. Gone.
Another soldier of the forest bites the
dust of anonymity. Other trees, or
half-trees, quarter-trees, trunks,
boards, cherished in their dead state
more than when they grew alive, are
used, touched again and again,
changed, utilized in continually
various ways; these have a life in
history as various as many lives.
This winter, after Christmas
mostly, I started cutting up the gnarly
little yellow pine poles a neighbor
used some years ago to hang that
season's crop of tobacco in my barn. I
had mentioned in the fall he'd better
come get them, else they'd be dust by
spring. More nitrogen in the garden.
Gone. Done for. I decided to handcut
them to stove and hearth length with
my bucksaw that's been hanging
around doing very little since I made it
more than a year ago.
It's work, in-between, after-work,
work that's harder as their girth gets
bigger, but chainsawing them hasn't
been a joy either. And it's quiet at
least, a task more aimed at viewing
and appreciating the winter sunsets,
end as they may.
These poles (trees) 1 was
rendering into kindling had been
grown, whether by God and nature or
man 1 don't know, cut down, trucked
around, de-limbed, nailed up to
support a cancer-causing agent, left to
rot, then taken down, de-nailed,
dragged from the barn, sawed Into
length, and carried again inside to
quickly burn into ash. Makes a hot fire.

Good start for winter mornings. Can't
be used to hold up much anymore.
Gone. Glad to have it. And what a
store of time and labor went into the
using of those trees, each one a part of
the shade we love in summer, helping
to sustain some forest's mystery. What
attention we have given them.we who
are In need of trees, maybe more
attention than some people and
animals get. So what 1 the worth of
is
those trees that cost the original user
nothing but the time spent getting
them? And another thing: the same
parts of a tree that may be less than
their worth to use them - a real waste
of time
twisty, doughty ,
unmanageable for building needs maybe the very material made into
items that become collectibles - the
life-size carving of a saint, a sparkling
oaken
threshold,
or
the
delicate-colored, uniquely shaped
panel, screen, or fan. What is the worth
of only that sort of tree? How
expensive is shade?
So is it irony, fate, wisdom, or
simply a matter of economics that the
ugliest, most hard-to-get-to, orneriest
trees become the survivors,
landmarks, or sacred ones? Some
trees are not made for studs, but
mostly all wood bums if you get it hot
enough.
When summer came and that
shade that is woven by a community of
trees appeared, beckoning in its cool
appeal, I left off the burning of
deadwood to go and just sit under
such a precious canopy of living
wonder. I sat content awhile, having
for a spell no further need to cut,
change, bum. There, in those healing
depths of forest - or was it a wood? who cares? - the creek chuckled as it
sparkled along to the sea, and I could
not but agree that things seemed fine
in such a greenwood, while the sun
blazed and wind shimmered the
heatwaves. "What is the worth of these
trees?" I was thinking.
Gr1tphics by Rob Mcssiclt

KATUAH- page 19

Summer 1987

�Resource Directory
Hurrah!
Plan et Dr um Foundation has just published
A Bioregiona l Directo ry listing bioregional groups,
publications and contact persons in Nonh America. The directory
includes a brief description of each listing and it also includes a
map of the represented areas. To purchase a directory ($2) or to
fi.nd out about joini.ng Planet Drum ($15), contact: P lanet Dru m
P.O . Box 31251, S an F r a ncisco, CA
F oundation,
9413L Here are some selections from the Directory:
Mattole Watershed Salmon Support Group,
P.O.Box 188, Petrolia, CA
95558
(707)
629-3514
Restoring near-extinct native populations of Ki.ng and
Silver salmon through the use of low-tech propagation
techniques and habitat repair, MWSSG focuses on
salmon as an indicator species in order to raise local
watershed consciousness. Established in 1980, the
group has released over 100,000 salmon into the Mattole
River.

Ohio River Basin Info rmation Service, 103
Gibson Lane; Wilder, KY
41076
(606)
781-5502
ORBIS gathers and distributes information that is
pertinent to the health of both the natural and social
ecology of the Ohio River Basin. It is concerned with
water pollution, soil erosion, and ways in which the
human community can promote healing the bioregion.
ORBIS runs Sunrock Farm, a bioregional educational
center, which hosts a program on "Fanning and the
Natural World" including activities, tours, songs and
hayrides for lhe kids.
ORBIS will eventually publish a resource newsletter,
"The Heartland Teacher", to promote bioregional
education at the elementary school level.

The Hopi Epicentre for International Outreach
The Hopi E p icentre fo r I ntern ational O u t r each has
opened its doors under the authority and auspices of the Hopi
Traditional Leaders from the village of Mishongnovi on Second
Mesa. Its purpose is to educate the national and international
communities about Hopi culture, history and spirituality in
relation to current events and how each individual must take
personal responsibility towards the healing of the Earth and all
her inhabitants.
Directed by spokeswoman Marilyn Harris from
Mishongnovi, the office is currently worlcing on a film project
ba~ed on the "Hopi/Dine Neighborship Gathering". It is an effon
to inform, educate and share important spiritual perspectives of
Natural Law with the hope of stimulating creative solutions to the
problems facing humankind today. Also, there is an effort to gain
entrance to the UN as the Sovereign Hopi Nation to address an
official meeting of the General Assembly in order to deliver the
Navoti (Hopi prophecy and knowledge).
To inquire or connibute:
Hopi Epicentre for International Outreach, 22 S. San
Francisco St., Suite 211, Flagstaff, AZ 86001. (601)

TILTH Association, P.O. Box 218, Tualatin,
OR 97062
TILTH is a non-profit association on the Pacific
Nonhwest which links urban and rural people who
support a sustainable, regional agriculture. Members
include commercial organic farmers, small holders,
market and home gardeners, landscape designers and
many others who either practice or support biologically
sound and socially equitable agriculture for the region.
TILTH publishes a quarterly journal and periodic
newsletter updates.
TILTH ASSOCIATION/SEATILE
4649 Sunnyside Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98103
SEATILE Til.,TH is an urban chapter within Til.,TH's
regional network that is interested in city-based food
production. Its office contains a resource library of
books and journals devoted to urban gardening and
animal husbandry. Seattle TILTH .aJso has a
"Demonstration Garden" featuring raised-bed vegetable
planting, espaliered fruit trees, composting
demonstrations and a solar greenhouse.

774-2644

Earth Island
Earth Island Journal, An International E n viron m en tal
N~ws Magazine is an invaluable resource for keeping in touch
with the ecologicaVcultural health of the planet--including
rainforests, sustainable development, indigenous peoples,
appropriate technology, etc. Earth Island is a network
(computer and otherwise) of individuals, projects, ideas, and
places that promote ecological consciousness and action.
Ea r t h Island I n stitute, 13 Columbus Avenue, San
Fran cisco, CA 94111

KATUAR - page 20

NABC Il Proceedings
The NABC II P r oceedings from the North American
Bioregional Congress, 1986 is now being published. It is a
90-page quality paperbound book which contains highlights of
the week-long Congress, including reports, resolutions, and
summaries of presentations as well as photos. The topic areas
ran;l:e from alternative economics, eco-feminism, permaculture,
nauve peoples and people of color to bioregionaJ envisioning and
poetry. Price is $l0eacb plus $1.50 p&amp;h.
Contact: Alexandra Han/ Proceedings, P.O. Box 1010,
Forestville, CA 95436

Summer 1987

�m

Big Mountain
"Our way of life is our re ligion, and our
teaching. If we are r elocated by force, we will
all die slowly. The people wo uld not be in
bala nce with Mother Earth and Father Sky and
t he spirit ual people. In ever y way, he re we are
connected to t he la nd. We belong here."
Ma ry T. Begay, Dine elder
Background:
Just south of the Peabody Co:i1 Company strip mine at Black Mesa
(AZ), the U.S. government is forcibly relocnting 10,000 Navajos (Dine) nnd
100 Hopis in what has come 10 be known as the Navajo-Hopi land dispute.

In 1974, Congress passed Public Law 93-531, which crcntcd n
Relocation Commission and declared that Navajos and Hopis living on I.he
wrong side or Lile panition hne c1rawn by Congress would have to move.
Native leaders charge that the relocation is designed 10 facilitate access 10
minerals, primarily coal, underlying the disputed lands. Relocation is
cwrently being accelerated by livestock seizures, fencing by government
crews, a housing construction ban, and harassment of Navajos resisting
relocation. Nnvajos who hove voluntarily moved to nearby cities have fallen
victim 10 fradulent real estate deals and loansharking. (frotn Th e
Workbook, Southwest Research &amp; Information Center, P.O. Box 4524,
Albuqucniue. NM 87106)

Big Mountain suppon groups around th~. contin~nt
continue to renew their effons to suppon the traditional Dine
(Navajo) and Hopi peoples in their struggle against forced
relocation from lheir homelands.
Currently, a lawsuit is being filed which challenges the
constitutionality of forced relocation by demonstrating the
inseparable relationship between the land and the religious
practices of the traditional Dine. All attorneys involv_ed a;e
donating their services, but funding for offices, etc. is sull
needed.
Both the US House and US Senate arc planning to conduct
field hearings this fall in the Joint Use Area (JUA) and Hopi
Village Nations, concerning this issue. In the House, the
commiuce which will be conducting the hearing will be the
House Interior and Insular Affairs Committee. Three
representatives from around the Katuah arc~ are on this
committee: Clarke (NC); Darden (GA); and Lewis (GA). These
hearings could possibly be an imponant way for ~c traditional
Hopi and Dine voices to be heard. If you want to wntc to express
your concerns, write: Rep_ _; US House; Washington, DC
20515.
Although the Dine arc usually self-sufficient, government
harassment in recent years has created a serious need for food,
clothing, wool, and tools. A slide show "In Defense of Sacred
Land" (30 min w/ tape) is available for sale ($65) or rent
($20/wk). It offers a close·up look at 1he traditional Dine cult~re
at Big Mountain and features the complex reasons behind
relocation and the people's acts of resistance. A video "The
Wrong Side of the Fence" (VHS, 60 min) is also available for
sale ($50) or rental ($20).
For general information on Big Mountain and to make
contributions, contact:
Big
Mounta i n
Legal
Defense/Offense
Committee, 2029 N. Center St.,
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
(602) 774-5233

Prophecies
The coming of great eanh changes ( canhquakes, upheaval, polar
shifts, etc.) in this period of our canh history has been spoken of
in the prophecies of many cultures including_ Hopi, Mayan, ~s
wcli as Christian. In the Mayan tradition, this August, 1987 is
regarded as an extremely significant time. In all the traditions.
great emphasis is placed o~ the period lc_ading up !o these
changes as an important ume for conscious cleanng a_nd
hcaling... a rime for getting in _balance with the Earth an~ w11h
oncsclf...a time to make a special effon to walk evenly With one
anothcr...a time to acknowledge and live within the ways of the
Great Spirit ... to remember the Great Mystery. Even now, Tunle
Island and the whole planet is experiencing great stress. It is
imponant that we listen keenly to what is occurring. Ho!

KATUAH-page21

Green Politics
"Throughous our country aNJ our region there is a deep Med /0 reclaim tht
word 'politics'. Politics does /IOI hove 10 conjure up images of special
illteresu. corporOle affiances aNJ short·range vi.sum. It can begin 10 mean
self-gowrnance, day-kH/ay ciliunshipaNJ long-range understanding. Politics
can begin 10 reflect and align itself with nature and tht Earth instead of
actively defying it. Wt can begin to see pofilics.. .as if people mal/ered...as if
tht biotic community mauered...as if tht Earth mO/ttred.
from "Tht Politics of Participation"
~ Autumn, 1984
H

Currently, there is a thrust towards a new/old dimension to
politics...one that speaks to ecological wisdom, grassroots
democracy, and personal &amp; social re5P0nsibility. It promotes
regionally-based cultures as well as community-based
economics. It encourages an envisioning of the present and the
future, in terms of bioccntric sustainability. The movement here
in North America and around the globe is called "Green Politics".
In North America, both in Canada and the United States,
the activity and focus is more regional and local rather than
national. In the United States, though, there is a Committees of
Correspondence Clearinghouse which serves as a national
networking center for local and regional groups and individuals
in the country. Groups around the continent are working on
many levcls--some arc running local and regional candidates,
others arc drafting political platforms, while others arc forming
study groups, addressing specific environmental and economic
issues, etc.
This summer 1987, Building the G reco Movement
will be the first open national meeting of the Greens in the US,
and will take place July 2-7, 1987 in Amherst, Massachusetts. It
will be an educational conference rather than a gathering to make
decisions for the Green movement. Sponsored by the
Committees of Correspondence, it is open to all Greens and
activists in kindred movements. It will include plenary panels,
workshops, and group discussions as well as music and
celebration. For conference infonnarion and general inquiry:
Na ti o n al
C learinghouse,
Comm i ttees
of
Correspondence, P.O. Box 30208, Kansas City, MO
64112
The ten key values which have been drafted by the
Committees of Correspondence and are being discussed and
stmtcgiz.ed by local Green groups around the country arc:
*Ecological W isdom •Grassroots Democracy
*PersonaJ &amp; Social Responsibility •Nonviolence
•Decentralization •Community-Based Economics
•Postpatriarchal Values •Respect for Diversity
*Global Responsibility
*Future Focus &amp;
Sustainability
Richard Harrison, from the Katiiah region, is planning to
attend the national conference as well as assist in forming a
regional ·11oca1 Green Discussion group . The first meeting will
be held on Wednesday, July 22 at the Pack Library meeting
room in Asheville, NC from 7:00 -9:00 pm. For more
information: Richard Harrison, 183 Edgewood Road, Asheville.
NC 28804 (704) 254-6910.
Resource reading: Green Poli!ks. The G(obnl Promjss:,
Capra and SprellUllc. Bear &amp; Co, S:111t:1 Fe, NM, New cdir.ion t986;
Secjo g Green; The Polj!jcs or Ecology Exp(pjncd.
Porritt, J. Basil Blackwell, Inc. NY 1984 ; The Sojrilunl
Dimcosjon or Green Po(il!cs, Spretnak. Bear &amp; Co, 1986
... periodicals: Green Lfllrr. ed. Jerry Gwnthney. P.O.Box
9242, Berkeley, CA 94709; New Options , ed. !'.tuk Satin.
/
P.O.Box 19324, Washington. DC 20036

Turrie Island is the native name for the continent of Norrh
America.

Summer 1987

�DRUMMING
LETTERS TO KATUAH

Following are portions of a letter sent to the editors of
community papers in Georgia and Tennessee as well as to
Katuah:

Dear Editor,
In order to keep my family off food stamps, I've had
to leave my home in southwestern Virginia for the past three
winters and set pine seedlings on clearcut National Forest
land in the Southern Appalachians.
We use an axe-like tool called a "hoedad" and get paid
by the tree, so we hustle over mountainsides and through
briars, bushes, and the tops of fallen trees. It is hard work,
but the pay is good.
The land we plant has usually been clearcut of any
vegetation over three inches in diameter and then burned over
so that when a planter looks up from planting the view in the
distance is often like a picrure postcard, while the closeup
Looks like a scene of nuclear devastation.
At fll'St I thought that the government must make a lot
of money doing this, but in truth it costs tire taxpayers a lot

of171()ney to clearcut National Forest land!
In the fll'St place, the timber or pulpwood is usually
sold cheaply because of the remoteness of most National
Forest land. Then there is the cost. both environmental and
economic, of the roads that the Forest Service puts in to the
site and the cost of a new gate and Ioele to keep the public
out. Then there are the salaries of various people who mark
the boundaries, bum the site, replant pines, people who
oversee the people who replant pines, and often people to cut
away or poison competing hardwoods a few years later.
The cash from the timber sale only barely begins to
pay the money price and could never pay the environmental
price of the cuttings.
Replacing the mixed hardwood forests with rows of
pines reduces the food resources available for many animals.
Cutting the hardwoods also reduces the brilliance of the fall
colors in the mountains. The new pine forests are made of
trees genetically similar to each other, which are more likely
to fall prey to insects or disease before they are scheduled to
be cut When this happens, the Forest Service sometimes
sprays large areas with insecticides, and this has a large
economic and ecological cost
The Appalachians can never really compete in growing
pulpwood with the deeper soil and warmer climare of the
nearby Piedmont or the Coastal Plain, and in the misguided
and federally-funded attempt to do this we will lose priceless
mountain topsoil into our streams and lakes and also lose a
lot of money.
rm not advocating an immediate end to clearcutting,
rather a slowing down to think it over and an end to
automatically favoring pines over hardwoods.
The policy of clearcutting was begun in a sincere
attempt to help our local economies. 11 is certainly true that I
need the money I make at my job. So let's invent some more
wholesome employment for ourselves:
- Perhaps we could pay people to replant ginseng on
suitable mountain sides in the national forest. This could

KATUAH-page 22

conceivably make more money than timber sales with vastly
less environmental impact. Harvest could be by permit or by
free foraging. This could greatly benefit all kinds of local
people and even earn needed foreign eithange, as
Appalachian ginseng is esteemed the world over as the very
best.
- Perhaps people could be employed seeking out the
surviving American chestnut trees and helping them survive.
Perhaps some of the new blight-resistant hybrids of
American and Chinese chestnuts could be planted.
- Perhaps the Forest Service could hire more people to
extend and maintain hiking, bicycle, and horse trails.
- Perhaps the Forest Service could help local people set
up more efficient sawmills, solar kilns, and small
woodworking industries to make better use of the hardwoods
we do log.
- Perhaps the Forest Service could establish small,
local nurseries for treeS and shrubs that benefit local ecology
and economy.
- Perhaps the Forest Service could do more work
educating itself and the people about the terrible realiiy of
acid rain, which has already killed the trees on the tops of the
highest peaks and is threatening the entire forest.
- Perhaps the Forest Service could foster the
development of a few small, viable, village communities
within the National Forest which use local energy sources
and are built to suict environmental standards to teach us
how to live with the forest instead of off it, and offer the
people wholesome alternatives to living in trailer parks at the
bottoms of mountains or in cabins in beautiful bu1 lonely
hollows.
If any of these ideas seem far-fetched, remember that
we could save taxpayers a lot of money by deciding 10 give
the land back to the Cherokee Elders who, after all, did a
very good job of land stewardship here for thousands of
years and would probably take the job at no pay!
The Forest Service is composed mostly of fine
outdoor-loving men and women who hate the bureaucracy
that siymies them more than any outsider possibly could.
They have been caught between a rock and a hard pince with
a charter that demands economic benefit of the local
communiry, the reality of local timber economics, and the the
basically similar needs of sponspeople, conserv:uioniStS. and
tourists.
Remember, only you can prevent runaway
bureaucracy! The Forest Service was set up to nuke policy
based on feedback from local people, and when we don't
offer this feedback, we short-circuit a very good and
idealistic system.
Please write down your ideas about National Forest
land use and send them to:
Chief Forester, US Forest Service, USDA
P.O. Box 2417
Washington, DC 20013
Help return the Forest Service to the service of the
forest.
Will Ashe Bason
Check, VA

Summer 1987

�Dear Katiiah,

rocks
only by shoring their silence
ond solitude
or e we invi ted into
their deep time
their woy of being before god
whot they do
they do well
keep time
w eor w eother
guard secr et s
mark the eorth
whot we see them d o
is nothing
our senses ore too human
their shopes t oo eternal
t he life t hat flow s too hidden
for all our owareness
we have little understanding
of how such life Is sacred
so they fall split open
sit p atiently until
w e come ond hear
the universe w i thin them
groan Its sacred groon
- Thom as Dal e Cowan

Pho10 by Rob Messick

This information is im~t! Can you include this, in pan,
in the 'Solstice' issue of Katiiab? Please try to find room!
(Excerpts from material senr in)
The canh operates as a resonant function of the interface
of two metaprograms, the solar and the galactic, whlch
together comprise a single field.
A resonant frequency phase shift (RFPS) is scheduled
to occur August 16/17, 1987.
The RFPS will alter the molecular resonance patterns of
all living phenomena. By their plasmic nature, most
biological fonns will be able to absorb this shift and
adjust to the new frequency pat1ern. However, much
that has been artificially constructed according to stress
specifications not accounting for RFPS may well be
disintegrated.
In prepara.tion for Phase Shift '87, it is important to
reactivate spirit guides and human-to-human bonding
programs; to reactivate biopsychic maintenance of
planet nodes and crystal gridwoik so that new
frequency imprinting can be received by the earth itself
in order to activate and monitor the new phase. This is
to be accomplished by groups of people in common
attunement attending to all planetary nodes-power
points, shrines, sacred sites; to alert people by whatever
skillful means possible concerning what is about to
occur. Ultimately this means the evacuation of the
cities. since their artificial structures will be largely
destroyed Therefore, plan a crusade--a phase shift
crossing--that is a completely hannonic operation, one
that can synthesize the old frequency into the new. The
Crusade should be in motion by Summer Solstice,
1986. (transmission)
1987-- 144,000 Sun Dance enlightened teachers will
totally awaken in their dream mind bodies. They will
begin to meet in their own feathered serpent or winged
seipent wheels and become a major source of the light
to help the rest of humanity to dance their dream awake.
A Sun Dance teacher is any human being who has
awakened, who has balanced their shields, who has
gained the dream mindbody and who honors all paths,
all teachers, and all ways. (from Prophecies of
lntenribal Medicine Societies of Native American
Indians)
Beginning at Dawn everywhere on the canh on Sunday,
August 16, 1987, 144,000 humans arc being called
upon to create a complete field of trust by surrendering
themselves to the planet and to the hlgher galactic
intelligences which monitor the planet At that time and
continuing through Monday, August 17, the higher
galactic intelligences will be transmitting a collective
planetary vision as well as messages of personal destiny
to and through these people, the rainbow humans.
(Open letter)
Harmonic Convergence: World Harmony Days Aug
16-17, 1987
Join in the Celebration of Harmonic Convergence, a
conscious bonding of people to support an evolutionary
shift from separation to unity and from fear to love.
World Harmony Days include celebrations at local,
regional and international levels which will focus
healing energies to the earth. At the core, 144,000
people will gather at sunrise on Aug 16 at sacred sites
around the globe. They will join at these Earth
"acupuncture points" to create a resonating link between
Universal Energies and the Earth. For info: Harmonic
Convergence, P.O. Box 6111, Boulder, CO 80306
(303) 443-4328.
Anonymous

DRUMMING -conlinuedpage24
KATUAH- page 23

Sammer 1987

�Dear Follc-

1 really enjoyed the latest issue of KatUah. Il
continues to give me great joy to think of the time,
energy, spirit, and blood that is cycled through each
issue. It is a great labor oflove and work. I liked the
"Coverlets" anicle a great deal. I learned much.
But the letters on "More Wilderness" in the
"Drumming" section seemed to me to be shon-sighted.
Sometimes I am confused by what most people think of
as being a "whole system", since the word as it is
commonly only used often seems to have little to do with
the world of good science. (I'm ralkjng about responsive
scientists who care about the land, and there are more
than a few out there.)
I wonder if those writers have any idea how
complex a proposal it is to suggest that cougars could
once again roam "the wild areas of the Appalachian
Region"? Let them take a trip to south Florida and take a
look at how hard it is to support a couple of dozen
cougars in an area as large as .illl of western North

Carolina! Who knows how common cougars were in
this area? They are primarily "big package" predators by
preference, which would suggest that white-tailed deer
would be a major food source. The scat of healthy
cougar cats consists of 90% "big packages" and 10%
small game. So maybe to establish a Fe/is concolor
population in Katuab, we should put them in Cades
Cove instead of in a "wilderness area".
Like Henry Thoreau, I feel now is the time to stop
building castles in the air and start putting in a few
foundations. I'd as soon see us use our energy to create
a "working community" of people, plants, animals, land,
and life in the Appalachians with what we have now. We
already have a wonderful predator moving into our area:
lhe coyote. What"s wrong with a few coyotes?
I would suggest that people who care about the
wildlife in our area go out with a good .410 shotgun and
kill every feral housccat in the region. These "wild" cats
take a huge toll on songbirds and small mammals.
John Lane

,

fKJl iffl)J~(}={f !NJ!ElfWO!RlK
~fPJflOfli1@~

ffrr©m

@~qfhl@rrnfli1@Jrq

Over 125 adults and children gathered at
the Pepperland Farm Camp in Farner, TN
for the Katiiah Spring Gathering. It would
take quite a while to describe in depth the
things we learned, the experiences we
shared, and the spirit we felt there. But we
can say that, there, the beginnings were set
to help the Katuah bioregional organization
grow and become more firmly rooted in our
daily lives and in our local communities.
A network of local contact people is
developing... to help nurture a bioregional
vision in their communities, to help bring
the Katiiah journal to more people, to
encourage more local input into the journal,
to pass around the word about events and
actions, and to sponsor bioregional speakers
and events in their local communities.
Write to the Katiiah journal to find out what
being a local contact per son means.
Volunteer, if you can.
People are also coming together into
" speci fic interest" groups to discuss
particular areas of bioregional life and

culture. The emphasis is on educatin g
themselves as to the most a ppropriate
strategies for living in the mountains. It
includes keeping up with news, events, and
new developments in that particular interest
area as well as lively discussions of how it
relates to this r egion. Hopefull y, it will also
mean submitting articles on that topic so
that each aspect of mountain life is
represented in the Katuab journal. to
"Specific interest " topics include:
Forestry and Wildlife, Agriculture and
Regional Diet, Water, Sustainable
Economics, Healing, Education/Personal
Growth,
Communities,
Ene rg y,
Spirituality, Bioregional Theory, Regional
Politics, and Shelter.

Luke Staengl of Floyd County, Virginia agreed to
coordinate a Katuah regional phone tree to be
used as a networking tool for issues that require
immediate attention such as environmental defense
issues, legislative action, and other special events.
Luke emphasized that when an issue comes
up locally and yet receives regional attention and
response, it is much more likely to be taken
seriously. He encourages all of us to make use of
this kind of networking.

Already, there are over 70 names on the
phone tree list. Some people have agreed to
simply receive a phone call and act on it (write a
letter, etc.). Others have volunteered to call others
in their community, as well. If you would like to
participate in this important regional phone tree
send name, add ress, phone number to:
Luke Stacngl,
Rt.3, Box 120·2, Floyd, VA
24091.

KA11JAH - page 24

Write to the Katiiah journal if you
have an interest you would like to discuss
with other people in the region or if you
would like to participate in this budding
regional network in some way:
Katiiah , P.O.Box 638, Leicester, NC 28748

Summer 1987

�TRANSITION
The hawk flies over me and up
it sings silently soaring; "Spring!"
I have died from lack of flight
from lack of green
it grows.
I see the new and turn my head
the old has clasped my soul
strength welling up and
tears that are not wet but
fall like acid rain, scorching
emotions and stunting growth.
The hawk flies over me and east.
I turn to see what it sees - taking
on the sorrows all around and
shaking and testing my new wings
I cannot fly
yet.
I turn east, thirst overcoming, I
long for water. Mirages appear
in front of me and I think I
have found what I am looking for but it is not water in my mouth,
it is stars.
The hawk flies over me and up
singing, silently soaring, springing
from ashes and into lightning.
I am becoming light
free as the clouds, soaring.....
I am learning to love with
the intensity of fire. Hawk,
energy condensed, shadow threatening
those like me who laugh and
put if off. Shadow comforting
those like me who cry, and my tears
are sizzling like hot oil on the water
of transition.

Wustration by Misha Wilson

- Mara Bradburn

LESSONS IN PEACE

Young
Pe op I e's
Page

Wanted: a world of peace.
I say peace - easily,
freely, the word stems out
and perhaps is used too
often. Wanted: Peace.
I crave it. Freely.
I create it. Sometimes.
Peace is when my anger
turns back on itself and
cries for wisdom. When
anger thinks logically and
knows it's not worth it.
Anger, mushrooming, exploding
in my body, turning,
facing, understanding .....
Wanted: A peaceful world.
The earth is crying.
Peace is when my sorrow
grows into the trees
the leaves absorb it
and say; :"rejoicer·

When sorrow is channelled
the tears become song Peace is when I ache
but I walk, singing, in the
woods anyway.
Wanted: Peace.
I say peace as if I know
what it means.
But when I listen, instead
of talking, Peace says that no one
knows. No one.
Peace is when my resentment
lets loose its harsh ties
and becomes forgiveness.
Wanted: a world of peace.
I dance. I talk. I laugh. I act.
I create. Peace is
when you're doing everything
you can and the only one
listening Is Peace.

- Mara Bradbu,

KATUAH- page 25

Summer 1987

�f't't~'t'f'f't'f'ft'tf't'f'ft'f't't'f't
events ~:::~::r~JUNE

9-8/16 ASHEVILLE, NC

19-21

CULLOWHEE, NC
Appalachian Writers' Association
meeting. Contact: Jim Nicholl; Dept. of
English; Western Carolina University;
Cullowhee, NC 28723

21

SUMMER SOLSTICE
Local gatherings everywhere!

21-27

BRASSTOWN, NC
Music/Craft Week. Contact: John
C. Campbell Follc School; Brasstown, NC
28902 (704) 837-2775

JULY

1-7

G R AHAM COUNTY, NC
Continental Rainbow Family
Gathering. For information, contact:
Rainbow Family of Living Light
Box 1097
Newpon, TN 37821

Center on the Blue Ridge Parkway. For
ticket info., write: The Follctellers, P.O.
Box 2898; Asheville, NC 28802
10

CELO, NC
Full Moon Gathering.
Mount.ain Gardens, 6/24.

See

11

HIGHLANDS, NC
"Nantahala Week". Education,
exploration, raft trip. Contac1: The Mountain
Retreat Center; 841 Highway 106;
Highlands, NC 28741 (704) 526-5838
21-27

23-24

SWANNANOA, NC
Second Annual North Carolina
Alternative Earmin&amp; Fjeld Days.
Workshops:
Marketing
Green Manure Crops
Spccialiry Crops
Grceobousc Management
Tools..... more.
Exhibits, demonscrations.
At Warren Wilson College campus.
Contact: Dr. Greg Hoyt; Mountain
Horticultural Oops Rescareh Station; 2016
Fanning Bridge Rd.; Fletcher, NC 28732

2-7

AMHERST, MA
"National Conference for a New
(Green) Politics" - workshops, strategy,
principles. Write: New England Committees
of Correspondence; P.O. Box 703; White
River Jct., VT 05001
3-5

WAYNESVILLE, NC
"The Bliss of Freedom" meditation
retreat. Stil-Light Theosophical Rc1rcat
Center; Rt. 1, Box 326; Waynesville, NC
28786

11

ROAN MOUNTAIN

Roan Mountain Day Hike. See
Nature Conservancy, 6111
11-12

LINVILLE, NC
The Highland Games. Scottish
piping, dancing, Highland athletics
("tossing the caber", "putting the sheath",
more). $7.00. McRae Meadows (US 221 two miles north of Linville, NC)
13-18

~",r
,-....,.,..-,

CELO, NC
"Building and Planting Stone
Walls" workshop. Joe Hollis; c/o Mountain
Gardens; 3020 White Oak Creek Rd.;
Burnsville, NC 28714
24

~"
,£~

HOT SPRINGS, NC
A Rinzai Zen Retreat. Contact:
Southern Dhanna Retreat Center; Rt 1, Box
34-H; Hot Springs, NC 28743
24-28

MARSHALL, NC
Timber Framing Workshop.
Contact: Country Workshops; 90 Mill Occk
Rd.; Marshall, NC 28753 (704) 656-2280
15

CELO, NC
"Building and Planting Stone
Walls". Mountain Gardens, sec 6/24.
GREAT SMOKY MT'NS.
"Mosses and Related Plants".
Smoky Mountain Field School, see
6127-28.
18-19

22

27

BAT CAVE, NC
Day bike. Contact: NC Nature
Conservancy; P.O. Box 805; Chapel Hill,
NC 27514

CELO, NC
"Art in the Gnrden" - drawing and
painting class. Saturdays through 8/1.
Rhea Rose Ormond; Mountain Gardens, see
6/24.

3-12

HOT SPRINGS, NC
" Breathing and Meditation".
Southern Dharma, see 6124-28.

ASHEVILLE, NC
Formative meeting for Green
Politics Discussion Group. 7:00, Pack
Library. Contact:. Richard Harrison; 183
Edgewood Rd.; Asheville, NC 28804
(704) 254-6910

5-11
27

T ROUTVILLE, VA
"When Modem Medicine Fails What Then?" Exploring alternatives.
Rainbow Chapel; Rt. 4, Box 87-A;
Troutville, VA 24175
GREAT SMOKY MT'NS.
"Research on Wild Mammals of the
Great Smokies" workshop with Dr. Michael
Pelton. Smoky Mountain Field School;
Dep't. of Non-Credit Programs; 2016 Lake
Ave.; Knoxville, TN 37996

CULLOWHEE, NC
"Landscaping with Native Plants"
seminar. Contact: Jim Honon; Dept. of
Biology; Cullowhec, NC 28723 (704)
227-7244

BRASSTOWN, NC
Black smithing Summer Craft
Session. JCC Folk School, sec 6/21-27.

25

HIGHLANDS, NC
"Folks, Lore, and Truth". Sec The
Mountain, 6/21-27.

23-25

5-18

BLUFF MOUNTAIN, NC
Day hike. Nature Conservancy, sec

6/27.

27-28

8

CELO, NC
"Dancing on the Deck" - morning
and evening dance classes. Wednesdays
through August 12. Rhea Rose Ormond;
Mountain Gnrdens, see 6/24.

MARSHALL, NC
Ladder-back
Chairmaking
Workshop. Country Workshops, see
7/13-18
27-31

f't't'f'f'f'f'f't't'f'tf't't't't't~'t't't

KATUAH - page 26

Summer 1987

�AUGUST
1-2

GREAT SMOKY MT'NS.

"Mushroom Identification"
weekend and "Big Game Observation"
backpacking trip. Smoky Mountain Field
School, see 6/27-28.
2-15

CELO, NC

Full Moon Gathering. Mountain
Gardens, see 6/24
9-14

GREAT SMOKY MT'NS.

19

"Forests and Trees of the
Smokies". Smoky Mountain Field School,
see 6/27-28.

23-30 WA YNES VILLE, NC
"What
is
Theosophy? "
seminar/retreat. Stil-Light, see 7/3-5.

19-20 GREAT SMOKY MT'NS.
"Research on Wild Mammals of the
Great Smokies" with Dr. Michael Pelton.
Smoky Mountain Field School, see
6/27-28.

24-28

MARSHALL, NC

White Oak Basketry Workshop.
Country Workshops, see 7/13-18.

HOT SPRINGS, NC

"Vipassana and Hatha Yoga".
Southern Dhmna, see 6/24-28.

8

NORTH WEBSTER, IN

"The North American Conference
on Christianity and Ecology". Write c/o
P.O. Box 14305; San Francisco, CA 94114

BRASSTOWN, NC

Blacksmithing, Knife Making
courses. JCC Folk School, see 6/21-27.
7-14

19-22

26-30 HOT SPRINGS, NC
"Satipatthana Vipassana Meditation
Retreat" . Southern Dharma, see 6/24-28.
29-9/4 BRASSTOWN, NC
"Eanhworks" (Fiber and Clay
Week). JCC Folk School, see 6/21-27.

MARSHALL, NC

20-26 BRASSTOWN, NC
Blacksmithing and Early American
Crafts. JCC Folk School, see 6/21-27.
25-27

WA YNES VILLE, NC

"An Introduction to Spiritual
Astrology". Stil-Light, see 7/3-5.
29

ASHEVILLE, NC

"Is There a Future for the Black
Bear in the Southern Appalachians?"
conference. $5.00. 9 am - 6 pm.Owen
Conference Center; UNC-Asheville. See ad
this page.

Windsor Chairmaking Workshop.
Country Workshops, see 7/13-18.
10-15 FARNER, TN
"Backpacking Adventure" (ages
11-18); tracking, foraging, primitive
camping with Snow Bear. Pepperland Fann
Camp; Star Route; Farner, 1N 37333

"IS THERE A FUTURE FOR THE
BLACK BEAR
IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS?"

SEPTEMBER
3-7

FARNER, TN

"Touching the Earth Mother".
Retreat with Shahabuddin Less. See
8/10-15.
~~~tt
RECLAIM YOUR P£RSONAl POWER AT A NUA1\JRING MCM.NTAIN RETFtEAT

°""""" -

AUGUST17-23 $285
am. U 81Y OUT\.AW, UIT, MICHAEL.A&amp;CHMlOT

CHR1$TIHE 9YRD. C.H.C.. HERBALIST PAM MONTGOMERY,

4-7

BRASSTOWN, NC

Labor Day Music and Dance
Weekend. JCC Folk School, see 6/21-27.

CAROLYN MOOR£,

INOIAN VAUEY RETREAT

6

CELO, NC

Ill 2 eox sa. WI.US, VA. 24390 fnl3l .,...295
PleMt tMJ.11• 04/I bfocAn ICW oet.MI

Full Moon Gathering. Mountain
Gardens, see 6/24.

14-16 ELKINS, WV
Augusta Folk Festival. Augusta
Heritage Center; Davis and Elkins College;
100 Sycamore St.; Elkins, WV 26241

11-13 GREAT SMOKY MT'NS.
"Spiders of the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park". Smoky
Mountain Field School, see 6127-28.

16

GREAT SMOKY MT'NS.

"Summer Wildflowers of the Great
Smokies". Smoky Mountain Field School,
see 6/27-28.
16

HARMONIC
CONVERGENCE

Join with others at sunrise and
share your vision of world peace and
harmony.
16-19 HIGHLANDS, NC
"Dare to Explore". Rock climbing,
whitewater canoeing, hiking. The
Mountain, see 6/21-27.

Issues Facing the Black Bear and
Mountain Habitat

Its

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 1987

Owen Conference Center, UNC-Asheville
11-13 WAYNESVILLE, NC
"Henry David Thoreau and the Tao
of Simplicity" seminar at Stil-Light. See
7/3-5.
16

CELO, NC

"Dividing Perennials and Making a
Flower Garden" workshop. Mountain
Gardens, see 6/24.
18-20 ASHEVILLE, NC
New Priorities Conference on
Peace, Social Justice, and the Environment.
Contact: The New Priorities Center; 54
Starnes Ave.; Asheville, NC 28801

Invited Speakers Include:
Dr. Michael Pelton
(University of Tennessee)
Dr. Roger Powell (NC State University)
Ms. Lauren Hillman (US Forest Service)
Dr. John Collins
(NC Wildlife Resources Comm.)
Jim Noles (NC Bearhunters' Ass'n.)
Admission: $5.00
Sponsored by:
Dept. of Environmental Studies, UNC-A
Bear Action Networlt
Kal(iah

�gets a chance to speak. They talk about things they are
feeling, experiences of that day, or whatever they want to
speak about The simple ritual of passing the feather puts a
lot of meaning into that little gathering. It makes it
ceremonial, and I find the Jcids often talk of very deep things
that are on their minds. Again, it's the power of the mythic
that seems to bring out people's deeper selves.
We always try to have a fire in the evenings when we're
traveling . It's not just for the practical necessity of cooking
our foocl. nor only because the fire is a center for the group
circle, but we make a fire because it is in itself such a basic,
important element that I want to invite it into our circle and
introduce the Jcids to it. And fire is a teacher. In mythic tenns
it says to us very starkJy, "That which would give light must
endure burning."

~: Besides the external recognition, there is also an
initiation that happens within the adolescent at this time of
change. These private initiations are perhaps the most
important Do you run into examples of these at the camp?

Helen: Kids want to be heroes and heroines. They will do
a lot to achieve a victory. And they want to be good
grown-ops, so they will respond to a challenge to prove
themselves.
Kayaking and rock-climbing provide a different type of
challenge. Rather than testing endurance and encouraging a
reflective, meditative state, they bring the campers very much
into the immediate moment They have to extend tlleir senses
and concentrate on putting all their energies 10 the task at

always some point where they have to meet that fear and
overcome it to be able to continue. At that crisis point there is
a sudden sensation of becoming very calm and objective. As
the Hopi Indians say, "The soul comes out of the top of the
head" through the fontanelle and looks down on the body
clinging there with a single, perfectly clear eye that
transcends all fear or questioning.
Kat\Jah: So these experiences actually coun that fear to
generate energy for an initiatory experience.
Helen: They inevitably do that, but they also demand total
physical exertion which often exceeds what the camper
believed to be his or her physical limits. The world is
perceived very clearly when one is hanging on to a
finger-hold crevice, and a single climb can shift the terms in
which a young person defines his or her identity, creating a
new acceptance of self. And all these elements together add
up in some way to a spiritual connection with the God force,
which, while it is not readily defineable, is the strongest
source of personal power.
Bot we don't have to seeJc these situations out. They are a
naturally-occuuing part of camp life. One time I was with a
group of the younger campers. The thing we were going to
do that period was to climb trecS. They all started going up,
except for a mentally disturbed boy named Jimmy. He was
standing on the ground malcing climbing motions with his
hands, ~oing "Uh, uh, uh," like a monkey.
I thtnk it's very important for the kids that, once we say
we're going to do something, we do it. I realized that this
was an important moment for him; it was very imponant that
he at least got to the first branch.
So I called the other Jcids around. Some of them were
already way op in the tops of the trees, but they all gathered
around, and we talked about this. We made it a group
project. Jimmy didn't mind the group talking about his
problem, in fact I find that the kids seldom mind having the
others talk about them in the circle. We talked about it, and
then with a lot of reaching, hoisting, and encouragement,
Jimmy made it up into the tree. It was a group effon, but it
was also a personal victory for him.

hand.

11

The river is a good teacher of
humility, because in a kayak, the ldds
have to recognize and use that force.
11

Groups go k.ayalcing in the fast rapids in several of the
mountain rivers. On the water, the kids have to concentrate
on their movements, their techniques, while always being
aware of the rapids coming up ahead. They have to be
constantly sensitive to the river. It's an immense, strong
force. The river is a good teacher of humility, because in a
kayak, the kids have to recognize and use that force. TI1ey
have to flow with it, if they're going to avoid being thrown
under.
Rock-&lt;:limbing is another challenging activity that tests the
kids' abilities. When they're pulling themselves up the side
of a cliff, the campers have 10 rely on their own strength and
have to watch their own motions in the same way as on the
river. They have to control their fear, so their body can be
completely relaxed, and they can continue 10 climb. There's

KATUAH - page 28

These experiences come up, bot for them to have a
positive effect, there must be a teacher present who can
interpret and resolve them. "Education" in its Latin
beginnings derived from educatus, part of the verb educare,
"to bring fonh from within". Education does not mean to
superimpose knowledge that belongs to others on top of the
initiate. It means to bring out the eternal truths that lie hidden
in every relationship. So there must be relationship and it
must be experiemial. Now that's a school!

,,

- Recorded by DIV

Summer 1987

�w€BWO~
ENVlRONME.NTAL IN'raRNSHIPS available at
Long Branch Environmental Education Center in
pcnnaculllR. wildlife ad'JOCIC)', 80lid and ha%ardous
waste issues, appropriate technology. Room and
board. Coruacc Paul and Pal Gallimore; RL 2, Box
132; Leicester, NC 28748 (704) 683-3662
ORGANlC FERTILIZERS, herbs, and
organically-grown, local produce at the WNC
Farmers' MJutetl Look for the Fa.irglen Farms stall,
uniis F and G in the wholesale area of the Farmcn'
Market: 570 Brevard Rd.; Asheville, NC (704)
252-4414
ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHER, cenified,
creative, self-motivated, and organized needed at
Valley School, a parent-governed alternative school
in Monongahela National Forest, WV. Resume,
refeicnces to: Teri KulSko; I Kirk St.; Elkins, WV
26241(304)636-2979

THE APPALACHIAN HERB NEWSLETTER:
exploring the potenlial for herbs as cash crops in
Appalachia. Subscriptions $12/yr.. Write:
A!)J)a!acbjan Herb Newslcttcr - ASPI; RL 5, Box
423; Livings100, KY 40445
acres near
Boone, NC sccting families with SIJ'Ol1g visions and
resources to manifest a peaceful place for our
children to grow in love and to survive the corning
of the new age. Paul and Susan Del Rios; RL 2,
Box 314; Vilas, NC 28692 (704) 297-4937
LAND TRUST in the forming on 57

PURE HONEY - unhealed and unfiltered. Poplar,
locust, and sourwood. One of nature's blessings!
Price and ordering info from Jimmy Holladay, the
Beekeeper; P.O. Box 908; Black Mt'n., NC 28711
(704) 669-9788

INDIAN VALLEY RETREAT- 140 llC(CS in Blue
Ridge mountains with facilities available to rent for
groups or individual retreats, either guided or
unstructured. Send for information and seasonal
calendar of healing, transformative evenis to: Indian
Valley Holistic Center; RL 2, Box 58; Willis, VA
24380.

"AS WE ARE" - Women's music by Pomegranate
Rose, a four-woman group playing lively original
music. Casseue tape available for $9.00 ppd. from
RL 2, Box 435; Pittsboro, NC 27312

A Bil.L is under consideration in the NC legislawre
that would affect lhe future of homeschooling in the
state. For info, call: Candy Boehm (704) 667-8826
or Tricia Sommerville (704) 658-0809

Tiffi CENTER FOR NEW PRIORITIES - now
open, in Asheville, NC, for all groups dedicated to
wort:ing towards genuine, life-oricnl.cd, change for
lhe community. Office space, small meeting space,
and ltitchen facmties are available. For more
information, call (704) 254-4714 or write the
Center, 54 Starnes Avenue, Asheville, NC 28801.
The Cenier appreciates donations, large or small, to
help with iis upkeep and activities.

PEPPERLAND FARM CAMP - a unique summer
camp experience for chi.ldrcn 6-16 years. AdvenlWI:
trips, riding, Indian lore, swimming, more.
Delicious vegetarian meals - special diets
accomodated. Also seeking counselors and slllff. For
info: Pepperland Fann Camp; Star Route; Farner,
TN 37333 (704) 494-2353

WINGED HEART HOMESTEAD - 283 ICl'CS in
Indian Valley district, SW Virginia. On this Cann
we want IO start a self-reliant community of
families emphasizing organic farming melbods and
creative personal and spiritual growth. Contaet:
Muzawir; RL HC-67, Box 171: Alum Ridge, VA
24051.
APPRENTICESHIPS • offered in large, organic,
m3Jket garden business and home subsistence/
preservation garden. Gardeners have eight years
experience teaching organic, biodynamic-French
intensive, labor intensive gardening. Housing.
Contact: Bob and Sandy Gow; Rt. 2, Box SI;
Zionvillc, NC 28698. {919) 385-6606.

CLINCH RIVER EDUCATIONAL CENTER offers
counseling for individuals, couples, groups. Also
classes in personal growth and body awareness. P.O.
Box 993; Abingdon, VA 24210.

FARM FOR SALE - 43 acres, Calhoun Cty. WV;

5 room older house, deep well, 30+ apple trees,
indoor hot water and bath, outdoor toilet, FREE
NATURAL GAS, hilltop. 1/4 mile well-maintained
access road. Allan &amp;: Carol Freeman, (704)

FLOWER ESSENCES - Harmony with Nature &amp;:
SpiriL Gentle emotiortal support during transitions,
specific issues, relationships. Opens
communications. Self-adjusting, non-toxic,
awareness "tools" for improving the ionCl quality.
Correspondence to: Elaine Geouge, c/o Patchwork
Castle, Celo, 3931 HWY 80 So., BumsvWe, NC
28714

At ARTHUR MORGAN SCHOOL 24 studenlS and

264-5726. $30,000.

KA11JAH - page 29

SOCK-A-DOOZ PUPPET PETS - Walk 'cm, talk
'em, make 'cm Oy. Wag their tails, you can try.
They will love you, hug you if you're blue. Now
PUPPET PETS can be your friends too.
Handcrafted by Bonnie Blue; 78 1(2 Patton Ave.
(#10): Asheville, NC 28801

"CELEBRATION SPACE: Songs to Celebrate
Life" - A casset.te tape completely produced,
performed, and recorded by members and friends or
lhe Floyd County community to raise money for
the Floyd County Community Hall. This audio
songbook contains 15 original songs and chants and
3 traditional songs to learn and sing in your own
community. The sound quality is uneven, but the
c:ncrgy. spirit, and joy shine through.
For the cassette 1ape with lyric sheet (ppd.), send
$10.00 to the Floyd County Communi1y Hall
Projca; RL 1, Box 735; Floyd, VA 24091.

CREEKSIDE PRESS - Assistance for authors and
poctS in editing, computer scrvices, and submitting
manuscripts for publication. Lori Ward Hamm;
P.O. Box 331; Abingdon, VA 24210.

PARM WANTED - young family seeks
owner-financed, low down payment (SSOO or less)
small acreage (10 acres or less) in the N.C.
mountains for home, gardens, fruit tree, and peace.
Also, we would appreciate info on jobs and/or job
offers in the area. We are young, hard-working and
dependable. Please write Mr. &amp;. Mrs. Jorge
Velazquez: 174 Countrywood, Cleveland, TX
77327.

ARCHITECTURAL ADVlCE AND DESIGN:
Adam C.ohen; RL 2. Box 217; Check, VA 24072

14 staff learn together by living in community.
Curriculum includes creative academics, group
decision-making, a work program, service projccis,
extensive field trips, challenging outdoor
experiences. Write: 1901 Hannah Branch Rd.;
Burnsville, NC 28714.

Shell gorget llJlelJ1hod 11 IM Orcat MoWld. ScvieiviUe. TN

WEBWORKING continued next page

Summer 1987

�WEBWORKING cootinucd
ASTROLOGICAL
CHART S.
7-page
interpretations of planets in signs and houses with
planetary aspects. Easy to read. Great gift for the
newly-born. Send SIS, name, date. time, and place
of birth to TouchslOOe; Rt. 2, Box 314-K; Vilas,
NC 28692
OAK LEAF WORKS - hand-crafted futon
mauresses, zabolOO noor cushions, yogamats, and
buckwheat bull pillows; SUllldard &amp; custom sius
available, to suit your needs. Write or call for our
free brochwe: Oak Leaf Works; Star Route, Box
43; Floyd, VA 24()1)1; (703) 763-2373.

DA YSTAR ASTROLOGICAL SERVICE - niual,
transit, comparison charts. Very accurate. Only
$3.00 each. Chris and Will Bason; Rt. 2, Box 217;
Check, VA 24072 (703) 651-3492
ROSE AROMATICS - cssentiai oils have been
healing body, mind, spirit, since ancient EgypL A
most pleasant therapy! Dabney Rose; 108 Church
Rd.; Asheville, NC 28804 (704)2S4-9SS I
WEBWORKING Is free.
Send submissions to:

Ka1W

MOON DANCE FARM HERBALS - herbal salves,
tinctures, &amp; oils for bitthing &amp; family health. For
brochwe., please wrire: Moon Dance Farm; RL l,
Box 726; Hampton, TN 376S8

P.O. Box638
Leicester, NC
Katliah \ Province 28748

SCOTT BIRD
GREG BLACK

(704) 683-1414

683-4795

Mebtcltte of tne

farlfJ ~Spirit
Ul.TIIAVIOLET PUAlflCATIOH AHO ALTElllMG SYSTEMS

cus~m

beabeb nystal
MCklaces

SOLAR PRODUCT'S · WATER AHALVSIS
RANDA~ C.
704-~5912

LANIER

_.._..
~

131 r.,_ -..,..,, 1111.
- l l o. N C. 2*4

. HWY. 107
RT. 88 BOX 125
CULLOWHEE, NC 28723

(1041 291-103'

Chinese
Acupuncture
and
Herbology
Clinic

NaturaJ Food Store
&amp; Deli
160 BroadWay

Asheville, NC 28801

MALAPROP'S
BOOKSTORE/ CAFE
BOOKS -

342 Merrimon Avenue Asheville, NC
(704) 258-9016

CARDS -

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
Monday-Saturday: 9am·8pm
Sunday: 1pm-5pm

RECORDS

61 Haywood Street, Asheville, NC 28801
(704) 253-7656

(704) 254-0134

'Jlja!?~ 'J\!1~1
BOBCAT

l'ruvoJ1na PttM&gt;nol ~&lt;Vt«
Fllloni
Book Nttds
In Spcclahzecl Fle!Js

704-264-5866

'Nat!lr&lt;\ls

y,..,

T-SHIRT

SHORT SLEEVE T: $10.00 ppd.
Colors: Ecru, White, Sliver,
Seafoam (It. green) Tea/

LONG SLEEVE T: $14.00 ppd.
(Include• Paw Print on Sleeve)
Colors: Ecru, Sliver, Tea/, White
Satisfaction assured or return for full refund.
PleaH Indicate size, color,
sleeve length, quantity.

B ~)OkD Q""'
Thin(s L, .. .
GARY HEMSO'TH
8ooludrr

IN ADULT SIZES S,M,L,XL
We a/so have a /In• of aweanhlrts and kid• T-Shlrta

Boone Bel&amp;bts Sbopploc Centu
Boone, North CaroUna 28607

t-----------------t
FRIEDMAN &amp;

Introducing the BOBCAT
This full color design Is hand-screened on
T-SHIRTS OF 100% PRESHRUNK COTTON

KAlUAH - page 30

Where Broadway mMts
Merrlmon Ave &amp; 1-240

8

DESIGN, INC.

ENUGY SYSTEMS

THAT /&gt;AY FOR THEAISELVF..'i
I

..- -

~-- -,..
-.., ~-=..,.,ca=-=-.,:-:.=-.-=-=
- -=::-::....,..==.
l(AWI~-

P O llOXlll7

OIUS80AO. H C 21125

Summer 1987

�Kmflal1 wants to communicate your thoughts a11d feeli11gs to the other
people in the bioregional province. Send them to us as letters, poems, stories,
drawings, or photographs. Please send your contributions to us at: K.atiJ11.b; Box
638; Leicester, NC; Ka!Uah Province 28748.
For fall, Katflah is looking for facts.feelings, and amazing tales about
Yonah, the black bear, totem spirit of the Southern Appalachians.
In the winter issue, the focus will be on "Sheller". Please send drawings,
designs, thoughts, or ideas on what is appropriate she/1.:r in the mountains.

Medfclnt" ;illfes

BACK ISSUES
ISSUE NINE - FALL 1985
The Waldee Forest - The Trees Spealc Migrating Forests - Horse Logging Starting a Tree Crop · Urban Trees Acom Bread - Mylll 'Time

ISSUE 1WO- WINTER 1983-84
Yona - Bear Hunters - Pigeon River Another Way With Animals - Alma Becoming PoliticaJly Effective Mountain Woodlands - Katiiah Under the
Drill- Spiritual Warriors

full color

ISSUE TEN - WIN11'ER 1985-86
Kate Rogers - Circles of Stone : Internal
Mythmalting - Holistic Healing OD Trial Poems: Steve Knaulh - Mythic Places The Uktena's Tale. - Crystal Magic "Dreamspcaking"

ISSUE THREE - SPRING 1984
Sustainable Agriculture - Sunflowers Human Impact on the Forest - Childrens'
Education - Veronica N"icholas:Woman in
Politics - Lillle People - Medicine Allies

T- s&amp;frts
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 arc called with reverence
"grandfathers". And of them, the strongest
are Kanati, the lightning, the power of the
sky; Utsa'nati, the raulesnake, 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 &amp;om the underworld.
Each is the strongest power in its own
domain. Together they are allies: their
energies compliment each ocher to form an
even greater power. As medicine allies, they
represent the healing powers of the
Appalachian Mountains.
The medicine powers of Katuah have
been depicted in a striking T-shirt design by
Ibby Kenna. Printed in 5-color silkscreen
by Ridgerunner Naturals on top quality,
all-cotton shirts, they are available now in
all adult sizes from the Katfiah journal.
"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 ELEVEN - SPRING 1986
Community Planning - Cities and the
Bioregional Vision - Recycling Community Gardening- Floyd County,
VA - Gasohol - Two Bioregional Views Nuclear Supplement - Foxfire Games
-Oood Medicine: Visions

ISSUE FOUR - SUMMER 1984
Water Drum - Water Quality - Kudzu Solar Eclipse - Clearcuuing - Trout Going to Water - Ram Pumps Mierohydro- Poems: Bennie Lee Sinclair,
Jim Wayne Miller
ISSUE FIVE- FALL 1984
Harvest - Old Ways in Cheroltee Ginseng - Nuclear Waste - Our Celtic
Heritage - Bioregionalism: Past, Present,
and Future - John Wilnoty - Healing
Darltness - Politics of Participation

ISSUE THIRTEEN - Fall 1986
Center For Awakening· Elizabeth Callari
- A Gentle Death - Ro.spice - Ernest
Morgan - Dealing Creatively with Death Home Burial Box - The Walce - The
Raven. Moelter - Woodslore and
Wildwoods Wisdom ·Good Medicine: The
Sweat Lodge

ISSUE SIX - WIN'IBR 1984-85
Winter Solstice Earth Ceremony Horsepasture River - Coming of the Light
- Log Cabin Roots - Mountain
Agriculwre: The Right Crop • WilJiam
Taylor - The Future of the Forest

ISSUE FOURTEEN • Winter 1986-87
Lloyd Carl Owle - Boogers and Mummers
- All Species Day - Cabin Fever
University - Homeless in Katuah Hommade Hot Water - Stovemaker's
Narrative - Good Medicine: Interspecies
Communication

ISSUE SEVEN - SPRING 1985
Sustainable Economics - Hot Springs WOTker Ownership-The Great Economy Self Help Credit Un.ion - Wild Turkey Responsible Investing - Worlting in the
Web of Life

ISSUE FIFTEEN - Spring 1987
Coverlets - Woman Forester - Susie
McM.ahan: Midwife - Alternative
Contraception - Biosexuality Bioregionalism and Women - Good
Medicine: Mauiarchical CullUl'e - "Pead"

JSSUE EIGHT - SUMMER 1985
Celebration: A Way of Life - Katiiah
18,000 Years Ago - Sacred Sites - Polit
Ans in the Schools - Sun Cycle/Moon
Cycle Poems: Hilda Downer - Cherokee
Hcriiage Center - Who Owns Appalachia?
Celebration

KAWAH: Bjoreruonal Journal of the Southern Appalachians
Box 638; Leicester, NC; Katuah Province 28748

Regular Membership........$10/yr.
Sponsor..........................$20/yr.
Contributor.....................$50/yr.

Name
Address
City

Area Code
K.AWAH- page 31

Enclosed is $
to give
this ejfort an extra boost
State
Phone Number

Zip
I can be a local contact
person for my area

Back Issues
Issue# _ _@ $2.00 = $_ _
Issue# _ _@ $2.00 = $_ _
Issue#_@ $2.00 = $_ _
Issue# _ _@ $2.00 = $_ _
Issue#_@ $2.00 = $_ _
Complete Set (2-11, 13-15)
@ $19.00 = $_ _
T-Shirts: specify quantity
color: tan
S_ _ M_ _
L_ _ XL_ _
@ $9.50 each............$_
TOTAL PRICE=
postage paid

_

$_ _
Summer 1987

�</text>
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                  <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;,&amp;nbsp;was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span&gt;, 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.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; 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.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This digital collection is only a portion of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah&lt;/em&gt;-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 &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;. 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.</text>
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                <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, Issue 16, Summer 1987</text>
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                <text>The sixteenth issue of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; focuses on the initiations and rituals surrounding the coming of age and the maturation of young people. Authors and artists in this issue include Tata Andres, Snow Bear, Patrick Clark, Maggie Schneider, Rob Messick, Burt Kornegay, Stephaen Delor, Didier Cuzange, David Wheeler, Curry Morris, Doug Silsbee, John Lane, Clyde Osborne, Will Ashe Bason, Michael Hockaday, Nancy Barnhardt, Thomas Dale Cowan, and Mara Bradburn. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, 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.</text>
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Fall 1987

$1.00

BIOREGIONAL JOURNAL OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS

THE MOUNTAIN BLACK BEAR

�(uTiJAR,
P.O. Box 873 Cullowhee, NC Katuah Province 28723
Note new address, inside!

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

Postage Paid .
Non-profit Org.
Permitt12
Cullowhee, NC
28723

�The Life and Death of Bear #87.... 3
Glady and Tire Pisgah Bear Project

Bear Story...... ......... ................. 6
bySam Gray

Issues (and a Few Answers)

for che Black Bear:..................... 8
An lmerview
with Dr. Michael Pelton

The Challenger: ......................... 11
The Wild Boar in the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park

cougar...................................... 12
a poem

Good Medicine: .......................... 13
"Finding Allies in the World"

"Me and My Walker Hounds"...... 14
by Robert McMahan

"Smells Like Money to Me:" ........ 16
a report on Champwn l lllUnlJJional
by Jay S. Geru

Bear ................. ........................ 18

THE BLACK BEAR IN KATUAH
Exactly four years ago this autu!IUl,
Katua/1 began publishing. Our first issue
spoke to the sacredness of these mountains
and to the journal's intent to explore how
we humans could better understand our
relationship to this region and how to more
sensitively inhabit this place we call home.
Because the totem spirit is the living
soul of a region's natural life community, in
the second issue of the journal, we
searchingly asked "Who is the totem spirit
of the Karuah region'? Which is the species
most closely connected to the spirit of these
IDOWltains?"
The black bear,
called Yonah by the Cherokee,
answered:

"/am a mountain in my body.
Dark like the hills at midnight.
Fur covers my back
As the darkjirs clothe rhe ridges.
l am massive.
Rock is in my bones.
My growl is the thunder,
voice of the mils...

a poem /Jy Scott Bird

Green Politics in Katuah .............. 19
by Richard Harrison

Natural World News ................... 20
Modem Science Restores
Ancient Indian Maize
Prt&gt;tecting Our Mountain Werlands
DOE Hot Meals Program
No Problem with Tobacco
Showdown ar Flat Creek
NC Legislators Want Dump
Peregrine Nesr Discovered

Turtle Island Talking.............. .... 23
Al.ookatPeaceNer

Old Galaxies:............... ............. 23
a poem by Michael Hockaday
Drumming: ............................... 24
Letten to KatllQh

Littering: The Same Old Story ..... 27
/Jy Michael Hockaday

Fa11 Calendar of Events ............... 28
Webworking....................... .... .. . 30

So in that issue we began our quest co
meet one of the most ancient inhabitants of
these moumains--the black bear. The cover
of the issue displayed Martha Tree's
powerful drawing of the black bear spirit
gazing up at the vision of the golden eagle.
Within the pages of that second issue was a
story-myth of the role that bears played in
creating the human race and there were tales
of encounters with the animal world by
Snow Bear. Also there was a story about
the exploits of two old bearhunters, Charlie
and Russell, now both passed on .... and
other black: bear lore.
Now four years later, we find
ourselves coming full circle. Again, we are
asking "Who is the Black Bear?" and "What
is our relationship to Yonah?" In this issue
we are investigating in particular the future
of the black bear here in southern
Appalachia and the chances of its survival
Concern for the survival of the black
bear is not just an isolated case of kindness
to a single animal species. The health of the
entire Katuah bioregion is reflected io the
health of the black bear. What is at stake is
the present aod future existence of the
bear's forest habitat -- the old, spreading
trees capable of providing nuts and space to
den; the herbaceous plants that grow up in
their shade; the fertile soils rich in leaf-mold
and teeming with micro-organisms that
suppon their growth; the clear running

streams that spring up among their roots;
and all the other creatures that depend on
and at the same time create the conditions of
the climax growth stage of the Appalachian
forest This is the balance that the mountains
have been growing toward for millenia.
The bears were not put here to be our
teachers; the welfare of the human race is
immaterial to them. But if the humans
would humbly respect and learn from
Yonah, the black bear would show us that
the conditions of the climax forest are in the
long run the best living conditions for us all.
The life of the black bear is not only
closely linked to the spirit of the land, but,
as the Cherokee legend in this issue's
"Good Medicine" column indicates, it is
also joined in some deep and mysterious
way to the spirit of the human inhabitants as
well. Feelings about Yonah run deep, andlike any deep feelings-they are complex and
inextricably mixed with emotion. TI1e bl:ick
bear takes many forms in the minds and
emotions of humans....

..... Yonah as rhe mother bear, the
Great She-Bear of the night sky, a cult
figure in ancient times, the spirit of the great
Mother Earth, massive in stature and a
bountiful provider, warm and comforting,
yet quick UJ anger and ferocious in her rage.
.....Yonah as a funny, playful clown
wlw entertains the tourists as they motor
through the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park, drawing them out of their
cars to cadge snacks and goodies.
.....Yonah at the heart of the chase,
the hunt, the annual tracking of wildness by
the domestic llllmans.
..... Yonall as the shadowy figure,
dark and savage, that takes shape in our
fears just outside the safe boundaries of the
setrlement clearing. waiting to maim tile
unaware and steal tire fruits of civilized
living ...... Yonah, the medicine animal,
who, like the land, sleeps away the winter
in a cave or a hole, dreaming powerful
dreams and returning with knowledge from
the underworld within the heart of the
mountains.
.....Yonall as the wise one who can
show how to live close to rhe true spirit of
these mountains.
The black bear may take any or all of
these forms within the human mind io our
quest to know this ancient creature. Like
any proper spirit, Yonah is elusive and
impossible to pin down.
But if we are to continue for long here
in these mountains, we need to look inward
and touch outward to learn the wisdom that
the black: bear holds.
.
-·~

- The Editors

pr

�fi,ATUAH,
EDITQRIAL STAFF nus ISSUE:
Scott Bird
Mamie Muller
Rob Messick

Michael Red Fox
Martha Tree
David Wheeler

EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:
Judith Hallock
Sylvia Fox
Jeff Fobes

Anne Muller
Arjuna

Cover: Blue Mountain Printmakers
New Sharon, ME 04955
Back cover drawing: Laurie Pierce
EPITQRlAL OFFICE rms ISSUE:
Worley Cove, Sandymusb Creek

The Southern Appalachian Bloregion and Major Eastern river systems

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

PRINTED BY: Sylva Herald Publishing Co., Sylva, NC
TELEPHONE:
(704) 683-1414

WRITE US AI:

K1JJW1h

Box 638
Leicester, NC
Katuah Province 28748

Here in the southern-most heartland of the
Appalachian mountains, the oldest mountain range on our
continent, Turtle Island, a small bw growing group has
begun to taU on a sense of responsibility for the implications
of that geographical and cultural heritage. This sense of
responsibility centers on the concept of living within the
natural scale and balance of universal systems and principles.
Within this circle we begin by invoking the Cherokee
name Kattiah" as the old/new name for this area of the
mountains and for its journal as well. The province is
indicated by its nanual boundaries: the Roanoke River Valley
to the north; the foothills of the piedmont area to the east;
Yona Mountain and the Georgia hills ro rhe south; and rhe
Tennessee River Valley to ti~ west.
The editorial prioriries I or us are to co/leer and
disseminate information and energy which pertains
specifically to this region, and to foster the aware11ess rlwt rhe
land is a living being deserving of our love and respect.
living in rliis manner is a way to insure the sustainability of
the biosphere and a lasting place for ourselves in its
co11tinuing evolutionary process.
We seem to lwve reached the fulcrum point ofa" do or
die " sitttation ifl tenns of a qua/iry standard of life for all
/i11i11g beings 011 this planet. As a voice for rhe caretakers of
this sacred land, Katiiall, we advocate a cemered approach to
the concept of decentralization. It is oiu hope to become a
support system for those accepti11g the challe11ge of
sustainability a11d the creation of harmony and bala11ce in a
total sense, here in this place.
We welcome all correspondence, criticism, perti11ent
information, articles, artwork, etc. with hopes that Kauiah
will grow to serve the best interests of this region and all its
living, breathing members.
H

Diversi1y is an imponant elcmen1 of bioregional ecology. bolh
n:uural and social. Jn line wilh I.his principle. ~h tries IO serve as a
forum for I.he discussion of regional issues. Signed articles express only
I.he opinion of I.he aulhors and are not necessarily I.he opinions of I.he
KatUa/J edil°" « slalT.

- The Editors

the other galaxies...
You open the way.

In the last issue of Kattlah, we mentioned that with this
current issue, we would be changing from our traditional
newspaper formal to a new magazine format
As you can see, we are in the process of reconsidering
the wisdom of that change. We would appreciate your inpu1
as well in this decision. Would you rather have a more
durable, but more expensive maga1ine format or a less
durable, but less expensive newspaper format for Kari/ah?
Please share your ideas, suggestions and preferences
with us. We appreciate your feedback.
The lnicmal Revenue Service has declared KJJtilnh a non·proli1
organilnlion under section SOl(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. All
coniribuuons IO KillHPli are deductible from personal income l!lX.

�THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BEAR

#87

by David Wheeler
"Poachers Tune In On Sleeping
Bears" declared lhe page one headline in lhe
Asheville Citizen on the morning of January
17, 1987. Poachers had shot and killed an
older female bear in her winter den site in a
hollow cree within the confines of the
Pisgah Bear Sanctuary below the Blue
Ridge Parkway.
The bear was number 87 of lhe bears
who had been radio-collared for radio
telemetry tracking by members of The
Pisgah Bear Project, a research program
being carried out by Nonh Carolina State
University (NCSU) scientists and students.
The radio collars emit a sustained signal that
is tracked by directional antennas to plot a
precise location of the animal to give a
picture of its range area and its daily
movements.
People all through the mountains
were shocked and angered that the poachers
had located the helpless bear by monitoring
the signals from her collar. When the
poachers found her location, they had
climbed her tree and shot her between the
eyes while she was asleep, and then had cut
down the tree to rettieve her carcass. People
were particularly outraged because Bear 87
was about to give birth when she was
killed.

"Glady" was the name The Pisgah
Bear Project researchers had given Bear 87.
At the time of her death she had just turned
11 years old - a remarkable age for a bear in
a region where few bears roam the woods
for more than six years before they are shot
Glady had been trapped and collared
in June of 1984 and was well-known to the
staff of The Pisgah Bear Project, who had

"Glady" was the name The Pisgah
Bear Project researchers had
given Bear 87. At the time of her
death she had just turned J1 years
old - a remarkable age for a bear
in a region where few bears roam
the woods for more than six years
before they are shot.
monitored her movements almost daily since
that date. In the subsequent two and
one-half years of contact, she had been
recaptured five times and had provided a
wealth of data on her habits and
movements. In the June previous to her
shooting she had been caught, measured,
and released. She was 125 pounds in

weight, 148 centimeters (58.25 inches) in
length, and 79 centimeters (31 inches) in
chest circumference at that time.
Glady had lived the life of any wild
sow-bear for the first eight years of her
life. ..She was one of the two cubs born that
winier of 1976 in the warm darkness of her
nwrher's den, and rhat small space was all
she knew for the first four nwnrhs of her
life. Jn the &lt;kn she nursed and grew from
one pound to four or five pounds by rhe
rime her nwrher climbed our of her den
bringing her cubs with her.
Even beneath rhe rrees, the lighl of
rhai April sun mu.st have been intensely
bright to Glady's young eyes. Her mother
continued ro stay near the den site for
another monrh, nwving little and gradually
beginning to eat rhe tender young grasses,
branch lertuce, and squawroot (Conophilis
americano) C()ming up through rhe leaves.
As rhe spring progressed, Glady and
her sibling followed their mother down to
her spring range area, and, as food became
more abundant, their mother put on weight,
and rhe cubs continued to grow and gain in
StTengrh.
That first summer was a tklighr for
rile young cubs. They stayed close to rheir
- continued on llCll page

Phoio: NC Wildlife RC50un:es Commission

KATUAH- page 3

FALL 1987

�._....___....,._...,. ·=-- .. ........... - • --.-... - ... -·· _._....
mother and are buckberries under the tall
trees, blackberries from the choked jungles
along the open streambanks, and then
browsed the open hillsides and forests for
the succulent moL1ntain blueberries. They
also raided yellowjacket nests for their
larvae, and ate ants and grubs from rotten
logs their mother tore open with her long
claws.
Once they watched from the groL1nd
as their mother robbed a bee tree, slopping
ow globs of the sticJ..y honey and delicious
larvae, oblivious to the stings of the enraged
bees And, if they \Vere lucky, they would
occasionally find carrion th.Ill was not too
spoiled lying in the woods.
Mother ta11gh1 them to climb trees, to
hide, and to wait motimilessfor her return.
Tirey developed short. powerful legs 10
climb the mountain slopes and, although
their eyes were never very useful, their
noses became keen and sensitive as they
became accustomed to the seems of the
forest.
Then in the fall, they joined their
mother in gorging themselves on ripe acorns
and hickory mus to build up fat to insulate
and feed them during their winter den time.
The cubs contented themselves with
scooping acorns up from the ground with
their front paws and dextrous lips, but their

mother often went high into the oak trees,
bending and cracking branches to bring the
acorns, rich in protein and oils, within

reach.

Dllring this time the cubs and their
mother were moving almost constantly,

While male bears sleep lightly.
often lying on the grou11d with
011/y a laurel thicket or broken
brush for cover.female bears put
more energy into finding a warm,
secure den and sleep deeply,
stirring little duri11g rheir whole
rime of dorma11cy.
using every possible minme to fortify their
bodies to endure the winter's fast. The
young bears were tired and, when at tire
beginning of November the food supply
declined and their mother started for tire
high country to find an isolated den site,
they were glad.
They did not enter the den
immediately, but for one month they
lingered in the vicinity ofthe den site, eating
what they could find, b111 not going far to

forage for food. Finally, however, their
mother showed them how to ingest a fecal
plug of old leaves and twigs to stop
elimination, and they followed her into the
den. Their first year was over,
While male bears sleep lightly, often
lying on the Rro1md with only a laurel
thicket or broken brush for cover, female
bears p11111wre energy into finding a wann.
secure den and sleep deeply, stirring little
during their \\ihole time of donnaney.
Tiie small family of bears did not
leave their den to defecattJ or urinate during
their four-momh denning period. By a
miracle ofphysiology not duplicated in the
animal world, bears recycle their 1-.aste
water through their kidneys a1ul mrn the
nitrogen from urea waste compounds back
into protein.
So, although Glady was gaunt and
disheveled 1\'lren size emerged from the den
in the sprinR. the remarkable metabolism
and amazing endurance of her species had
brought her through the wimer with no
unus11al stress. Yet she was h11ngry,
grumpy, disoriented, and in no mood to
appreciate tire beauties of spring in the
mountains. 8111 as food magically appeared
in the forest, she grew in strength and
confidence. She became eager for another
year of roaming the slopes with her mother

GLADY'S RANGE
(South and cast or Mt. Pisgah. straddling lhe Blue Ridge Parkway, Pisgah N:irional Forest)

KATUAH - page 4

FALL 1987

�and hu sibling.
Glady thoughl the summer to come
would be a repetition of the last, and so she
was dismayed when in late June their
mother drove the two cubs away with fierce
growls and threats, when an amorous male
bear began to move close to her feeding
area.
The two yearling bears stayed close
together for companionship during that
summer and fall, but they separared into
individual dens ar the onset of winter.
Glady was on her own then, but she
stayed close to the familiar areas of her
mother's home range. She saw her mother
several times. but as long as it was not
mating season, her mother did not seem to
mind her presen~. It was two or three more
years before Glady went into estrus, but as
soon as it became evident that she was
sexually ma11ue, another large male began w
stay close to her and eventually mated with
the young sow-bear.

Glady continued to roam her range
and feed during the summer and the fall,
while, unknown to her, another unique
adaptation was taking place within her
body. The two fertilized blastocysts that
were to be her first cubs did not implant to
the uierine wall, but instead floated free in
the uterus while blueberry season moved
into acorn season, and Glady began intense
feeding to gain weight for her winter
dormancy period.
The acorns were plentiful that year,
and as Glady moved uphill to la11guish in
the vici11ity of her den site, the blastocysts
implanted themselves to her uterus and her
cubs began to grow inside her, perfectly
timed to emerge within her den in the dead
of winter.
I/Glady had notfoundfood enough
to bring her up to a weight that would
support reproduction and /actarion, through
the "delayed implantation" process, as it is
called, she would have passed the fertilized
blastocysrs and terminated her pregnancy
with little trouble and at a very slight
physiological cost.
Although she did not know she was
pregnant, Glady took unusual care in
picking a den site that year, and finally
found a tree of wide girth with a decayed
core and an opening, small and safe, high
up the trunk.
Glady bore two cubs in the den thaJ
winter, although she was hardly aware of
the fact. Even their insistent nursing did
little to disturb her winter sloth. But when
she awoke again that spring, she found she
was the mother with two cubs looking to
her to introduce them to the world.

So life continued for Glady lhrough
good yC3l"S and bad until June of 1984 when
Dr. Roger Powell of the Zoology
Dcpanmcnt of NCSU and other members of
The Pisgah Bear Project research group
caught her in a leg snare trap baited with
odiferous sardines.
The project was three years old al the
time, and Powell and his crew were
trapping, collaring, and releasing bears in
the Pisgah Sanctuary with several specific

KATUAH-page5

objectives in mind. Telemetry studies were
providing data on the bears' movements and
range areas. Trapping operations and the
co!Jars were also aiding in collection of
information on monality and reproduction
statistics, to be used in evaluating the bear
sanctuary and in drawing up guidelines to
help determine state management policies
and set hunting regulations. Simultaneously, bait station surveys (sec p. 9)
were providing population indexes, and
work had begun to determine exactly how
much food for bears the forest does
provide, which will shed additional light on
the findings about the females' home range

areas.

The study has also shown that
almost half of the human-caused
mortality among the study
animals has been a result of
poaching.

Now, although the study is not yet
completed, some results are beginning to
come clear. The bait station surveys show a
population decline in the sanctuary from
levels in the late 1970's. The decline seems
to have halted, "and," cautions Powell, "that
technique gives only a rough index, so I
would hesitate to say how significant that
decline is."
The study has also shown that almost
half of the human-caused monality among
the study animals has been a result of
poaching.
"1be Project has been in the press a
lot lately because Glady was shot in her
den," says Powell, "and our findings on
poaching have been what the press bas
emphasized. There is no question that we
have documented poaching in the Pisgah
Bear Sanctuary, but there's a lot more to the
Project than evidence of illegal hunting.
"From the habitat work that graduate
student John Zimmerman is doing, for
instance, we're getting to the point where
we should be able to predict bear use habitat
and develop models for what is good bear
habitat here and what isn't. That could be
very valuable to the Forest Service and the
Wildlife Resources Commission.
"We arc also developing a probability
curve that will tell us for a bear of any given
age what the probability is that it will live
longer. I feel good about our reproduction
data - it appears that the standard litter size
here is between two and three cubs - but
we're still missing some critical
survivorship data on cubs and yearling
bears, so we can't say for cenain whether
survivorship is greater than or less than
reproduction."
The Pisgah Bear Project's best work

has been in what it has found out about bear
spacing patterns and social organization.
The study has determined that although
female bears elsewhere often guard an area
to protect food sources, there is apparently
no territoriality in the Pisgah Bear

Sanctuary. By following the interactions of
neighboring females, masters candidate
Peggy Horner demonstrated this by
showing that they used the same areas at the
same time without conflicts. Project
members are now considering the
hypolhesis that male bears define their
territory, not by food avaiJability, but by Lhe
availability of females.
"What the bears appear to be doing is
predicted by most behaviorial and ecological
theories," says Powe!J. "But these theories
were mostly developed for smaller creatures
with shon life·spans, like hummingbirds
and anolis lizards, which give a lot of data
in a shon time. Bears have different time
spans, but they appear to be working on
basically the same rules. Thar's exciting to
me. That means we don't have to rethink a
lot of our behavioral and ecological theory."
S incc food availability is a basic
factor in the female bears' social
organization, The Pisgah Bear Project is
also measuring food production levels to see
how they compare with levels in other study
areas and what behavioral effects derive
from this. This is done by loeating marked
study sites in different areas of the
sanctuary, which a.re then visited regularly
by Project workers and every bit of food
material of three major indicator food
species (squawroot, berries, and acorns) arc
gleaned and weighed.
"The habitat here is tremendous" says
Roger Powell. "When I get out there and
actually sit down and pick berries at one of
these sites, I'm impressed by how
productive they are, and I can sec how, if
you found a good berry site and ate berries
all day, you could get faL"

'That's why I was enraged when I
found out about Glady's killing.
Had she been killed legally, I
would have been sorry, but I
would have accepted it. But to
have tracked her down by radio,
inside the sanctuary, inside her
den absolutely enraged me.
There's no sense to it."

Until the time of her death, Glady
played an imponant pan in the NCSU
reasearch. Erran Seaman, a graduate student
working with the project team, said, "Bears
can live on toward 20 years if they're not
disturbed. However, Glady was the oldest
female we knew of in the sanctuary. They
simply don't survive to live out their full life
span. We don't have many that ate over five
and one-half now.
"That's why I was enraged when J
found out about Glady's lcilling. Had she
been killed legally, I would have been
. continued on page 25

FALL 1987

�Bear Story
by Sam Gray

She was nuzzling and pawing at a spikenard
root as big as her face when she first heard the
hounds. Hunger was not the motive for grubbing in the dirt. She'd
eaten well for the past month. The aroma was the thing. A
discreet peace and a clear mind were hidden there in the array of
smells released from the bruised starch of the rhizome.
Reluctantly, she raised herself up into the October dusk to

KATUAH - page 6

FALL 1987

�listen to the baying orison coming to her from
another world. She could make out two separate
packs of dogs and an indeterminate number of
hunters. They were way down the mountain,
working back and forth across cold traces, getting
their bearings. Some of the voices were familiar;
old hounds that knew her ways, ancient choruses
that cried, "We've come." There were young,
strong voices too. It would be a long race.
She left the aromatic peace of the spikenard,
made her way into the violence of the night. She
moved upslope and to the northeast, leading them
away from the tree where her cubs were perched.
Her body and mind were quick and clear - water
moving among stones. By the time she sprang from
the upper timber into the wet grass of the Old Field
Bald at the summit, her strategy was shaped. She
paused in the shadow of a laurel clump to pant and
listen.
111e bald was lambent and still, except for an
owl cruising among the ash trees hunting rodents.
From the clangor in the distance, she beard an old
hound announce fresh scent. The other pack had
diverged and was moving to the west. She snorted,
sighed, and plunged down the north slope, gaining a
deeper darkness and in moments a tiny rivulet that
offered a quick drink and possibly some effacement
of her trace.
Further down, the creek was joined by a
tributary and between the two streams was a
quarter acre of doghobble bushes. She leaped into
them, using her body to plane down the entangling
mass, gain a foothold, and leap again, until she had
crossed it and stood panting and listening. The
dogs would be an hour getting through it.
On previous chases, she bad, from this point,
worked her way around the massive side of Cold
Mountain, weaving back and forth from stream to
doghobble patch to boulder field until the dogs
were beaten flesh. It was her mountain.
Tonight, however, something or everything
was different. Something beckoned downslope and
to the west. She had gone but a little way in that
direction when she pitched forward, tumbling
among rocks and moss and mud, moaning
uncontrollably. The bear had been struck down by
an insistent, sharply certain knowledge that reached
her across the great heart of connectedness: her
cubs were gone. By what wings or winds !his
message had come to her cannot be told, but it was
the truth. For at that moment, under a tall tree a
mile away, a man, exulting in the certainty that she
was elsewhere, was triumphantly holding aloft in
each hand a squirming, mewling bear cub, grasped
by the nape of the neck, bathed in torchlight and
terror.
With a single thrash and roll of her body the
bear massaged her anguish into the moist earth
beside the watercourse - and quickly left it there.
The game was changed. Before the capture of
the cubs, her strategy was determined by the need to
protect them, even sacrificing herself if necessary.
Now she must survive to breed again. And in
another place. For nothing held her to Cold
KATUAH-page7

Mountain now.
For the remainder of the night the bear moved
with unobstructed intention and speed down the
great slope of the mountain. At first light she was
lumbering along a gentler slope miles from the
dogs. the hunters, and the pain. Ahead of her were a
few apple trees, a meadow, an ancient fence, and
beyond these, indistinct in the morning mist, the
outlines of a cabin.
It was his habit to rise early and in good
weather to sit on the porch to watch the light gather.
For half a century, be had done this in all seasons,
liking best to sit in autumnal silence, reading the
sun's progress among the hickories, red oaks, and
maples of Lickstone Ridge - the leaves taking the
light inside themselves and then giving it back,
changed and revalued. He was an old man sitting
alone, lost in early light and dreams, when he saw
something moving out among the apple trees.
His first thought was, "It's Trudy." Trudy had
gotten up early, before him even, and was out there
in her old black coat picking up the last of the
apples.
He slowly and unwillingly Jet go of this notion
along with the brief joy it had borne him and forced
himself to acknowledge that it wasn't Trudy. She
had been dead now for over a year. The form
emerging from the mist was not his wife, but a
bear, and it was coming closer.
The bear covered the ground between them
quickly and darted under the cabin at a point where
the sills were raised on rock pillars two feet from
the ground. The unnailed puncheon floor inside the
cabin began to rumble and raise as the bear moved
around underneath. The old man stood in the
doorway and watched the tremors until they ceased
and everything was still. The thrum of cicadas,
jarflies, and gnats pulsed in his ears. He felt strange
- alive, but unsteady. Ile turned, groped for his
chair, sank into it. The dreams in his head began to
swirl together, and the images superimposed
themselves on each other and over the mountain
landscape before his porch.
He opened his eyes. Two men were standing at
the bottom of the porch steps. One of them was
calling out his name:
"Quill, Quill! Wake up, Uncle Quill!"
A haze suffused everything and through it, as
if from a great distance, he recognized bis
neighbor. Vance Callahan, along with bis son, June.
The old man struggled to his feet, and, leaning on a
post for support, stared blankly down at the
apparitions below.
"We been huntin' bear all night. We're
roundin' up the dogs now. You seen any, Uncle
Quill?"
The old man continued to stare, then cleared
his throat as if to deliver some oratory. But all he
said was. "No. No, I ain't."
Vance Callahan said something the old fellow
couldn't quite make out, and then the two figures
were gone.
The old man continued to lean against the post
and stare out into the warm October afternoon. ,
FALL 1987

�ISSUES (AND A FEW ANSWERS) FOR THE
SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BLACK BEAR:
An Interview with Dr. Michael Pelton
by Paul Gallimore and David Wheeler

indicate that just prior 10 that time few bears
were seen anywhere. They had been killed
up to the most remote areas. The historic
sites were Bone Valley up Hazel Creek and
under Thunderhead Mountain on the west
side. But it wasn't too many years after
1934 that the black bear population began to
climb. The black bear population in the Park
has been in the range of 400-600 bears for
many years, and this breeding nucleus
supplies the surrounding national forest

areas.

Dr. Michael Pelton has been studying
the blac/c bears of the Guat Smoky
Mowttains National Park. and the Cherokee
National Forest/or 17 years as part of his
job as professor in rhe Department of
Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries at the
University of Tennessee. In the course of
his research he has trapped, tagged, and
released more than 1,000 bears. He has
helped to develop research methods that are
now standard techniques in s111dyi11g bears
and other mammals worldwide. He is an
iruernationally-k.nown authority 011 bears,
and travels to o ther countries to advise
research efforts.
In talking with him, he is relaxed and
friendly, a person appreciative of wildlife,
who just happens to have an extraordinary
knowledge of the creatures of the forest
around us.
Katuah: We've heard an estimate of
2,000 bears in the Southern App:ilachian
Mountains. Did that come from you?
Pelton: That is a rough estimate that
we came up with when we were puuing
together the Tri-State Black Bear Study back
in 1978. It's based on a combination of
things: what we know about actual
population density in the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park, bait-station
surveys, and kill data.
Historically, state game and fish
commissions have taken the number of
bears reponed killed during hunting season
and assumed that number is 20 percent of
the population, and as long as the sex and
age ratios stay about the same, they assume
everything is in a steady state.
When the Park was set aside in 1934,
the repons I get from those early records
KATUAH - page 8

I say 400-600 bears, because they
have dramatic population fluctuations
depending on the hard mast (acorn and nut)
situation. A crop failure sends the
population way down, but then all the
females are ready to breed the next year, so
that with a good harvest, it soars right back
up. It's a boom and bust cycle.
Last summer during the drought
everyone was concerned about the mast
crop. We all thought it was going to be
serious, especially following the poor mast
crop of 1984, which set the stage for a
tremendous number of cubs to be born in
1985. That whole generation was in
jeopardy, but the shonage never developed.
The harvest was spotty, but it wasn't
disasttous, and a lot of young bears should
have left their mothers and dispersed this
summer.

Kat fiah: It seems that if the times
were hard for the bears, the percentage
taken during the hunting season would go
l!J2 instead of remaining steady. That would
make kill data an unreliable estimate. It
would seem that they would need to have
some hard figures to actually know what is
happening to the population in the region.
Pelton: Estimating population is
complicated. There are a lot of variables.
The sex and age ratios have been holding
steady, but it would be good to know more
than the age srructure and the kill data to be
able to tell what's actually going on. People
who work with populations can take age
structure statistics, and they can prove to
you that a population is heading toward
extinction; then the next minute they can
prove that the same population is expanding
fantastically.
Censuses arc tough. That's what we
tried to do for so many years in the
Smokies: capture/recapture using various
techniques, anything we could think of to
count bears. It was a very intense research
project on a small area. It's totally
unrealistic to talk about doing something
like that on a regional basis even one time,
much less year after year.
Ideally, I would like to do what they
are doing in Pennsylvania: there they trap a
lot of bears - a good percentage of the

population - in the summertime, and then
when the hunter kill data comes in during
the fall, they compare the ratio of
tagged/untagged bears. They feel like they
are right on in terms of the bear population
in Pennsylvania.
The bait station index is the best
method we have right now (see sidebar).
It's rough, but it gives us more information,
and it's a feasible method that could be
carried out throughout the whole Tri-State
bear range.
We've gotten good correlations
between bait station results and what we
actually know about population density in
the Smokies. For instance, for a long time
we figured that the density of bears in the
Cherokee National Forest was one-half that
in the Park for a lot of reasons - road
access, higher than usual poaching, and so
on - and when we got in some bait station
data, it indicated that the bait station talce
was about one-half what we were geuing in
the Smokies. It told us what we thought
we'd find out.
A friend of mine Died the bait station
technique out in Idaho, and it correlated
very well to what we found in this area.
They're using it in Michigan and are
very optimistic about it out there. Georgia
Died it in the Chattahoochee National Forest
for three years, and they are now going to
make it a permanent part of their
inanagernentprogram.
It's a general index, and it works very
well, if you don't expect more from it than
that.

Katuah: When you say the Tri-Staie
area, what does that encompass?
Pelton: It's basically the same as the
area known as the Blue Ridge
physiographic province (Katuah) in the
states of North Carolina, Georgia, and
Tennessee. The bear range is basically the
federally-owned lands in this area. The
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a
focal point for this range. We can call an
area a discrete range as long ns there are
connections between its various pans, and
the Park is connected to all the major
national forest areas surrounding it. But
there is a very definite line of human
habitation between the Cherokee National
Forest in Tennessee and the George
Washington National Forest in Virginia that
cuts those two bear populations apart
The assistant head of the wildlife
department in Virginia called me last year to
see about meeting at the state line to discuss
reconnecting the national forest areas by
means of wildlife corridors or conservation
easements.
FALL 1987

�Katiiali: Wouldn't corridors make
bears more liable to poaching pressure by
concentrating their numbers in a narrow
saip of land?
Pelton: This is a new idea, and I
don't know exactly how wide a corridor
should be to protect bears in this kind of
country
South of here we've seen black bears
dispersed down hardwood corridors along
riverbanks that are just a few yards wide.
They are very vulnerable in th:u situation.
The best survival habitat is~ of cover,
and the wider the corridors can be, the
better.
I don't have much hope for anything
outside the federally-owned lands. The rest
is gone. Down in Louisiana they are
reclaiming some abandoned farmland and
putting it back into bear habitat, but I don't
think that will be the case in Southern
Appalachia. Once the second homes and the
strip developments are there, they're there
forever.
K atua/1: Is the region approaching
its carrying capacity for bears?
P elton: I can't speak much for the
North Carolina side of the mountains, but
from what I can tell in the Cherokee
National Forest. it's not near the carrying
capacity.
The mast production there cenainly is
not optimal. A lot of these forests arc 40-60
years old now after being essentially wiped
out during the '30's, and they're just
beginning to reach mast production
capability, so there's room to grow there.
Wit h more control of illegal hunting
activi ries. the density in the national forest
could approach that in the Park, which is
approximate!y one bear per 1,000 acres.
K at fiah: What do you think arc the
cumulative effects of human habitation on
the bears?
Pelton: "Cumulative effects" is a
specific term for a relatively new idea tha t
has already been applied to the grizzly
s.ituacion our west. It means to take all the
bits and pieces of impact and put them
together to see how they fit in terms of an

overall effect on the species you arc looking
at.
They are doing that in a very
sophisticated way for the grizzly, and a
Forest Service employee is going to develop
a cumulative effects model for the
Chauahoochee National Forest as a case
study for the Southern Appalachians. That
will involve him looking at all the
population parameters he can dig out of our
data base and adding up all those factors:
roads, timber management, number of
people, bunting, and so on.
Essentially, he is going to t.alce each
of those factors and index it with some son
of value system that is weighted in terms of
its assumed impact.

Pe lton: I don't think it's going to be
that sophisticated. This is just a one-person
project.
My personal concerns are, first,
sustained, long-term mast production, and,
second, access and how that's used.
My first question is: is the clearcut
technique setting into motion a situation
where they are going to be perpetuating
non-mast-producing species for eons of

time?
If there is a marginal cove hardwood
setting where there was a good oak
component, and it is clearcut , then that oak
component is lost forever, either because it
is replanted in white pine, or because it
comes back in poplar, and they return in 60
• 80 years and cut it again when the poplar
is large, but the oaks haven't had a chance
to get started.
f ve been ta.king the Forest Service to
task for that. They argue that the oaks reach
maturity in 80 years and start downhill after
that, and that they need to be cut at that
point. rm not convinced that the data would
support them on that, particularly with white
oak, which is the most important one. I'm
not a forester, but from all the data that rve
been a ble to dig o ut, they do not reach
maturity until 120-150 years, when they arc
reaching peak acorn production.
O ur second poi nt is that the trees
should be allowed to sustain their peak for a
c:untinued on nCXI page

TENN.
N.C.

s.c.

GA.
BLACK BEAR RANGE IN THE "TRI-STATE REGION"
(Source: Tri-Stntc Block Bear s1udy, 1978)

KATUAH-page9

BAIT STATION SURVEY

K at uah : Will it take atmospheric
deposition into account?

The bait station survey was developed
as a relatively inexpensive method that is
easy to implement and provides a standard
data base of relative density, distriburion.
and activities of the black bear that could be
easily implemented throughout the whole of
Katuah.
The bait, three panially opened cans
of sardines, is hung at least 10 feet high in a
small tree, so that it is necessary for a bear
to bend the tree over to get at the cans.
These stations arc spaced a1 one-half mile
intervals along routes selecte d to
systematically cover the chosen sample area
at the density of one bait site per mile. Baits
arc placed during the month of July, when
bear activity is highest.
The s lope; aspect, ele vatio n;
oversto ry and unders tory vegetation ;
d istance to the nearest road; timber

c::= -

..,.ne....t; nmal past.
1u4
disllDce to die
1lle

or bear

sanctuary

bat,
boundary are noted for

each bait site to aid in analysis of bear
habits. movements, and habiw preferences.
Each bait station is revisited five
nights after it is set. Marks of tampering arc
very clear, and the percentage o f baits taken
is used as a comparative index value to give
an idea of the bear population in different
areas over the course of time.
The more widespread the usc of the
bait-station method and the higher the
degree of consistency that can be achieved
in its usc, the more value it will have as a
research technique in the Southern
Appalachians.
The bear range in Tennessee and
Georgia is being monitored with bait-station
surveys c onducted by the Tennessee
Wildlife Resources Agency and the Georgia
Depanment of Natural Resources. The
National Park service carries out surveys in
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Isolated surveys are being done as pan of
research projects in North Carolina bear
sanctuaries.
An annual, region-wide bait station
survey is immediately possible and
dcsircable as a means to provide uniform
data among the differe nt p o litical
jurisdic tions and agencies of Ka tuah.
Coordina ti o n by a n i ndepe nde nt
organization or the US Fish and Wildlife
Service could enhance the value o f such a
survey.
All that is lacking is a committment
from the US Forest Service and 1he NC
Wildlife Resources Commission to make a
region-wide black bear management swvey
a reality.
~

FALL 1987

�• oonunucd rrom pm·ious page

period of time to get the best mast crops. So
I've been pushing them to increase the
rotation time to 120-150 years.
There is also a problem regenerating
oaks. foresters just haven't been abk to
work that ouL Some of them are certainly
interested, but all they have been able to do
is to go into a stand before they cut it and
see if there's enough advanced regeneration
(oak saplings) beneath it so that there will be
some oaks coming back. If they cut too
early the oaks will be out-competed by tulip
poplars and other sun-loving, pioneer
species.

"It would help immediately

also the effect of gener:il use of the ro:id
forcing individual be:irs to shift their home
range to another are:i.
A be:ir chooses :in area for a home
range because it's a good habitat :irea. :ind if
he has to shift it over. he will either have to
shift over to land that is not as good for
habitat or he will push another bear over to
poorer land. The more marginal the
situation, the more vulnerable the bear
becomes.
I've said before that road
development should be restricted where
there is more than one-half mile of road per
square mile of forest.
Kai1ial1: But gating roads would

if the Forest Service defined its

job as more than just timber
management. Like the Park
Service and the state game and
fish agencies, they need to play a
tripartite role in managing the
forest: biological management,
enforcement, and information/
education."

"MARK TREES" MYSTERY
For many years naturalists have

speculated on the meaning of the trees found
in bear habitat area that have been
purposcfulJy scarred with clawmarks. As

;

yet, no one has been able to decipher the
meaning oflhe "mark trees".
Marie trees are not randomly scattered
through the brush. They arc always on a
trail and usually on a ridgetop along a very
distinct game trail. Any species of tree may
be marked. They are always live· although
sometimes a tree may be killed by extensive
marking. The marks arc definitely made by
bears. They are always head-high, and
sometimes bear hairs can be found caught in
lhe b:irk of rough-skinned trees.
The marks can be vertical or
horizontal, but arc most oflen horizontal ns
differentiated from the venical marks they
leave \\hen they are climbing a tree.
There are several theories as to the
meaning of the m:irks. One thought is that it
is females and males signalling to one
another during the breeding season.
Another idea is that the marks signify
the dominance hierarchy among the males,
panicularly during the mating season when
they are competing for fem.1lcs.
They could also be territorial markers
placed by an adult female to warn away
other females from her range area.
Whatever the interpretation, the marks
are of great imponancc to the bears. Tree
marking appears to be highly ritualized.
Some trees are marked once and never
marked ag;1in, while others :ire marked year
after year. But if a tree is marked repeatedly,
the bears - even different bears - wiJI walk
in the same footprints to get to the tree.
Trappers used to take advnntage of this and
set their traps around a previous footprint
close to a mark tree. They knew that if a
bear returned to the tree, he would follow
the cJ&lt;.isting footprints and be a sure ca~

help.
Pelton: Cenainly, unless they use
that road to make a clearcut.....
It would help immediately if the
Forest Service defined its job as more than
just timber management. Like the Park
Service and the state game and fish
agencies, they need to play a tripanite role in
managing the forest: biological management, enforcement, and information/
education.
They don't do much enforcement.
For example, they only have one man on the
whole southern Cherokee National Forest.
One person can't do anything in an area like
that.
They also don't do much educating of
the local people about what the forest means
and how it serves them. In the northeast
people are more accepting of bears. Up
there if a person killed a bear out of season,
he'd get reponed. People would gee irate
about it! Here you don't see that. It's a
long-tenn educational problem. People need
to learn about the animal.

The Forest Service has not been
fleJ&lt;.ible enough about alternative
silvicultural methods that might be
applicable in cenain areas. They tend to
generalize and say that they don't have the
time or the personnel to try some other
alternative Conn of cutting.
The second concern is roads. We are
finding that road density may not be as
imponant as how the road is used by
vehicles over time. There are two effects of
roads. There's the direct effect of hunters
using that road to kill a bear, and there's

- Mike Pelton
KATUAH - page 10

FAI.t 1987

�Attirude is very imponant as well. In
Vennont, the Forest Service didn't have any
trouble getting their mar.agemcnt plan for
the Green Mountain Forest accepted. There
they staned out on the right foot. Their
approach was to question, "What's unique
about this forest, and what docs it provide
that won't be provided any other way?"
The black bear was one resource they
mentioned. Another was large saw timber
grown on a long rotation. That just isn't
available outside the national forest
anymore. We have the opponunity to
provide that as well
Vermont also has some very strict
land use and zoning laws. I saw them in
action, and it's impressive. When anyone
wants to do anything to change the land,
especially above a cenain elevation, they
have to appear before a board and justify
their planning, even if they own the land.

Pel ton: A lot. ....I have a lot of
respect for the animal, more and more as
each year goes by. I am constantly amazed
at what it is capable of doing.
There's a special relationship between
humans and bears that has existed through
time. There's a theory floating around that
says it is because of the bears that we are
here. As far as we know, the only place in
the world where there hasn't been ttaccs of
pre-historic bears is in central and southern
Africa. and that's the focal point of the
development of primates, and the thought is
that had there been bears there, the primate
species would never have been able to
develop and evolve as they did.
Bears were always imponant to the
early culrurcs, but even in the present, there
is an instinctive attraction that people have to
the animal. Perhaps it's its human-like
characteristics. I don't know what.
Today I think people are drawn to the
bears because they are symbolic of our
remaining wild lands.

Katuah: The black bear has been a
major pan of your life for the last two
decades. From your long experience with
them, what have they come to mean to you
personally?

Resource Reading on the Black

Bear:

-The fragmented Forest, Larry D. Harris
(Univ. of Chicago Press, 1984)
- The Sacred Paw: The Bear jn Nature,
Myth. and Literature. Paul Shepard and
Barry Sanders (Viking Press, 1985)
- The World of the Black Bear, Joseph V.
Wormer (Lippincott, 1966)
- Mammals of 1he Grea1 Smoky Mountains
National Park, Alicia and Donald W. Linzey
(Univ. of TN Press, 1971)
- The Mammals of Nonh America, E.R.
Hall (John Wiley &amp; Sons, 1987)
- Bear Crossjn~s: An Antholoc of Noah
American Poe1s, Anne Newman and Julie
Suk, eds. (New South Co., 1983)
- The Tri-State Black Bear Study (by
university faculty and government agencies
in TN, NC, and GA - available from the NC
Wildlife Resources Commission; 512 N.
Salisbury St.; Raleigh, NC 27611)

THE CHALLENGER:
THE WILD BOAR
IN THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS
NATIONAL PARK

There is competition between the black bear and the wild
boar ... The stiffest competition is in years of a poor mast
crop, for then both species are trying for the same acorns.
In the early 1900's George Gordon
Moore, a wealthy English businessman,
decided to entenain clients by creating a
game preserve in the area of Hooper's Bald
in the Snowbird Mountains. He built a huge
enclosure of split chestnut rails and brought
in a variety of big game animals - bear,
buffalo, elk, and the European wild boar.
The game park was a miserable
failure. The fence broke down, the animals
escaped, and vinually everything was shot
in the open woods .....exccpt the wild boar,
and they have been in the mountains ever
since.
Boars (Sus scrofa) are shy and
secretive, so they are not often seen by
humans, but they are impressive-looking
animals. Average adult weight is 120-150

pounds, but individuals close to 300 pounds
have been captured. Their long tusks are
vicious-looking and can produce terrible
wounds, but boars are generally shy and
avoid humans whenever possible.
The wild boar species is native to
Russia, eastern Europe, and western
Europe. In their native territory their major
predator was wolves, which had already
been exterminated from the Appalachians
when the boars were first imported. A
bobcat or occasionally a bear will kill a
young piglet, but otherwise they have no
natural predators in the mountains.
After their escape, the boar population
readily naturalized itself in rhe
Appalachians, and in time the animal
became a high-profile big game species in

both Nonh Carolina and Tennessee. People
from all over the country came to bunt wild
boar in the wild mountains.
At that time it was still legal to
free-range domestic bogs in the forest. The
two breeds had a lot of contact, and at one
point hog cholera almost wiped out the wild
strain. The two strains are of the same
species, so they interbred freely. Even in
1973 ttappers caught two or three black and
white spotted boars - the sign of mixed
breeds. None of those have been caught
lately, so it is assumed that the domestic hog
characteristics have been eliminated.
Inevitably the wild boars moved into
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The first sightings were on Parson's Bald
and Gregory Bald at the west end of the
Park. The Park administration immediately
recognized the threat from the wild boars
and began a trapping program to catch the
animals using hogwire enclosures.
It was a futile effort. The hogs spread
eastward, and now the entire Park is
occupied by the species, although they favor
continued on next page

KATUAH - page 11

FALL 1987

�- continued Crom P&amp;&amp;C 11

the western end.
On the Tennessee side of the Park
hogs can be removed by trapping or
shooting by a special team of hunters.
They can only be trapped on the Nonh
Carolina side of the Park. In 1986 over
1,100 wild boar were trapped or shot
within the Park boundanes. Officials
have no guess whether that is 10% Or
90% of the boar population.
Whether or not the wild boar can
be eliminated from the Park is no longer
in question. The Park is a huge area over 500,000 acres - of which a large
pan is only accessible by foot trails, and
a large pan of that can only be reached
by climbing cross-country through the
thickest kind of brush. These
inaccessible areas harbor a breeding
nucleus of boar that multiplies
exponentially in years of a good acorn
harvest And immediately bordering the
Park, the Nonh Carolina and Tennessee
wildlife agencies are developing and
promoting the wild boar as game
animals.
Wild boar do an incredible amount
of damage wherever they go. Their
rooting can tum over great areas of the
forest floor as if it bad been tilled. They
are a great threat to the many endemic
varieties of plants that are found in the
Great Smoky Mountains and exist
nowhere else in the world. There are
rare plants here that are in great jeopardy.
Wild hogs will root up
salamanders. They will wallow in the
only water sources at the higher
elevations and silt them and foul them,
so that the water is undrinkable. They
spread diseases to other wildlife species.
The damage they are creating is serious,
and much of it is permanent
There is competition between the
black bear and the wild boar. In a direct
confrontation a grown bear will kill an
adult boar, but these occasions are
infrequent
The stiffest competition is in years
of a poor mast crop, for then both
species are trying for the same acorns.
Bears have an advantage in that they can
climb into the tops of the oak trees and
feed on the acorns before they drop.
Bears arc also safely in their dens
during the cold winter months, while the
boars have to continue to forage for food
in all weather. To make a dent in their
population levels, the best time to hit
them is at the end of a hard winter. They
are in poor condition then.
The wild boars' biggest advantage
is in their remarkable reproduction
capacity. Under the best conditions
female bears, when they become
sexually mature at three and one-half or
four and one-half years of age, can have
only two or three cubs every other year.
Female hogs become sexually mature at
six to eight months of age. After that
time they can have two litters of four to
eight piglets each year! The boar
population is dramatically affected by the
acorn crop. In a poor acorn year, rhey do
not reproduce, but when the acorn crop
is good, the boar population
mushrooms. In that kind of situation the
piecemeal control being practiced in the
Park is not effective.

.

- Mike Pelton
KATUAH - page 12

cougar
thick velvet fur rippling
bone muscle sinew moving
eyes sharp clear piercing
you pulse
through the dense night air.
lithe fluid lean
slipping through pathways
known only to your kind
you stalk life itself
in the still luminous forest.

/#
fr

gn(ilie: Martha Tree

poem: Mamie Muller

�Finding Allies in the World
We have been told that the Indian people native to Turtle
Island saw the world differently than the Europeans do. They
saw the world as a spiritual place, where Spirit took shape
and existed in the many forms of the Creation.
We have been told that the Indian people believed in
power, and they sought power, but the power they sought
was spiritual power and not power over others, such as the
white people seek.
We have been told that every rock and tree, every bird and
every animal, each living thing in the world is an ex:pression
of some aspect of the spiritual energy of Creation. Each
entity has its own spiritual personality, so to speak. The
native people saw some of these personalities as particularly
good and desireable, and they would seek out these spiritual
beings and ask their help for the tribe and the people so that
they could get along in the world. They called these beings to
become the spiritual allies of the tribe.
We have been told that an individual could also seek a
spiritual ally to strengthen some pan of his character and
balance his personality. Preparation was an important part of
this. Just because someone wanted an ally, it did not mean
that the ally would come. First that individual would go to a
medicine person. The medicine person would give them
medicine to attract the ally - a feather, some hair, or perhaps a
bone from that animal. And the medicine person might give
that individual some advice on what to do and how to act and
give that person a song with which to call the desired ally.
Then the seeker would go off alone into the forest and fast
and pray for that spirit to come.
Sometimes, we were told, an ally comes to someone
without that person even asking. A Cherokee man in the
generation of our grandparents' parents was knocked into a
river by a bear, who then pursued him into the water and
slapped him down several times and clawed him. The bear
went away leaving the man with scratchmarks and bruises,
but did not kill him. The medicine people in the mans' village
told him that Yonah had chosen to be his ally and would help
and protect him. The medicine people said that it was
apparent the bear had followed the man into the water to be
sure he was marked. Always after that the man was called
"Man-Who-Bear-Knocked-1nto -Water". One does not have
to be mauled to realise the presence of a spirit ally, but people
today are so domesticated that some have allies and are not
even aware of it.
We were told that once a connection with the spiritual
realm was made, that people then spoke to their spirit allies in
a tone of command. The Creator, and the Sun, the Moon,
and Fire (which is the power of the Sun on Earth), are
primary Jl9Wers, and these were always asked very politely
to share their power. But other spirit beings were told what
was needed, not arrogantly, but in a way that ex:pected their
cooperation.
We were told that even Kanati, the lightning, must
sometimes be taunted and mocked before he will bring rain.
Someone could speak to him in such a way, saying, "Kanati,
you are considered a great power, yet there you sit, while I.be
humans and all living things here below stand in great need
of rain. Ha! ls this the best you can do?" But when speaking
to Kanati in that way it is a1 ways wise to stand in a place
where one can take shelter quickly.

KATIJAH-page 13

We have been told, however, that although it would not
work to beg a spirit ally for its help, one must always thank
an ally sincerely for coming and lending its power. And
nothing is given for nothing. A human must always serve an
ally and think well of it to keep the spiritual connection
strong.
Yonah, the bear, we were told, is a spirit representing
great physical srrength and endurance. The bear is strong in
the ability to survive, because it can eat almost anything. It is
also moody, and its temper is ferocious. In its build and its
appearance, the bear shows it is closely related to the
mountains. And since the red wolf, the elk, the panther, and
!he woods bison are gone from the mountains, Yonah is the
last symbol of animal strength remaining here.

But, we were told, a spirit does not need to be large and
physically strong to be a powerful ally. The dragonfly is a
very small creature. It is not fierce. It is very delicate and
beautiful, but the dragonfly is a very strong power in the
world.
We have been told that the golden eagle is a strong power
both in the physical body and in spirit. The eagle could fly so
high into the sky that he would disappear from the sight of
those watching from the ground. When he returned and sat
on a branch, he had such a regal look about him that the old
ones would say,"Surely, he has spoken with the Creator."
But, we were told, the Cherokee people did not consider
the bear to be one of the str0ngest powers in the mountains,
because they knew where the bears came from.
The bears, it is said, were once humans, a clan of the
Cherokee tribe called Ani-Tsa'guhi. One boy among them
would spend a lot of time in the forest, until one day his
mother noticed that he was starting to grow hair all over his
body.
"Stay in the village with us," she begged. "You spend all
your time in the woods. You hardly eat with us anymore."
"I am going to go to the forest to live all the time," the boy
replied. "There is plenty of food to eat there, and I like wild
food berter than com and beans. Why don't all of you come
with me? There is enough for our whole clan to eat."
The clan met in council, we were told, and they decided to
go with the boy to live in the forest. He told them that first
they must fast for seven days. So they did that, and after that
time, they went away from their village.
We were told that on their way, they were met by a group
of messengers from the other villages, who had come to beg
them to stay in their homes. But the Ani-Tsa'guhi could not
be persuaded. In fact they were already starting to grow hair
on their bodies.
"We are going into the forest to live forever," said the
Ani-Tsa'guhi. "There is plenty for us to eat there. But when
you hunger, come into the forest and call us, and we will
offer our bodies to you that you may eat our flesh. Do not be
afraid to kill us, for we will live forever."
And we were told that the Ani-Tsa'guhi taught the
messengers the proper songs and told the messengers how to
call them. Then, singing and dancing, the clan went away
into the forest. As the messengers started back to their
villages, they turned around for one last look, just in time to
see the last of a line of black bears disappear into the trees.
Therefore it is said that Yonah, the bear, is Cherokee, but
is not Cherokee. The bear is considered a brother, bur there
are stronger allies, like Fire and Water, and the trinity Kanati~
rattlesnake, and ginseng, living in the mountains.

#-

Tlu!se words are spoken by a traditional Clu!rokee.

FALL 1987

�"ME AND MY WALKER HOUNDS:"
An Exposition on Bears and Bear Dogs by Robert McMahan

When I was seven years old, my daddy
would take me hunting. He didn't force me to go. I went
because I wanted to go.
I'd say, "Daddy, you goin' bunting tonight?"
"Yep."
"You care if I go with you?"
"Nope."
Well, I'd go with Daddy. He'd lay out aJI night
long. I'd make it 'til about midnight. They'd always
cook a hot dog or fry some bacon on a stick about then,
and I'd stay up for that, but lhen I'd go to the sleeping
bag.
As I got up to 10 or 12 years old, I got to listening
to what they were listening to: the dogs. I got to be able
to tell which dogs were leading, which dogs were
behind, how long it was going to take this dog to catch
up, or how far ahead lhat dog was from the pack.

I started possum bunting when I was
14 or 15 years old. I'd borrow a certain
redbone hound dog from my uncle. I lived
in the very last house on the paved road,
and I'd walk down to my uncle's house on
lhe highway, borrow that dog, and walk
back up to the top of that mountain. I
enjoyed doing that. I caught some possums
using a .22 and a two-cell flashlight. Most
of the time that little two-cell flashlight
wouldn't shine more'n three or four limbs
up on the tree. If the little possum wasn't
there, I'd grab my dog and go. l didn't pay
no attention to walking three miles in lhere
to that tree.
Finally I got enough money to buy
my own dog. A good dog cost $50-75.00
back then. It made it real big for me to know
that !hfil dog belonged to~I started out bear hunting with an
older man namedWade HaJl. I was about 22
when I first went out with him. The whole
first year I hunted, I never saw a bear. We
- oonlinued on ne.&lt;tl page

KATUAH - page 14

FALL 1987

�had some good chases, and we had some
good times, but the bear just didn't show.
I start breeding and training Walker
hounds in L976. The United Kennel Club
(UKC) recognizes six breeds of hunting
hounds: blue tick, English, redbone, Plort,
black-and-tans, and Walker.
Walkers are making their mark in the
bear hunting world. They're coming along.
The reason these Walker dogs are
coming along is that people are breeding
them carefully. They're wanting to get the
best. and they'll go where they have to to
get the best. But anybody with a hound dog
will tell you, you can breed the best to the
best. but your wodc is still cut out for you,
because you still have 10 train that dog.
You're going to wear out a lot of shoe
leather to make those pups into bear dogs.
There are different things to look for
in a dog. Myself, I'm looking for a good,
medium-nosed dog. I don't want a real
cold-nosed dog that can trail a track two
days old. Sometimes that pays off: I've seen
it happen that a dog will start on a cold trail
he could just barely smell, go over the
ridge, and a bear will be laid up there. If a
bear gets in an area where there's mash
(mast), he'll stay there 'til the mash is gone.
But you can waste a lot of time that way,
too.
I also want a dog that'll go when I
tum him loose. I don't want one hangin'
'round my feet. He's got to go 'ti! he
strikes.
The mouth is another thing. I like a
dog to have a good bay mouth when he's
trailing or running and just "hammers every
breath," as I call it. That way I know right
where the bear is at. And when he comes
into the tree (trees the bear), he needs to
change over to a good, hard, chop-mouth
sound. You can tell when a good one does
tree.
Color is imponant too. I don't want
no ticks in a Walker. I like big spots. If I
find small spotS about the size of a quarter
all over the dog, that tells me that's not a
pure-bred dog. What's color is color, and
what's aint, ain't.
Before I go out there and breed to
someone else's dog other than my own, I
just about have to see how M's bred and
raised his dog. I have to see what that dog
does when it trees a bear or a coon.
One thing to get straight: the dogs are
the main factor in bear hunting. The greatest
pan of the sportsmen in this area, all they
want is to hear their dogs run, hear a good
race, and see a good fi_ght The grea[er pan
of them is not interested in killing a bear.
We carry a rifle. We're legal - we don't
believe that's illegal - but killing 1he bear
isn't the main thing.
To get a good gun dog, now, you do
need eo gee him on a bear kill. You kill one
to him, because chat really perks a dog up.
He feels like he's accomplishing something
then. He's got a taste of what he's supposed
to be doing. But you don't have to kill every
bear that a dog gets after. You could take
one bear a year for a pack of dogs, and that
pack will go in next year and run you
anol.ber bear.
Some people say. "You get more
game from a bound dog." Well, that's not
true. We hunt with our dogs, because that's
KATUAH- page 15

what's important 10 us. I don't see any :;pon
wha1soever in still hunting. That's why I
don't deer hunt. You go up there early of a
morning, get behind a tree, and sit there
about two hours, and wait on a deer to
come up. That deer doesn't even know
you're there. He's grazing, and you stick
that gun barrel out from around that tree,
you shoot that deer, and he's a dead deer.
He never knew what hit him.
I could see doing it for I.be meat, but
in this area here there's nobody who has to
depend on deer meat or bear meat to
survive. There's no point in going out there
and just shooting it.
1lle way we bear hunt is in a group.
It takes at least seven men who get along to
make a good group. l could go bear hunting
by myself, but more than likely I'd be
fighting a losing battle. I couldn't stay up
with the dogs, because when a bear is
jumped, he'll turn and run. An
averaged-sized native bear, a 100-200
pound animal who's been born and raised in
these mountains, can run eight to ten hours
or even longer. There's no way one man
could stay up. But if you've got a good
group of seven men, you get someone on
one ridge, one on another, and one on
another. There might be three dogs after the
bear, and then when he comes my way, I'll
turn my dogs loose to see what they can do.

.....you could tap Sam on the lzead
with your foot, and everything in
him would just rattle. He was
broken ruJ. to pieces.
When a bear is jumped up and
running, he might be a mile ahead of the
dogs, but they can run him then with their
heads down. A bear hunter can tell every
one of his dogs by its bark. The whole rime
he's listening to the chase, he's got that
sound down pat He can tell which dog is
which, and he can tell what it's a-doing.
You can't tum a young pup on a
track, because there's so much other game
in these woods. You loose the well-trained
ones first. Ihu'll stay on the bear. But if
you go ahead and tum out 15 dogs, you're
gonna have 10 that don't even know what
they're out there after. They're going to be
ahead of your dogs trailing the bear, and
they're going to jump a deer or whatever,
and - wham! - there's a big blow-up.
You don't want more than seven dogs
on the chase up to the point where they stop
him. Then you turn your young dogs in on
that. That's the way you make bear dogs.
I've known limes when somebody
saw a bear cross the road, and ~body
got excited, and J&lt;Ymbody jerked their dogs
out. Ir didn't take that bear l 0 minutes to get
tid of che dogs, but it took us three days to
find chem. Not one dog got after the bear and we'd~ 1hat bear!
You can put as many dogs as you like
on a bear that's 75 pounds and up, and
they'll never kill that bear. That bear's
gonna take care of himself, he's dangerous,
and he'll kill a dog.
Everybody's got their own opinion
about breeding and raising dogs, but I
believe that if you're going to get a bear,
you've got to have dogs that'll fight.
You've got to have dogs chat'll nip at his

heels and let him know that they're there
and not be scared of that bear in no way.
If you have dogs that'll fight that
bear, that bear's gonna have to do one of
two things: he's either going have to run
and get the bell out of there, or he's going to
have to get into a tree.

A bear will kill a dog - he will, there's
no doube about it A bear'll slap a dog, but
his intention is 10 get the dog pulled into
him, to get a mouth hold on that dog. If he
gets a mouth hold on that dog, that's a dead
dog. You can make it up for that dog, he's
gone.
We turned out one last year named
OJ' Sam - as good a dog as I've ever seen
turned after a bear. He was an English dog,
and while I've been acquainted wi1h some
dogs that were as gQQd as that one. but as
far as being any better, they're hard LO find.
This wasn't but an averaged-sized bear, and
we turned Sam and the rest of the dogs on
it, and in 15 minutes that dog was dead.
What happened that panicular time
was that we turned the dogs on one bear,
but a bigger bear had crossed this other
one's path going another direction. The
bigger bear didn't run; he wailed for the
dogs, and by the time we made it up to
there, you could tap Sam on the head with
your foot, and everything in him would just
rattle. He was broken all 10 pieces.
Personally, in my opinion, a bear's a
beautiful animal. If you are out in the
woods, and you happen to see one, chey
look real pretty just because you so very
seldom get to see one.
But once you put the dogs on a bear,
it's different. It's a fact of me saying, ''l'm
going to stop you," and him saying, "No,
you're not." If I win the battle, I've got him;
he's mine. Then he's not so good-looking. I
mean, he looks good, but not near as good
as he was standing somewhere all alone, no
dogs, up there.
But if he kills or injures one of my
dogs, when we finally get enough dogs on
him to get him stopped, he's not
good-looking at all.
Once a good dog gets on the trail of a
bear, he'll be there. He'll be there 'ti! he just
totally gives out. When a dog like that gives
out, he'll be two days before you find him,
unless you know tight where to go gee him.
because he's going to go out there
somewhere and lay down. I'v.: carried
several out of the woods. Even afeer two
days, they'll walk four or five s1eps and fall
down, walk four or five steps and fall
down. It wasn't that the bear hu·: them in
any way, it was just 1hat the dog I 1d, as the
old saying goes, "busted a gut."
When a bear is shot, we Lake it to
someone's place, Clarence Hall's or maybe
mine, and we lay him ouc and chop him up,
and we take the meat and put it in10 liule
piles, one for each man who's hunted wilh
us. Each pile has the same amount of each
part, and we put those in freezer bags, and
carry that meat home. I like bear meat in the
fall of the year, but I don't like it frozen too
much. Several people down here call me
every year, asking if I've got any bear meat.
If I've got it, they're welcome to it. le does
me good 10 see them eat it.
- continued on page 26
FALL 1987

�Onphic by Rob Messick ~

"SMELLS LIKE MONEY TO ME"
by Jay S. Gertz
The campaign to get Champion
International Paper Company to clean up the
Pigeon River is not a new one. This
long-term crisis has currently been reheated
by a groundswell of opposition
downstream, fanned by recent federal
concern, and fueled by Champion's
incendiary ultimatum: 'We cannot afford the
pollution controls necessary to clean up our
wastes, and we will close down rather than
clean up!"
By putting the people of Canton and
Haywood County under the fear of
widespread joblessness and the subsequent
spectre of economic collapse, Champion has
amassed quite a constituency of vocal
proponents. Many residents believe that the
environmentalists, the citizens of Newpon,
TN, and all others who just happen to want
a clean river in their backyards are
black-hearted scoundrels pushing poor,
little, old Champion to the brink of
bankruptcy and ruination.
Nothing could be further from the
truth. Champion International, a huge,
multinational corporation based in
Stamford, CT, does have the resources and
power to return the Pigeon River to its
former crystal clarity. For Champion to bold
the citizens of Canton economic hostage in
this matter is patently unfair.
Champion's claim that they cannot
meet their own clean-up costs tarnishes their
corporate image and philosophy. It is also
KATIJAH - page 16

Other industries and
individuals now see the
Pigeon River as a potential
resource again, not only in
economic terms, but in terms
of its former g Lory as a
free-flowing, living stream.
ironic, because Champion Corporation was
a major factor in crearinft the economic
structure prevailing in Katuah today.
Champion Fiber Co. came to the
mountains as the brainchild of Ohio-based
industrialist Peter G. Thompson in 1905. At
the height of the timber boom, Thompson
and other nonhem industrialists purchased
400,000 acres of steep forest land, built a
pulp plant on the banks of the Pigeon River,
and began construction of a mill town,
which he named after Canton, Ohio.
Thompson showed great foresight in
his undertaking. He shrewdly profited on a
rural, unindustrialized area with an
abundance of timber, a constant source of
water for pulp processing, and a cheap and
unlimited native labor supply. By 1914 the
Canton mill employed 1,000 people, and the
population of the surrounding area had

jumped from 400 to 8,000.
There was not a diversity of interests
in the new company town of Canton. As in
the other towns that sprang up ar that time,
the single-interest economy was dominated
by the controlli.ng industry in the area, the
timber interests.
In Haywood County, Champion
become the guiding force for the entire
locale. Following the pattern of industrial
development then current in Appalachia, the
company controlled the jobs, the political
system, and the surrounding natural
resources.
The people of Haywood County were
hard-working members of an isolated,
agriculturally self-sufficient, indigenous
mountain culture. Like other mountain
people, many of them sold their land for
ready cash and forsook the hardship of
farming the difficult terrain for the promise
of steady work and wages.
This migration to the mill towns and
industrial centers denoted a turning point in
mountain life. It marked the beginning of
the modem era, in which mountain people
gave up their independent ways and became
a part of the cash economy.
By 1930 the Champion operation in
Canton was the largest in the United States.
Today Champion International is the founh
largest company in the forest products
industry. They are ranked as the 86th largest
company in the world. Their sales in 1986
FALL 1987

�topped $4.3 billion. Champion is the
second-largest private landowner in the US
with 6.5 million acres of timber. They also
own oil and gas fields with reserves of 2.5
million barrels of oil and 2.2 million cubic
feet of gas. From mills in the United States,
Canada, and Brazil, Champion produces
3.3 million tons of pulp, 815 thousand tons
of newsprint, and 2.5 million tons of paper
annually. Champion's six chief and 15
executive officers receive $6.25 million per
year with additional incentive compensation
of$2.8 million annually.
Canton and Waynesville's 2,300

Champion also uses 43 millio11

gallons ofthe Pigeon River daily.
This constitutes 90% of the total
stream.
Champion employees contribute a mighty
share to the wealth of that international
giant. They make one-third of the country's
total of coated papers (including duplicating
paper and most of the nation's dairy-type
containers). In 1982 the Canton mill used
2,162 cords of wood and 956 tons of coal
per day to make 1,620 tons of paper and
board per day.
Champion also uses 43 million
gallons of the Pigeon River daily. This
constitutes 90% of the total stream. The
wastewater is extremely discolored by
tannins and filled with other organic
compounds. This "din". although not
dangerously toxic, renders the Pigeon River
unfit not only for aquatic life, but for
commercial and domestic use as well.
Champion Fiber was once the sole
lord of a tremendous mountain fiefdom. The
Pigeon was its personal river - itS chief
resource, its sewer, and its ttansportation
system. Other industries and individuals
now see the Pigeon River as a potential
resource again, not only in economic tenns,
but in terms of its former glory as a
free-flowing, living stream.
Prior to 1900, the Pigeon River was
as pristine a mountain stream as one could
find in eastern North America. One could
see the bottom through ten feet of water.
Bass were prevalent, and upriver the
speckled trout were plentiful. Sun perch,
borneyheads, mullets, and hogsuckers
could be caught by the string in a matter of
hours. Mud tunics and muskrats could be
trapped by the water's edge. Other riparian
species lived by the Pigeon in great
numbers.
Now highly-colored tannins and other
compounds enter the Pigeon at Canton.
From this point on into Tennessee, the
Pigeon River no longer has the natural
vitality necessary to suppon typical aquatic
life. The sparkling clarity of the Pigeon bas
given way to a murky, smelly, and
sometimes foamy brew.
Above Canton the Pigeon River is
designated a Class A-ll trout stream, and the
water can be used for drinking or food
production. Below Canton the river
supports some atrophied "garbage" fish,
like carp, goldfish, and suckers. The
municipality of Newport, TN finds the
Pigeon so noxious, that although the river
flows through their city, they get their

drinking water from the French Broad, six
miles away.
The Southern Appalachians of the late
1980's are home to a greater variety of
corporate interests and economic livelihoods
than ever envisioned by the early timber and
mineral barons. One of them is the
recreational industry, which includes
fishing, hunting, camping, hiking,
white-water rafting, kayaking, etc. A study
recently published by two professors at
Walters State Community College estimates
the direct recreational benefit of a clean
Pigeon River at $7.3 million per year. This
does not include a projected increase in
agricultural use or productivity along the
river. or new industries. or a rise in real
estate values or development
Yet the river cannot be any sort of
asset to anyone, as long as Champion views
the Pigeon as its own and refuses to clean
its wastewater any further.
Champion lntemational, with annual
assets in excess of $6 billion, claims it
cannot afford to clean up the Pigeon River.
Over the past ten years, Chamfion has
earned $1.28 billion, paying $62 million
just to stockholders. If Champion spent $60
million in colorant removal, their projected
earnings would be reduced by $7 .8 million,
which is only a loss of 8 cents per share.
Champion's corporate philosophy is
summed up in a document entitled l l i
Champion Way. According to this
document, "Champion wantS to be known
as a company which strives to conserve
resources, to reduce waste, and to use and
dispose of materials with scrupulous regard
for safety and health. We taJce panicular
pride in this company's record of
compliance with the spirit as well as the
letter of all environmental regulations."
In the mid-1960's Champion did
begin instituting pollution abatement on the
Pigeon. At that time only sludgeworms
could live in the river. Gradually other
life-forms returned to the water, but not in
vast numbers or in the great variety of
former times.

Champion no longer
provides the only source of
livelihood in these mountains, and
they can no longer dictate a single
use for the river.
Today, Champion's North Carolina
wastewater permit docs not meet up with the
stricter federal standards of the Clean Water
Act, and Champion claims that it is
economically impossible to bring the river
up to legal standards.
For Champion to claim that a fouled
river is necessary to its business operations
should be an outrage to all the citizens of
this region. Presently existing waste
handling technology could reduce the color
pollution by 95-99%, and with 23% profits
last year and 40% profilS projected for this
year, Champion can cenainly afford to be
cleaner.
Another statement from ~
Champion Way points out the vast gulf
between the corporate ideal and the hard-line
stance of the Canton management:
"Champion wants to be known as an open,

LESSONS TO BE LEARNED
FROM CANTON'S PLIGHT
Despite financial headlines
proclaiming a bull market on Wall Sacct and
a rosy financial picture, the national
economy has been sluggish throughout the
1980's. Champion Paper Co. has
maintained a dominant place in the national
financial picture by a drastic streamlining
program begun in 1983. Shut-downs and
layoffs arc pan of that program. They have
laid off27,400 employees nationally in five
years. They have divested huge scgment.s of
their industry, such as brown paper
packaging, envelopes, cardboard boxes, a
distribution network, and an insurance
company.
Andrew Sigler, Champion CEO,
plans to "meld remaining business and
boost return on equity from single digits
into the top quaner of US industry." The
only way to grasp this potential 16% leap is
to cut costs and raise productivity. The
company intends to save $400 million (or
10% of its costs) annually.
This may explain the company's
bard-line stance on the Pigeon River plant.
The Canton mill is already 79 years old, its
rate of return is dropping as newer plants
with more modem technology arc built, and
it is obvious even to the plant management
that it has outgrown the river that feeds it
Champion will very soon, perhaps already,
be faced with a choice of expensive
modernization at the Canton mill or closing
the plant and moving to greener J&gt;3StureS.
The decision, in fact, may already
have been made. Champion will finish
planning on a state-of-the-an mill in
Halifax, NC in 1989. They could decide to
close down in Canton and write off the
capital loss in corporate wees.
In that situation, they could only win
by taking an uncompromising stance on
pollution abatement. They would either
force the EPA to knuckle under and
maximize profits from the last days of the
Canton mill, or they would provide
themselves an excellent cover under which
to pull out of Haywood County: it would
then appear that it was the EPA and the
"damn environmentalists" and not the profit
motive that caused them to leave.
Whether Champion chooses to
squeeze Canton or to leave Canton, the
outlook for that mill town, whose whole
livelihood depends on the outmoded
Champion plant, is bleak. Hindsight, of
course, is 20/20, but it is obvious now that
Canton should have begun years ago to
diversify itS local economy, preferably with
smaller, locally-owned businesses. It is also
in times like these when the value of a
strong agricultural sector is clear.
Hopefully other towns will learn from
Canton's plight. The temptation is great to
give over to large outside business interests,
when it seems that they have the power to
make local residents pan of the American
Dream. But the end result is inevitably
economic peonage. The giant corporate
interests do not come here to give money;
they come here to taJce it, and they will stay
only as long as their profit interest is served.
In these times it may seem like
bucking the economic tide, but stability in
- continued on nexl ~&amp;•·

- continued en MJCI page

KATUAH-page 17

FALL 1987

�continued from prcv ious page

1ru1hful company. We are committed to the
highest standards of business conduct in our
relationships with customers, suppliers,
employees, communities, and shareholders
In all our pursuits, we are unequivocal in
our suppon of the laws of the land, and acts
of questionable legality will not be
tolerated."
This sta1ement from a company that
threatens 10 sink an entire region inio a
depression if its excessive profits margins
are not upheld.
Champion no longer provides the
only source of livelihood in these
mountains, and they can no longer dictate a
single use for the river. Champion must
begin to accept the variety of commerce and
the multitude of changes that have come to
the mountains in recent years.
If Champion would uphold its values
of corporate excellence, it must stand by
words like these: "If change has a most
valuable lesson to offer, perhaps it is that
we need not be victims of it, if we can
accept it as an opportunity to grow and
achieve. In this sense, we believe that the
best companies are the ones with operating
styles flexible enough to make necessary
changes ..... " (from the Champion
International 1986 Annual Repon)

~

-wntinued from previous page

the long run is best maintained by making
decisions locally about the land, its
resources, and the economic sustenance that
is based on them. Perhaps now it is again
time 10 reclaim part of the mountain tradition
of self-sufficiency disrupted by the arrival
of industrialism to Appalachia.
The days of an economy based on
subsistence farming are past, but the more
people who move into locally-based, basic
production, such as producing food or
finished wood products; or who serve the
need for healing that draw people 10 the
mountains; or who pioneer new, more
appropriate occupations, the less
catastrophic will be the corning changes in
Haywood County and elsewhere.
Canton and its individual residents
would do welJ to de-emphasize their
dependence on the Champion plant before
the Champion company does the same.
Local governments and far-sighted banks
who would like to keep 1he local area
functioning and in1ac1 could begin now to
inventory local resources and opportunities
and begin making money available for
training and business loans to put the
Canton economy on a firmer footing. An
inventory of goods and materials imponed
into Haywood County would also indicate
needs that could be locally filled.
The hope that Champion Paper can
provide continuing security for the area is a
strong one, but in the end a strongly
diversified local economy will best
withstand the ·vagaries of the industrial
economy. Corporate interests are not always
the same as local interests. Champion
Company is a huge business complex and
responds 10 changes in the economic winds
far distant from the Southern Appalachians.
To Champion executives in S1amford,
there are many thmgs more important than
the welfare of a small, isolated mountain
town. To someone who lives here and sees
their job threatened by shifts in corporate
~
economics, there is not.
KATUAH- page 18

Bear
In the core of the thing is darkness
It is our final judgement
While we sleep it paces outside our door
It is the first time It has been around us
So closely. Steaming shit in early morning.
Maybe our private poems will never leave our heads,
Thoughts about confrontations.
Fear of opening that door.
Maybe our pirate poems will leave our books
And enter into our nights
And bring us Interrupted dreams
Of half knowing and fear until we awake
And wonder over ignorance.
It is the current tracking we must be
Concerned with, tables turned.
Hunting signs that read Know Me or Keep Out.
Except for untamed few of us,
We know only edge of mountain forest
Home to the black bear.
The word now is totem
The word out is guns and dogs down
Radios, cages, baiting - unholy
The apparition before us is round
Ginseng, Raccoon, Kanati, Bear, Wind, Earth gathered
With one place empty, Us.
- by Scott Bird

FALL 1987

�/

GREEN POLITICS IN KATUAH
Wlien Ille animals come to us,
askitlg for our help,
will we k11ow what tliey are saying?
When the plants speak to us
iii their delicate beautiful language,
will we be able to answer tllem?
When tlie planet lierself
sings to us in our dreams,
will we be able to wake ourselves,
and act?
-Gary Lawless, Eart/J First!

can developed countrjes contrOI and dictate nctions
to 'underdeveloped' nations. All people, no mnucr of
what sex. color. creed, sexual oricnta~on or heritage
must be empowered 10 have conLrol over the
decisions which nffect their own lives We must live
with a dedication for nonviolence in all aspects of
our lives.
Green panics are growing ~roughout the
world today. Most notably are the West Germon
Greens who during the lasl election won 8.3~ of
the national voie and the same proportional number
or scats in the Bundestag. Other pmies exist in
1131y, France. England, Canada, Cosu Rica, Brazil,
Sri Lanka and Spain.

It was an incredible evening. lhlll night in
Amherst. MassachWICUS siuing with several hundred
other people listening to G:iry rc:id his pocuy. We
had already spent three days and nights discussing
our ideas on wh:it the green movement is and what
is happening in our own areas th:it is 'green'. Gary's
words soothed our spirits and connected us all with

our most fundamental belief-th:it we must live in
harmony with all of nature.
We have to develop a new p;irodigm for our
world, one which follows a love and understanding
for our role within nature as equals tO all other
species, not as dominntors. We arc not, as our
indus1.rial society purports, doing 'battle with'
nature. As we recognize this fact. then we can see
better how to reorder our lives nnd rcl::uionships
with each other and the planet. This new paradigm
must begin in our own local communities and
regions, be it Katuah, the 01.nrks, or wbcrcvcr.
During the I950's the civil rights movement
began as a struggle by the peoples of color to
empower themselves and take their n:uuro.I and equal
place in a white dominated and contr0lled society
and to change th:it society. This movement later
IJUnsformcd into a celebration or peoples' or color
bcrilllge and history and contribution to our world in
freedom and oppre,sion. Later an lhe sixties. the
emphasis v.'35 on community control. anti-war,
feminism; and then in the seventies, aw;in:ness of
en\·ironmcntal concerns and problems. l':ow in the
eighties all or these concerns and energies for change
arc drawing together into the grocn movcmenL
Many people throughout the world are
becoming awnrc Ihm specific io;sue activism, though
icrribly necessary, doc.~ not change the root causes
of the problems. Green politics is a holis11c view of
life on Eanh. ft is based on the premise th3t we
cannot pursue growlh for growth's sake without
regard for its impacL It insists on the necessity tO
chnnge our foc11s from quantity to quality of
lifestyle. No longer can men dominate women; nor

KATUAH- page 19

There are now over 75 gnssroot gTCCn
organizations throughout the United StateS. They
are networked togelher under an orgooization based
in Kansas City. Missouri called the CommittteS of
Correspondence. named afru the original grassrooc
movement agnirul colonial rule in America.
As l lhink of my community witlun Katunh
I see many 'green' activities, though they may not

Ten Key Values
Ecological Wisdom
Grassroots Democracy
Personal &amp; Social Responsibility
Nonviolence
Decentraliuition
Community-based Economics
Postpatriarchal Values
Respect for Diversity
Global Responsibility
Future Focus
have been labeled as such. Take, fer instance, the
Stone Soup Restaurant in Asheville, NC. A
worker-owned business, it is celebrating its
tenth-year anniversary this year. 'Thue ue also the
small business incubators located ii Waynesville
and Marion, NC which provide a location and
technical small business assisiaace to infant
businesses for two years each. After this time the
businesses move out into the community and new
'babies' move in. The Self-Help Credit Union is
another example. This organimtion h!lp&lt;; employees
buy businesses which are closing, as well as sun
new ones, throughout the state.
The Swnnnanoa Valley Project 1s a case or
local people taking contr0l of the direction of their
community's growth and doing som~thing positive
to unite them all. Through meetings with the local
residents, they found what people liked about
Swannanoa; what they didn't like: w~nt they wanted
to change; where the investments of the people were

used by the banking institutions whether within or
out of the area; where did their community's garbage
and waste go; and where do the valley's youth go
when leaving school for good. This gave lhc people
of lhe Swannanoa community a power to move in
ways which they could truly affect their area's life.
After reluming to Katuah from the
conference in July, I helped tO set up an initial
meeting to sec who in the area was interested in
green politics. Over SO people auended from all
around this area - Brevard, Hendersonville,
Asheville, Madison County, NC. Since then we
have organized a group called lbc Western Nonh
Carolina Greens which has adopted the JO key
vat ues or the Commiuees of Correspondence as its
philosophical foundation.
At our August meeting we filled out a
questionaire to find out each person's views and
ideas about how they would want the regional
organization IO be involved politically, i.e. field
Green Party candidates, support 'green' Democratic
candidateS, or present green positions on specific
issues IO the voters and traclitional candidaies. There
was overwhelming interest in working on
cnvironmen131 issues as well as presenting a 'green'
position on local issues. Other interest arens are:
organizing a town meeting or open forum with
minutes being submitted 10 city/county
government; promoting voter registration/
participation, particularly people of color; assisting
local government and group recycling efforts; giving
auention to low-income housing with a view to
appropriate residential development in order tO
avoid growth which forces people out or their
ncighbolhoods and communities; and adding support
to ongoing community groups and organll.ations.
Monthly meetings are planned as well as
separate 'green' value study groups. Times and dates
will be announced in the Western Carolina
Coalition for Social Concerns Calend:lr (always on
display at Pack Library in Asheville, NC); on
WCQS: Malaprop's bookstore in Ashe,·ille. as well
as uca newspapers. For more information call
704/2.54-6910 or write:

W.N.C. Greens
P.O. Box 14-1

Asheville, NC 28802
Next Meeetlng: Sept 30 (see calendar p.28)

Thi.r article was wriuen by Richard llarri.fon
who has returned from a national grun
conftreru:e which took place this swnmer (see
Katilah Jssiu XVI). I/ere he shares his report
with us as it relates to our bioregion.

FALL 1987

�PROTECTING OUR

MOUNTAIN WETLANDS

NATURAL

by William 0. McLamcy, PhD

WORLD

NEWS
MODERN SCIENCE RESTORES
ANCIENT INDIAN MAIZE
For thousands of years the Cherokee
Indians have had a distinctive variety of
maize, or "com" as it came to be called by
the European seulers. Ii was derived from
the Harinoso de Ocho strain of maize found
in northwestern Mexico, and it has long
been a scientific mystery how the variety
made its way to the Appalachians without
leaving a trace of its passage between
Mexico and the eastern mountains (see
Krufuill. #3).
In 1981 Dr. William Brown, retired
president and general manager of Pioneer
Hi-Bred International Inc. of Des Moines,
Iowa, the world's largest producer of
hybrid com seed, was visiting his friend Dr.
H. F. Robinson, former professor of
biology and at that time chancellor of
Western Carolina University in Cullowhee,
NC. During that visit, Brown noticed that
some Indian farmers on Lhe Cherokee Indian
Reservation in Cherokee, NC were still
growing the old flour corn, although it had
been contaminated by cross-breeding with
varieties of commercial yellow dent com,
commonly grown for s1ock feeding. The
two decided to collaborate on a project to
restore the Cherokee white flour corn,
develop an improved, pure seed, and give it
back to the Cherokee fanners for their own
food supply and for distribution as ground
meal outside the reservation.
The project was begun in 1982, and
the first two years were directed at making a
basic improvement in the Cherokee flour
com. Test plots were planted and seed that
had the characteristics of the original maize white kernels free from indemations, or
"dents" - was selected from the harvest.
The second stage of the program was
begun in 1984 and is almost completed. The
objectives of this pan of the project are to
purify the seed by eliminating all of the
characteristics not found in the original
Indian maize and to improve the yield.
Brown and Robinson are working to derive
flour com with shorter stalks; more ears of
com per stalk; ears with eight or ten rows of
kernels; and com free of tillers, or extra
stalks. Taller com, or stalks weakened by
tillers, may fall over and rot. The native
Indian maize typically grew on stalks much
taller than modem hybrid varieties.
Among the techniques used by the
scientists was the creation of "selfed
one-generation" plants. In this process, the
silks of a forming ear of com are dusted
with pollen from the same plant, a kind of
forced inbreeding to help eliminate foreign
characteristics.
KATUAH - page20

Plantings in fields in Cullowhee and
Bryson City were harvested last fall, and the
superior 10 percent of some 200 tested
plants was saved to provide seed that was
planted this spring to create the superior
variety of flour com. The seed from that
crop will be harvested this fall and will be
given in carefully measured quantities to 20
Cherokee farm families for planting in

1988.
Thus, after five years of work,
Brown and Robinson will be able to return
to Cherokee farmers a seed that will produce
Cherokee maize in its historic white,
smooth, flour kernel form.
The Cherokees will be able to grow
the maize for their own use as cornmeal,
hominy, and grits, as they have
traditionally, and it can also be ground into
meal for commercial sales. The scant supply
of it now available stays in demand at a
premium price. The appeal of the pure com
meal could make it an important product for
tourist sales.
And for the scientific world and the
rest of us, the result will be the preservation
of a locally-adapted species of native Indian
maize that can continue itself here in the
Appalachian Mountain region.
(Source: Western Horizon: May, 1987)

One of the least appreciated resources
in Karuah is our wetlands. While we do not
have environments as extensive or
immediately impressive as the floodplain
forests, cypress swamps, or salt marshes of
the coastal plain, our own mountain bogs,
pocket swamps, and beaver ponds are
important pans of the uplands ecosystem
and all the more precious for their scarcity.
And they are under the same pressures as
the lowland swamps - mainly dredging and
filling for "development."
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act
states that anyone who wants to do any
modifications of a wetland area must first
get a permit from the US Army Corps of
Engineers. lf that seems to you like setting
the fox to guard the henhouse, your
instincts are sound. In fact, no agency of the
federal government has a worse overall
environmental record than the Corps.
On the other hand, to make any sense
at all out of our dealings with the
government, we need to understand that it
does not function like an ecosystem. !1 is
often at cross purposes with itself. From a
practical point of view, what matters is lo
identify the good individuals and the useful
offices.
Recently, a two-acre swamp just
upstream from my house came under
assault by crews using bulldozers. chain
saws, and fire. It was a spot I have to pass
on the way to town, and I have delighted in
watching the maples be the first trees to tum
red in the fall or scanning the edges for
colorful or unusual birds - redwing
blackbirds, yellow warblers, and perhaps an
occasional teal.
I would prowl the edges noting where
the deer (so scarce in this pan of the
mountains) had taken advantage of the
protection of the thick growth and had
found a small, dry spot in which to bed
down.
During spring and summer evenings
the frog concert would entertain me as I
went past, and I would sometimes see the
muskrats and beaver who lived in the
vicinity of the marsh.
The tiny swamp even offered
downstream residents like myself a
modicum of flood protection.
Local rumor had it that this delightful
lµ'Ca, so full of natural life, was destined to
be a trailer park. I wasn't happy about this.
Since I knew the law, I phoned the Corps
Regulatory Branch in Wilmington, NC to
report the situation.
I was dubious abouc what the result
of this action would be, but, to my
amazement, a biologist from the Corps was
on the scene within two days time.
While my reaction was not fast
enough, nor the law tough enough, to save
all the swamp, the owner was forced to
modify bis plans and the habitat hangs on.
More importantly, that visit was the
beginning of a series of Corps actions in the
mountain area that are enhancing the
prospects for the survival of our mountain
wetlands. In some cases itll has been
removed and landowners ordered to carry
out restoration work; in other cases filling
has been prevented.
FALL 1987

�Neither the law nor the agency are
perfect. We have much better control over
filling than ditching. Small projects are
sometimes exempt. There are questions of
interpretation, and the answers have not
always made me happy. Nevertheless,
contractors and developers in Karuah can no
longer claim ignorance of the 404 permit
process.
So we have a tool to use. One of its
limitations is that all of North Carolina is
administered from the Corps Wilmington
office some 400 miles away. With this in
mind, a number of people in organizations
in North Carolina have been trying to get the
Corps to establish a regulatory office in
Asheville. If you would like to help, write:
Col. Paul Woodbury
US Corps of Engineers
P.O. Box 1890
Wilmington, NC 28402
Tell Colonel Woodbury that our
wetlands need protection, that it is the
Corps' job, and that you are not sarisfied
with the service we are getting. Suggest
they open a permanent regulatory office in
the mountains.
Not all of Katliah is in North
Carolina, but the situation is similar in other
states. The bulk of the Corps' traditional
work - the damming, dredging, canalbuilding and ditch-digging for which the
Corps is so infamous - is in lowland areas,
and so are their offices.
Before residents of other states call on
the Army Corps of Engineers to intervene in
I.heir local sicuations, they might want to
check with local conservation groups. The
regulation branch in Wilmington, I am told,
has a good reputation for dealing with
conservation issues, and I am certainly
impressed with the integrity of the
individuals l have dealt with. Other district
regulation branches may be equally
conscientious, but I do not want to be
blamed for loosing the proverbial fox into
anybody's henhouse.
Ecologically, our high-elevation
wetlands are our most critical habitat. They
are imponant stopover points for migrating
birds whose flyways pass across the
mountains. They are home for endemic,
marshland plant and amphibious species that
are found nowhere else.
Other animals pass through the
micro-marshes, some feeding on the rank
growth, others preying on the smaller
animals, and all taking advantage of the
protection afforded by the swamplands'
dense cover.
If you see what looks to you like a
wetlands violation, call Bob Johnson at tfie
Wilmington office at (919) 343-4641.
If you want to learn more about this,
ca1l me at (704) 524-8369.

Oraphic by Rob Messick

D.0.E. HOT MEALS PROGRAM
Natutal World News Sct"icc

Natural World News has recently
learned that the US Department of Energy
(DOE) has finally come up with a solution
to the bothersome nuclear waste crisis:
we're going to eat it!
The vehicle for this dramatic
breakthrough is the Byproducts Utilization
Program (BUrP). This seemingly
innocuous scheme is the cover under which
the doebo1s plan to recycle nuclear waste
into the private sector. An early plan was to
resurrcc1 "low-level" contaminated metallic
hardware from nuclear plants as
dinnerware. Now the doebots are planning
to irradiate food with cesium 137 to help the
food industry control spoilage organisms
and give fresh food a longer shelf life.
Developing cesium 137 food
irradiation facilities (there arc plans calling
for 1,000 such facilities) would serve the
DOE in two ways:
First, if the doebots are allowed to
create an artificial market for Cesium 137,
then they can put pressure on Congress to
repeal a 1982 ban on the hazardous
reprocessing of civilian spent fuel rods,
which have accumulated in dangerous
amounts in temporary storage pools at the
nuclear plants. Congress originally
institu1ed the ban to prevent circulation of
the material to keep i1 secure from terrorists.
Secondly, reprocessing would
allevia1e the waste problem by reducing
radioactivity up to 55%, thus encouraging
the use and production of more nukes and
more waste, and would generate plutonium
enough to satisfy the Pentagon's appetite
well into the 21st century.
The food irradiation plan is being
continued despite knowledge of potential
health hazards as cited in the Congressional
Record, S1788, February 4, 1987: "The
application of ionizing radiation alters or
damages food cells. It also creates reactive
chemical intermediates known as free
radicals, which react with food constituents
to fonn potentially new compounds in the
food called 'radiolytic products' or RP's.
Some of these compounds, called 'unique
radioly1ic products' or URP's, formed
during radiation exposure are no1 known 10
exist previously in foods."
In the US House of Representatives,
Rep. Doug Bosco has introduced "The

Food Irradiation Safety and Labeling Act of
1987" (HR 956). Senator George Mitchell
has introduced a companion bill in the US
Senate. The two bills would stop food
irradiation plans until safety studies are
completed and contain strict labeling
regulations for irradiated food products.
Unless you would like to be served
up a plutonium/cesium 137 economy, you
might want to write your Congressional
legislators and express your support of the
bills.
Cesium 137 - all you care to cat!
BURP!

NO PROBLEMS WITH TOBACCO
Nanni World NeWl Savice

"We do not have a problem of
pesticide use on tobacco," said NC
Agriculture Commissioner Jim Graham, as
he announced that an NC Department of
Agriculture (NCDA) task force of inspectors
has been specially trained to detect the use
of herbicides (particularly Dicambra and
2,4-D) on smoking and chewing tobacco.
The toxic herbicides kill the tobacco plantS
prematurely and yellow the leaves, making
it appear that they have been cured in the
field. The herbicides are highly poisonous,
and their use is illegal on tobacco and food
plants.
According to a report in the
Agricultural Review. the official publication
of 1he NCDA, the specially-trained
inspectors will fan out to every
tobacco-producing county in the state to
stamp out any traces of illegal herbicide use
on tobacco bound to domestic or foreign
consumers.
The inspectors will visually check
tobacco crops for signs of illegal herbicides
and will pull leaf samples for lab analysis.
Offenders, who endanger the health of
consumers and the reputation of the North
Carolina tobacco product, will be hit with
strict penalties, Graham promised.
Commissioner Graham also sent
letters to all of the major domestic and
export tobacco companies to explicitly
assure them that the North Carolina tobacco
crop is uncontaminated with poisonous
chemicals, and that there is no problem in
the North Carolina tobacco fields.
- NATURAL WORLD NEWS continued

K.ATUAH- page 21

®Xt

page

FALL 1987

�- NATURAL WORLD NEWS continued

SHOWDOWN AT FLAT CREEK
NalUnl World News

The signs appear all around the Flat
Creek Community on billboards, telephone
poles, and motor vehicles:

STOP VULCAN QUARRY!
Vulcan Materials Company, a national
corporation
headquartered
in
Winston-Salem, N.C., has leased 99 acres
and plans to blast 400 feet into the Eanh to
mine the granite substratum below the Aat
Creek Community. The angered community
residents are not going to let it happen.
Vulcan says there is enough granite
to work. three shifts a day at the quarry for
55 years. How does that weigh against the
risk to the health and well-being of Aat
Creek, its watershed, and its people?
Aat Creek itself would suffer. Any
water that leaks into the 400-foot-deep pit
during quarrying operations would be
pumped into Aat Creek. That water would
be laden with sediment, wastes, oil,
chemicals, hydraulic fluids, and other debris
from the mining operations.
Vulcan is required to maintain only a
75 feet buffer strip between their operation
and the waters of Flat Creek.
"Seventy-five feet? That's the same
as for my septic tank!" declared an irate
residenL "What do they think they are doing
here?"
The ground water beneath the Flat
Creek watershed would also be heavily
impacted. A letter received June 24, 1987
from the North Carolina Dept of Natural
Resources and Community Development
listed four impacts a quarrying operation
could have on ground waters around the
site:
1. When the overburden above
bedrock is stripped away, the water storage
for the underlying fractured rock aquificr is
removed. This can affect the flow of water
in nearby wells and springs.
2. The blasting of bedrock can disrupt
the flow of water in the fracture system
supplying bedrock (drilled) well sand
springs.
3. Dewatering the open pit could
lower the water-table in the vicinity.
4. The exposure of fractured bedrock
in the quarry can result in contaminated
water entering and contaminating drilled
wells in the vicinity.
Constant blasting and the noise and
dust from the cavalcade of trucks and heavy
machinery will affect the two hundred
homes and the two schools that are within
one half mile of the quarry site.
Vulcan already operates a quarry in
Enka that blasts six days a week. The noise
and the residues of the blasting dust are
impossible to conttol. The new Enka High
School, only two years old, is already
starting to show cracks.
Vulcan Materials Company has leased
the 99-acre propeny in Flat Creek rather
than purchase the land. Leasing relieves a
company from any liability if water, air,
propeny values, etc. are negatively affected
by their panicular use or misuse of the land.
A public meeting was held at the Flat
Creek Elementary School August 6 in
response to the announcement of the quarry
plan. Over 600 concerned citiz.ens ancnded.
KATUAH - page 22

For an area such as Flat Creek to
become a "community'', a petition has to be
submitted bearing the signatures of at least
20% of the citizens. Within four days 60%
of the people of Flat Creek had signed a
request for community status, and within
one week Flat Creek formally became Flat
Creek Community· a voice united.
The concerns among the Flat Creek
Community residents arc valid and
immediate. With threatened water and air
quality, daily explosions, increased traffic
flows, and potential lowering of property
values, it seems safe to say that Vulcan
Materials Company would be more
responsible and wiser 10 choose an area that
offers less risk to humans and the
environment than within the Flat Creek
Community.

NC LEGISLATORS WANT DUMP
Nlllnl World News Service

The North Carolina General
Assembly bas decided, at least for the time
being, to remain a member of the Southeast
Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact and
to receive all the low-level nuclear waste
from the member states for the next 20
years.
In both the House of Representatives
and in the Senate motions to table
withdrawal legislation won overwhclmi_ngly
by margins of 66-32 and 39-IO respecuvely
during the last days of the session. Most of
the western representatives voted for
withdrawal.
The three weeks of the legislative
session saw an intensive campaign by paid
utility company lobbyists to influence
legislators. Their cffons apparently had
effect, as the legislature passed RB 35,
which calls for a Siting Authority that is not
accountable to either the public or the
legislature to decide on the location of the
radioactive waste dump.
If there is any positive benefit from
these votes at all, it is that the roll calls
indicate which legislators deserve to retain
their posts and which need to be replaced in
the primary election next May. Then we can
try again next session.
Our work is cut out for us.
For more information, contact:
Citizens Concerned about Nuclear Waste
P.O. Box 653
Dillsboro, NC 28725
or
Ron Lambe, Nuclear Waste Task Force
WNC Alliance
P.O. Box 157
Spruce Pinc, NC 28777

PEREGRINE NEST DISCOVERED
NC Wildlife Reaowces Commission

Thirty years ago the peregrine falcon,
the fastest of the birds of prey, was wiped
out of the Southern Appalachians largely
due to damage from the pesticide DDT.
For the past four years NC Wildlife
Resources Commission (WRC) staff and
volunteers have been "hacking" young
peregrine falcons at several l&lt;?Cations i.n t~e
Katuah province to re-establish the bird m
this pan of its native range.
The program seems to be paying o~f.
A pair of the peregrines have made a nest ~n
the Pisgah National Forest. The female ln1d
two eggs in the nest, one of which hatched a
young chicle, who only lived for three
weeks before dying of unknown causes..
Nevertheless, Allen Boynton, project
leader for the WRC, was exuberant.
"This is the first nesting pair of
peregrines in the state in 30 years," he said.
"All the people in the project arc thrilled."
When biologists learned the sole
falcon chick had died, they quickly sent for
another peregrine chick that had been born
in captivity. When the chick arrived, it was
placed in the nest, a mossy area on a rock
ledge.
"When the adults returned, they flew
aroung the nesting site, looking at the
chick," said Boynton. "The chick staned
begging for food whenever an adult
peregrine would land on the ledge. After a
couple of hours, the birds settled down.
Several days later when I returned, I saw
one of the adults feeding the chick.
"We put the foster chick in to hold the
adults at that nesting site and to give them
experience in raising a chick," said
Boynton. "We'll continue to watch for
return birds, as well as releasing more
falcons in future years."
The peregrine project has released 45
young falcons in the state of Nonh Carolina
in the four years of its existence. The project
is funded by the Peregrine Fund, a national
organization dedicated to re-establishing the
peregrine in its native range, and taxpayers
who marke&lt;l the Non-game W1l&lt;llllc
Checkoff on their state income tax returns.
The US Forest Service and the US Fish and
Wildlife Service have also provided funding
and personnel for the project. ~
FALL 1987

�PeaceNet
In tenns of networking continentally and globally, an
invaluable resource is PeaceNet. PeaceNet is computer-based
communication system helping the peace movement and the
environmental movement throughout the planet cooperate
more effectively and efficiently.
With a large minicomputer based in northern California
connected to Telenet, a common carrier, PeaceNet can
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through a local phone call. PeaceNet is compatible with
virtually any personal computer or computer terminal
outfiued with a 300 or 1200 baud modem.
P eaceNet has more than 1,000 subscribers including
the Coalition for a New Foreign and Military Policy as well
as Earth Island Institute. PeaceNet now also serves EcoNet.
PeaceNet has an electronic mail system which allows one to
send and receive messages to and from the other PeaceNet
subscribers and from Telex and University systems around
the world. It offers easy-to-use tools for posting events on
international bulletin boards, preparing joint projects through
electronic conferences, and finding out the latest information
on environmental and peace issues.
In addition, PeaceNet can provide computer
conferences, like specialized bulletin boards. By using
this conference tool, a geographically spread out
organization can carry on frequent and responsive
communications. Some organizations use it to facilitate
group decision-making and task sharing processes,
long distance. Conferences can be set up in private
fashion for a small group of users or they can be
established as a public resource.
PeaceNet also has databases which provide
easy access to large quantities of information and allow
for custom searching and output (printing) fonnats.
Databases include: lists of speakers, organizations, and
foundations as well as bibliographic, legislative and
project infonnation.

PeaceNet is a non-profit project of the Tides
Foundation, based in San Francisco. So far, PeaceNet
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Soon, though, fees from users will help it become
financially independent. PeaceNet's rates arc extremely
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This gives you a user's manual and a free hour of
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If you are interested in finding out more about
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(415) 923·0900

,

Oacc it caac to ac j1st after the leans
had catirely flllca ia the forests,
whca cn1 loacsoac whip-poor-wills had goac,
that s1rely it is c111g• jHt to breathe
aad be, or take nothcr's h11d i1 Inc,
sighiag to behold the old Milky Way
dastiag the hcucas with a t&amp;gae woader.
Why do we aeed sach passioaatc delights
whca we may fi1d aew streagth ia elder aightsT
S1rcly te feel preaeditated s11
wara oa yon sh11lders all the S1aaer,
or to gaze 1po1 fresh saow i1 wiater,
is charge enough to wholly fill our days.
So whcace comes the dark mysteries we breed,
huiag to s1ffer, or at least astond
the world, and her followers arouad usT
We hue forgottca what we oace beheld:
that life is what we make ef it: ao more.
Tho1gh sickless cater as ia awcfal forms,
our lowed oacs die eatirely, lcuiag aoae,
aid weights of tragedy 11chor fi1e joys,
of 11 iastaat we may feel sweet gladacss,
seeiag though it fades, that it still eadares.
So wherefore the sad, regrettable maaT
Builg oace drau such sercadipity,
10 time is left to sorrow or coaform.
Each murmur of aatare souads iHiolate.
by Michael Hoctadag

~
•

,.
~

~

'furtlt ls/Olld is tht o/dlnew nativt namt for North Am.:rica

KATUAH - page 23

Old Galaxies

Cnpluc by Rob M~s1d: ~

�DRUMMING
LETIERS TO KATUAH

Persimmon seed, I am ....
let me glisten in the sunlight
to paint you colours,
gold, bronze, amber forever.
let me be free to grow
to bear....
to watch my young sway,
to grow, to bear.
let me not lay
on the cold, damp ground
trample me not
for the Eanh is my food
and the sunlight my wonderment

Dear Katuah,
I am writing you I.his leuer because while visiting wiLh
our new friends Ann and Michael at the Rainbow Gathering
here in neighboring Graham County, we were given a copy
of your paper.
During our visit lo the gathering, my wife and I found
I.hat our love for the mountains I.hat we live in was revitalized
and reinforced by Lhe people's love and respect for nature
and their desire to preserve our planet for generations to
come. They also helped to remind us to judge only a
person's deeds, not his looks or possessions.
My wife and I both work at Mountain Park Medical
Center in Andrews where we live. Some of our co-workers
were quick to judge the Rainbow brothers and sisters by
looks alone, never trying to understand what they stood for
or believed in.
I am 37 years old and can still remember what the
sixties meant. I may have served in the Navy during that
time, but I always believed that everyone should follow their
own hearts and not be absorbed in the masses. We must
remain individuals, yet not do anything to hurt any other
living c reature, no matter how small or seemingly
insignificant they may seem. My wife and I both stop for
animals when driving, getting out and carrying turtles to the
side of the road in the direction that they were heading.
Getting back to why I am writing this, we would like
any information pertaining to groups or activities in this area
that we could attend or help at. We would like to help
preserve our bioregion for all time. Also, please let us know
about subscribing to your journal.
Kelly
(Kelly and Deborah Jones
Andrews, NC)

Persimmon seed, I am....
betraying the man.
Bern Grey Owl
Raleigh, NC
Dear~

Dear Katilah,
Someone showed me your summer issue and I
noticed that your next issue, in the fall, is going to be on the
black bear.
As a bear hunter, I may have something in common
with you. I want to see the black bear population flourish in
these mountains.
Here are some things that concern me about the present
state of affairs: Jllegal hunting. In some areas in these
mountains, poaching is rampant. What we need is good
enforcement of the hunting laws. There needs to be enough
personnel to do this. Illegal hunting doesn't do any of us
legal hunters any good.
Huntini: season in NC. The hunting season here in NC
actually opens too soon(@ Oct 12). You see, female bears
need time to get in their dens; they go into their dens earlier
than the males. For the black bear to reproduce, it is very
important to protect the females during this time. Also, they
may still be caring for cubs at this time, and the cubs need the
protection, too. Other states around here don't start up their
season 'til later. That's what we need to do in NC. Although
it's illegal, I have seen hunters shoot a female bear with cub.
Radjo Collars. Some hunters rely on tracking bears
with radio collars on their hunting dogs. To me, this takes
the sport out of it
.B.fil..l:ill. Although it is illegal, some hunters bait for
bears. The law against this needs to be enforced as well.
Having good hunting laws and the personnel to
adequately enforce them is our best bet in ensuring a healthy
black bear population for these mountains.

anyone, - HELP!
The word has been out long enough about scarab
beetle larvae (see .K_illiiM. #12). After getting sick at yet
another Rainbow Gathering, I'm pissed. The time for
pondering has passed. It's time for Rainbow people to quit
scratching their asses and produce a large enough crop of
these critters to eat all the shits of a gathering. The larvae can
be scooped up at the end and returned home. If it's a very
cold gathering, a few candles in jars should keep their
appetites stirred. The shitters won't fill up, and dysentery
will become history.
If not the Rainbow Family to lead the way of the
future, who? 'Cause the larvae are coming to the world to
clean up one of man's (sic) greatest problems with or without
the Rainbow Family (unless the poles shift first... ..)
I am but one person at a lonely Rainbow outpost, who
can only do so much, like write you and send a few starters
for new colonies.
I kept them alive all winter!
They are ready! Let's go! The time is NOW!
Sincerely,
Corry

M.C.
Rutherford County, NC

KATUAH - page 24

FALL 1987

�The Lessons of the Hunt
"Patience," says the stately Heron
As it stands in the shallows,
Waiting for a fish or frog
To obligingly swim by.

and isn't he
contained in she?
(She wishpered) isn't
he in herand
here and male in
side of female? Isn't man in
woman, prince in princess
God in Goddess? Isn't
Ibis a very narural thing
in a very natural world
Yes! i said
(an excited fool now) Yes!
HE is in HER!
Yes! HEARE
H*E*ARE

"Patience," says the tiny Jumping Spider
As it dans along a vine,
Its huge front eyes alert
For an insect's telltale twitch.
"Patience, "says the coiled Rattlesnake
As it lies beside a log,
Waiting for an unsuspecting mouse
To follow its accustomed path.
"Concentration," says the Heron
As, one slowly moving foot at a time,
It stalks
A shining minnow.

HE*R HER

And i saw this planet as a
veiled cruxible of
pressured light and
She laughed and said
even the Y chroma
some's an
X standing on
one leg and
i laughed too.

"Concentration," says the Rattlesnake
As the mouse scampers closer,
For there can be
But a single strike.

"I see and understand," say I
dr.iwing by Troy Settler

Will Ashe Bason
Check, VA

"And thank you for your gifts.
Now I can tread the inner paths
To seek my own prey, Truth."

e Douglas A. Rossman

- continued from page 5
In his normal tone he resumed, 'The
sorry, but I would have accepted it. But to
have tracked her down by radio, insjde the
sanctuary, inside her den absolutely enraged
me. There's no sense to it. Someone
hunting, even poaching, outside the
sanctuary is likely to pick up transient
males. But invading the sanctuary means a
poacher is likely to get one of the females,
which are the breeding element of the
population."
To protect the other bears, all radio
collars have been removed, except for three
bears the Project team has been unable to
catch. Removing the collars has hampered
the study this year, but Roger Powell says,
"We're fairly confident that we have figured
out a way that we can continue to collect
data that will put the bears in no jeopardy of
poaching - but we're not talking about it yet
"Our project's handling procedure has
one of the best safety records for least bear
injury and monality of any large mammal
study in North America. I feel good about
that. We've put a lot of care into handling
lhe bears promptly and safely, so that it has
minimal impact on them. It seems that all
that care has been worth it."

bears have to live with people. We need to

"Those of us who want to share
the world with other creatures need
to learn as much as we can about
them ....."

learn as much about the bears as we can,
because I've got a feeling that most people
are not ready to immediately stop changing
the world to suit themselves.
"Those of us who want to share the
world with other creatures need to learn as
much as we can about them, because there
are a lot of people out there who don't care.
"We need to get to the good things
and keep them good, before other people get
to those things and change them."

c
..

CD

And, when asked if he thought that
the bears had anything to teach us, he
replied softly, "The whole world does.
"I don't see the bears out there trying
lO change things. They're living with the
world the way it is. It seems that every time
we change it, we mess it up. We're better
offleaving it the way it is."

KATUAH - page 25

~~E.'11.~~
c
::&gt;

~

::&gt;

:~e:~~~
I

3

~

.;..;~ri:l:lllL.IC~ ~~;;s;.::.::..;;...;;;..:;:c;::i;z..;:m:;~.a.:.;..l:ll;;L...:;~-=---':.;._.::.:...:::::=::......11..;:,;.;;.:.;...J ;

FALL 1987

�- continued from page 15
Every year our club has a bear
supper. Our wivcs'll cook bear meat. They
fix ii about five different ways - baked,
barbecued, stcwed.....any way you like it.
And they make potatoes, bread, coffee, all
the side dishes. It's a fine time, and it
doesn't cost nobody a dime. You can cat
bear meat 'til you can't eat no more.
At the first part of the season when
our club gets together, we take up a
donation. Everybody pitches in $3-5.00,
whatever they can afford. We put that
money in an envelope, and one guy hangs
onto it. If anybody's dog gets hun, and has
10 go to the vet, that money pays for that

dog, no matter who's dog it is. A group of
guys sticking together can 1113kc up that bill,
where one guy can't afford it.
We depend on Forest Service land to
hunt. Bears like to go back into the deep
woods. They always have, and, as long as
there's a mash crop every year, they always
will. For the last five or six years the mash
has been spotty. If you go back deep in the
mountains, you might find a big, bumper
crop of mash on one mountain and none at
all on another mountain. But I believe that
as long as the Forest Service controls that
land, and keeps people from building
summer cottages there, we'll always have

bears. They'll always be here.
The hunters aren't going to destroy
the bears, but the poachers nre something
else again. They arc something the Wildlife
Commission doesn't like; the sponsmcn
don't like them; and the ochers don't like
them either. But as long as there's man and
womnn on the face of this Earth, there's
going to be murders, there's going to be
robberies, and there's going to be poachers.
Hunters themselves are going to have
to protect the wildlife. And they can do that,
because they are out in the woods, and they
can report any violations that they see going
~
on.

l'nwiJona Ptr1Mal S..rv1ct
Fill,,,. You&lt; 8oolt Netds
In 5r«1ahzed fjelJa

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KATU All - page 26

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FALL 1987

�Littering: The Same Old Story

~

by Michael Hockaday

I think it happened by accident,
but it's hard to decide about some
things. I'd bad it with a bag of fruit
left aging on its own too long. It was
time to go, so I brought it with me on
my morning walk over along the
pastures where the creek doglegs
toward the big oak mountain. I
stopped to toss those too-juicy pears
toward a neighbor's cows clustered at
the far end near the cornfields,
leaving the bag by the wayside. I'd
get it on return. Which I did, and
found myself colJecting bottles,

broken mostly, and cans: glass,
plastic, aluminum. Beer cans were
understandably the worst offenders,
especially Budweiser, the King of
Beer. Obviously Bud isn't wiser, and
I still didn't understand.
How quiet it was late Friday
morning just coasting into the noon
daze .... .leaves falling together in
little groups or spiraling away one by
one. Crickets caroled their tiny insect
syrunphonies, or were they lullabies
being put sleep by the vivid sunshine?
Crows were growing less raucous,
but the bluejays sure were arguing. I
kept on with it, listening and cursing
some.
It was hard not to have bad
thoughts against those who
offhandedly dumped some of their
junk on ~ nieghborhood, this
stretch of public, county dirt road to
boot! But I thought: I too am a
litterer, though I don't break bottles
against treetrunks or creekrocks, or
cast my cigarette wrappers where all
the world will see. Call that pride,
ability? Ignorance? Carelessness?
KATIJAH - page 27

No, I don't litter like I used to . Yet,
as a consumer, I do my share of
littering, for to buy and to throw
away is interwoven.
So there I was collecting
garbage in my own neighborhood,
which seemed at first a little
embarrassing. I'll admit to being
stubborn, but I didn't get it all. And
I'm glad no one drove by. Those
candy wrappers left seasoning for the
last few weeks in the autumn sunshine
had dried, melted, and broken into
slivers that stuck to the blades and
stalks of grass and weeds. I really
couldn't pick them up without being
quite meticulous, and it's true: the
shade of my own front porch was
calling me.
Pausing in the road in the hot
noon light, I remembered why I fear
walking barefoot through these
countrysides, crossing creeks at
random, drying my feet in the cool
shore sand: broken glass, jagged tin.
Sparkling like mica under current,
hidden under soft fall leaves.
Dragging it all back home, I found
out one thing: within an arrowshot of
this old farmhouse I call home, a
large grocery bag had been filled
with that dirty stuff: garbage, junk,
waste. Nowadays our roads are
becoming dotted with more silver,
red, black, orange, and less natural
greens or the clear, plain color of the
dirt of a Georgia country road. Why?
I felt confused and very ignorant. It
is more than a process of becoming
an adult.
A lot of conflicting thoughts
and new questions came and went in
my mind. Was littering a form of
possessing, of exercising the right to

litter the space around you, especially
the place you grew up, the land you
claim as yours? At first I believed the
stuff I carried home was left by
people driving through, or were my
own neighbors littering? Could
someone pay me to do this? Do I want
to be a waste disposal unit? Hello,
Mr. Dumpster. Or free to walk the
woods and forest paths like I did the
first year I arrived from a dirty city,
going barefoot through the upland
meadows, moving casually through
deep grass, not finding any hurt but
vinerash or stonebruise to my naked
soles? And I would love to have those
days again, though the past won't be
reclaimed. But in the present, in
today's world, does it seem too much
to expect strolling barefoot through
these hills, or to thoughtlessly race
and dive into these lakes becoming
clearer, yet thus more poisonous?
Do you know where the
honeysuckle clusters around that
locust comerpost where the roads
meet and the pavement starts? I found
a pile of broken bottles there. And
you know along the creek where the
bitter, purple ironweed prospers in
the low spots - I am finding layers
upon layers of old junk: tractor tires,
glinting slivers of old mirror glass,
red velvet dance shoes dampening to
tatters and dust Old garbage, family
trash. The same old story. Quite
usual. But still I feel a useless,
impotent sense of despair as I see the
simple, local, beautiful places marred
by littering. Society at large won't
solve it. Neither can I. That night I
spent more time gazing on the feather
of the grand Milky Way,
appreciating clear, silver, tremulous
stars. A cool wind stirred and
freshened me.
FALL 1987

�evenrs
3

WILLIS, VA
"Healing the Family in the
Wise Woman Way" - finding and preparing
herbal medicines with Kathleen Maier and
Sherry Willis. Indian Valley Holistic Center,
see 9/19-20.

SEPTEMBER
12-13

ASHEVILLE, NC
RIVERFEST - "C'mon down
to the riverside!" for the grand finale of
French Broad River Week. Call (704)
254-8131 far more information.
18-19

3

ZIONVILLE, NC
"Whole Brea1h Bodywork"
workshop at Polestar Re11eat Center with
Ginny Wright; 604 Mt. Vernon Ave.;
Charlotte, NC 28203

ASHEVILLE, NC

New Priorities Conference on
Peace, Social Justice and the Environment..

3-4

Includes featured speakers, workshops,
panels and fellowship. Sponsored by
Katifah and many other organizations.
Asheville High School. $10 registtation,
includes lunch; childcare $2. Info: (704)
252-3036

Is There a Future for the
Southern Appalachian

BLACK BEAR?

4-9

18-20

TOWNSEND, TN
Tenn. Environmental Education
Association Conference at the Great Smoky
Mountains lnstitu1e at Tremont; Townsend,
TN37882
GREAT SMOKY MT'NS.
"Research on the Wild
Mammals of the Great Smokies" with Dr.
Michael Pelton. $40. Smoky Mountain
Field School; Department of Non-credit
Programs; 2016 Lake Ave.; Knoxville, TN
37996

A Wlldllfe and Habitat Conference

September 29, 1987

WILLIS, VA
"Health and the Human Mind"
- the fundamentals of body electronics with
Richard Lowenthal. $95 + $20 room and
board. Indian Valley Holistic Center; Rt. 2,
Box 58; Willis, VA 24380
21

FALL EQUINOX

BREAKS, VA
Stage productions "South of
the Mountain" and ''Talcs" by the Roadside
Theater. For more info, write: The Roadside
Theatre; Box 743; Whitesburg, KY 41858
22-27

BRASSTOWN, NC
Coker Creek Anists' Creative
Clothing Workshop. John C. Campbell Folk
School; Brasstown, NC 28906
9-11

Owen Confemice Cent.er
UNCA, Asheville. NC

19-20

19-20

STAUNTON, VA
Earth First! Appalachian
rendezvous and action against clearcutting in
the George Washington National Forest Meet
at North River campground, GW NF. For
more info, call Roland Knapp at (606)
259-0252.

Sponsored by:

Environmentlll Studies Program. UNCA
Soul.hem Appalachian Black Bear Fe.dcnltion
Long Branch Environmental EducDtion Center
KAWh.Biorcgio03l Journal

27

WILLIS, VA
"An Afternoon of Personal and
Planetary Healing" - circle on Mother
Mound with Tom Williams. Donations.
Indi~ Valley Holistic Center, see 9/19-20.

30

ASHEVILLE, NC
Green Politics. Regional meeting of the WNC Greens. Montford
Community Center. 7pm More info: (704)
254-6910.

OCTOBER

15-18

HIGHLANDS, NC
"Fall Landscape Photography
Workshop" with Sam Wang - exploring and
photographing fall in the beautiful Highlands
area. $250. The Appalachian Environmental
Ans Center; P.O. Box 580; Highlands, NC
28741
BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC
The Black Mountain Fall
Festival. Traditional music, dance, and stories
by Gamble Rogers. the Houseband, Peter
Ostrousko Band, Wild Asparagus, David
Wilcox, Golden Rod Puooets and others. $30
for the weekend. Write: Grey Eagle and
Friends; P.O. Box 216; Black Mountain, NC
28711
16-18

2-4
ZIONVILLE, NC
"Healing Wise," a weekend
seminar on herbal healing with Susan S.
Weed. $125 or daily, includes camping,
meals. Sun.- "For Women Only". Contac1:
Phoenix Productions; Rt. 2, Box 59;
Zionville, NC 28698

25-27

WA YNES VILLE, NC
"Spiritual Astrology: Symbols
of the Self" - using the birthchan as a
mandala to center the Self among the
various roles we play in life. Michael
Thurma.n at Stil-Light Theosophical Retreat
Cen1er; Rt 1, Box 326; Waynesville, NC
28786 (704) 452-4569
25-27

KATUAH - page 28

HIGHLANDS, NC
"Elders' Circle of the American
Indian Council - elders from the Six Nations,
Hopi, Pueblo, eastern and western Cherokee
will speak at the Mountain; 841 Highway 106;
Highlands, NC 28741 (704) 526-5838

WA YNESVnLE, NC
"The Modern Woman and
Spirituality" with Elisabeth Peryam.
Discussion, group work, ar.d worship for
women at Stil-Light. See 9/25-27.

FARNER, TN
"Wild Foods and Medicines"
expedition into the woods with Snow Bear.
$50. Pepperland Farm Camp; Star Route;
Farner, TN 37333. (704) 494-2353
2-4

HOT SPRINGS, NC
"Courage, Kindness. Commitment, and Humor" retreat with Bo Lozoff.
$50. Sou1hern Dhanna Retreat Center; Rt. l,
Box 34-H; Hot Springs, NC 28743

CEDAR MOUNTAIN, NC
Sierra Club "Outing Skills
Workshop" - essentials of backpacking,
knots, food drying, map and compass work
and much more. $20 includes meals. Write for
info before Oct 1 to: Shirl Thomas; P.O. Box
272; Cednr Mountain, NC 28718
17-18

WILLIS, VA
"Introduction 10 Pennaculture"
principles of cultivation with Thelma Snell.
Indian Valley Holistic Center, see 9/19-20.
17-18

2-4

23-25

FARNER, TN
"Primitive Camping Skills" learn to stay warm, dry, and well-fed wilh
what lhe forest has to offer. See 10/2-4.

FALL 1987

�- .. '
21

KNOXVILLE, TN
The Roadside Theatre presents
"South of the Mountain''. See 9n.2·27.

25-29

WAYNESVILLE, !'liC
Good cookin' at Stil-Light! "A
Vegetarian Thanksgiving - The Role of Diet
on the Spiritual Journey." $20. Sec 9n.5.
27-29

HOT SPRINGS, NC
"Medicine Wheel/Mamlala
The Circle of Peace" with Louise Sunfeathcr
and Jennifer Gordon See 10/2-4.
14

Rob Messick

23-25

YELLOW SPRINGS, OH
Conference: "The Self-Reliant
Community" with Jeffery Bercuvicz, director
of Rodale's Regeneration Project; Sue
Jackson; William Berkowitz - identifying local
skills, talents, and capital and using them to
take the community's future in hand. $50 +
$20 accomoclations. Prices include meals.
Contact: Community Services; P.O. Box 243;
Yellow Springs, OH 45387

WILLIS, VA
"Rebirthing Weekend" Michael McDowell. $50. Indian Valley
Holistic Cenier, see 9(1.7

24

W ILLIS, VA
"Healing Old Wounds" rele:ising the past. Tom Williams. Indian
Valley Holistic Center, see 9n.7.

UNICO I ST. PAR~ GA
"Earth Skills Workshop" for
the whole family with Eustace Conway.
Contact: Linda Rigell; Rt. l, Box 1426;
Clayton, GA 30525.

28-29

DECEMBER

7-8

13-15

FARNER, TN
Caving expedition. See 11/6-8.

5-6

SMOKY MT'N PARK
Winter
High
Country
Camping. The Smoky Mountain Field School.
See 9/19-20.
11-13

14

GREAT SMOK Y MT'NS.
Winter Field Botany. Smoky
Mountain Field School, see 9/19-20.

23-25

BRASSTOWN, NC
Fall Dance Weekend. JCC Folk
School, see 10/4-9.

WILLIS, VA
"Trusli ng In tu it ion"
following the inner voice. Tom Williams.
$60. Indian Valley Holistic Center. See 9n.7.

14

RADFOR~VA

"Leaving Egypt" - stage
production by the Roadside Theatre. See
9/22-27.
20-22

CHAPEL HILL, NC
Economics As If Earth Mattered
Conference with Herman Daly and Paul
Wachtel. Center for Reflection on the
Second Law. (919) 847-5819

WAYNESVILLE, NC
"Intuition: Gateway to
Knowing" - "Intuition is not psychic
phenomena.... It is the Soul and its expression
in form" - Joyce Keane. $20. Stil-Light, see
9n.5-27.
HOT SPRINGS, NC
''Tibetan Buddhism: Traditional
Methods for Spiritual Growth" - the Ven.
Tubten Pendey. $75. Southern Dhanna, see
ion.-4.
11-13

BRASSTOWN, NC
18
Olde Follcs Party.
19
Children's Pany. JCC Folk
School, see 10/4-9.

30
HALLOWE' EN (Samhain) the ancient Feast of the Dead.
30-11/1

HOT SPRINGS, NC
''To Leap Like :i Tiger: A Zen
Weekend" with B:irbara Rhodes. $86.
Southern Dhanna, see lOn.-4.

NOVEMBER
1-14

BRASSTOWN, r\C
"Log Cabin Building" course
with Peter Goit. JCC Folk School, see
I0/4·9.
6·8

FARNER, TN
Caving expedition to Cloudland
Canyon. Basic safety. geology instruction by
Snow Bear. Pepperland, sec IOn.-4.

6-10

HOT SPRINGS, NC
"Meditation Retreat for
Women" with Anna Douglas. $112. Southern
Dharmn, see ion.-4.

KATIJAH - page 29

FALL 1987

�STIL-LIGllT THEOSOPHICAL RETREAT
CENTER • a qu1el space for personal mcdiLntion,
group interaction through study and community
worlc, and spiritual semin:lrs. Contact Leon Frankel:
RL I, Box 32.6; Waynesville. NC 28786
CRAFTSPEOPLE -send price listings to Gif1td
/lands of NC, 331 Blake St; Raleigh, NC 27601
(Au'n: Bcm Grey Owl) - unique shop presenting
35-40 craflers' worlcs in Raleigh's City MlrkcL All
aafts considered.
ROCKIN' Willi BILLY B • Do the Dance of tht
Dragonfly or the Rock 'Roll of Photosyntthsis in
the "Music and the Natural World" workshop.
Available for bookings for schools or loc3l groups,
Jan. 29-Fcb. 4, 1988. Great motivation for kids!
Call Ken Voorhis (615) 448-6700.
FUTO~S

by Simple Pleasures • affordably p1iccd
Send SASE for info to: Simple Pleasures; Rt. I,
Box 1426; Clayton, GA 30525 (404) 782-3920
I HA VE ACCEPTED the responsibility to
participate m a powerful and imporunt cetemony to
be condut1Cd in Nov. '87 inside the Great Pyrnmid
in Egypt. I believe this wo1k will help uncarth
ancient and new information crucial to the
well-being of our planeL I h:ive received guidance
Lhm in order to go on this mission. I would have to
be sponsored. Plc.ise send don:itions t0: RL 2, Box
58; Willis. VA 24380 (att: Journey to Egypt) Tom W illiruns..

...AnJ I/it £11r//1 limf

APPLE TREES • grafted old-fashioned and
contemporary. Send 50 cents for catalog: Henry
Monon: RL I, Box 203; Gatlinburg, TN 37738
ASTROLOGICAL
CHARTS.
7-pllge
intcrproLntions of planets in signs and houses with
plancwy aspects. Easy to read. Great gift for the
newly-born. Send SS. name, date, time, and place of
birth 10 Touchstone; Rt. 2, Box 314·K: Vilas. NC
28692
ORGANIC FERTILIZERS, herbs, and
organically·grown, local produce at the WNC
Farmer.;' Market! Look for the Fairglen Farms stall.
units F and G in the wholesale area of the Farmers'
Market; 570 Brevard Rd.; Asheville, NC (704)
2524414
ELEMEl'.'TARY SCHOOL TEACHER, certified,
creative, self-motivated, and organized needed at
Valley School, a parent-governed 11ltcmati"e school
in Monongahela National Forest, WV Resume,
references to: Teri Kutsko; I Kirt St., Elkins, WV
26241 (304) 636-2979

THE APPALACHIAN HERR NEWSLETTER:
explonng the potential for herbs as ca.\h crops m
Appalachia. Subscriptions $12/yr.. Write:
Aopalnchj3n Herb Newslwcr • ASPI; RL 5, Box
423; Livini;sion. KY 40445

LAND TRUST in I.he forming on 57 acres near
Boone, NC ~king famihcs wiLh strong visions and
resources to manifest a peaceful place for our
children to grow in love nnd to survive the coming
of the new age. Paul and Susan Del Rios; RL 2,
Boit 314; Vilas, NC 28692 (704) 297-4937
ROSE AROMATICS • essential oils have been
healing body, mind, spirit, since ancient EgypL A
most plcasa.nt therapy! Dabney Rose; 108 Church
Rd.; Asheville, NC 28804 (704)254-9551
PURE HONEY • unheated and unfiltered. Poplnr,

locust., and sourwood. One of nature's blessings!
Price and ordering info from Jimmy Holladay, the
Beekeeper; P.O. Box 908; Black Mt'n., NC 28711
(704) 669-9788
.. ANQ THE EARTH LIYEP HAPPILY EVER
AEJ.El.· stories from folk U11ditions all around the
world chosen lO help protect all living beings by
bringing the world society a few steps closer lO
peace and respect for au life. Edited by Floating
Eagle Feather. $7.00 ppd. (All profits go to
Greenpeace and the Peace Museum). Order from:
Wages of Peace; 309 Trudeau Dr.; Metaire, LA
70003

ALTERNATIVE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL - At
Arthur MorgJll School 24 students and 14 staff lc:im
together by living in community. Curriculum
includes creative academics, group decision-making,
a work program, service projects, extensive field
trips, challenging outdoor experiences. Write: 190 I
Hannah Branch Rd.: Burnsville, NC 28714 (704)
675-42.62

DRUMS - Custom handcrafted ceramic-dumbecks 8c
wooden medicine drums. Call Joe at (704)
258-1038 or David at (704) 253-2846, or write ta:
Joe Roberts, 738 Town Mountain Rd.; Asheville,
NC 28804.

TECHNOLOGICAL
APPROPRIATE
COMMUNICATIONS • low-tech, economical
telephone systems for the altcmntive community or
farm. 2· 100 phones, a.utomatic or human-assisted
systems available. Write: TAC; PO Box 936;
Gatlinburg. TN 37730

MOON DANCE FARM HERBALS· herbal salves,
tinctures, &amp; oils for birthing &amp; family health. For
brochure, please write: Moon Dance Farm; RL I,
Box 726; Hampton, TN 37658

PEPPERLAND offers a vericty of outdoor education
for church, school, or civic groups
year-round. We will help you design a program for
your group. Send for information packet to:
Pcpperlnnd Farm Camp: Star Route; Farner, TN
37333
program~

1988 SIMPLE LIFESTYLES CALENDAR •
PhOlos of "CraftSpCOple of App:il:ich1a" by Warren
Brunner and suggestions for simple hvmg for each
day. S6.00 from Appalachia-Science in the Public
Interest; Rt. 5, Box 423; Livingston, KY 4~45.
All proceeds benefit the work of ASPI, n non-profit
corporation.
CHEROKEE INDIAN LANGUAGE classes. For
info, \\rite Robcn Bushyhc:id; P.O. Box 705:
Cherokee. NC 28719
APPLE TREES • Old·timcy and popul.1r
contcmpor.uy varieties on sumdanl, semi·, or dw:irf
stock. Send SASE for prices: Jeff Poppen: Long
Hungry Creek N~; Red Boahng Springs, TN
37150
ARCHITECTURAL ADVICE ANO DESIGN:
Adam Cohen; RL 2, Box 217; Check, VA 24072
SOCK-A-DOOZ PUPPET PETS • Walk 'cm, talk
'em. make 'em Oy. Wag their tails, you can try.
They will love you. bug you if you're blue. Now
PUPPET PETS can be your friends too.
Handcrafted by Bonnie Blue; 78 1/2 Pauon Ave.
(#10); A.~hevillc, NC 28801
FLOWER ESSENCES • Harmony with Nature &amp;
SpiriL Gentle emotional suppon durmg tr.lllsitions,
specific issues, relationships. Opens
communications. Self-adjusting, non-toxic,
awareness "tools" for improving I.he inner quality.
Correspondence to: Elaine Gcougc, c/o Patchwork
Castle, Celo, 3931 HWY 80 So.. Burnsville, NC
28714

DAYSTAR ASTROLOOICAL SERVICE· natal,
transil, comparison charts. Very accurate. Only
S3.00 each. Chris and Will Bason; Rt. 2, Box 217:
Check, VA 24072 (703) 651·3492

KATUAH ·page 30

APPALACHIAN GlNSENG CO. - Stratified seeds,
seedlings, roots. Send for price list to: P.O. Box
541; Dillsboro. NC 28725
WEBWORKlNG is free.
Send submissions to:

Kil.l.uAh
P.O. Box 638
Leicester, NC
Katuah Province 28748

FALL 1987

�. /¥IDJ1lh wan~s to commtmicate yoiu· thougltts and feelings to the other people in the
b1oreg1onal province. Send them to us as letters, poems, stories, drawings, or
photographs. Please send yo1u contributions to 11S at: Ki:Wklh; Box 638 ·Leicester NC
Karuah Province 28748.
'
'
'
"Home" is shelter....."llome" is the heartll....•"Home" is conun11nity. Share yotu
plans, sketches, and dreams with the others in tlie bioregion in the winter issue ofKm.tklh.
The deadline/or conrriblllions is October 3.
What does spring make you think of? Send your ideas to us for the spring isme.

Mtdfrfnt- Alllts

BACK ISSUES OF KATUAH AVAILABLE
ISSUE lWO- WINTER 1983-84
Yona - Bear Huntus - Pigeon River Another Way With Animals - Alma Becoming Politically Effective Mouniain Woodlands - Katiinh Under lhe
Drill - Spirilwtl Warriors

full rolor
T-snlrts
In the traditional Cherokee Indian
belief, the creatures in the world today are
only climinuitive forms of the mythic beings
who once inhabited the world, but who now
reside in Galuna'ti, the spirit world, the
highest heaven. But a few of the original
powers broke through the spiritual barrier
and exist yet in the world as we know it.
These beings are called with reverence
"grandfathers". And of them, the strongest
are Kanati, the lightning, the power of the
sky; Utsa'nati, the rattlesnake, who
personifies the power of the eanh plane; and
Yunwi Usdi, "the little man", as ginseng is
called in the sacred ceremonies, who draws
up power from the underworld.
Each is the strongest power in its own
domain. Together they are allies: their
energies compliment each other to form an
even greater power. As medicine allies, they
represent the healing powers of the
Appalachian Mountains.
The medicine powers of Katuah have
been depicted in a striking T-shirt design by
Ibby Kenna. Printed in 5-color silkscreen
by Ridgerunner Naturals on top quality.
all-cotton shins, they a.re available now in
all adult sizes from the Kanfoh journal.
"To show respect for this supernatural
trinity of the natural world is to in turn
become an ally in the continuing process of
mnintaining hnnnony and balance here in the
mountains of Kau.iah."
To order, use the form below.

ISSUETHREE-SPRING 1984
Sustainable Agriculture - Su.n nowen • Human
Impact on the Forest • Childrcns' Education
Veronica Nicholas:Woman in Politics - Linle
People - Medicine Allies
lSSUE FOUR - SUMMER 1984
Water Drum - Water Quality - Kudx.u ·Solar
Eclipse· Clearcutling - Trout - Goin&amp; to Wal&amp;¥
Rom Pumps - Microhydto ·Poems: Bennie
Lee Sinclair, Tun Wayne Millet
lSSUE FIVE. FAU. 1984
Harvest - Old Ways in Cherokee - Ginsen&amp; •
Nuclear Waste • Our Celtic Heritage •
Bioregionalism: Past. Present. and Futute -

John Wi!nol)I • Healing Darkness - Politics of
~

ISSUE SIX· WINTER 1984-85
Winter Solslice Earth Ceremony • HcrKp&amp;Slurt
River - Corrung or the Ugbl - Log Cabin
Roota • Mountain Apiculturc: The Ril!lt Crop
- William Taylor ·The Future or the Forest
ISSUE SEVEN · SPRING 1985
Susiainable Economics - Hot Sprinas - Worker
Ownership· The Great Economy - Self Help
Credit Union - Wild Turkey - Re'J'Onsible
bwesting • Working in the Web of Life
lSSUE EIGHT· SUMMER 198S
Celebration: A Way of Life. Kauiah 18.000
Years Ago • S6Cred Sites • Folk Aru in the
Schools - Sun Cycle/Moon Cycle Poems:
Hilda Downer· Chcroku Heritage Center•
Who Owns Appallchla?

lSSUE NINE· FALL 1985
The Waldee Forest - The Trecs Spcalt •
Migrating Foresu - Horse Logging • Starting a
Tree Crop· Urban Trees • Acom Bread • Myth
Tune
ISSUE TEN· WINTER 19&amp;S-$6
Kate Rogers - Cin:les or St.one • lntemal
Mylhmaking - Holistic Healing on Trial •
Poems: Steve Knauth - Mythic Places • The
Uktena's Tale • Crystal Magic •
"Omu-nspcalcing"
ISSUE ELEVEN - SPRING 1986
Community Planning • Cities and the
Bioregional Vision - Recycling - Communil)I
Gadcning· Floyd Counly, VA • Gasohol •
Two Bioregional Views - Nuclear Supplement
Foxfire Games - Good Medicine: Vasicns
ISSUE n«RTEEN - Fall 1986
Center For Awakening· Elizabeth Calllri. A
Gentle Death - Hospice - Ernest MoTgan •
Ocaling Creatively with Death - Home Buri.al
Box • Th" Wake • The Raven Mocker •
Woodslore and Wildwoods WiJdom • Good
Medicine: n...s..-Lodge
lSSUE FOURTEEN. Winier 1986-87
Uoyd Carl Owtc - Boogcn and Mummc:n AD
Species Day - Cabin Fever Un ..cnlty •
Homeless in KatUah - Homemade Hot Wall:r
Stovcmakcis Narrative - GooJ Medicine:
lntmpeci"5 Conummication
ISSUE FIFTEEN -Spring 1987
Coverlcls • Wom:m Forester · Susie McMahan
Midwife - Alternative Contraception •
Bioscxuality - Bioregionalism and Women Good Medicine: Mlllriacharial Culwn: - ~
ISSUE SIXTEEN - Swnmcr 1987
Helen Waite - Poem: Visions in a Garden •
Vision Quest - First Flow - Initiation •
Leaming in the Wilderness - Cherokee
Olallenge- "Valuing Trees•

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------KAJVAH: Biore~jonal Journal of the Southern Appalachians
Box 638; Leicester, NC; Katuah Province 28748

For more info: call Marnie Muller (7().1)683-1414

Regular Membership........$ IO/yr.
Sponsor..........................$20/yr.
Contributor.....................$50/yr.

Name
Address
City
Area Code
KAJVAH -page 31

~ess!

t1ot£r.t"'

Enclosed is S
to give
this ejfon an exrra boost
State
Phone Number

Zip

Back Issues
Issue# _ _@ $2.00 = $
Issue# _ _@ $2.00 = $ - Issue#_@ $2.00 = $ - Issue#_@ $2.00 = $
Issue# _ _@ $2.00 = $ _ _
Complete Set (2-11, 13-16)
@$19.00=$_ _
T-Shirts: specify quanticy
color: tan

S_ _ M_ _

L_ _ XL_ _
@ $9.50 each............$_ _

I can be a local contact
person for my area

TOTALPRICE=
postage paid

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FALL 1987

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                  <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;,&amp;nbsp;was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span&gt;, 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.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; 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.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This digital collection is only a portion of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah&lt;/em&gt;-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 &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;. 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.</text>
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                <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, Issue 17, Fall 1987</text>
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                <text>The seventeenth issue of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; focuses on black bears: their place and future in southern Appalachia. Authors and artists in this issue include: David Wheeler, Sam Gray, Paul Gallimore, Mike Pelton, Robert McMahan, Jay S. Gertz, Scott Bird, Richard Harrison, Michael Hockaday, Martha Tree, Marnie Muller, Rob Messick, Richard Harrison, William O. McLarney, Bern Grey Owl, Will Ashe Bason, Douglas A. Rossman, and Troy Setzler. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, 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.</text>
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~

.

CK._ATUAH &gt;
....

$1.50
ISSUE 18

WINTER 1987-88

BIOREGIONAL JOURNAL OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS

._,,

•

�Photo by Paul Gallimore

(j~~-~-T-~H)
P.O. Box 873 Cullowhee, NC Katuah Province

Postage Paid

Non-profit Org.

28723

Note new address, inside/

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

Permit #12
Cullowhee, NC
28723

�•

SHELTER IN KATUAH

Resource List....

.. ... .. .• •

On Bui.Jdlng andDulgn

Solar Compo ting ToileL.......... IS
October Qysk ............................. 16
P&lt;&gt;tms by Rlla Silns Qull,.n
Review by Ju/Ja N11111f411y Duncan

Good Medicine: 'On Sbelter"....... 18

The Future of the Black Bcar........19
COf(cnia Rqon

Natural World News.. .. ............20
CaldwdJ CtJlllfly I~
SlflOkia Wlldentas Bill
Poachers C.,lrt
MRS in CDngras
Forat Snvla Pba Al1Mll
Duh'1 Col~ Cred p;o}«t
AslwvUle R«,clJni CenlU

A Children's Page......................23
Drummang ......

Utltn to Kalllah

• ... 24

·A Bourn of Buds".. . .. .. .. .28
f'\ l'otm by Miclrod ffodtatlat

The presence of shelter
embodies much more than
just a building. It is a home,
a center around which
members of a family or
community emerge, travel
from, return to, and are
visited. Many of the most
important events in human
life find a place, time, and
meaning within the
structures we build. It is
here that we house or
integrate the activities of
our lives (birthing, growing,
eating, sleeping, playing,
working, dying...)
In many ways, "we are
what we build". Through this
kind of architectural mirror
is reflected the expression
of a cultural and personal
world view. We now greatly
attect the ecology of the
Earth by the impact of our
collective human existence.
The niches we carve out for
ourselves very often
intrude into the habitat of

other animals and
plants. Is it possible for us
to build our communities in
accord with the recycling
nature of the systems that
surround us?
Buildings are inherently
open systems that interact
with the forces of wind,
water, land, temperature,
season. and other living
things. Our relatedness to
the natural world can be
acknowledged through
designing shelter that is
actively aware of the flow of
energies coming into,
working within, moving out
of, and mingling among other
systems of the Earth, and,
particularly, of a bioregion.
By affirming patterns of
sustainability in the design
of our shelters and
communities. we foster
their existence and come
closer to being in harmony
with all that is.

-The Editors/

�......---..;~
(i.ATUAH)
EDITORIAL STAfF DDS J.s.s!LE;
Scott Bird

Sam Gray
Rob Messick
~1amie

Michael Red Foit
Manha Tree
David Wheeler

Muller

EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:

Christina Morrison

Bob WiesellTl311

Sarah Jane Thomas

Hot Sauce

Cover: "Howie's Dome" ne:ir Bethel, NC.
Photo by Rob Messick.
Thanks lO Eart.hdanccr for the Invocation for this issue. which was
reprinted from lhe Educational Resource Ccmcr Newslcucr, P.O. Box
The Southern Appalachian Bioreglon and Ma1or Eastern River Systems

460; Floyd, VA 24091

EDITORIAL OFFICE THJS ISSUE:
Worley Cove. Sandymush Creek
PRINTED BY: Sylva Herald Publishing Co., Sylva, NC
WRITE US

AT:

TELEPHONE:
(704) 683-1414

KaWh...

Boit 638

Leicester, NC
Katuah Province 28748

01vcrsuy 1$ an imponant clement of bioregional ecology. both
ll.llural and soci.11. In lme with this principle, Katllah tries to serve as a
forum for the discUSSion of regional iSSlle$. Siincd articles express mly
lhc op1n10n ol the authors and arc not ncccuanly the opiruons of lhc
Kati.ah edit.ors or Slaff.

The lni.cmal Rc•'CllUC Servltc lw declared Kazuah a non-profit
organ11.ation under MlCtion SO I(cX3) of the ln=I Revenue Code. All

conuibutions io Katuali arc doducuble from personal income rax.

'LNVOCA.TWN

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Here in rhe sou1hern-mos1 heartland of the
Appalachian moU11Jains, the oldest moUnJain range on our
continent, Turrie Island; a small buz growing group has
begun to IOU on a sense of responsibility for the implications
of tltat geographical and cultural heritage. This sense of
responsibility centers on ti~ concept of living within ti~
narwal scale and balance ofumversal syswnr and principles.
Within this circle we begin by invoking the Cherolcee
name " Katuah" as the old/new name for this area of the
mountains and for its journal as well. The province is
indicared by its natural boundaries: the Roanoke Rfrer Valley
to the nonh; the foothills of the piedmont area to the east;
Yona Mountain and the Georgia hills to the somh; and the
Tennent/! Rfrer i'nlley to the west.
The editorial priorities for us are to collect and
disseminate information and energy which pertains
specifically to this regwn. and to foster the awareness t/IDJ the
land is a living being deserving of our love and respect.
LJ1•ing in tltis manner is a way to insure the sustaillllbilicy of
tlte biosphere and a lasting place for ourselves in irs
continuing evolutionary process.
We seem to have reached the fulcrum point of a "do or
die "siruarion in terms of a quality standard of life for all
living befogs on 1/iis planet. As a voice for rite caretakers of
this sacred land, Kawah, we advocate a ceruered approach to
tlte concept of decentralization. It is our hope to become a
support system for those accepting the challenge of
s1istainabi/iry and ti~ crea1io11 af harmony and balance in a
total sense, here in tliis place.
We welcome all co"espondence, criticism, pertinent
information, anicles, arrwork. etc. witlt hopes that Katuah
will grow to serve the best interests of tltis region and all its
living, breathing members.
- The Editors

KATUMI - page 2

WINTER 1987·88

�PROTECTING THE DREAMER:
Vernacular Values in H.cgional Architecture
by Sam Gray
ln his classic work, Poetics of
the French philosopher
Gaston Bachelard focused on various
levels of architectural meaning. He
suggested Lhat a basic feature of those
meanings we associate with the idea
of Lhe house is that the home protects.
It not only protects physically against
climate and weather, it protects
psychically as well. IL protects
thought, reverie, and dreaming.
That, perhaps, is its most important
function.
"The purpose of the house is to
protect the dreamer within," wrote
Bachelard. Evoked is the architecture
of dwelling - protective, sensual.
natural - grounded in a locale and a
time. In a word, vernacular, ar
adjective which connotes in buildint
economics, politics. cooking, or a
what it once described exclusive!
about language or poetry.
"Vernacular" is Lhe indigenou
the traditional, the homemad1
spontaneous, colloquial expression&lt;
anything.
If a house of some order (tip
cabin. frame house, stone hous1
yurt) is important for huma
reflection and dreaming, it is littl
wonder that our psyches become s1
entwined with their architecture.
The house of our childhood i:
an architectural emity, a psychic
landscape and a context for memories
and understanding. So. too, is the
house of our plans, the house we
would build - the dream house of the
mind that we continuously construct,
revise, and renovate.
The dreamer. protected by the
house, dreams a house and fills n
with plans, voices, and ghosts that are
themselves protected by the house.
In our time, the architectural
space that shelters thought and
dreams has begun to fill with the
electronic dreams, projections. and
hallucinations of the national media
and markets. It is possible that the
traditional purpose of the house has
undergone an evolution. The
dreaming space, filled from within

~.

• continued on page 4

WINTER 1987·88

SM/ton I/oust. llaywood Coun1y. 1876-188(). Two-story frame howt
wl1h tngaged /WO-lier /'()rch bu1/1 by ConftlkraJt \'ttcran S~p,..tn J.
Shelton. 1he building now hawsts 1he Mumm1 of Nor1h Carolina
llaNficr&lt;(rs.

Ap1'&gt;&lt;11arl11a11 log cabin i11 uniikntifitd locale, circa 1900. Roofln~ is
chcstnUI or oaJc slt.:iks.

Jesst Cmp I/oust. Graham Counry. tarly 20th cen1ury. Two-s1ary
framt hou.~t of a "Y-p/an• foU!ld with some frequtncy in Graham
County bw rurt tl_.htWrt

KATUAH - page 3

�PR01 EC'Tll\\G THE ORl-:AMER
connnucd from J13gC 3

Gallaway llou.u l tanrylv'11lla CoUJtty, clrrn 1878 T'r&lt;o•Jtaq
tOC!/
di

/armlil&gt;~ '6ilh iabk
aJtd ~;iltrlDt r!ld bticl tldM11r11fr0111 '4 •
a 114 titr ~roe/p&lt;nlt atTO.U UllW bay

Jlar

w lla1m. CllLrctLt Co1U1tv, IBSO 1882 f'Wo.srory britl /ttJllU

of lftDd 1td •t.i.p/an• ..~111 iltltTID! t1ii,,.J1tp Tl:e "'""'~' porr:h a TOIJ
tltLfa t ..idth t:ftM/.itilM ha.I s:mn ..wl lnacltts and balas:radt 71'~
brl

"' tbr bltJldint "~" mt:M on ilu

Cl111r ~11'1:1 loust lla¥&gt;4'00d COIUIJJ lA:L I II UfllJl.1'1 r ...
•r plt111 brW: ho1&lt;u •iJ/I
t l
l"lpcrtA aucw/att:tk/ta:J:nfll
tlt:fldr

un.n ..w1 balllft~

KATUAH p:igc 4

tic stCOnd Jnri.

\\uh the \\lute noise of the mas
dream. loses its cnp!lcit) to protect
nnd nunurc ubJCclt\C drenming
1 he contemporar1 mas
nrclutccturc of dv.elhng reflects th1
ero 10!1 Demographics, technology.
nd the market &amp;re estabh hing n
stnndardized hou ing thai fills an
urb!lil or suburb:m topogrnph) \\hi ch
ha been stripped of all indigenous
populnuon!; and fe:iturcs.
1bc re uhing arrangement of
nrchitccturnl values lea,es the
dreamer (the subjecti\'e self)
unprotected, unjustified, and
nccidentnl.
What has been deleted from
contemporury mass architectural
expression of the house i the sense
nnd presence of the \'Cmaculnr, nn
element essential to the protection of
the dreamer.
There nre two architectural
clements of the vemnculnr house thnt
ore particularly impon:mt to the
protection of rc\erie and drcnming.
lbese arc the heanh nnd the porch.
Hoth v.crc corn istent features of the
vemacular houses of the Kn1unh
re ion an former times. ·1bc psychic
mean mg of the hearth go fnr b:tck m
time nnd the relationship of
henrthfirc and drcnm consciousness
have been discussed frequently in the
poetry nnd literature of architectural
meaning.
The porch or verandah is n
more regional nrchitectur:il feature.
Jn its grander, two-storied,
b:tlustraded fonns, it is derived from
the semi-tropicnl, colonial,
Canbbean nrchilecture or the 18th
Century. Yet it wns always n feature
of 1hc Southern Appalachian log
cabin. It is n medinting space situated
between the outside, the domain of
energies expended in agricultural
labor. and the cabm intenor, the
domnm of energies regenerated in
enung nnd sleepmg. h is n place of
repose, n place for dreaming.
The photograph oc:ompany mg
th1 text offer a sampling of the nch
leg C) of vemncul r hou es of the
Kntu h region. 1t 1s a lcgnc) that •"'
fnst d1sappeanng. These hou es that
have protected generations of
dreamer hn..·e themselves little
protection from the descendants of
the dreamers.
,
Wl~'TER

1987 8

�by Adam Cohen
pbns nuke 11 casa to csnmac materials and
to by out consttucuon sequence cffiaenlly.

My uplllTmion nf building 1n Ka1Wih
has been on a personal Incl as ...~11 as on a
professiolllll lr:vel. My aperienu rangt.s
from building for ma.timum economy to
building for maximum luiury BUI 1hLre u a
COmmJJn ft•cl111g I get from people n•eryonc
de.sires a spucc 111 KIUc:h ro l1vt./111ly.
To tmly e.rperitncc life means to live
on orhtr lt\•cls bcs1dct the phylical. A
/Mng Jpace llumlJ bt. bmh organic and
J1exihlc ·it mmt l&gt;e oble w grow and chan~
ro mur all of our nuds. Ir IS rhur fuUng of
organic:, tccmorrucal arclurcc:turc rhar I strl~
f&lt;1r 111 m)' wark, /n thu article I will 0U1l1M
tlui lxmc.r of bmldmg as rcmpcrtd by my
personal architectural phUosophy and
practical, professional ~rkncu.

But even 1hc best·latd plans run tnto
wiforcsccn diffaculncs. 1bc bes&amp; ~-ay 10 deal
w11h this 1s 10 be flexible and to devise
cn::ulvc soluuons..
If you choose to have a house dra't•lll
for you, Rmcmbcr that 1he design proocss 1s
yours. One can move walls on papcreauly,
so 1akc dmc and uplore many options
bcfon: dccidin~ on I rmaJ plan.
To begin designing 1 dwelling,
oullinc the needs the suuaure should fulfill,
lis1 1he areas and livin&amp; spaces desired.
1ncrc arc many ways to pu1 these spaces
1ogclhcr. Whal approximate square foocagc
is desired'? Is a linglc·unit or multi·unu
dwelling the best for the sile and the
inhabitants? Would you late IO hve in a
roundish, squarish, turtlc·baclccd, or
free-form dwelling? How tall should the
space be? Any lofts or second 5'0rics? Are
~J~n spaces « disunct rooms

A house rctain5 the energy put into
the builJ1ng. tnrusc the bullchn4 process
w11h good energy rrum 1hc be4mning to
stlllt the new dwelling off In the nght way.

smNG
Solar houses arc desirable in cvuy
biorcgion in the temperate zone. The sun as
hfc. Where I bvc in northern K.atiiah. I find
lhat we need house£ 1ha1 are flexible. Our
weather is iuch 1hat 1hc 1empcra1ure can
swing .SO degrees Fin a 12 hour period. We
can have snow on 1hc ground and 70 degree
F 1empcra1ures outdoors an r:ebruary.
1'hercforc. my emphasis h:is been on houses
1h:11 cnn be easily hCllted as well as cooled.
"Inc conditions in Ka1ii:ih indicate 1lu1 we
need house.~ 1ha1 heat up quickly :tnd 1hcn
rntha1c 1h:11 hc:i1 rapidly.
As u rule of 1humb, site n dwelling 10
fnce wuhin 10· 12 degrees or solar sou1h to
mnx1mi1.c solar uposurc. When choosmi; a
sue, consider 1hc direction of the prcvnahng
cold winter wands u well ns 1hc cooling
!iummcr winds. but keep 50lai orientat1on 11S
a domlnnn1 fnc1or because pl:tnungs and
olhcr buildings can serve as 1o1.1ndbrcaks as
the homcslead grows.
Water supply must also be considered
when choosing a she. A rchablc source of
clean 1.1.1ucr is csscn1ial for 1 homestead.
Gravity flow from a spring above the
building site is the ideal shu11ion and lhc
C3.Siest to develop.
W11cr from a well or another source
below lhc house can be pumped to a large
reservoir above lhc dwelling to crate a
gravity flow. Electric pumps nm bf AC
po"'cr from the &amp;rid arc the least dcsuablc
way 10 accomplish 1his. Elccmc pumps
powered by solar cdls are better, but !hey
still arc high-1ech solutions. and they
depend on a high-1cch future. Some
appropriate pumping systems arc ram
pumps. micro-hydroelectric (stt KJllli.aJ1
#4 ), wind·powcrcd DC systems,
wind-driven compressed air sysacms, and
my personal favorite, the bicyclc·powcred
water system.

WINTER 1987-88

A chcmical analystS IS worth the pnce
dclcrminc the presence: or polluting
chemicals or organic m:ucnali in the waicr
supply.
IO

DESIGNING nm SITE
Having found a site with solar
exposure, wn1cr, and hopefully, 1
windbreak from the winier winds. m4kc a
rough site plan to help decide where to
locate the building. D111grnm 1hc she,
pencilling in essenu:lls like fruu 1rccs,
gardens. shop, sheds, animal houses, and
p:isturc. I like 10 1h1nk of hvmg structures as
p:in or cite landscape. connecting indoor and
outdoor space. A wcll·planncd,
m1CtCOnncctcd, outdoor IJllCC adds acsthetic:
qualuy 10 a homcsle.ad.

Our home is a central CCR lb1ICtUre
dlll we coaanually arc . ddiftl small aaians
a
onto. J b1ghly recommcncl dus way of
approaching design and buUdin1 lor the
owner-builder. Tbc inhial suuc:ture can be
C&lt;Jm\'lcted durina the building 1C&amp;10D to
provide shelter for the wima. Additions can
continue throughout the years following.
This also allows rime 10 change design. Jn
this
n:sidcntS can occupy lhcir home as
lhcy build It.
Once a general idea of the nccdcd
laving areas is clear, draw a "blob dll&amp;rll1l"
{sec diagram I) to show 1he
1ntcr-rcla11onsh1p of the d1ffcren1 spaces.
The walls, floor, and roof mc~ly hold 1he
no1hangness 1ha1 is the living space.The
IClUal envelope which contains lhesc spaces
can be any shape or fonn. The following hst
of arc:tS, Starung from the loundatJon Ind
wortcin,1 up, gives some ideas which can be
used in design and bu1ld1ng These
simplified d1sc:un1ons an: meant only to
snmul11e and IO guide the reader's creative

war.

unagmanon.

DESIGNING A DWEU.JNG
Designing your own home is a
delight. As a general rule, lhc less
cxpcricnccd the builder and the mon: OUl5idc
help lha1 is going co be ailed on. the more
complete and thorough the building plans
should be.
A complcle sci of plans Includes
dimensioned fJoor plans, clcvanons, and
sectional drawings, IS well IS dc11ils ror
tricky areas and elccuical, plumbing. and
hcatin plans.
~o build a umber or ocher pre-cut
house. a farm plan is necessary. If much of
lhc consttuctlon is to be contnetcd out,
complete plans will make lhe work much
smoolhcr and much less expensive. Good

• Clllldmued oa ma1 pop.

KAn.JAH • PIF S

�FOUNDATIONS
In Katiiah the best foundation is
mnsonry. For lo ngevity, bug-proofing, and
structural 1megri1y, ~11he house on a stone,
0
block, or concrete foundation 16 1 24
inches deep. Unless the slopes arc very
siecp or the ground is very \Oft, this is
suflicient for this region.
Having said this, I will add 1h:11 a
time-honored Katuah foundation is
debarked, v. inter-cut, black locust posts set
about 30 inches into the earth with a n.11
stone m the bottom of the hole. This can be
a very effective method for n quick
beginning 10 a structure built to last 30 ye:in.
or less. (Of course. posts can be replaced 10
extend 1h1s lifespan.) llus would still outlast
most suburban hou~e~ constructed today.
for these arc built to a 25 year life
expectancy.
My favorite foundauon is stone.
Begin the wall 16 to 30 inches below the
surface and build to whatever height is
needed. Another easy foundation is the
"grade beam" as used by Frank Lloyd
Wright.
If the site is sloped, instead of making
one large cut, you might consider stepping
the foundation in small cut-and-fill
operations to save time and money (see
diagram 2).
Foundation insulation is optional, but
if it is used, it must extend at least two feet
below grade (ground level).
Proper drainage is imponant 10 a
lasting foundation. A foundation drain is
standard. The site must be graded, so that
water runs away from the house. If
necessary, French drains can be located a
few feet from the drip line in cases with
Clltrcmc runoff problems.
Photo by Adam Cohen

Wood floors arc quite cozy and
warm. Finished flooring can be laid on
rough-cut joists and subflooring material.
Planed tongue-and-groove finished floor is
the most desirable, but an inexpensive and
serviceable floor can be made by gluing and
nailing well-dried boards 10 the sublloor.
Should cracks appear between the boards,
they can be pointed with grouL

R..OORS
There arc many types of flooring
materials. If someone really wants 10 be
"grounded," the easiest floor is din. Din
and cement can be mixed for a durable
floor. A plain concrete slab can be used or
stone, brick, or tile may be laid on. Smooth
creek rock makes a pleasing floor surface. If
one spent one hour a day collecting small
creek rocks, in two weeks one would have
enough creek rock 10 do a large floor. If
desired, the perimeter of such a floor can be
insulated.
Soapstone is the best flooring material
for solar storage and radiance, in my
opinion, and is readily available in Katuah.
KATUAH - page 6

WAU..S
Sundard "balloon" framing is simple,
lightweight, and easy to cover. Use
rough-cut or recycled framing rru1tcrials for
the best price.
My favorite wood technique for
building wood-supponed walls is 10 use
large, upright members and fill in with
stucco, bricks, glass, bottles, stone, glazed
block, bone, or anything else you can set in
monar. Windows arc framed in with
rough-cut wood when using this method.
Masonry walls arc relatively
inexpensive, if stone can be gathered for
free. To speed up construction, a back-form
can be used to give a wall that has one side
stone and one side stucco (see diagram 3).

To construct frce-fonn structures, use rcbar
and plaster lath 10 create free-shaped forms
on which to lay cement I believe this offers
some of the freest expression available in
architecture.
It is important when designing walls
to think about windows. l cannot stress
enough how imponant it is 10 have as much
glazing as possible on the south side of a
home. The sun is vital, and the more of itS
radiance we can bring into our houses, the
healthier we and they arc. The north side of
the building is the darker side and takes the
STO!llE.--....
M~AP,

fcD~ fL'('tl&lt;X(?

Z"4'

~- UP
fO~M

WINTER 1987-88

�The walls,floor, and roof merely hold the nothingness
that is the living space. The actual envelope which
contains these spaces can be any shape or form.

brunt of the cold winter winds, so
nonh-facing windows should be small and
well scaled. East and west walls also should
have windows, and these should be able to
open to welcome in the cooling summer
breezes from wherever they may blow.
Window quilts are easy to make.
They conserve wannth in the winter, if they
are put up when the sun sets to keep the
day's wanntb in and the night's cold out.
It is also important to know that
wiring, plumbing, and heating features may
be put in the walls. These must be
considered when naming. It is too late
afterwards.

1HEROOF
"Putting a roof over our heads" is not
just a figure of speech. The house roof not
only keeps rain off, but it can let light in,
hold solar equipment, and shape the interior
space. ln designing the roof, consider: Docs
the house want skylights? How will water
flow off the roof? Where should extra
bracing be put for solar panels? What shape
and how high should the ceiling be? There
nrc many possible combinations of answers.
I strongly believe roofs should not be
flat in Katuah. Even a sod roof should have
a slope for drainage. Flat roofs eventually
leak. Wood frame roofs can be built on a
flat or a curved plane. It is possible to frame
a curved shape out of suaight lumber.
Galvanized steel or shingles arc the
most common roofing materials. Both are
readily available and relatively inexpensive.
I have buih some roofs with rcbar and lath
using insulating cement covered with either
concrete or a strong cement scaler.
For a good discussion of roof shapes.
I suggest reading The Owner-Built Home
by Ken Kern and A Timeless Way of
Bu1ldjng by Christopher Alexander (sec
resource list, page 15).

Windows may be obtained from old
houses, a window factory may sell seconds,
or a neighbor might have a few old
windows stacked up in the back of the
garage.
Material hunting takes time, but it
does not cost a lot, it is fun, and it results in
a more individualized slructurc.

Heating with water in a wood-fired boiler is
the most healthy and practical system to
warm a house during Katiiah's cold
winters.
Catalytic converters arc a cheap way
to help the environ men" and I advocate their
use on all woodbuming stoves.
INSIDE OUT

SANITATION
I recommend the use of the passive
solar composting toilet (sec p. 15) in

combination with a grey water irrigation
system to process human wastes. I strongly
believe that the passive solar composler is
the most efficient way to take care of human
waste, cspccially in Katiiah, where the land
is generally mountainous, and septic fields
do not function well.
The time is coming when many
families in Katuah will handle human
wastes in a methane digester. It might take
the impetus of economic collapse to make it
common, but the digester can compost
waste and produce fuel as well. Septic fields
and waste treatment centers are barbaric
technologies and should be phased out in
favor of cleaner, better integrated systems.

The indoor/outdoor connection is
imponant. I suggest the use of decks,
covered areas, walkways, porches, living
trellises, and other connecting spaces to
draw inhabitants out into the fresh air and
sunshine. An outdoor kitchen, sleeping
areas, and living areas can be used most of
the year. The more exposure to air and
weather a person has, the more vibrant and
healthy that person's life will be.
All these aspects should be taken inlo
consideration in the design and conslJ'\Jction
process. What I have listed here is an
outline of ideas and techniques. tf the reader
is interested in further details and
correspondence on any of these or other
building ideas, please write me: Adam
Cohen; RL I, Box 217; Oteck. VA 24072

HEATING
How we get our heat is important to
our health. Wood or coal stoves arc drying,
dangerous, diny, and generally unhealthy.

MATERIALS
An important aspect of economical
building is materials. The way to build 11
house for $3.00 per square foot is to choose
a design that utilizes simple materials.
Check what is locally available for free or
for cheap. For example, in nonhc:m K:nuah
the population is one-third of what it was in
the 1930's. There remains a lot of empt}'
structures which contain materials that can
be recycled. Stone piles, brick, and glass
can also be found for free or for minimal
expense Local lumber mills have rough-cut
lumber and seconds at low prices. Local
building material factories may have
inexpensive seconds as well. Auctions
provide another source for che11p materials.

WINTER 1987-88

Photo t:sy Adam COhen

KATUAll ·page 7

�and interpersonal relationships develop. By reviewing a few
design patterns one quickly understands how shelter shapes
our daily life both practically and spiritually.
Consider the one room poplar log cabin built on a
stone foundation. When approaching this cabin one
immediately feels a cenain rustic blend of the canh with the
stone and log much as the mountain landscape itself. Take
this log cabin and set it into the side of a mountain so that the
earth covers the back wall, wraps the comers of the building,
and gradually slopes to floor level on the sides. The front of
the building is poplar logs on o stone foundatioon. From the
top of the hill one looks down and secs the cedar shingle roof
of the house and eanh. Walking around the front and sides of
the building one feels a sense of wannth. The cabin appears
to nestle into the mountainside. Windows on the front and
side walls let daylight and moonlight into the cabin.
We walk up the front steps 10 an open porch. It is
winter. PostS and beams cover the deck, but the roof panels
have been removed. The front wall faces due south, so that
winter sun passes into the cabin. The prevailing nonhwest
winter winds are blocked by a shelterbeh of white pines that
were left when the forest was selectively thinned before the
cabin was built.

poplar I"~ walls moder.Ile lhc comfon in the cabin as "ell.
Sp1mual nrchitccturc creates intu11ive space; ~pace
\lthere interaction between structural and human clements
takes place. Where the wall provokes new ideas, oot beC3use
the wall speaks to us, but because the wall speaks with
everything in the environment The ~r in the space is infused
whh hght, heat, :ind moisture as byprodu1."1S of the physical
surroundings. intensity of color, temperature, and humidity
all in1CI11C1 to create a unique ambience of space. I breathe this
ambience and it enters my bloodstream through my lungs. I
view this body as my cabin. A certain quality lives in this
cabin and the quality is a result of everything in it and around
it
A cool shadow wakes me.The late afternoon sun line
angles off of my body, as I sit up on the slate floor. I get up
and go wash my face in the kitchen sink in the southwest
comer of the room. I am splashing sunlight onto my face,
sunlight absorbed into tanks of water located off the
southeast comer of the front porch. Water enters the tanks
from a reservoir located about 100 vertical feet above the
cabin. Gravity pressure gives the cabin plumbing a sLrong
flow of water. An indoor shower is heated with solar energy
when available, and a large outdoor tub is heated by a wood
tire directly underneath. The overflow from the reservoir
empties into a small creek that maintains a steady flow of
water twelve months a year. Toward the bottom of the valley
a rom pump pushes water back up to a second reservoir near
cabin elevation. This second reservoir provides water for
irrigation of a fruit orchard, a terraced vegetable garden,
larger crop fields, 11 solar greenhouse, and assoned animals
and poultry.

Entering the cabin, one
feels a warmth shining from the
sunlight scattering across the slate
floor and glowing from the coals
of a masonry heater built into a
central chimney that passes up
through a cathedral ceiling.
The stonework on the
chimney is primitive and
beautiful, and as l walk over to
lean against it, l feel heat
radiating from the stone. I tum
and rest my back against the
stone and press my palms against
the warmth. The slate floor
attracts me and my hand reaches
for the sun-drenched gray. lt, too,
is warm to the touch. Walkin2
across the cabin, I find the nonh wall refreshingly cool, as
though the earth on the other side is touching me. I circle the
fireplace a few times and strangely miss the feeling of
comers in the cabin. An indoor-outdoor thermometer hangs
on the wall - indoor temperature, 72 degrees; outdoor
temperature, 15 degrees. The sun is high on this winter
noon.
Shelter can become more th:in just a place to stay warm
or dry It also can be :in experience of emotion stimulated by
our sensory responses.
When we speak of "appropriate" housing or
"appropriate" technology. the word "appropriate" has many
levels of meaning. I may feel lazy, like taking a nap in this
solar heat. That's appropriate for me. On a cold, winter day,
I set a one hour morning fire in the masonry heater 10 heat up
the chimney. That's it.
Let the contoul'l&gt; of the land. the movement of the sun
and canh, and the shell of this mountain home follow their
natural course. That is appropriate, 100.
In my afternoon slumber on the wann slate floor, I
think of summer. The sun will not touch the slate floor then.
The roof panels will be in place so the south porch will be in
shade. The dense floor will remain cool just as the nonh wall
docs. Off the southeast and southwest comers of the cabin
the hickory trees are in full leaf and they block out the hot
morning and afternoon sun Windows on the cast. west, and
south walls allow breezes 10 blow through the cabin. Ilidden
an the ceiling framing is insulauon, the guardian of comfon.
Heat from the sun passes slowly through the exposed roof
and is vented through openings around the chimney. The

Waste products arc
disposed of in specific ways.
Human waste is taken care of in
an aesthetic, two stall outhouse.
Grey water from dish, clothes,
and people washing is drained
from the cabin into a gravel-filled
dry welJ just below the house.
Burnable trash is used in wood
burning, or incinerated. Plastic~
glass, aluminum, and other
recyclables arc collected and
delivered to tbe local recycling
center.
All of the energy systems
reviewed in this cabin so far
required no electricity for
operation. Electricity is a precious
energy form and should only be used where there is no other
practical substitute. Refrigerarion and cooking are the major
electricity consuming appliances, so in this house there is an
energy-efficient LP gas refrigerator and a gas stove. Beller to
use gns on site and utilize approximately 80 percent' of its
available heat thnn electricity, which, by the time it gcrs 10
your house. only provides about 30 percent of its available
heat.
The solar clothes dryer is a fifty foot rope suspended
between two poles. So the only major appliance needing
electricity is the washing machine. Other than the washing
machine, the house if outfiued 10 provide electricity for
lights, stereo, computer, blender, and other small
miscellaneous ncms.
The creek docs not have enough flow of water to
generate adequate electricity for a small hydroelectric system.
and wind pauems are too irregular around the house site for a
"'ind generator. The final choice for electricity generation is a
photovoltaic system that generates electricity. The solar
electric panels are mounted on the south facing roof pitch of
the cabin and feed into deep cycle batteries, where electricity
•~ stored and sent 10 the appliances ns direct current.
So we have a simple plan for a mountain homestead.
The basic energy needs have been met with appropriate
technology, but the technology is incomplete without the
human behavior to complement it. We live in an age of
plastic and steel. Many of our daily needs are dependent on
oil drilled on the other side of the world and automobiles
built and assembled on two or more continents. One way to
control the use of energy on the planet is to seek out ways to

A MOUNTAIN HOME
Wnucn lltld 11lustnlltd by

Greg Olson

Shelter is our tilter from the clements of wind, water.
and sun. It lS also a ~work that shapes our environment
The home is an enclosure of space where sensory experience

conunual on 1'"£C 211

KATUAH - page 8

WINTER 1987-88

�A LOOK AT SOME HOMEMADE HOUSES IN KATUAH ...

Madison County, NC

Pho10 by Paul Galllmore

Floyd County, VA

A$he County, NC

Watauga County, NC

WINTER 1987-88

Photo by Rob Messick

Photo by Rob Messick

Floyd Coun1y, VA

Joci&lt;son County, NC

Photo by Adam Cohen

Photo by Adam Cohen

Photo by Rob Messick

KATUAH ·page~

�by Marnie Muller
In considering your bomeplace, it is
important to understand the earth energies of
the place you arc choosing. Cultivating this
sense of listening lO the primal energies of a
place h;u been practiced by many culture~
over thousands of years. Aboriginal peoples
still pay anenuon to these forces. There arc
people in China who still consult with their
culnue's t:raditionalftng-shui masters.
Here in these mountains ofKatiiah, some
oldrlmers and "newtimers" listen lo earth
energies by means of dowsing n0t just for
water but also for the more subtle earth
energies.
Presently, there is a call for a "new"
geomancy in order to design human systems
in alignment with earth systems. The ancient
I Ching ( The Chinese Book of Changes)
speaks of The Great Ham:&gt;0ny. By
perceiving the wider rhythms and energy
nows of the living earth system in which we
participate, we can team to harmonize our
individual energy with the wider
'symphony' of place. In particular, in the
specific place where we choose t.o live, we
can find out about itS special
energies-wind, water, light as well as the
more subtle realms--and become pan of the
process rather than a blockage to it
"The id. a or movement of energies in
e
the earth, of the chl or the earth, and of the
possibility of harmonizing with such
energies is very old. Associated ideas of
blood, water, breath, chi, spirit, circulation,
machine, and organism figure here. A 4th
century tcXt speaks of the earth, 'flowing
and communicating within itS body as if io
sinews and veins' (Needham, Scitnct and
Civilization in China]. A 14th century text,
of interest for current thinking about
"universal planetary grid" or "earth
acupuncture", refers to a "mysterious
network" thus: (it) spreads OUJ and joins
iogtther evtry pan ofthe roors of dll!
tarth. ..Thousands and ttn thousands of
horiU&gt;fllal and VtrticaJ lltins liJce warp and
wtft weavt lbgtther in muJual
tmbraet ...Taking all (including land and
sta) as earth, the stcrtt and mystery is thot
the roots communicare with tach other "
(Steven Post. Ralst the Stakes)
Perceiving the Earth as a living,
functioning being, our species can begin to
redevelop a symbiotic rel.arionship with the
specific eanhplace where we dwell
Reacquainting ourselves with the ancient
slcills of listening to the vibrant, subtle earth
energies is a significant step in lhis process.
Then as we live our lives, each aspect from
homebuilding to right livelihood to
ceremony... will more deeply reflect the
undercurrent Life patterns.
;

,,#

"In China, the dragon is a symbol of the electrically charged,
dynamic, arousing force that manifests itself in the thunderstorm. In
winter this energy withdraws into the earth. In early summer it becomes
actjve again appearing in the sky as thunder and lightning."
From I Ching, Tht Chintse Book of Changes

Description of terms:
Earth Htru: Energy emanatlng from Ille e:inh,
dcieclible by b1otogical means (cg. dowsing) and
physical means (with sensitive detection
ins1111mcnis (cg. geiger countcrS)) though not
normally obvious to the casual observer unless in
an especially sensitive state.
F1ng Shu/: A Chinese system which recognizes
energy Oows and forms in the landscape. It 1J1Cludes
mclhods of modjfying these forms 10 amclionue the
"eneray climate" of a site. Ljterally. means

'wind/Wald.
Grom1ncy: 1lie science of putting human habitalS
and activities into harmony with the visible and
invisible world around us. "Themes and concepts
from architecture, gcomcuy, geography, cosmology,
art, archaeology. mctrology, numerology,
astronomy, astrology. surveying, religion, and
mythology. all complex subjccis in !heir own right,
t&lt;1J1 be seen to have a common root in cenaio
ancient pnictices which related them to a special
place, lime, cosmic position and purposc •. .EV1dcnce

from a great number of sources indicat.es that thclC
is certainly aomcthing linking all these enigmatic

fac.ts and universal practices, an age·old and
venerable science which may be called geom1111Cy."
~!ck)

Dowsiac: A means of delecting seemingly
imperceptible obJCClS or subtle encrcies by the
feeJjng of a rod Olf pendulum held m the hand.
Traditional wattt divining using a farted haul rod is
a form of dowsing which has provided evidence of
sublle energies present at sacred sites.
Gala: To the ancient Oreets, Oa.ia was lhe Eal\h
Goddess. In more recent times the name has been
utilised by James Lovelock to describe the entire
bimyslem or our pbnet - all !ho pbnis ..... imab and
fungi. plus the atmosphere. the oceans and the soil.
The Gaia hypothesis suggests that the Eanh's
biosySlem as ~-regulating; that. for example, 11 is
able to conllOI ilS aunosphcric tcmperawre as well
as the composiuon or the air, sea and soil so es to
maintain the optimum conditions for the survival of
life on the planet.
Chi: 'brealh of nature' : basic energy

~ Sacnd Sites: Special eanh pbcea ""h1ch have the
'-- ~

'- quality of bnnging an individual tO •more auuncd
state with Nature. Often associated wilh having an

abundance of "minus" (or negative) ions in the
elccuanagnctic field.
Eartb Acupuncture: A way of regarding earth
energies whereby the living Earth is seen es an
equivnlent of the human body m acupuncture terms,
with the flows of energy along the meridians and
with special energy centers or "ac:upuncture points".
(Most of tltac tuwu Jul•c M•1t d~fuud ilt £.,11t;
MJSUrlu: Alt l!J1plorator1 l11tro4Mttl.,. l1y BriDn
lorkmms illtd Plul'P lfLUluHt.. P"'14'Md by IM Nortlt
Eortlt/.fµ:.eriaCl'Ollp.)

Suggested Reading:
The Earth Spirit: Its Ways, Shrines and
Mysteries. John Michell, Crossrond Publishing
Co., NY, NY. 197S.
The Ancient Scltnce or Geomancy. Nigel
Pennick, Thames llld Hudson. Ud., London. 1979.
Earth Wisdom. Dolores LaChapclle, Finn Hill
Arts, P.O. Box S42, Silverton, CO 81433. 1978.
Shu/: The Sci,nce or Sacred
Landcape In Old China. Ernest J. Eitel with
oommenwy by John Michell. Syoergctic Press, 24
Old GIOOCCSICr Sttt.ei. London WC I Engl:ind.1984.

Feng

"Geomancy: A Tawny Grammar", Steven
Post in Raise tlr.e Stakes, Sprint. 1984 . Plllnet
Drum FoundalJOll, P.O. Box 3t2SI, Snn Francisco,
CA 94131.
Gain: A New Look at Life on Earth. J.E.
Lovelock, Oxford University Press, Oxford. 1979.
Tbe LMn1 Earth Manual of F•n1 Sh11I.
Su:phc:n Skinner OUt or print.

Nttdtcs or Stone. Tom Graves, Granado
Publishing Ltd., NY, NY.1978.
Tbe Divining !land: Tbe 500 Year Old
Mystery or Oowslnc. Cllristophcr Bird, New
Age Press. P.O. Box 1216. Blaet Mountain, NC
28711. 1979, 1985.
The Ley Hunttrs Manual: A Guide to
Early Tracks. Alfred Watkins, Turnstone Press,
Ltd., Wellingborough, Nonh Hampton~ire. 1927, /
1983
/

~----

"

•

14

~~----~;;.uonbyM~M~l~-~

KATUAH - page JO

)

I

~,~,
\\\

WlNTER 1987-88

�Earth-Sheltered Living
by Scott Bird

From prehistoric Limes to present, human beings have
lived sheltered by/within the Earth... in caves, within rock
wwls and cliffs. and in earth-covered lodges and houses. In
some pans of the world, members of tribes have gathered
toge1her to build their homes in common, underground.
Ciries housing thousands have been builL
Stone age cave dwellers who used nruural cave
forma1ions for shelter, pro1ec1ion, and temperature
moderation, benefiued from 1he even tempero1ures of living
within the Eruth. For example, the year round 1empera1ure in
the Mammoth Cave in Kemucky is 54 degrees F.
In many pans of 1he world today earth-sheltered
homes are a common way to build and live, especially in
China where over 10,000,000 people live in earth-sheltered
spaces in the provinces of Shensi, Shansu, Kansu and
Henan. Their earth-sheltered population has numbered in 1he
millions for generations, where schools, workplaces,
temples and shrines have been part of the underground
landscape since the 5th century BC, complete with gardens
on the roofs.
The mountain village of Matmara in Tunisia is home to
between 5·6,000 people where most shehers are
underground. An open counyard connects the individual
homes. Pedestrian tunnels connect different families of the
tribe to the main social group. Rooms are built with curved
walls and ceilings. In the center of each courtyard is a cistern
which is used to collect and store water with a system of
water pus.
In Cappadocia, a mountainous, barren region in
Turkey with severely exLreme temperatures, villagers have
lived continuously in 41 under~round cities since the 3rd
century. Some cities are built on as many as 10 levels and
house 30.000 people.
On this continent, the Pueblo Indian ruins at Mesa
Verde in southwestern Colorado were hollowed-out cliffs
built around 300 AD with rooms up to 80 feet in diameter.
Other native peoples of the southwest built earth-covered
winter homes and kivas.
Here within the Katuah province, the Cherokee
lndinns constructed earth-covered winter homes and lodges
(see "Good Medicine," page 18 of this issue).
Pioneer dugouls were built in the Great Plains in the

late 19th century as white people pushed wesrward. Building
materials were scarce, so grass and s:&gt;il becl:me the simple
materials with which the pioneer families made their homes.
Though most of the structures were free-standing sod
houses, which were vulnerable and shon-lived, some
families actually excavated dugout shelters in the earth.
Today within the area of the United States. it is
estimated that there a.re between 4-5,000 earth-covered
homes and an undetermined number of earth-benned or
eanh-sheltered homes, that far outnumber those totally
eanh·covered. Once again, it seems that eanh-covered and
earth-sheltered houses are being accepted by the mainstream
population.
Eanh-sheltered homes today qualify for immediate
financing and immediate insurance, and they have gain~ a
high level of consumer acceptance. Earyh shelters ai:e ~mg
built by many .ltl"OUPS of people: the punsts, the surv1vaJ1sts,
the environmentalists, and ordinary citizens, who might
live, for example, on the Great Plains, which are subject to
tornadoes and proirie fl.res. And th~n there. are !hose who
simply want to tower their home heanng/cooling bills.
Earth·benning or eanh·sheltering means simply
bringing the earth as high as possible around a structure on
the nonh east, and west sides, leaving the south completely
open to 'accept the w~th of the sun. i:tie Tf'Of is of
conventional construeuon, though heavily insWa1ed.
Earth-covued homes, however, entail significantly more
expense to provide for extra load-bearing capaciry for the
roof, complete waterproofing, and the expense of
eanh-moving.
People who choose to live sheltered by/within the
Earth, do so for many iusons. In a house protec~ed by
Earth, both winter winds and summer heat have less impact
on the interior. The house takes advantage of the more even,
moderate temperature changes of the Earth. Earth-sheltered
buildings require less heating fuel and, therefore, relieve
pressure on our over-extended biosphere and pocketbook. If
planned carcfutJy, eanh·sheltered homes provide all the light
and ventilation of an above-ground home. Eanh·protected
homes are quieter, require less upkeep. are safer from natural
and human-made disasters. They arc also less of an
imposition on the life around them.

EARTH SHELTER UNDER CONSTRUCTION NEAR
BLOWING ROCK, NC. Dalaaed and built bJ Scott Bird.

- continued on next page

photos by Rob Musick

WINTER 1987·88

KATIJAH - page 1 l

�...................·.....·.................... ········· .... .
·continued from page 11

As you begin on the canh shelter path, the best place
to start is your library. Begin reading about earth-sheltering,
subscribe to a journal or two. Talk to others who have buil1
earth-sheltered homes in your area. Look for the pros and
cons of each design.
When you finally choose a home site, spend as much
time there as possible. Get 10 know 1hc sun's path there, 1hc
drainage patterns, c1c. Also spend time observing what
wildlife lives there in order to determine how you will share
the habitlt. Observe the wind pauems for your locale.
Also begin an inventory of your land. Arc there natural
wind fences on your land that will help to protect your
homesite? What is your soil composition? The soil rypc will
significantly effect the buildi~ process. What water is in the
immediate area? Engaging a local dowser may prevent a lot
of trouble and heanache down the road. Besides locating a
drinking water source, a dowser can also detect shallow
water veins as well as other complications that may be
present to your possible homcsite.

Resource List
for Earth Shelter Construction and Design:
Tiie llandbook of Earth Sl1elter Design. Make
Edelhart. A Dolphin Book, Doubleday &amp; Company, Inc.,
Garden City, NY 1982.
This book is highly recommetUledfor purring you in touch
with the Earth Shelter movement. Very clear and inclusive,
lists earth shelter organizations, earrh shelter periodicals,
articles on earth sheltering. books, films, as well as earth
shelter designers, solar infonnarion by state, etc.
Ear th Shelttred Housing Design : Guidelin es,
Examples, and References. Underground Space Center,
University of Minnesota. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co.• Inc.,

During the energy cns1s of the I970's, people were
drawn cowards 1he lower fuel costs of solar, superinsulated
and earth-shehered homes. As the fossil fuel economy
rebounded, in1erest in earth·sheltering slackened as was
evidenced in a major earth shelter journal falling from over
18,000 subscribers to a present 2.000 subscriber b:ise.
People once again misiakenly believed thal the fossil fuel
supply was endless. Now as our economy faces 1hc
possibilily of a major collapse, reliable, energy-efficienl
earth-sheltered housing will once again offer an attractive
op1ion.
At the turn of chis century, Baldasarc Fores1iere spenl
38 years constructing/sculp1ing 65 rooms, courtyards,
grouos. 11nd gardens beneath 7 acres 10 Fn;sno, California.
The work was complete with atnums and rooms designed to
catch 1hc sun. The rooms contained many forms of plant life
including one tree 20 feel underground that was grafted with
7 differen1 kinds of citrus fruil. As Baldasare Foresticre's
cffons within the Eanh were aesthetic as well as func1ional,
we 100 can develop 1hc sensitivity to create a form of Eanh
sculpture with our earth-sheltered home designs. h is also
time in our hist0ry for us to re-establish a spiritual
communion with the planet, and living in an earth-sheltered
home is literally "close to the Earth."
As a professional homebuilder, the best advice I can
give prospective owners of earth shelter homes is to stay
closely involved throughout the entire home construction
project. Paradoxical as it may seem, special sensitivity is
most needed during the initial excavation of the home site.
This can make the difference between a site that looks as if it
has been cleared for a shopping mall and a homcsite that has
been carefully carved out of the Earth with respect and care.
You, the owner/dweller, will be the one to know how the
Earth looks and feels after the whole building process is
completed.
The solar warmth pcnncating a structure sitting in the
protective lap of Mother Earth can make each day a joy whe~~
one chooses to live with/within the Earth.
P"
Scott Bird is a professio11al residential designer
atUI builder of conven1ional atUI earth-sheltered homes in
the Katiial1 region. He works with Appalachian Building
&amp; Design.

I

Earth -Sheltered H abitat: llistory, Architecture and
Urban Design . Gideon S. Golany. Van Nostrand
Reinhold Co., Inc., 1983.
Notes and bibliography in back of boolc are rich in research.
The $50 and Up Underground House Book. Mike
Ohler. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., Inc., 1981.
Ear th Shelte red Homes: Plans and Designs.
Underground Space Center, University of Minnesota. Van
Nostrand Reinhold Co., Inc., 1981.
Construction information, plans and energy data for 23
successful earth-sheltered I~

A real bible/or ti~ Eanh Shelter fTl()vement, will help quiet
fears and insecurities concerning earth shelter planning,
design, building and living.

Untluground S poc•
Dept. of Civil &amp; Mineral Engineering, University of
Minncsoia, Minneapolis, MN 55455
Bi-fTl()nthly journal of the American Underground-Space
Assoc.

Natural Solar A rchitecture: A Passive Primtr.
David Wnght. Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., Inc.. 1978.
Wonderful. sensitive design with Earth, sun. and
environmenl working rogerher

Underline
Underground Space Center, 790 CME, 500 Pillsbury Dr.
SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455
Qiurerly

Underground House Book. Stu Campbell. Garden Way
Publishing Co., Charlotte, VT, 1980.
The favorite of many.

E n ergy Inform
3528 Dodge, Omaha, NE 68131
Complete bibliography of earth-sheltered writings. $5.00

1978.

KATUAH - page 12

WIN'ffiR 1987-88

�..............·•• ••••·• .·~11 •• ••••••••••••••••.• •·•·• .......... •·•·•••••• •••••••••·••·• •·•·••• ..... ........................................... •·•·• ........ •·•·••••·•·•·•••·• •·••• •••••••••••••• -•••
•

..::··

Through the whole spectrum of
living systems, from planet Eanh to a living
cell, the natural world is abundnnt in
rounded fonns. Within this synergetic order
the organizing principle of a covering, or
membrane, that meets 11self around a
nucleus is the basis of any regenerative
structure. Found in anim31 bodies and the
homes they build, as well as in the shnpe of
plants, their seeds and the housing for their
seed$, is this dynamic pnuern of a
membrane with inward and outward curves
being strong, insulative, protcctive, and
interactive with environments.
With this example human beings can
build sheller that is in tune with these
patterns and can rejoice in this resonance.
Ovoid, spiral, polyhedral, and branching
designs are a practical and pleasing
alternative to many of the dull rectangular
schemes we now employ. These ovolo lend
themselves 10 many styles and uses as a
way of dwelling wirhin surroundings.

.
'.

·:

::
..
.•
·:

..
.·

(conUll!JCld on s-sc 18)

..

:·
..

·.

.
'
'
'~

..
.:
'

':...

© Drawings and Text by Rob Messick~

•/

wn-(rnR.. i'9s7:sil .... ········· ···· ·.. ··· ··· ··· ...... ,... ,. · ···· ····· ... ···.··· .. ······ ·......... ·· ····.... ··· ····· ··· ·.... ·.......··· ·· ··· ··· ···KA.ru.;.:1:i :·p~.&amp;~ 13

�BRUSH SHELTER
by Snow Bear

As I.he autumn chill deepened into the sharp cold of winter,
it was important for native peoples to have a place to keep
wann when they were out hunting, away from their villages.
By watching how squirrels kept themselves andtheir young
warm and dry, native peoples learned the lesson of how to
build a stick and leaf nest It was a good way to keep warm
and dry without a fire. Here is a description of how to make
a temporary, primitive brush hut similar to those of the native
peoples here.
The brush hut provides warmth and shelter from rain and
snow, requiring no cordage or canvas in its construction. I
have spent a comfonable 15 degree night in such a hut with
no sleeping bag. When well made, it will shed heavy rain;
snow laying upon it becomes additional insulation. It takes
about I 1/2 -2 hours for a single person to make a shelter.
Unden;iand, however, it is not a home or a workplace when
made 10 cap1u~ body heat. An additional lean-co srrucrurc
can fill the need for workspace; it can be made using the
same method.
The idea is simple: to construct a low shelter framework
with dead and down branches and cover it thickly with leaf
liner from the forest noor. Essential to the Structure is a
strong ridge pole, at least nine feet long, placed wilhin the
fork of a living tree, three feet off the ground. In the absence
of a forked tree the proper height, I have used a strong, three
foot forked branch leaned against a tree trunk and secured
wuh long stakes pounded into I.he ground with a rock.
Staning at the end of the ridge pole that lies upon the
ground, stack branches up against the ridge pole. As you
place branches, alternate from side to side of the ridge pole;
the tops of the branches will interlock to keep the branches
from sliding off the ridge and serving to anchor the leaves at
the ridge. Remember to make the shelter at least twice as

SfAKE

'flALL

wide as your body: this will make a low, wide framework
that will keep its leaves in heavy wind. Less heat will escape
if your door opening is narrow and low. You can make a low
door after leaves have been put inside by using two forked
sticks to support a stout branch for a door lintel (see
dingrJm).
KATUAll ·page 14

Begin covering by using dry leaves. Always put leaves on
the top of the side you are working on; they will settle in to
the pince they are most needed. O&gt;ver in dry leaves so thnt
when you push your hand in to touch the stick framework,
the leaves come up past your elbow. This is essential for n
brush hut that will shed rain. Then, if available, use leaves
(from beneath the dry, crackJy leaves of the forest floor) that
are maned and compressed. These can be lifted off the
ground like shingles. Start at the bonom and lay them in
rows, overlapping each row. If any funher anchoring is
needed, you can use branches. laying them upright as you
did to make the frame.

To stay wann in winter weather, further insulation is
needed. Fill the inside with dry leaves, then wriggle in and
roll side to side until the leaves are compressed into a
"mattress". Do this at least four times to get a mattreSs that
will stay 8"-10" thick when you lay upon it. Then fill it once
more with leaves (pack them in!) and crawl in. To funher
retain heat, you can weave a door plug with thin green tree
branches. After you crawl in, pull the door plug closed from
inside and pile leaves against it You may need to leave a vent
:11 thc top or the door plug.
Spend many hours in practice before you rely upon your
skill for your well-being. This is true of any primitive
camping skill It would be good to make at least six shelters
before testing your skill on a subfreezing winter's night. The
consequences of a mistake in building your brush hut could
be hypothermia and death.
Building a brush hut is bu1 one of many vnluable
skills the old time Cherokee practiced; they were a people
who could stay warm, dry, well fed, clothed, nnd
comfonable with nothing but a knife as their basic tool. May
we keep these skills alive, that our people may live in,,.; #
strength nnd well being.
,P'
Wll\.'TFR 19R7-811

�Resources on Build ing &amp; Design:
Books:
I.ow-Cost, EntrtY Cfllcltnt SMltu for
tht Owner and JJulldtr, Edited by Eugene
Ecch. RO&lt;ble Press lnc , Emm3us, PA 1~9.
1976.
Furoctmtnt: Bulldlnt with Ctmtnt,
Sand. and \Virt .Hnh, Sunlcy Aben:romb1c.
Sc hockcn Books. NY. 1977
Tht /Jousts of Mankind, Cohn Dul y.
Thom:is and Hudson, NY, 1979
Arrosanti, An Urban Laboratory, Paolo
Solen. Avant Books. 191!4.
Natural Solar Auhltuturr: A Passil'r
Primtr, 03vid Wright , Environmcnul Architect.
Van :&gt;;osunnd Reinhold Co.• 1978.
Tht Tao Of Archllutuu, Amos th T1ao
Chang Princc10n Univ Prc.~s. 1956.
Tht Tfmlftu \Vay of Building
A Patttrn longuagt
Tht Oregon Expufment
ChrislOphcr Alexander, Cl al. Oxford Unrver.ity
Prc..&lt;;,&lt;;, NY.
From Tht Ground Up, John N. Cole and
ChNI~ Wing. L1Ulc, Brown and Co.. 1976.
Tht Stcond Old llou1t Catalogue, compiled
by Lawrence Grow. Universe Books. NY, NY,
1978.
&amp;mh Shtlttr, David Martindale. E.P. Duuon,
NY. 1981.
Passive Solar ArC'hlttcturt- Loglc a nd
Btauty, David Wright and Dennis A.Andrejko.
Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1982.

An Agt of Barns. Enc Sloane Ballantine
Books, NY. 1967.
l.og Bultdtrs l/andbuok, Drew Lang~ncr.
Rod31e Press, Emmau~. PA 18049
Shelttr, Shelter Publications. Mounuun Boot..s.
P.O. Box 4811. Santo Barbara, CA 93103, 1973.
Tht
Vittait
as
Solar
Ero loty,
Procttdings of Tht Ntw
Alrht1t11
Thrtshold Gtntrir Dtsign Conftrtnrt,
E.Wlc.d by John Todd and 1':inc)· Jack Todd, The :'\cw
Alchemy lns111u1c. 237 Hatchvillc Road. East
Falmouth. MA 02536, 1980.
llandmadt 1/ouscs, A Guidt to /ht
Woodbutchu's 1t r1, An Bocricke and Barry
Shapiro. Scnm~haw Press, San Franci"Co, CA.
1973
Tht Compltte LOI I/oust Boole,
Do le
M;inn and R1ch:ird Slmuhs. McGraw-Hall, 1979.
Building tht lltwn I.of lloust, Charle~
McRoven Thoma~ Y. Crowell Publishers, NY.
1978.
llandcrafted Doors and Windows, Amy
ZolTarano Rowland. Rocblc, 1982.
Mud, Spac1 and Spirit: 1/andmadt Adobe,
Virginia Gray, Alan Macrae, &amp; Wayne McCall
Capra Press, Sllllta B:irb:lra. CA. 1976.
A Goldtn Thrtad: 2500 Ytars of Solar
Archittcturt and Tuhnoto11. Ken Buui and
John Perlin. Cheshire Books, 19n.
Fantastic A rchlttcture: Personal and
Ecctntric Visions, Michael Scboyt and loost
Elfers. Harry N. Adams, Inc. NY, 1980.
Tht Owntr Built llomt; Tht Owner Built
Homestead ; Th t OM
•ntr Built Homtsttad
Rtvisittd, Ken Kem. Scnbners, NY.

How lo Malet Eltctrlcily from Wlnd,\Vattr
and Sunshlnt, John A. Kucd:en. Tab Boob,
Inc., Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17214, 1979
Rtin habltl ng
CitltS
a nd
Towns :
Dtslg nin1 for S us1ainability, John Todd
w1lb George Tul.cl Planet Drum Foundation,
P.O.Boit 3 I2S I, San Francisco. CA 94 131
Ptrmaculturt Ont. Bill Mollison and Da-.d
Holmgren , 1978. Pumaculturt Two. Bill
Molljson . 1979. Tagan Books, P.O. Boll 96,
Sunlcy, Ta~mania. 7331 Austmlia.
Dwtlting, by River, FrceslODC Publishing Co..
1974.

Pe r iodicals:
Adbbt Ntv. s, P.O. Boll 702. Los Lunas. N\1 87031
Ntw Shtlttr Magaunt, 33 Ea~t Minor Street
Emmaus, PA 1!!049
Altunatiw Sourcn of Energy. 107 S. Ccntml Ave ..
Milaca, MN S6JS3
New England Builder. The Journal of Light
Construction , P.O. Boll 278. Montpelier, VT
0.5(,02

FiM llomtbu1ldin1. Thc Tauton Press, Inc., 63
South M3in StrccL Newtown, CT 06470
Fine Wood Workin1. lllc Tauton Press. Inc ..
63 South Milin Street Newtown, CT 06470
Thi! Solar Collector (Soon to be The South/ace
Journal of Energy and Building Technology).
Published by the Southfnce Energy Institute. P.O.
Box S506, Atlanta, GA 30307

PASSIVE SOLAR COMPOSTING
TOILET
The typical live gallon flush IOilet consumes
approitim3tcly half of a household's conswnpl.ion of
water. This is about 12,000 gallons of waier / pu
person I pu yea to carTY 165 gllllons or body waste
co the place or disposal . What rcsulis is:
• Large amounis of valuable and sc:arcc pure
drinking Wlller is used
• Ground water and surface water is polluicd
• A useful, natural fertilizer is lost
• Energy-inicnsive nnd costly waste
ucatmcnt plnnis must be constructed
• The disposal of sewage sludge cau~
further pollution problems
We assume th:lt by nushmg and forgetting
we have solved the problem, yet in l'C3lity we have
only created several new ones. The watcrlcu
composting toilet is 11n alternative to these
problems. ll uses no water. thus chmmatlng
massive consumption used with Oush L01lcts The
&lt;;i-lf.eonUlincd sy51Cm protects ground Md ~urface
wai.ers from conLDmmat1on. and valuable nu111ents
arc coo,·cncd into a s:in1tary nch humus lhal can be
applied directly to the orch:ud. MUmCnl3ls. and the
garden. With solar fC3llltCS, 11 needs no additional or
outside source of enctgy to complete the
decomposition, nnd there arc no mechanical or
moving parts. Because of thi~. 11 needs very hule
ml\inlCD311CC nnd l'CqWICS no additional Cllpcn5CS after
the original mst11llauon .. Watct conservation equals
energy conscrvalJOn m that no energy is nocdcd to
pump. store, or purify waste.
Compo5ting toilets arc a part of an
appropriate technology m that they renect a
low-cost soluuon to local problems. They are
simple co build and mam1:11n: nnd can be constructed
from locally available materials.

WINTER 1987-88

Scx,.b.\&gt;I
:5 .·.
·
C.IW11'E:Y ·: " .:

lllc toilet conslSls of a c:oocreie block vauh
with a sloping "air s11u-case• system (sec diagram).
The org:lllic was1A:S move down the St:lll'CISC at a rate
that will insure aerobic dccomposlllon by the time
they reach the final storage chamber. Aerobic
decomposition means th:lt the ocg:inic materials a.re
breaking down in the presence or oxygen. The
compost pile is aerated in three ways: Fir;t, the
incoming air stream 1s prchC3lcd by the flat plate
sol.3r hot air collcc10r (eliminating the noed for an
adcbtio1131 power $0UtCC). and brought undeme:llh the
"steps" of the air ~talrcasc so th31 the au can
Cll'Culate from the bouom and on up through the
center or the pile. Second. the air is conducted
through the slotted and perforated four inch PVC
pipe ducts that run through the center of the pile.
Third, air nows over and across the pile, ovnpor:ating
citccss moisture and pulling olT the carbon d1oudc.
The solar chimney drives off the air c1rculat1on
system for the compostct by allowing the sun to
heat the air in the black vent si.ack. thus causing a
n3tural draft . The warm air rises by natural
convection and in tum pulls more air through the
colleci.or and through the compost pilc... the cycle
goes on.

Also. u's 1
mponant to lldd af1tt C3Ch U5C a
scoop or "dry Oush" materi31 nch in
carbon, ~ch as &amp;Tl.~' cilppmgs. sawdu~1. leaves.
peat. and 111ood ch1J&gt;l' You're building a working
compost pile here so you need enough fibrous
mlllCriJIJ to miit with the wastes to keep the pile
loose so n1r cnn circulate through. All odors arc
released through the solar chimney which ensures
the bathroom is free from odors at all tim~. The
humw; which is remo"cd 1s ooly live to ten percent
of the original volume as 9Q.9S percent will be
transformed 11110 carbon dioxide and water ,.apor and
rcle:iscd through the 'cnt. It will l3kc 3J'Pr0llma1Cly
two ycatli for the f~t decomposition pcnod, then
with the continuous proce.~s. three to icn gal Ions or
humus will be produc.xl per pcrsonfpcr year.
generou~

Dct:uled blueprints an: available for

SIS.OOfrom

Long Branch Environmental
l:ducanon Center
Route 2. Boit 132
Leicester, NC 28748
(704) 683 3662

KATUAH ·page 15

�Review of Rua Sims Quillen's

October Dusk
JULIEANNA

Bi' Timber, Mon1:1113; Sc•cn BuIT:lloc:; Press; 1987. 26 p:igcs

This collection of twenry-thrcc poems is as invumg a.s
a cool front porch in summcnimc Md opens to the l"C3dcr a
~orld of Appalachian place, culture, and ritual.
In Quillen's poems we arc rooted in a place of apple
buucr IT\:lking and calf binhing; a place where people look to
the seasons to tell them what work needs to be done. Herc
arc hard laboring people who draw such conclusions as 'The
potatoes from the garden/ lie scattered in the grass./
Tomorrow we will son them I and store them for winter."
This dedication is an intimate and loving gesture which leads
the reader to assume the couple in the poem, who sit on their
front steps after a hard day's wcrk and whose "eyes meet in
the fading light," arc lhc poet and her husband on their own
fann. Such intimacy is typical of Quillen's poems and is
neither offensively confessional nor self-indulgent, but rather
comfonablc and interesting-a glimpse into a panicular
Appalachian family's world.
ln these p&lt;&gt;cms rich in Appalachian culture, we notice
the effects of ume. Sometimes we sense the new imposing
itself on the old, as in "Time To Go". Here an old woman
sees a countryside overtaken by "multi-level
houses"-symbols of the new "American dream". But she
also observes young people taking over an "aged" farmhouse
and "trying to live in another time": ... solemn young
women in earth-colored clothing I chop wood and raise
chickens." She realizes that people !Oday arc facing a "hard
time," perhaps too hard, and she knows she has lived long
enough.
We often see old generations passing, as in
"Julicanna", in which "Mamaw" sits by the window and
recalls her past, not sadly, but acutely: "She can still smell I a
hot kitchen full of men I after a hard day ...." She sits with
her granddaughter, sometimes thinking she hears her late
husband "Paw I saying 'Julie' I and she almost answers."
Such moments in QuiJJen's poems are poignant, tender, but
rarely, if ever, repetful.
They are ultimately not regretful because Quillen sees
renewal in the passing of time and people. The poem
"Sunday School Lesson" (dedicated to the poet's son)
investigates the notion of new generations replacing the old,
as the mothet' ponders "how each of my children I resembles
someone long dead .•.. /The boy is my father I reborn I
with red hair." I find this poem comforting and a beautiful
and quite appropriate conclusion'° the collection.
My favcrite poems, however, are those that deal with
Appalachian ritual, as in "Revival", a poem which depicts a
child's perception of an old-time church revival, an event
filled with ta1Jc of fire and brimstone and infused with the
Holy Spirit ("Many moaned, cried I said Yes Lord"). The
child is confused and " [runs] out of the shadow into the
clean nl&amp;ht air". The poem doesn't pass judgement on the
revival, but certain! y captures the mystery of the ritual as
seen through a child's eyes.
A second of Quillen's poems set in the church,
"Meeting House," offcis a touching glimpse of another
country ritual: counship. In this poem we find z.ekc Bays
riding his "spooked" mule into a church service. It's not the
event itself, despite its quirkiness, that gives this .J&gt;OC:m its
reason for being. Instead, the hean of the poem lies in its
theme: the discovery of love. While Zeke apologizes fcr his
actions, he keeps his eyes on Anna Compton, a young
woman in the congregation, and this gesture signals to
everyone, including Anna. what Zeke feels for her. They all
know that "Zc.ke [will) be the one I to teach her about loving,
I sing little songs to her in the dark." These "little songs" arc
the essence of romantic love and will be as sweet, no doubt,
as that dark countty night when Zeke will sing them.
What I ultimately find most appealing about QuiJJen's
poems is her use of the concrete, her interweaving of crisp
illlllges that l can visualize and metaphors I can savor. In her
poems is a mngible world where one sees a "spring burst of
white blossoms", and smells "A musry sweat smell" of a
crowded country church, and hears "little chimney sweeps I
(that! cry in the blackness". This is a living world, the poet's
own, J suspect, that she has opened to her readers. We are
invited in for a while, and here we can discover, ponder,
and, I think, enjoy ourselves immensely.

Mamawfin1Jlly swps 11Jlking
She siis birdlike by the window
on a green vinyl chair.
Her toothless mourh opens, closes
collapses right inlo the face.
Her hands circle slowly around and around
as she talks,
every ~·ein dark bltl.t and swollen.
I warch and wait
can'r take my eyes off her.
Siu: keeps glancing ar the clock on the mlllllel

then back at me.
Eyes dull like old window fXJlll!S
stare oUJ the window 01 yestudays
w/u:n she worked wirh Ju:r /'1llJll
in steamy fields.
She remembers her babies,
rwo alive and grown,
rwo dead at birth
blood coming out their ears.
She can stifl smell
a hot ldtchenfull ofmen
after a hard day,
feel her own light, quick srep
move sure through ti~ gardi!n.
Someti~ she thinks she hears Paw
saying "Julie'
and she almost answers.
We sit together while
the old 1111J11Je/ clock ticks loud,
louder.
Ouiside the quaner moon,
the least lighl ofall,
hangs in the air
resting lighlly then
like that last spoken word.

OCTOBER DUSK
The evening dark
falls all around me,
iJs warm bl'eaJh
casts a shadow on my face.
Sitting 011 my front steps,
I am a candle flame
drawing moths and moS41'iu&gt;es,

holding the mo~nts in my cupped hands.
He sils quietly /:Ty~.

memories ofthe day's work
swift moving cowr shared

lilcefall leaves in the yard.
The pol/JJQes from the garden
lie scanued in the grass.
Tomo"ow we will sort them
and store thunfor winter.
His hand rests on my neck
as he slowly stands.
He off the other dirty hand
us
to help me up.

Our eyes meet in the fading lighl.
We go inside,
surrendtring to nighl,
d1t: sm411 ofeanh still strong.

- Julia Nunnally Duncan

KATuAH ·page 16

-------------------.,WINT;-;-;::;:-=E=:R:--:1~9-:::87::-·:-:88

�October Dusk
by Rita Sims Quillen

MEETING HOUSE
When Zeke Bays rode his mule in10 church
the sweating preacher froze
open-mol.UMd
in the middle of a Bible vuse
and the sranled men rtoched in rheir coaJS
fo r tlu! guns they left at home.
Aunt Becky Summey fainted 011 tlu! women's side,
a crowd rushed around her
as Zeke struggled wilh the mule,
its flat hooves senin~ up a deafening echo
on the rough plank floor.
H
What in tlu! \'.'Orldr S1Jmeone said.
Zeke meanJ co answer
bw the mule walked sideways
and jarred a pewfull of deacon's wives.
Anna Compron hid a s17Ule

untkr a~ whit.e hat
when ZekefiniUly managed
to steer the mule toward the door.
She watclied his hard, dark anns
pull aJ the rope.
noticed that full and STllOOth mouth,
tlu! long eyelashes
that made people say he was too pretty
fora man.
Pausing at the door,
Zeke apologized/or himself
and his wild, spooked anUnal.
said lu!'dfu the door.
Everyone tw7red to sr.are QI Anna
becm.ue he looked QI her as he talked.
She ~d red as her 111/)tWs tinnias.
She knew;
he did, too.
Now everyone probably saw ii:
Zeke would be the one
to reach her aboUI loving,
sing liltJe songs to her in the dart.

COLLAGE

TIME TOGO
Tire old woman
spits amber StilT$ in the dust
standing on a long road leading nowhere
except Elmwood Hills Subdivision
where ""'1ti-level houses stand mtJSt/y empty
save for the Nnuican dream
&lt;fwe.r bars, color1V, and pool tables.
And on down the road a piece
a lane mOlk l1y VW buses pressing down tlu! grass
leads wan agedfarmhouse
where rusty bu.eke.rs carch waur from the roof
and solemn young women in earth-colored clothing
chop wood and raise cAfcAzns:
living, walking memories
trying w live in another time
while the old woman
keeps si/en1 waJch
She holds lu!r breath, st.anding and ware/ling
between the IWO
there in the stardusr rood,
pocks her jaw with more tobacco.
She's thin/clng what a hard time
they will all have
and congratu/ares herselffor living just long eno11gh.

WINTER 1987·88

I hold the dl.m picture close to the light.
The background ls faded:
an old man's silhouette on a barnwall.
black On 8rtl)'·
a shaft of white sun slashing his face.
He holds a bale of hay on his left shoulder,
expruslon dirta

dueEast-

overlapping with the tiny grantlson
in the foreground
lying Ill the crib,
seemingly soulless
in that sl«p beyond remembrance
known only to the M\'.born and rhe dead.
Yet surely there nwsr /lave been
ho~d puffs ofair
passing through rhose he.an-shaped lips,
the soft body rising with eoch breath..
The missing lin/c
is the old man's son the baby'sfarher out ofthe picture somewhere
where f Qlhers always are,
leaving me to wonder about JUm,
impatient wilh my owA curiosity.
Ile is1ust another man,
seed bearing seed.
Why do I go begging for meaning
in rhe accidenUJI double - expos11re?
KATUAH - pa!!,e 17

�In the old days "shelter" meant just
that: a place to sleep and to get out of the
weather. A building or a structure was
not a place where people spent their
·whole lives, as it is today.
Jn a modem city, people go from one building - where
they live, eat, and sleep - by car to another building where
they work, and then go back again. They even exercise in a
building! Only incidentally do they get out into the open air.
These people live in a completely anificial environment. They
regard the natural elements as inconveniences to be avoided.
When I was a boy living with my grandfather and
grandmother, we would take all the doors and windows off
the house in April. By the end of May we had moved the
wood cookstove outside under a liule shelter, and my
grandmother would cook out there. We also slept outside.
We did not have tents or sleeping bags, so we slept under a
liule brush arbor we built to keep the dew off us. We slept
there until thunderstorms or a wet spell of several days
would make us go back inside for awhile.
We lived oucside and did everything under the brush
arbor and under the O'CCS until the last pan of October. Then,
when the leaves fell, and it swted to get cool, we would put
the windows and doors back onto the house, move the
cookstove back inside, and Stan 11 up again.
But even in the wintertime we would use the dogtrot,
which was a wide, covered passageway between the two
pans of the house, as a place 10 shell beans. whittle or carve,
make baskets, or work on other projects. We would eat there
in summer when the weather was rainy and we had
company. Folks would always visit and socialize there. Out
there it was alright 10 smoke or chew tobacco and spit.
When my grandfather was a boy, his grandfather
was living with his family. The old man was a strong
influence on the boy, telling him many siorics about how the
Indian people used to do things. That is why my grandfather
always liked the idea of houses with cane mat walls, the way
they were built before the white settlers came. He used to say
that building a structure that lasted beyond one's lifetime was
a burden on the Earth.
Back before they were all cleared, the river bottoms
were full of thick-growing river cane. The cane was an
incredible material that was used for many purposes. One of
the main use:. was to m:ike $iding for the houses in the
villages along the river bouoms. The women wove the split
cane into mats that '"'ere ~even feet tall and six to ten feet
long. These were hung on a framework of poles stuck into
the ground in a circular pauem. Other poles were lashed
across for bracing and 10 suppon roof rafter;. The roof was
made of bundles of broormcdge grass. which is waxy and
oily and repch water. These were bound in place to make a
thatched roof. In this way the people could build a dry
structure 1n a very, very shon time. If the mats were still
good in the fall, they might roll them up and use them again.
In some of the larger, more permanent villages like
Peachtree or Old Echorn, they would daub the cane mats with
clay. In the smaller villages they would replace the mats
every year and never daub them. One time when we walked
across the field where Old Echota was formerly located, we

found chunks of hard clay that bore the imprints of whole
cane leaves and stalks that had been pan of the old houses.
They also would build small towers in the fields
among the com and squash plants. Kids would take rums
standing watch in the small buildings 10 head off marauding
animals and 10 throw stones at the crows.
The old com-cribs were also built off the ground.
They were made of thin poles and were well-daubed with
mud. Every crack, even around the doorway, was tightly
sealed to keep rats and mice out of the gnin. They put up
com, beans, and dried pumpkin in pots and checked their
stores frequently.
The only permnnent structures were the town house,
which was built on a mound at the center of the village, and
the asi 's, or hothouses. An asi was a family storehouse,
guest house, sweat lodge, and winter shelter. They were
eanh-covered structures that were built on the surrounding
hills above the fertile bouomlands.
The asi was low and na1, usually constructed on a
slight rise to help the water run off. They were made of
wood, usually locust trees. Medicine people often made their
asi's with seven sides. the sacred number, but families
usually nude them square, 12 by 12 feet or JS by IS feet.
according to the size of the family. The: basic log structure
was covered with mats, then broomsedgc would be placed
on top of that, and then soil would cover that. Some of the
older asi's had grass growing on top of them, but the locust
never roued, and very rarely would they ever leak.
In the summenime the asi would be used for storage
or to house guests if the family had clan \isitors. although
the town house was also used for overnight lodging.
The asi would also be used for sweat lodge
ceremonies. A family would move its thi~gs out, and they
would heat up a pile of big rocks in a large fire outside and
carry them into the asi. A lot of people could crowd in 10 sit
around the steaming rocks. The sweat lodge was one of the
- continued on page 28

KATIJAH - page 18

WINTER 1987-88

�'The Grear Spirit did not give man
the right to destroy this great life."
(ucuptsfrom a ra/A: ta the bled btar conftrtnct by
Kay Littfr)Ohn. a Chcr'1Ut Indian}

My fotlu!r 011d grandfather and their
grandfathers before were asked to speak on
behalfof our animal relatives, which were
rapidly disappearing in their times: the snail
darter, the ivory-billed woodpecker, the
passenger pigeon, ti~ CoroliNJ parrot, and
1.lte list goes on and on and on.
Each one of my ancestors wlro spoke
om against the destruction of our relatives.
saw that tire native people of this country
were placed here by the Great Spirit as
caretakers. We see this great gift of mind
011d creativity as something we use 10 share
witlt all those two-legged, four-legged,
winged, water, and root creotiues.
We see ourselves as something not
set apart from our environment, but as a
pan of the whole .....
There is hope in me tltat thest people
who hove removed us as caretakers will see
the responsibility that we all share. I om
responsible/or pollwion, the disappearance
of the animals and plants, for hate, and
prejudice, as eoclt and every one ofyou are.
Our people were swept aside with tire
j11stijicotion of "manifest destinyH. This
archaic expression was used in tlte post to
ju.rtify cruel and unjust acts. This some
plulosoplty exists today, when it comes to
the nvo-legged, four-legged, roots, and
insea creanues
Let's not let "manifest destinyH be the
ckstruction of al/ life. The Great Spirit did
not give man the right to destroy this great
life
Great Spirit, my prayer is for Yonoh,
01u brother, ti~ black bear.

Concern for the black bear (Ursus
omericonus) in the Southern Appalachians
drew over 200 people to the Owen
Conference Center at the University of
Nonh Carolina al Asheville on September
29 10 hear a schedule of speakers presenting
different perspectives on the present and
future condition of the black bear and its
mountain habitat. The conference was
sponsored by the Environmental Studies
Program at UNCA, the Southern
Appalachian Black Bear Federation, Long
Branch Environmental Education Cenrer,
and Klu.UBh.
The presenting speakers agreed that
the black bears had survived intense
pressures, but that the species faced even
more difficult times in the near future.
caused primarily by the ever-expanding
human population. Opinions differed widely
as to the nature and the projected impact of
these pressures, but the mood of the
conference was one of guarded optimism
that if people of different points or view
could work together, the problems facing
the black bear could possibly be averted.

As Dr. Michael Pelton, professor in
the Depanment of Wildlife, Fisheries, and
forestry :11 thc Univer.;ity ofTenncssec said
in his keynote address. "We are sitting on
the last major long· term population of the
WINTER 1987-1-iR

THE FUTURE OF YONAH,
THE BLACK BEAR
black bear in the Southeast."
He said that the indigenous black bear
population had by its remarkable
adaptability overcome the threats posed by
the massive deforestation of the
Appalachians by the timber industry in the
early years of this century and the chestnut
blight, which wiped out the American
chestnut tree, the bears' most stable and
abundant food source.
"Diminishing habitat has without a
doubt been the single most imponant factor
that has impacted these animals," said Dr
Pelton.
"It is unlikely that any new habitat
will be created," he said, and called for
policies to proteet and maintain large blocks
of forested lands in the Appalachians for the
far-ranging black bear species.
"More miles of open roads and forest
management policies that decrease hard mast
(acorn and nut) production will lower the
carrying capacity of the forest for black
bear," said the biologist. "Roads affect
bears either through direct monality or by
bears having to shift their habitat to more
marginal areas, making them more
vulnerable to monality. A road policy must
be clearly defined and strictly enforced. That
is very important to the long-term stability
of the situation.
"We also need a management strategy
to perpetuate and stabilize hard mast
production in the Appalachians. This means
long tree harvest rotations to allow oalc trees
long-term mast production when they reach
maturity."
Roben Zahner, professor of Forestry
at Clemson University, underscored the
need to encourage the different oak species
in the mountains.
"At this point," he said, "When we're
talking about bear habitat, we're talking
about acorns.
"Oak trees are showing signs of
decline in different areas, and there is some
reason to believe that atmospheric pollution
is an influence."
Zahner also warned of the approach
of the gypsy moth, whic.:h has the capacity
to defoliate whole forests and is moving
toward the Southern Appalachians. There is
no way to predict what the elfcc.:h of the
moth infes1ation will be on the black bear,

but the larvae or the insect prefer green oak
leaves, and it will have a strong negative
effect on the mast-bearing trees, he said.
In light of these pressures to come,
Zahner advocated extending the roration age
of trees; implementing a strong oak
regeneration program; and keeping large
blocks of forest land intact to cushion the
effects of future pressures on black bear
habitaL
Lauren Hillm3n, wildlife biologist for
the US Forest Service, said that "population
management is a second critical factor for
the future of the black bear."
Citing population studies in the
Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest, she said
that "monality is at or approaching its
maximum sustainable limit..... Population in
the Pisgah-Nantahala National Forest is
probably not declining, but the population
appears to be characterized by a
preponderance of animals in very young age
classes."
This affects the availability of
breeding females necessary to keep the
reproduction rates up to the level of
occurring mortality. Shortening the bear
hunting season or pushing it back later in
the year tends to protect females, who go to
den earlier than the males.

A bright spot in the conference was a
report by Kei1h Langdon, resource
management specialist for the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park, who spoke of
promising results in the the breeding of
blight-resistant American chesmut trees that
one day might be able to reinhabit the
species' former range. New genetic
techniques developed by researchers
affiliated with the American Chestnut
Foundation have produced encouraging
results in eitperiments in Minnesota, said
Langdon.
John Stokes, storyteller and
musician, and the dancer Zuleika presented
on Iroquois Indian story about the bear. In
closing, Stokes said, "We have only one
statistic to offer you. That is that we arc
100% sure that the sumval of the black bear
is not a question of number-s, but a spiritual
question."

pfll'

KATUAH- page 19

�NATURAL
WORLD

NEWS
FIGHTING THE BIG BURN
IN CALDWELL COUNTY
by Barbara Kirby
(from a talk before t~ WNC A//iQJICe)

For nearly 1wo ye:irs the people of the
Mt. Hennon Community near Hudson in
Caldwell County, NC have been involved 1n
an intense fight to get rid of a hazardous
waste incinerator on nearby Lick Mountain.
The history of the incinerator goes
back 13 years to 1974 when the county
decided it would purchase the equipment
to burn hazardous wastes trom t.:aJClwell
and surrounding counties. Caldwell is a
m.'.ljor furniture producing area, with a lot of
noxious wastes as by-products.
In 1975 a fire in the incinerator plant
forced its closure, and the county officials
decided that they were not qualified to
operate the facility. It was leased it to a man
named Charles Foushee, who began
Caldwell Systems, Inc. (CSI). Charles
Foushee is the man who operated the
Mitchell Systems incinerator and was
unceremoniously thrown out of Mitchell

County a year and a hnl r ago.

In 19&amp;3 the county commissioners
agreed to renew the CSI lease for 25 years.
There had been complaints of odors,
smoke, and pollution, but they were
low-key, and few people had been
involved.
In 1985 a man named L. C. Coonse
began serious opposition to the waste
incinerator. Following his lead, a group of
people organized as Caldwell Concerned
Citizens for a Clean Environment. Their
first act as a group was to ask the county
commissioners to form a study committee to
investigate the incinerator and determine if
any health hazards did in fact exist
Since that time we have met with
continuous obstruction. The study
committee was started eventually, and they
have done an excellent job with the aid of
hired legal and environmental expcns.

The study committee found several
instances of unsafe operation of the
incinerator planL As one example, the
manufacturer of the incinerator reoommends
that it bum no more than 1,882 pounds of
hazardous waste per hour. But the operators
go by the state regulations, which allow
them to bum 4,018 pounds per hour. The
incinerator bums 22 million pounds of
waste per year.
Halogenated hydrocarbons, a very
serious health hazard, are burned at the
plan1. On August 22, 1987 phosgene gas
(also known as mustard gas) was released
into the air. Several Mt. Hermon residents
were stricken by the vapors.

KATIJAH - page 20

Numerous employees have been sick,
and one person is probably going to die
from injuries sustained there.
Caldwell Concerned Citizens has
continuously pressed the county
commissioners to do something. We have
pressed the state. The state has been very
reluctant to work with us. They have started
studies and refused us access to the data
generated. Our group has raised $5000.00
to do our own soil and water studies, all of
which have shown contamination.
The county commissioners have been
under tremendous pressure from the state
Natural Resources and Community
Development (NRCD) and others to lceep
the incinerator open, because since the
closing of the Mitchell Systems plant, it is
the only commmercial hazardous waste
incinerator in the state.
We have found that part of the
problem in regulating a hazardous wa~te
incinerator is that there are very few
regulations. So tho incinerator operators can
truthfully say, "We meet all regulations,"
but that does not mean that they are not
hurting anythUig.
In October, 1987 the srudy comminee
finally recommended that the Caldwell
Systems incinerator be closed. At a meecing
on November 2, the county commissioners
said that they would ask CSI to leave. The
announcement was met with cheers from the
more than 400 people in the audience. The
commissioners continued by saying that
they would allow CSI to sell its business
and equipment to another company. They
did not set a deadline for when CSI had to
be ouL They did not tell us who would be
the new buyer. They did not say anything
about cleaning up the area, which in
Mitchell County was a job of several
months duration.
A near-riot ensued after that
announcement. and the commissioners left
under the protection of lhe sheriffs
departmenL
The outcome of all this is still not
clear, but there is cause for hope. At a
special meeting on November 9 the county
commissioners voted to temporarily close
the CSI plant. The final result still remains
to be seen.

Citizens is an orRanization of mountain
people just like all of us Their experience
shows us that we can learn what we need to
learn w deal with these issues. Ir's as simple
as chal.")

SMOKIES WILDERNESS BILL
PASSES THE US HOUSE
N.wnl World News Service

A bill co-sponsored by Rep. James
McClure Clarke of NC that would officially
declare 90% of the Great Smoky Mountain
National Parle a wilderness area has won
unanimous approval in the US House of
Representatives. Wilderness status would
protect the greater part of the Park from
road-building or any olher development.
This bill formally ratifies the past
management policy of the National Park
Service and gives it the force of law.
The House bill authorizes a payment
of $9.5 million to Swain County, NC and
forgives a $1.6 million loan to the county by
the Farmers' Home Administration to
redeem a promise made at the Park's
inception for a road to a family cemetary
located at Deals Gap within the Parle limits
A similar bill, S. 963, has been
proposed in the Senate, sponsored by NC
Sen. Terry Sanford and Sens. Sasser and
Gore of TN.
Sen. Jesse Helms has proposed
countering legislation in the Senate that
would cut the amount of land to be put into
wilderness and authorize the road to the
cemewy to be built through the Park.
Congressman Clarice expressed
optimism about the Sanford bill's chances in
the Senate, saying, "I think this is the best
chance we have to get this controversy
behind us. Everybody, even Senator
Helms, feels that the 23 mile. $400 million
road to the cemetary will never pass the
Congress."

(Taylor Barnhill ofthe Western Nonh
Caroli/Ill Alliance says, "Barbara Kirby is
not an environmental ex:perr. She is a school
librarian ar Maiden Elementary School in
Catawba Coulll)', NC. Caldwell Concerned

WINTER 1987-88

�CONGRESSIONAL ACTION
ON THE MRS
Nlllllnll Wmld News S.S-.a

POACHERS CAUGHT;
POACHERS CONVICTED
Acting on an anonymous tip, NC
wildlife officers caught and charged seven
men with bear baiting on Mackey Mountain
near Manon, NC.
The seven appeared in McDowell
County Oistnct Coun on Nov. 9. Four of
the men pleaded guilty to bear baiting,
which is illegal in NC, and were given a
minimum fine of $250, a suspended jail
sentence, and lost all hunting privileges for
two years.
Two others contested the case, but
were also found of guilty of the same
charge. They stated their intent to appeal the
decision.
The remaining case had not come to
!rial by the end of the day.
The poaching !rial was monitored by
the Southern Appalachian Black Bear
Federation, which is initiating an active
program to discourage poaching in Katiiah.
'This is the most flagrant case I've
ever seen. They've been doing it all
summer." Frank Pennell, enforcement
officer for the NC Wildlife Resources
Commission (WRC) in McDowell County
told the Charlotte Observer.
Responding to the tip, wildlife
officers investigated the baiting site, which
was just outside the boundary of the
Mackey Creek Bear Sanctuary. The officers
found enough snack cakes at the site to fill
two bushel baskets. Cellophane wrappers
from hundreds of other snack products
littered the ground around the area. The bait
was placed by the poachers to lure the bears
off the protected sanctuary lands, so they
could set dogs on their trail and run them in
unprotected parts of the Pisgah National
Forest. When the bears would finally be
shot, they would miles from the
incriminating bait site.
The actions of poachers threaten the
stability of the black bear population in the
Southern Appalachians. Poached kills go
uncounted in bear population management
statistics, and poaching from the state bear
sanctuaries violates areas that are set aside to
provide females a safe breeding ground for
a core population to maintain the numbers of
black bears in the mountains.
Defend the bean! Write to:
Ass'L District Attorney Sandra Pugh
P.O. Box 2143
Marion, NC 28752
Tell her that you arc watehing the bear
poachers' appeal case and that you care
about the outcome.
If any signs of other poaching activity
are seen, one may call the WRC "Wildlife
Watch" number, 1·800-662-7137, to repon
known or suspected violations.
Confidentiality is assured.
It is dangerous to personally intervene
with poachers and far safer to call wildlife
enforcement officers.
Compiled 111 patt from o uport ur tlw CharlOlu
Qbrmz,

The US House of Representatives
and the US Senate are on a collision course
on crucial high-level radioactive waste
legislation.
ln the House. a move toward a
momrorium and independent review of the
nuclear waste management program is being
led by Rep. Morris Udall (D-Utah) and
Rep. Jamie Clark of the NC Ninth District.
The vehicle is HB 2967 which would
institute a study commission to review the
actions of the US Department of Energy
(DOE) and halt any funher site selection
work for the two planned high-level nuclear
waste dumps and the MRS (Monitored
Retrievable Storage). which the DOE would
like to site in Oak Ridge, TN.
Senator Bennett Johnston (D-LA) is
pushing Senate Bill 1668 (the
Johnston-McOure bill) that would authorize
an MRS. The MRS would store 80-90% of
the nation's high-level nuclear waste.
If Johnston were to succeed in his
efforts, Karuah would not only be
threatened by the MRS, but would be one
giant step closer to receiving the second
high-level nuclear waste dump in the Ellc
River geological formation, just outside of
Asheville, NC.
Congressman Jamie Clar.Ice; US
House of Representatives; Washington, DC
20515 deserves thanks for sponsoring HB
2967, and NC Senat0rs Sanford and Helms;
US Senate Office Building; Washington,
DC 20510 need to hear from people in the
region who do not want the MRS and 1hc
high-level waste dump.

fA
PAC AGAINST THE
COMPACT

••

Nlllnl World News Service

The NC Political Action Committee to
Dump the Compact has been formed to elect
legislators to the NC Senate and General
Assembly that will withdraw the state from
the Southeast Low-Level Radioactive Waste
Compact, which plans to dump 32 million
cubic feet of radioactive waste in the state
over a 20 year period begiMing in 1992.
The group is planning to mount a strong
campaign around the state's May 3 primary
and November 8 election in 1988.
Contact the organization at:
P.O. Box 26071
Raleigh, NC 27611

FOREST SERVICE PLAN
UNDER APPEAL - AGAIN!
NllUnl World News Service

The Western North Carolina Alliance
(WNCA) and the NC Chapter of the Sierra
Oub have both entered fonnaJ legal appeals
of the Pisgah-Nantabala 15-Ycar
Management Plan to the Chief of the US
Forest Servicein Washington.
The WNCA is filing on the basis of
several violations of the Forest Management
Act of 1976. The act requires that forest
management be done on a site-specific
basis, that management promote biological
diversity in the National Forests, and that
multiple-use management (which includes
water, wildlife, and recreational needs as
well as timber harvesting) be practiced.
The WNCA in its suit says that the
Forest Service is not considering
management practices based on conditions
at individual sites, but rather is making
blanlcct prescriptions for clearcuning in all
pans of the forest. They cite the Forest
Service for managing the forest to promote a
few selected varieties of trees, rather than
promoting the wide diversity of trees found
naturally in the Appalachian hardwood
forest.
The suit goes on to say that the
widespread practice of clearcutting destroys
protective cover, old denning trees needed
by many mammal species, and
mast-producing trees necessary for many
species' survival.
The WNCA favors uneven-aged
timber management by means of selective
cutting.
The WNCA suit also protested the
extensive use of prescribed burning by the
Forest Service, calling the practice
"excessive and environmentally damaging."
The suit mentioned in particular the
controlled bum that was triggered by
dropping napalm in the Mica City Creek
watershed.
Both the Sierra Club and WNCA
suits called the Forest Service to task for
making many below-&lt;:&lt;&gt;st timber sales.
saying that the agency did not, in the words
of the USDA, "accept a considerably greater
burden of proving that a below-cost timber
program is necessary."
The Sierra Oub lawsuit also charged
the ForcSt Service with projecting excessive
road building into the 15 year plan.

• continued on next page
WINTER 1987-88

KATUAH-page 21

�- continued from page 21

RECYCLING CENTER OPENS
AT ASHEVILLE LANDFILL
Nannl World News Scrviee

DUKE POWER MOVING IN
ON THE MOUNTAI~S
N-1 World News Scsv..,..

Duke Power Company is planning to
scour and nood 1,200 acres on Coley Creek
in 1hc heart of the Jocasscc wa1ershed 10
build a reservoir for a pumped s1oragc
hydroelectric project
The watershed is in the sou1hcrn
reaches of Transylvania Coun1y, NC, jus1
above the South Carolina st111c line. The
Horscpas1urc River, which was rccen1ly
inducted in10 1he National Wild and Scenic
River System, and the Whuewater,
1 hompson, and Toxaway rivers now
through the area.
The Jocassce Watershed is currently
undeveloped and unspoiled. The
well-known Foothills Trail crosses I.he area,
and it is home to the endangered Oconee
Bells flower and several types of rare fems
that grow on I.he north-facing sides of some
of I.he many waterfalls in lhe drainage. Two
colonies of lhe green salamander, rare in
this re~ion, live on Coley Creek. But the
high nunfall and abrupt chan~cs in elevation
that malcc this a unique area m the East also
make ii a prime area for hydroclectrical
development
Duke Power has submit1ed a draf1
application 10 I.he Federal Energy Regulation
Commission fora 2,100 mcgawan pumped
s1orage facility that will cost $3.3 billion to
construct. Plans call for a dam to flood the
main valley and two or three side valleys
and coal-fired electric plan1s that will
produce energy 10 pump water back uphill
during slack pcnods. A new road is
proposed from NC Route 281 10 the cast
side of Thompson Ridge - a 1,000 foot drop
over nine miles - to transpon heavy
equipment to the Coley Creek sile and to
maintain the project.
The Jocassec Wa1ershed Coalition
(JWC) has been formed to oppose the
flooding of Coley Creek and to press for
inclusion of the Whitewater, Thompson,
and Toxaway rivers in the federal Wild and
Scenic Rivers System. The JWC is
comprised of citizens' groups,

cnvironmcn1al groups. and individual
landowners and hunters tha1 use the
watershed. They arc being aided by the
Sou1h Carolina Wa1er Resources
Commission, which, fearing damage to
tr0u1 fishing waters, is urging protection of
I.he rivers in I.hat state.
'lhis is going 10 be a mon:: difficult
taSlc than saving the llorscpastun::," said Bill
Thomas, co-chair of the JWC, "because
Duke Power has owned the land since the
1960's."
The JWC is suggesting to Duke
Power I.hat providing incentives for energy
conscrvarion 10 reduce overall electrical
consumption would be a cheaper alternative
that would possibly obviate the need for I.he
Coley Creek dam.
Utility companies, par1icularly in
New England and the Pacific Northwest
have been using this option to avoid
installing nuclear power plants or other
unsightly and polluting electrical generating
facilities. Research has shown I.hat it is twO
to four times cheaper to invest in energy
conservation in preference to energy
generation.
At a meeting with Duke Power, JWC
representatives proposed tha1 1he company
hire a consullant 10 do preliminary research
into the possibility of invesung in energy
efficiency as a possible option. The
company refused.
"It seemed like a prcuy good idea to
us," said Thomas. "parucutarly since a
consultant would only cost $30,000 as
compared to the $3.3 billion budget for I.he
Coley Creek project."
The JWC 1s requesting that Katiiah
residents wrire to:
Tommy Rhodes
NC Depanment of Natural Resources
and Community Development
P.O. Box 27687
Raleigh, NC 2761 I
to ask that I.he 1hree rivers of 1he Jocassce
Wa1crshed be placed immediately under
state prorection.
To contact the Jocassec Watershed
Coalition, wricc:
Gil Leebrick
c/o Highlands Biological S1ation
P.O. Drawer 580
Highlands, NC 28741
Duke Power is also deepening its
involvement in the mountain region be
buying out the Nan1ahata Power and Ligh1
Co., which provides electricity 10 1he five
wcstcm-mos1 coun1ics of NC.
Veronica Nicholas, a county
commissioner of Jackson Coun1y. NC and
tong-time activist in citizen struggles with
Nantahala, calls this process "changing
masterS."
She observes, "By adding
Nantahala's area and resources and
developing the pump storage facility in
Transylvania County, Duke Power is a-ying
to create an in1cgrated generating system. I
think they're loolcing to a time when they
won't be able to rely on nuclur power."

The Buncombe County Board of
Commissioners, with the support of Quali1y
Forward, has opened a recycling cen1er at
the Asheville landfill, located seven miles
north of Asheville on Highway 251. Clear
glass, colored glass (brown and green
separated), newspaper. corruga1ed
cardboard, and aluminum cans may be
recycled. The cenlcr is open during regular
landfill hours: 8:00 am-4:30 pm,
Monday-Friday and 8:00 am- I :00 pm on
Saturdays.
The usual landfill tipping fee of Sl.25
is waived ror up 10 10 bags of garbage for
!hose who bring four bags of recyclables.
II has been estima1 that up 10
ed
one-lhird of all solid waste can be recycled.
Recycling to this cxtcn1 in Buncombe
Coun1y would depend on other recycling
1echniqucs as well as 1hc recycling area at
the landfill. Curbside pick-up, on-si1c
separation, and small, local commercial
recycling businesses would all make
recycling more convenient and profitable.
The remaining two-thirds of the
genera1ed waste could be composted, 1umcd
into fuel pellets, or compacted and
landfilled. All lhesc methods arc currently in
use elsewhere.
The Asheville landfill recycling center
is a response on the pan of citizens to the
idea of mass-bum incineration, which is one
waste-disposal technology under
consideration by the Buncombe County
Commissioners.
The major advocates of incinera1ion
arc mega-industries trying 10 comer 1he
SIOO billion spem annually in I.his country
on waste disposal.
Incinerators arc the most expensive
solid was1e management technology a
community can choose. They arc expensive
to opera1c, involving massive inputs of
non-renewable fuels, and repairs have
proven 10 be devastatingly expensive.
There are also major heahh and
environmental problems involved in
incineration. Fine particles of lead,
cadmium, mercury, manganese, antimony,
tin, and other heavy mc1als arc released in
the incinerator smoke. Dioxin, the mos1
highly carcinogenic of the synthc1ic
hydrocarbons. has been identified in
significan1 amounlS in incinera1or gases and
ash. The ash i1sclf is slated to soon be
designated a hazardous waste by the US
Envtr0nmcntal Protection Agency.
Although a small s1cp, the recycling
center at the Asheville landfill is a start
toward bet1er waste managcmen1 practices
and deserves resident use and support./

WINTER 1987-88

�A

CHILDREN'S

PAGE

Underground House - Abigail Bird, Madison County, NC

Under Water House
Sarah Reany
Floyd County, VA
I would have a big house under the
ocean and you got there by going through a
door in a house on an island. My house
would be shaped like a big mushroom. I'd
have a big window on lhe top or lhe ocean
to get sun power. And I'd have a fire at the
bottom or my house and a boot and I'd have
a bumblebee for flying away. I'd have a big
flower so the bumblebee can drink.

j
J

(

11..i

Mn

1 .:
.....

h" (; .m ifJ
v

f 11t 1.1t1 ~

,t

u1~t -t11e

9n"vtn../.

ti! ..&gt;.

t.l.."l'OU..9"'

Ofltr( 5LiJQ

-

....

flJ1Jl. lC

j()(:;.o h 1..s B
td

__ _
Underground House - Michael Flowers, Madison County, N /

WI NTER 1987.:88

KATIJAH ·page 23

�Dear Friends •

DRUMMING
LETIERS TO KATUAH

Ko.lWth 1s still a\ good as alway\, but I do agree it
Y.ould be a i;ood idea to keep the old format. I'd hate for
~omc folk~ to i;et left out becau~e the price Y.Cnt up. Ju\t
some or the feedback I've also heard from some people who
enjoy looking forward to the ne:itt issue. Keep up the good!
Tara Cla)1on
Rougcmc:nt. :\C
.....Thanks for a great fall issue. In response to your
question: I'd rnthcr sec )oU mainl3in the ine:\pcnsive,
rccycleablc newl&gt;print. Keep up the good Y.Ork.
Jeanene (Cabanis}
Cashiers. t\C

Dear Friends •
Let me tcU you what I feel is important in my life:
I stan a fire by spinning a wooden spindle. In doing
this, r re-enact a ritual that transcends the bounds of time.
Smoke curls from powdery, hot, black dust, and I am
re-establishing my link with nature through an act of
primitive humanity.
I skin the gift deer with a stone knife I made, and
butcher this friend who has given life for continuation of life.
Eating this sacred food cooked on my fire, I realize that the
deer is inside me and becomes pan of me, and I become pan
of 11. I wear clothes made from this deer's skin, and. as I
move, the deer moves with me. We arc one.
1 bathe in the stream, and the life blood of the Mother
Eanh cleanses me, and again I sec the connecting link
between my being and all of the universe.
By panicipating in a primitive life, in immediate
contact with the natural (real) world, I find comfoning,
meaningful relationships with all of my relatives in this
universe. I have lived outside for over eight years, nunurcd
by this primitive exi~tencc. During thi!&gt; apprenticeship with
nature, a chief activity has been the use of natural materials
for appropriate "Earth Skills" technologies to make a lhing,
following techniques that natives have used in this area for
over 12,000 years.
I feel I have learned something valuable. and I want to
share it. I have found how useful "Eanh Skills" arc in
connecting humans and nature and stimulating spiritual
insight, :ind I te.ich these methods to others.
"Earth Skills" are life suppon activiucs through which
people involve themselves in nature, primiuvc technologies,
and primitive thinking processes.
In the barren realities of modem American life and
thought, "Eanh Skills" arc an avenue to understanding
another way of perceiving the world and developing a
foundation for spuituality based upon interaction with the
natural world.
On the surface, making a bucket of tree bark seems
practical only because it provides a wild woods container.
But in our day and culture, the experiment has a much more
valuable benefit: we gain a very strong perception and
understanding of a connecting linlc with the foreSt and with
the primitive skills that our ancestors depended upon. By
experiencing the physical connection, we arc opened to
appreciate the spiritual value of the event.
Leaming "Eanh Skills" relates an individual with the
na11ual world to produce a craft or ~riml!nr that brings a
person to the awareness of the connectedness of all things,
humans included.
•Earth Skills" lessons arc inherently spiritual. I never
need to mcnuon the word "spirituality" or to scare
conscrv:mves with phrases like "change m world view." The
latent revelations, connections. and meaningful guides need
never be anicul:ued. They just happen.
"Ennh Skills" give a strong, practical foundation for
under.;tanding spiritual realities by sharing Y.ilh the spirits of
the wild places.
Eustace Conway
602 Deerwood Drive
Gastonia, NC 28084
KATUAU ·page 24

Durable magazine format vs less durable newspaper
format · I'll opt for qunlity in either presentation. One awaits
Katuah eagerly each season because of hannonious weavings
of philosophy, issues facing our Mother Eanh, teachings to
share, verse to stimulate ponderance, etc. For me the present
format works!... ..
Bern Grey Owl
Raleigh, NC

I'm making a prayer
I'm gathering the kindling
I'm making a prayer
I'm clearing the way
I'm making a prayer
I'm striking the flint
I'm making a prayer
Lhat will illuminate
that will warm
or cedar and oak
Of maple and pine
Of coming Logether
I'm making a prayer
because iL is time
• Colleen Redman

Dear Editors:
We have high praise for the Fall 1987 K1IiiA!L and its
excellent anicles on the black bears of Southern Appalachia.
No bear species anywhere on Eanh can survive without local
and regional suppon, and that suppon depends primarily on
what people know about bears and their needs. Your issue
on the bears of the Kau.iah Province is a landmark step
toward meaningful protection of bears and their habitat in
your region. As planet Earth becomes less inhabitable as a
result of traRically misplaced national and international
priorities, the b:mle to keep p3tlS of Earth, habitable for wild
bears will help prcscIVC the health · and life - of the planet as
a whole. Keep up the fine work, because we arc all in this
together.
Sincerely,
Lance Olsen
President, The Great Bear Foundation
Missoula, MT

W1NTER 1987-88

\!

�Dear Editor -

While on a hurried

VJSll

Alar. your l.J.NJfturtd !M.
At tlir" bthtst )IOll btc~ my ad\/Usary
BtctJJ&lt;U )'Oii .,.f:rt blood brotJo.u IO myfo~r llibc
I Ww -,Ollr tlto1111w GS )'Oii p11rswd IM,
I could 110t li111u to std 110rvislrmt111.
011 ONl on. yo11 pllTswd IM.
Soon I 1rtw wtak, nut to tartlt.
Ytt wht11 -,011 slew this body. I did llOI dit.
My soul tlldiutrlt.

to the new

library at Appalachian Suue this past week, I

chanced to see the notice of the upcoming
symposium on the black bear in Nonh
Carolina. It occurred to me that you might
find the enclosed poem, "Nemesis,"
appropriate at this time.
You will recall that Wilburn Waters
was noted as the famous hunter and hermit
in the White Top section of Nonh Carolina.
He was credited (?) with killing 108 bears
as well as many wolves and other animals. J
became interested in his story when I
learned he was my great-grent-grc:11-uncle.
Rev. M.D. Han raised the funds and built
the monument with the imposing black benr
on top. I visited the graveyard where it
srnnds this past summer, and it is still
standing in good condition and has numbers
of visitors each year. It is located near
Lansing, near Tuckerdale.
The symbol at the bottom right of the
poem is the Cheroke word for Yo-nu, the
bear.
Sincerely,
Mrs. Ruth Trimble

'----------------~-~"""' E11t11tually )'Oii too. my bro/her. wtrtftlltd
by rht inaor~ 1umd of mortality.

NEMESIS
Once./ was as you wert. A m1Jn tal/ and proud.
Ordained by the GreaJ Spirit 10 toll OJld :t'*'l!al
so 1ha1 I mightfted upon 1/itfruits of my labor.
In thtfv.l/nessoftlme I beCDml! ll'l!Oritd
by tht constant struggle 10 sustain lift.
Encwnbtrtd by fau.• I langtd 10 be
lilt:t tht Btar • frtt to roam DI will.
gathtring the berrits and mast.
I grnv faint with my disconttnl .
Tht GrtaJ SpiriI ltntw my OJlguish.
Maniftstiltg I /is arcant power I It
gra111td my heart's dt.wc
OJld cJiangtd mt into Btar,
c/ollting me in long si/Jcen hair.
I was Yonu, mighliesl of tht crcaturts.
None challengtd my right 10 bt

Yo11 lit tnto!nMd high on this /ouly kMll.
Mtnftlt ltd to trtet an effigy of me· froztn
ill rime • ovtr your grave 10 show rtsptct for
your prowess. They tOd /IOI perceive thtir efforts
wert dirtcrtd by tht Great Spirit and nor of
thtm.ttlvts.
I. too. ha11t rtsptctfor -you, mybrothtr. but
I SIOJld htrt not to honor you.

Rathtr. I stOJld guard 10 OJlChor your spirit
firmly ill rhe tarth until Yonu rerurns
unw his own 111 rht secret dtpdis and NXlows.
Ohly thtn w1/l I relinquish my vigil so thal
your spirit may ristfrom its fc11us and
soar .,.;,h """'
111 the etastlw harmony of rhe Uniwrse.

Ulllil )'OIL

We reprint two ofthe pomufrom the Drumming section of last Issue. A typographical error
changed the meaning ofone, and two verses ~e inadven0t1ly lef1 ow ofthe other. Our apologies
to the poers and to our readers. Ajirs1 rule of survival in any region is to stay on 1he good side of
your IDcal poetS!
The Lessons of the Hunt

Persimmon seed, I am•...
let me glisten in the sunlight
to paint you colours,
gold, bronze, amber forever.
let me be free 10 grow
to bear....
to w3tch my young sway,
to grow, to bear.
let me not lay
on the cold, damp ground
trample me not
for the Earth is my food
and the sunlight my wonderment
Persimmon seed, I am ....
betraying no man.

- Bun Grey 01111

Wouldst learn the lessons of the Hunt
From those who know them best?
Then one must go to marsh or wood
Where hunters seek their prey.
"Patience" says the stately Heron
As it stands in the shallows,
Waiting for a fish or a frog
To obligingly swim by.

"Concentration" says the Heron
As, one slowly moving foot at a time,
It stalks
A shining minnow.

"Patience" says the tiny Jumping Spider
As it dans along a vine,
Its huge front eyes alert
For an insect's telltale twitch.

"Concentration" says the Jumping Spider
As, forelegs el(tendcd,
It takes aim
At a foolish fly.

''Patience" says the coiled Rattlesnake
As it lies beside a log,
Waiting for an unsuspecting mouse
To follow its accustomed path.

"Concentration" says the Rattlesnake
As the mouse scampers closer,
For there can be
But a single strike.

"I see and understand," say I
"And thank you for your gifts.
Now I can tre3d the inner paths
To seek my own prey, Truth."

© Douglas A. Rossman
WINTER 1987-81!

KATUAH · page 25

�An Appeal
At the turning of this new year, we
would like to express to you some thoughts
and feelings about the Katuah journal at this
point in its existence.
We have been gratified at the
expressions of love and support that have
come in from readers and friends from all
over. Our primary goal is to have KatUah be
read and used. We see the journal as a way
for each of us in the region to share our
learning experiences, as we all try to find a
balanced, harmonious way of living in these
mountains. This element of sharing is very
important in the ongoing process of us
growing together and growing into the land.
Katuah is produced as a collective effort
of folks from around the region. ( Most of us
live several hours apart from each other.)
While some of the original members have been
continuously involved, the editorial circle
still opens and reforms after each issue of
the journal. Doing Katuah is a demanding task
that requires a lot of time and offers little
material recompense (but, oh, such rewards to
the spirit!).
Most Katuah jobs are volunteer (though a
few arduous tasks like bookkeeping are
compensated). Katuah does offer expense
money like gas and telephone calls, but simply
getting to the various meetings and to layout
is a big demand on people who are working for
a living. This is taking its toll on the editorial
collective.
We would like to be able to maintain the
journal at the standard it has come to reflect
in the course of the last few years. By
breaking the job list up into smaller pieces,
we could make it easier for everybody, while
bringing more variety and excitement to the
pages of the journal.
Opportunities are available to
participate in the Katuah adventure. With
added input, the journal could not only

continue to exist in its present form, it could
expand its functions in any direction the
participants wish to take it.
Besides help with actual production and
lay-out, Katuah also needs writers and
artists (and, of course, cartoonists!) to
work with the journal or to submit material
relevant to the region. The more submissions
there are, the more variety and interest in the
pages of Katuah. Even if submissions are not
about the selected theme for an issue, they
could fonn the nucleus for a future issue of
the journal.
Also needed are:
- An advertising manager. who could bring in
needed revenues for the journal, but also help Katuah
consciously encourage a regional marketplace by
spotlighting biorcgionally beneficial business
enterprises.
- A "Webworking" editor, who could work to
encouraie trade and barter between people, help oottage
industries to develop, as well as ftnd interesting and
creative additions to mnlce a Lively individuals' ad
section.
- A distribution manager, who could help get
Ka11iah out onto new store shelves and magazine racks
and help keep up the network of community contact
people.
- Additions to the poetry committee that evaluates
submissions and guides them into the pages of the
joumiJ.
- There is also a niche for a person or a committee to
keep track of the Katfiah T-shirt sales and offer
books, tools, stickers and other bioregional
pamphemalia through the mail order system.
- A calendar editor, who could compile a definitive
events Iii.ting and perhaps transfo"" the "Calendar"
section into a sun-moon-forest-garden-people almanac,
creatively showing the upcoming cycles for each season.
- Someone to be Natural World News editor, one
of the vital sections of the JOumal. At present it is a
patchwork of material picked up as we go along. This
section needs an on-going editor to stabilize news
presemations. keep in touch with contacts, add depth and
continuity to our coverage, and become kno""n as a
regional news conduit.
This is a position that could become an important one
for shaping news coverage 1hroughout the region. We
have ulkcd often about expanding NU/Ural World News
beyond the p3ges of the journal, but it would lllkc a
person or a group with vision and commitment to
actually make ~mething happen in this area.

�1"tNttR. TRAVEL tNG
"R.OUNDAJJOUT ~'JUA1l "
It has also been a fond hope that Katuah
could develop interest groups 1n areas of
importance for b1oreg1onal life. People
sharing a common interest 1n certain broad
areas could meet independently, at first to
see that their area of interest gets adequate
and incisive coverage m the Journal, but
developing into regional "think tanks" to
develop and deepen bioregional thought on
their chosen topics and perhaps to publish
independently of the journal. Forestry and
Wildlife, Water, Energy, Agriculture and
Regional Diet, Healing, Education and
Personal Growth, Sustainable
Economics, Shelter, Bioregional Theory,
and Spirituality are topics that have
already been suggested, but any aspect of the
new Appalachian culture could be treated in
this way.
Thinking bioregionally opens up new worlds
to our mind's eye and our heart's touch. It's a
participatory experience. If you think KatUah
as a journal or as an idea is a useful form
that helps you relate to life in the the Blue
Ridge Province, help us help it to grow. If you
can see your way to doing it, jump in. Share
the excitement of a group venture, and join us
as we seek to better understand the
mysteries of this place.
Blessings upon you at the turning of the
year's wheel.

- The Kstush sta"/

11as wt.nter t wifl he traveling tlirou9l1
Xatunli to botli broarfen anc! aeepen tf1e
biore9ionnf network tl1ougliout the province. t
wi([ travel as extensi.vely as time and
rcsotuces permt.t. 1he purpose of the trip is to
hudd up tfie Xatuah
cli.stributwn/local
contact people network. and to strengthen tire
two - way communication between the
journal cma the communities of the reljion.
tf you woul'cl like me as a representative
of Xatuali to visit your area, q you woul'cl
like to arrange a m eeting (!ar9e or small,
pubUc or private) to talk about our region, if
you can offer a floor to s~p on as t 'm
passing through, please write and let me
know, so we can taa. specifically about the
trip 's timing and schduling.
We can tf,o mutings or discussion 9roups
about b!acft, bears, nukes, !and use plans, or
any of the sugtjeSud "special interest areas ".
We could hole! beljinnf.ng semf.nars on the
meantn9 of the wore£ "biorel]f.on " and our
own unique area. IVe could tell stories about
clra9ons and the Uttk people. IVe could p!alJ
drums. IVe coulc! tf,o sweat Coclljes. IVe could
mut wi.th school 9roups or 9arc!en. clubs. IVe
can tf,o whatever is rUj/Jt for SJOUr weak.
Tfsi.nlt- about bei.ng a Xatuab contact
person for your area. 1he contact system is
tlie basic frameworF., of the XotUoh networft-.
IVe would Uke to 9et more local news, local
i.nterviews, local pi.ctures, stories, and
opi.nLons from around the regf.on. Let me
know, and we'{! get totjether to talk about U.
Hope to hear from you.
1hese are excULng times to Uve in. Let's
maft-e the most of them/

.Jlfl"'

c Io

-Davie! Whakr
X.aUiah BLorUJional Journal
Box ~8
Lei.cester, NC 28748

KATIJAH • page 27

�9004 nuttc£ne

continutd from pace 18

A Mountain Home
conunucd from page 8

As well as being above 1hc valleys,
the asi's were always si1ua1cd on 1he
wanner south- or west-facing slopes of the
nearby hills. When the weather got cold,
wc1, and nasty, the villagers would retreat
up the hillsid~ 10 spend the winter snug and
dry in their asi 's.
The opening into the asi was so low
that one had 10 crawl on hands and knees 10
enter. There was a wooden wall inside the
doorway Lo cul off Lhc wind. so one entered
by crawling in and turning to the right. The
wooden partition cut off most of the light,
too, so a bright fire of pine knots was kept
burning inside to provide light while the asi
was inhabited. Sometimes there would be a
smokehole, sometimes the smoke would
drift out the door. From time to time the
people of the family would smoke their asi
thoroughly with fragrant cedar or hemlock
to ex1ermina1c insects and vermin.
It must be remembered that the asi
was intended only for a sheller and not as a
living space. On nice, sunny days, even in
winter, the family would work in the
sunlight out of the wind in the warm,
protceted area in from of the asi. The men
might be carving or making arrowheads,
and the women would weave mats for the
walls of the summer houses.

Weaving the walls for your house
each year would seem like a long, tedious
job to people today, but the lndians would
sit together and talk while they worked,
sharing ideas and gossip. It was
communication; it was a social event, and if
one was raised knowing that the mats for
the walls of the summer house had to be
made each year, then it was just one of the
realities of living and was not seen as a
burden.
The asi also offered a place safe from
the spnng floods that came down the river
each year. The people could s11 on the
hillsides and watch the river sweep away
everything on the old village site except the
townhouse, which remained safe above the
waters on its raised mound.
When the weather warmed and 1he
waters subsided, the people returned to the
bottoms and built their summer dwellings
oriented around the townhouse.
The floods also deposited 11 layer of
fertile silt over the planting fields, so when
the houses were reconstructed, the people
set out seed for new gardens for the new
growing season. It seems like an easy and
practical way to live.

bencr utilize local resources for energy
production for our shelter. As we implement
appropri3te ways of living, we become
continually more aware of the spiri tual
nature of shelter.
The soil is the flesh, the water is the
blood, the rock is the bone, and the wood
is the sinew. For a person to experience the
energy of his/her daily lire within and
without IS II gifL

Greg Olson tksigns passive solar and
energy-efficient homes and teaches courses
in the E11viro11mental Swdies Program at rile
U11iversity of North Carolina at Aslrevi/le
His course "Environment, Design , and
Solar E11ergy" is offered every fall semester
and focuses on tlie use of alternate energy
systt!TTIS i11 building design. Write Greg at
211 Stoney Knob Rd.; Weaverville, NC
28787 or call (704) 658.()834.

MEMBRANE HOUSES
continued from page 13
Here are some specific LCChniqucs for creating
thcJc: pod-Idec houses 111 KatU3h:
•Build ribs or metal or plastic 1ub1ng on a
saonc or c:cment foundnlion. Sttttch wire mesh over
I.his frame and, by band, fcrroccmcnt lhe shell in a
numbet or I.ayers leaving openings and shuL-offs.
Pigments can be added 10 cement mix1urcs along
wilh ol.hcr mnrkings put on the membrane for a
mote involved blending with the land. It can take
around 28 days for a sl3lldatd cunng or cement in
Lhis process yCI there is a method of 7 d3y mois1urc

0

cur111g.

A Bourn of Buds
With an eye to woe and one to wonder,
I regard late January daffodils just
budding from the bare warm ground beside
my tilting woodshed, a way too early
to convey the full flame to the greentime.
Near them I stand, a little tilted myself,
feeling in the dawn sun some lightened sadness.
- Michael Hockaday

•con)truc1 fiberglass (or even cardbo3td)
molds, with horiwnaal scnms for casting purposes,
1111d blow a dry miiuurc or sprayed cement cnllcd
gunnne at high prCiSUrc onto the mold and
connccuvc mesh. The mixture as dry enough IO
suck 10 ceilings and can be shaped soon aftcr
spraying. Adv111113gc) to this method arc lh31 a mold
can be reused, and the curing umc for gunnue i•
only about 3 dnys.
•Malec a frame in which to inOa1e a I.hick
l»lloon lh3I can then be covered with wire mesh and
fcnoccmcntcd on the out:;adc. Also. in a m11Ch more
m1t1caie process. steel fibers can be added 10 the
concl"CIC mix - as a strenglhcncr • and sprayed al
high PfC.\'iUl'C ona.o a I.ayer of 11\lulation from the
inside of a I.hick balloon. The 51CCI fibers being put
in the mix itself arc a replacement for the ribbing
and meshmg of fcnoccmenL Air pressure can be
wed as a 1113in suppon during lhe spraying process.
•A grcnL mnny combinations of lhC$e
LCChniqucs can be used. along with canh henning
and adding on IO exilUng suucaurcs.

Rob Messick is a graplric artist and an
avid student of synergetics and whole
systems. flis work with mandalas,
m£mbranes and other organic forms portray
a wide spectrum of enviro~nts from tire
macrocosm 10 tire microCQsm.
sraphic by ChriotJna Mormon

KATUAH- page 28

wrNTER 1987-88

�Green
B..gcr Kin&amp;)

Boont,,C
(704) l64·5866

• • • • • • • • • • • •

K"'-"r'UAfi

l\oa-\E

[) £.SIGl"I
~,p;::

-c t.•J ;::,,;\•'t'R.M~~.i,,·_
1~£!..:...~rJ ·4-)E..? ~, ,\t_·, 11..f: h

.. ;..:...- l:.

-&gt;

\

,- ..,. '~ .. , •"v:--~.
( 1:.l~ 1

:~ :-. .

~a .. _,

·=----

Green Line, lhe newsletter of the
Western North Carolina Greens, has just
published its second issue! Conceived as a
project in solurion-~riented, ecology·~as~
journalism. Green Line began pubhcauon 1n
Occober, with a well-received four-page
issue.
"Respect for diversity" is one of the
ten key values of the US Greens, and the
current issue, now eight pages, has further
expanded its already . diverse mix~ure of
local, regional, and n:monal news to include
political cartoons and essays that aucmpt to
penemue beneath the surface of the issues to
the core beliefs, values, and elhics of Green
philosophy.
"Decentralization" is another key
Green value, so the content of future issues
of Green line is very open to our readers'
contributions. Karzlali's readers are
welcome to submit reports, essays, poems,
graphics, or anything else that fires the
imagination.
Charter subscriptions are available
for $5.
The Gretn Une
WNC Greens
P.O. Box 144
Asheville, NC 28802

noon• llrli:his
Shopplna C•nl&lt;r
(h.:hind

. "
. e Now " On Lme
L10

... ....) ... ' t.ii•\J

...4:;.. • ~ ~ (iL

7 ..:: .....-...., ",.. t"~4 o 1L

(70~)

Chinese
Acupuncture
and
Herbology
Clinic

Natural Food Store
&amp; Deli
160 BroadWay
Ashevllle, NC 28801

253-5383

Where Bro.c!wri meets
Merrlmon Ave &amp; 1-2.0

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
Monday·Saturday· 9am·8pm
Sunday 1pm·Spm

&lt;1&gt;$5'.ffl~~cn WJ~

ll'JlD'.K§@

©~~

!l

The Elk River Coalition asks people
throughout the mountains to tum off all
electric lights in their homes and place a
candle in the front window from 7:30-8:00
pm on Sunday, December 6 as part of the
Sunday Nuclear Boycott (SNuB).
.
Boycotting nucle3;1"·ge~erated elec~­
city for that shon penod 1s a symboltc
protest of the federal government's nuclear
waste policy and its implications for the
mountain region and all of the natural
world.
For further information, contact:
The Elk River Coalition
c/o Madison County
En vironmental Defense League
Mars Hill, NC 28754
J im Wayne Miller
LITERARY FESTIVAL
Emory &amp; Henry College
February 4-5, 1988
More info: John Lang, English Dept, Emory &amp;.

Henry College, Emory. VA 24327
Rt One With lbe Earth is a 1ounng
collection of Native American art on cxhib11 al Ille
Museum of lhc Cherokee Indian now through Dec.
14, 1987. Located Highway 441 N al Drama Rood.
Cherokee. NC. Open daily 9am-Spm. (704)
497-3481.

(704) 683-1414

68:M795

342 Merrimon Avenue Asheville, NC
{704) 258-9016

(704) 253-7656

'J\i(lee, 'lt~f 'Na~r~
BOBCAT

T-SHIRT

SHORT SLEEVE T: $10.00 ppd
Colors: Ecru, White, Sliver.
Sufoam (II. grHn) THI

LONG SLEEVE T: $14.00 ppd.
(lnclut»1 P•w Print on SIHv•)
ColOl'I: Ecru, Sliver, Te•I, White
S•tlsf11etlon •~red or ,.tum for full ,.fund.
Ple•u Indicate size, color,
sleeve length, qu•ntity.

........,.
r'I ~

Introducing the BOBCAT
This full color design Is hand-screened on
T-SHIRTS OF 100% PRESHRUNK COTTON
We •l•o

IN AOUL T SIZES S,M,L,XL
h•v• • tine or 1weetshlrt1 •nd

WINTER 1987·88

kids T-Shirts

I -...

=.::::.~.,........

~-

......c... ..
I:."""

.•

,.l.110414t6 a.l

"'-

ccaoca_,,,,.,_u1o111111•---·
'--==~=---1
.

IUUl_.-111

Village Hands
or

llandm:ide Objects Beaut)
rrom :ill O\er the world!
•ptciatWoi: in ile.m~ rrom llotp:il
&amp;Tibtl

Open Dail,&gt; 11:00am-6pm
43 Broadway
Ashcvllle, NC
(704) 252-4336
Located across from Stone Soup

KATUAH - page 29

�vf€BW0Rl51t§
APPROPRIATE PASSIVE SOLAR DESIGN,
blucprinLS and foll working drawings for homes,
shop$, and sheds. Creauvc dnlftina - your idc:is or
ours. Harmony Sunbuildcrs; P.O. Box 194; Sugar
Grove. NC 28697
NC FARMERS can gel 75~ reimbursement for
conservation m11113gement practices from NC Soil
and Water Conservation Comm. Cropland
conversion, tcmices, gm.•&gt;s«I waterways, and other
erosion prevention measures. ConUICt locnl Soil and
Water Conservation District officci..
STARSPAN ASTROLOGICAL PROFILES:
Relationships, lire chart, forccasL~. Charts and
profc«101Ul taped readings also available. P.O. Box
10413; Raleigh, NC 2760S
GUATEMALAN REFUGEE SEED FUND: help
refugees in southern Mexico maintain lhcir culture
and d1i;nity by shirring a variety of •-egct:1blc o;eeds
directly to farmers. Write to: 2292 Grant Si..
Vancou,cr, BC, Can.:id.1 VSL2Z7
EUSTACE CONWAY· Guule and Teacher of
pnmitive Emh Sl1lls with cmphasi~ on fire
building, hide tanning, shelter, and foraging. He
ieachcs at public school~. parks, cnvll'Onmcma.I
centers, and classes of all lands. For mocc
information CODl.1Cl him at: 602 Deerwood Drive,
&lt;i~ 1'Ci280S4 u call Allcm Stanley al (704)

1918 SIMPLE LIFESTYLES CALENDAR •
Photos of "Cnf1SpCOplc or Appabchia" by Wam:n
Brunner and suggcs11ons for simple h"mg for each
day. S6.00 from App:ilachia-Scicncc m lhc Public
lnlCrcSl; RL S, Box 423: LivingslOll, KY 4044S.
All prOCCCds bcnc!il lhc WOf'k or ASPI, a llOll·(llO!il
corpomuon.
ROSE AROMATICS - csscntilll oils have been
healing body, mind, spirit, since ancient Egypl. A
most pleasant therapy! Dabney Rose; Rt. 3. Bo~
286-A; Candler, NC 2871 S
CHEROKEE INDIAN LANGUAGE clnsscs. For
info, write Robcn Bushyhcad; P.O. Bo~ 70S:
Cherokee, NC 2871
ROCKTN' WITH BILLY B • Do lhc DO!lct of I~
Dragonfly or the Roel 'n Roll of PhotoS&gt;nlMsis in
lhe "Music and lhc Natural World" work•hop.
Avnilablc for bookings for schools or local groups,
fan. 29-Feb. 4, 19gg, Great mouvalicin for kids!
Call Ken Voorhis (615) 448-6709.
FUTOl'S by Simple Pleasures • afford:ihly priced.
Send SASE for info ID: Simple Pica.sum;; Rt. I ,

Al TERNATIVE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL· At
Arthur Morg:in School 24 students and 14 staff lcnm
1ogether by living in community. Curriculum
includes crcnl.ivc ocndcmic:s, group dccision-maling,
a work program, scrncc projccis. extensive neld
uips, challenging outdoor experiences. Wri1e: 1901
Hannah Branch Rd.; Burnsville. NC 28714 (704)
675-4262
CUSTOM CELTIC HARPS • A'Colltl Bason:
Tra"ianna Farm: RL 1: Cbcck, VA 240n.
DRUMS • CllSIOID bandaafi.ed ceramic dumbc:cks &amp;.
wooden medicine drums. Call Joe Robcns at (704)
258-1038 or write to: 738 Town Mountain Rd.:
Asheville, NC 28804.

Box 1426; CbylOll, GA 30S2S (~) 782-3920
A\tERICAN l!'.'DIANS of 1/16 blood. any tnbc,
accepted as mcmbcn of the Soulhc:lstcrn Cherokee
Confcdcro&lt;:y. For application, wore: Chief Wilham
"Ratll&lt;:.'&gt;nakC" facl:son: RL I, BOJt 111: Leesburg,
QA 31763

sn-79n

graphic lilt to express and enhance our hvcs. l..ogos,
brochures, boou, porua1ture, window and wall
hangings. ConLict Manlui Tree (704) 7S4-&lt;i097.

ASHEVILLE I BUNCOMBE COUJl&lt;'TY SOLID
WASTE ALTERNATIVES PLANNING
WORKBOOK: A design for handling sohd w:ll&gt;lCS
tn nny urban context. SIS from Long Branch
Env1ronmcn111I Education Center. Rt. 2. Box 132;
Leicester, NC 28748.

BARTERING NETWORK forming. Call Peter al
(704) 926-6250 for 1nformooon.

Am&amp;.· stone.~ from folk uuditions till around the

M. TREE DESIGNS· lllustrauons and Design •
Beyond the p:igcs or lhi~ JQum:il, I work. in pencil,
colored pencil, inl, cul paper, :ind b31.ik. Fine and

AND THE EARTH UVED HAPPILY EVER
world chosen lo help protccl all living beings by
bringing the world society a few steps clo,cr to
pc:icc and respect for all life. Edited by Floating
Eagle Fca1her. S7.00 ppd. (All profiis go to
Greenpeace and the Peace Museum). Order from :
Wages of Peace: 309 Trudeau Dr.; Mellirc, LA
70003

DA YSTAR ASTROLOGICAL SERVICE· natal,
transit, companson chans. Very accurate. Only
S3.00 each. Chris and Will B11.wn: R1. 2, Box 217;
Qie(:k, VA 24072 (703) 6Sl-3492
STIL-LIGHT THEOSOPHICAL RETREAT
CENTER - • qu1c1 space for personal mcd1uuon,
group interaction through study and communuy
work. 8lld spirit.u.11 semi run. Conlatl Leon Fr.llllr.cl;
RL I, Box 326: Wayncsv1Uc, 1':C 28786
CRAFTSPEOPl.l'i • send pncc l1rungs 10 Ci/t~d
/lands of NC, 331 Bl.lie S1; Raleigh, l"C 27601
(Att'n: Bern Orey Owl) • unique shop prucnling
35-40 crahcrs' works in R.ilc1gh"s C11y M.utcL All
a:lfl~ coosidcrcd.
FLOWER ESSENCES • H.vmony v.alh Na1ure &amp;.
Sp1ri1. Ocnllc cmOOC&gt;llal ~ppon during lrnll~itions,
specific: hsucs, rcla11onship~. Opens
communication~
Sclr·OdJUSling, non · lox1c,
awareness "U&gt;Oh" for 1mprovmg lhc inner quality.
Correspondence 10: F.b1nc Geougc, c/o PDtchwork
Castle, Cclo, 3931 llWY 80 So.• Bum!IY1llc, NC
28714
MASSAGE/BODYWORK THERAPIST 1mcrcsicd
m c~changmg trcatmcnL• for other 1CtYICCS/produc1S.
Call Peter 11 (704) 926-6250.

KATUAll - page 30

MEDITATION CUSHIONS from Carolina
Morning Designs. Traditional and inflatable .c.afus.
For free brochure, write: RL I, Box 31-B: Hot
Spnni;s. NC 28743
(I? GRAFICKS • I u~ lhe media of rcncols,
colored pencils, gouachc, pen and mk, aaJ
pltolognlphy in creating unique !inc and gralicl art.
I can make diagrams, logos, finished pnnLS, and
dc$igns for brochures, calendarJ, Cllrds, books. cte..
Mandalas and symbol&gt; arc my tendency among
other styles. Concact Rob Messick (704) 754-6097.

THE APPALACHIAN HERB NEWSLEIJ'ER:
exploring lhc potcniial for herbs as ca'h crops 1n
Appalachfo. Subscriptions S 12/yr.. Wruc:
Appal3cbjnn Herb Ncwslcucr - ASPI; Rt . S, Box
423; Livingston, KY 4044S
MOON DANCE FARM HERBALS herbal salves,
tinctures, &amp; oils for b1nh1ng &amp;. family hc3llh. For
brochure. please wri1e: Moon Dance Fnrm; Rt I,
Box 726; Hampton, TN 37658

SAMADHJ FLOAT TANK for sale. Spcalcers and
pump. Foe back pain, medaation, relaxation.. Sl2.SO
(nc:goci:lble). Call (704) 68'.l-1103.
CAROLINA MTN. MACROBIOTIC CENTER
ortcn natural foods cooking classes, diewy
counselling, cducauonal lccUJn:~ ror a healthier life.
Torn or Debbie Alhos. Call (704) 254-%06.

WEB WORKING l~ free.
Send submissions to:

KaJ.ua.h

P.O. Box 63g
LciCCSICr, NC
Kaliiab Province 28748

WINTER 1987 -88

�Mtdfcfn,.. Alllts

Kil.IiJJJh wants to communlcace your tho11ghcs and feelings to the other people in the
bioregional province. Send chem to us as letters, poems. stories. drawings, or
photographs. Please send your conrribiuions to us at: K1lnJIJ.h,· Box 638; uicester, NC;
Karuah Province 28748.
There has betn a profusion of topics proposed for articles for the spring issue. Send
in ':iJ1W ideas! January 16 is tire submissions deadline/or Issue 19.

BACK ISSUES OF KATUAH AVAILABLE
ISSUE TWO · WINTER t983-84
Yon.ah. Be.- Hunlal Pigeon River . AnOlher
Way Wilh Animals • Alma • Bccomln1

ful I rolor
T-s61rts

ISSUE TEN· WINTER 198.S-86
Kile Rosen • C1tclcs or Stone • lruc.mal
Mylhmakin1 • Holistic He&amp;lm1 on Trial •
Poans: SICYe Knal&gt;lll • M y1hic Pbces • The
Uktena'• Tale • Crysral Maalc •
"Dlelnwpealana"

Politie&amp;lly Effective - Mounlaln Woodllllds
K&amp;lah l.1nder lhc Drill Spiritual Wrnwm

ISSUE THREE· SPRINO 1984
SUJl.wble Asnculnn. sunnowen • Human.
lmpacl on lhe Forui • Childrau' Ed11ea1ion
Veronica Nlo:holu:Woman in Politic. • Ullle
People· Medicine Alliea

ISSUE ELEVEN· SPRINO 1986
Community Planrun1 • Citiu and Iha
BicnaionaJ Vision • Recyelill&amp; • Community
Glldcn&amp;na· Floyd Col.ay. VA · Ouobol •
Two BiorePonaJ VMwl • Nudec Supplemau
Fo11"1tt Oamu. Oood Medicine; Visions

ln the traditional Cherokee Indian
belief, the creatures in the world today arc
only diminuitive fonns of the mythic beings
who once inhabited the world. but who now
reside in Galuna'ti, the spirit world, the
highest heaven. But a few of the original
powers broke through the spiritual barrier
and exist yet in the world as we know it.
These beings are called with reverence
"grandfathers". And of them, the strongest
are Kanati, the lightning, the power of the
sky; Utsa'nati, the raulcsnakc, who
personifies the power of the earth plane; and
Yunwi Usdi, "the littJc man", as ginseng is
called in the sacred ceremonies, who draws
up power from the underworld.
Each is the strongest power in irs own
domain. Together they are allies: their
energies compliment each other to form an
even greater power. As medicine allies, they
represent the healing powers of the
Appalachian Mountains.
The medicine powers of Karuah have
been depicted in a srriking T-shin design by
Ibby Kenna. Printed in 5-color silkscreen
by Ridgerunncr Naturals on top quality,
all-cotton shirts, they arc available now in
nil adult sii.cs from the Kan!:ID journal.
"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 txililnce here in the
mountains of Karuah."
To order, use the form below.

ISSUE FOUR ·SUMMER 1984
Wauz Orum • WIU# ~ • Kudzu • Solw
Eclipse • Cturcuuma • TJ'OUI • Ooin&amp; ., Wala
R11n Pimps • Micl'oll)'dro • Poems: Bennie
Lee Sinclair. Jlm Woync Miller

ISSUE EJGKT - SUMMER 1985
Cclebn11on: A Way or Life· Ka1u.ih 18.000
Yeat11 Ago Sacred S11es • Folk Atu in lhc
Schools • Sun Cycle/Moon C)lolo • Poems:
Hilda Downer Chtrok.ec Hcnlige C.-nu:r •
Who Owns Appalshui?
ISSUE NINE· FALL 1985
The Waldce Foru1 • The Trees Speak •
Migra11.n&amp; Fore.ts • Horse Louin&amp; • Startma a
Tree Crop • Urbln Trea • Acom Bread - Mylh
lune

Address

Enclosed is $
to give
this ejfort 011 extra boost

WINTER 1987-88

Phone Number

ISSUE FIFTEEN • Spring 1987
Coverlets . Woman Forester • Susie McMahan
Midwife
Ah.emaltvo Contraception •
81osuuali1y · Biorcaionalism and Women •
Good Medicine: M.in.tcharial Culan ·fad

...,.......

ISSUE SIXTEEN· Summer 1987
Helen Waite · Poem: Visiona in a Garden •
Vision Qucsl • Fant Plow
lnitiaLion •
Leamin&amp; in lhe Wildcrneu · Cherokee
Ollllcnge • ·va1uin1 Tn:cs·
,~----

ISSUE SEVENTEEN - Fall 19117
Glady • Bear Su.y • M1chad PellOn • Boan
Good Medic-inc: •findina Albcs• • Bcai
Hun1.1n1 • Champion • "8C&amp;I"." Poem • Grecns
"Old Oaluics:" Poem. ·uuering"

Back Issues
Issue #
.@ $2.00 = S_ _
Issue #
@ $2.00 =
Issue#_@ $2.00 = S_ _
Issue#
.@ $2.00 = S_ _
Issue # _ _@ $2.00 = S_ _
Complete Set (2-11, 13-17)
@ s20.oo =s__
T-Shins: specify quantity
color tan

s__

S_ _ M_ _
L_ _ XL_ _

Zip
I can be a local contact
person for my area

Arca Code

Siovcmake(s NanaU..e • Good Med1"1ne:

lnlalpecies Commurucauon

Regular Membership........ SlO/yr.
Sponsor.........................$20/yr.
Contributor.....................$50/yr.

State

ISSUE FOURTEEN· Winsa 1986.87
Uoyd Carl Owle · Booaen and Mummas - AU
Spcciu Day • Cabin Fever Univeniry •
Hamel- in Kan.ah • Homemad&amp; Hot Wall:l

ISSUE SEVEN · SPRING 1985
Sustainable Economics • Hot Spnnp • Worker
Ownership • The Creal Economy · Self tlolp
Credit Union . Wild Turkey • Re1ponsible
lnvcstul&amp; • Wcn1Un1 m the Web or Ufe

For more info: call Mamie Muller (704) 683-1414

City

s,.._

ISSUE SIX • WINTl!R 1984-85
Winsa Sohlicc l!&amp;ttl&gt; Caemony • Hancpun.n
River • Comins or lhe UgJu • Loa c.btn
Rooca • Mounwn Ap;culnne: The Rill&gt;' Crop
• W-llliam TayI«· The FD!ln or lhe l'oml

J(AilJAH: Bjoregional Journal oflhc Southern Appalachians
Box 638; Leicester, NC; Kauiah Province 28748

Name

ISSUE THIRTEEN · Pall 1986
Cenler FOT Awahnin&amp; ·Elizabeth Callari· A
Gentle Dealll • Hospice • Eme.1 Morgan •
Dcalin&amp; Crarively wilh Death • Home Bmial:
801 • The Wake • The Raven Mocker •
Woodllorc ud Wild"'OOC!a Wisdom • Good
MDC!iciroo: The
Lod&amp;e

ISSUE FIVE· FAU. 1984
HltVest • Old Waya in Cherokee • Oinscn1 •
Nuclear Wuie • Our Cd11c Hcritaae •
Biore&amp;ianahsm; Pu1, Present. md Fulllre •
John WilllOIY • Hui.in&amp; ~ • Pohta or
Participalion

@ $9.50 each........... .$_ _
TOTAL PRICE=
postage paid

$_ _
KATUAH-page 31

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                  <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;,&amp;nbsp;was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span&gt;, 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.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; 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.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This digital collection is only a portion of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah&lt;/em&gt;-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 &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;. 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.</text>
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                <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, Issue 18, Winter 1987-1988</text>
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                <text>The eighteenth issue of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; focuses on vernacular shelter: log, frame, stone, yurts, earth-shelters, and membrane houses. Authors and artists in this issue include: Sam Gray, Adam Cohen, Greg Olson, Marnie Muller, Scott Bird, Rob Messick, Snow Bear, Rita Sims Quillen, Julia Nunnally Duncan, Michael Hockaday, Rob Messick, Martha Tree, Barbara Kirby, Colleen Redman, Bern Grey Owl, Douglas A. Rossman, David Wheeler, and Christina Morrison. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, 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.</text>
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                    <text>ISSUE 19 SPRING 1988

$1.50

BIOREGIONAL JOURNAL OF THE ~OUTHERN APPALACHIANS

�©~

Postage Paid
Bulk Mail
Permit#18
Leicester, NC
28748

P.O. Box 638 Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

�The Perelandra Garden ...... 3
Spring Tonics .............. 6
Rooting Blueberries ......... 7
"First Dogwoods"
a poem by Michael Hockaday .... 7

Gardens of the Blue Ridge .... 8
A Visit with Granny:
An lnterVlew with Carolyn Port ... 1O

Flower Essence ..... . ...... 13
The Origin of the Animals:

Plants have been in
communion with the human
species for thousands of years.
Only recently with the advent of
the mechanical age have we
relegated them to muteness.

a story by Clyde Hollifield . . . . . . 14

''Sacrament,"
"Rain Has Come Again:"
poems by Janeice Ray ......... 15

Good Medicine: "Power" .... 16
Be A Tree .......... ...... 17
Natural World News ........ 18
Drumming:
Letters to Katuah .......... 22
A Children' Page . .......... 25
Events ... .. .............. 28
Spring Gathering ........... 29
Webworking ............... 30

In the past, plants have
shared their information with us.
They have told us which of their
species is good for medicines,
for healing, for food, for making
musical instruments ... They have
whispered songs to our ancestors
...and poems. They have sent
dreams our way...and visions.
We share a sacred bond with
plants. Our "world" depends on
their world. Even from the
beginning, photosynthesis was
essential in allowing our
species to eventually occur.
Today, sharing the earth's
atmosphere...exchanging oxygen
and carbon dioxide with each
other... reflects how intimate our
connection is. In fact, at the
heart of the relationship is
"exchange".
We receive nourishment from
plants ... not only for the physical
body, but also for the psyche.

They daily reveal to us visions
of rootedness, stillness ...
vibrancy and life.
The plant world holds the
memory of what a bioregion
is...what it looks like in its
wholeness. By listening to the
plant world, we can tap our own
underlying sense of what this
region could be... how to
re-inhabit Katuah.
As we begin to become more
conscious, we see how power and
creativity can be used to enhance
and celebrate the heartbeat of
the ecological processes here
rather than disrupt or destroy it.
The plant world can participate
in a vital way in this
internal reawakening . Plants
can partner with us as we
explore integrating the human
species into the ecological
symphony of this place.
Whether in a garden, in a
grove...or in wilderness, we can
begin to develop a co-creative
partnership with plants, where
once again, they speak to ~

�EPlTORTAL STAFF THIS ISSUE;
Scott Bird
Christina Morrison
Mamie Muller
Jack Chaney
Sam Gray
Michael Red Fox
Sally Mander
Manha Tree
Rob Messick
David Wheeler
THA NKS TO: Julie Gaunt. Ellen John, Brooks Michael,
Judith Hallock, Tom Hendricks, Kathleen Mclaughlin, Karen
W.i1.ldns-Deckct. Susan Laird, Chip Smi1h, Joe Roberts, John
Peuie, Manha &amp; Dean, and Cclo Communi1y.

Cover: Manha Tree
Invocation: Rob Messick

EPTTORTAL OEFTCE nos ISSUE:
Worley Cove, Sandymush Creek

THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BIOREOION AND MAJOR EASTERN RIVER SYSTEMS

PRINTED BY: Sylva Herald Publishing Co., Sylva, NC
WRTTEUSAT:

TELEPHONE:
(704) 683-1414

KiWah.

Box 638
Leicester, NC
Katuah Province 28748

Diversity is an imponan1 elemeni of biorcgional ecology, both
nn1urol and social. In line with this principle, KatCiah tries IO serve as a
forum for 1.he discussion of regional issues. Signed articles express only
the opinion of the authors and are no1 necessarily lhe opinions of the
KatU/Jh editors oc staff.

The lniemal Revenue Service has declared KaJiia.h a non-profi1
organizatioo under section SOl(cXJ) of the lntcmal Revenue Code. All
conuibutions IO KaJliah are deduclible from pcrsooal income 13X.

Let !he center of the earth
Be my heart
Aod the laod be mv shell
Let the soil be mv cells
Aod the rock be rrrv bo!la
U!t the water be my blood
The ocean be my pulse
And a• rivers be my veins

Let the atmosphere
Be mv bream
And the seasont be my senses
As the spirit lives
Let its growing bring a change
Aod plant the seed of its continuance

For all things will return
To the elements from which they come

In

being

one

Sl'ATEMENTOF PURPOSE
Here in the southern-most heartland of the
Appalachian mountains, the oldest mountain range
on our continent, Turtle Island; a small but growing
group has begun to take on a sense ofresponsibility
for the implications of that geographical and
cultural heritage. This sense of responsibility
centers on the concept of living within the natural
scale and balance of universal systems and
principles.
Within this circle we begin by invoking the
Cherokee name" Katuah" as the old/new name/or
this area of the mountains and for its journal as
well. The province is indicated by its natural
boundaries: the Roanoke River Va.l/ey to the north;
the foothills of the piedmont area to the east; Yona
Mountain and the Georgia hills to the souih; and the
Tennessee River Valley to the west.
The editorial priorities for us are to collect
and disseminate information and energy which
pertains specifically to this region, and to foster the
awareness thaJ the land is a living being deserving
of our love and respect. living in this manner is a
way to insure the sustainability of the biosphere and
a lasting place for ourselves in its continuing
evolutionary process.
We seem to have reached the fulcrum point of
a " do or die " situation in terms of a quality
standard of life for all living beings on this planet.
As a voice for the caretakers of this sacred land,
KalUah, we advocate a centered approach to the
concept of decentralization. It is our hope to
become a support system for those accepting the
challenge of sustainability and the creation of
harmony and balance in a total sense, here in this

place.
We welcome all correspondence, criticism,
pertinent information, articles, artwork, etc. with
hopes that Katfuzh will grow to serve the best
interests of this region and all its living, breaJhing

members.
- The&amp;Utors

KATUAH - page 2

SPRING - 1988

�'The Pere.Candra Clarden: Cooperation JJi,th N atu.re 'LnteUU}ences
It is in a garden that we have a special opportunity
to enter into a purposeful relationship with the Earth
and its creative energies. MachaeUe Small Wright has
been working with these energies in her garden in a
specific, conscious way for over a decade. She refers to
them as "nature intelligences."
Machaelle's garden, called Perelandra, lies a few
miles east of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.
Perelandra, meaning "of the heart", began as a small
family homestead and has now grown into a nature
research &amp; learning center. There, she teaches
co-creative gardening, produces flower essences, and
publishes books and tapes based on her experiences.
Machaelle's first book, Behaving As If The
God in All Life Mattered (1983), is an
autobiographical account of how she came to garden in
cooperation with nature intelligences.
From Behaving As If the God in All Life
Mattered:
...One evening in early January 1977, I walked into
the woods and announced in a loud, clear voice, "...I
want to work with devas and I want to work with nature
spirits. I invite all of you to make yourselves known to
me. I am ready to learn from you."
Then I left the woods, returned to the house, put
myself into meditation and waited.
At the time of "my declaration," I didn't know what
I was doing. But years later, l realized that I had used a
oercmony to ground a shift that was taking place in me.
Ceremony is a physical vehicle used to ground energy
from a higher level, thereby giving it form and greater
accessibility to the people involved in the ceremony. It's
a tool designed to give clarity and form to energy. To
accomplish this, we use special settings, actions, words,
music... whatever is appropriate. On that night in
January, I moved through a ceremony. I made a clear
decision about what I wanted. I chose the woods as my
setting. Then I moved through a seric:s of physical
actions via the use of words. I stated my mtent Clearly
SPRING-1~88

and simply. I invoked to myself what I felt I would need
to carry out my intent. Then I scaled my declaration by
physically acting on it -- by going into meditation and
opening myself to whatever was to happen next
The response was immediate. In fact, I. had the same
experience that Dorothy Maclean had at Fmdhom when
she first connected with devas. I had a "crowd of voices"
coming at me, all talk:ing at the same time - all telling me
that it was "about time." I connected in with them and
found that they had been waiting for this for some time. I
remembered that in the Findhom book, when Dorothy
described this experience, she said she simply asked the
devas to speak to her one at a time. Having nothing to
lose, I tried the same thing. Much to my ama~ment,
they responded instantaneously. And from that pomt on,
I received one devic voice at a time.

Behaving was followed in 1987 by The
Perelandra Garden Workbook: A Complete
Guide to Gardening with Nature Intelligences.
This book is a step-by-step manual for anyone wishing
to develop a relationship with the devic levels and
nature spirits. In this excerpt, Machaelle describes her
understanding of these presences and their distinctive
characteristics.
From The Perelandra Garden Workbook:
... "Deva" is a sanskrit word meaning body of light.
This has little correlation with what I experience when I
am open to the devic level, but I accept the word. The
devic level is the architectural dynamic within nature. It
is the force that formulates every individual aspect of
form on Eanh. It is the creative force which determines
the size, color, shape. weight, texture, taste, life cycle,
and requirements of all form, all of nature. Each form
has inherent in it its own deva. There is, for example, the
• continued on Delli pqc
Editots' Note: In her book:s, Machacllc baa chosen to follow lhe conventional
mode of grammar, ic. "he" ralher lhUI "1/he" or "one"; "mankind" ralher lhUI
"bwnankind"; etc. Becauac lhc pusagca cc diJcct excap!S. we have left them u
they arc.

- continued on next page

--·KATUAH - page 3

�Deva of Soil, the Deva of che Shasta Daisy, the Oak Tree
Deva, the Carrot Deva. Each deva holds, as in a
computer bank, all the specific information relative to its
form. It also holds the information pertaining to how its
individual natural form fits into the grand scheme of
things both on Earth and within the universe. If there are
to be any physical changes made -- for example,
changing carrots from the color orange to pink - they
must be made within the devic level in order to maintain
natural balance. Change made through the pure will and
desire of us humans disregarding the devic dynamic is
called "manipulation" and results in a weakening
imbalance and becomes part of the ecological disaster we
are experiencing...

...There is another distinguishing feature about
nature spirits that will help you understand them and the
differences between them and devas. Nature spirits are
regional. Although I do not have a phalanx of little
people visible in the garden, I do have my group of
nature spirits who are connected to this land and what is
happening here. Your connection will be with your own
group. They are an intelligent reality that is individuated
enough to be connected with specific geographic areas
on Earth. Devas, on the other hand, are universal in
dynamic. When I contact the Carrot Deva, I touch into
lhe very same intelligent reality someone in China would
touch into when making the same contact.

...Here is my understanding of nature spirits.
In Behaving .... I referred to nature spirits as the
blue collar workers within the realm of nature
intelligence. I still hold to this imagery today but feel it is
simplistic. My work with the nature spirits has
convinced me that they are truly masters of
understanding and working with the concept of bringing
spirit into matter, energy into form. They tend to the
shifting of an energy reality which has been formulated
on the devic level and assist the translation of that reality
from a dynamic of energy to form. In short, they
constantly work with the principle of manifestation on
Earth. They also function in a custodial capacity with all
that is of form on the planet. That is, when not interfered
with by us humans, they tend to the care and needs of all
physical reality, assuring perfection within form. ..

Machaelle depends on a systematic communication with the devas and nature spirits to inform
her about every aspect of the garden, including what
plants go in which locations, soil preparation, and how
to deal with insects and animals. She consistently
affirms that "the backbone of the Perelandra garden is
communication."
From The Perelandra Garden Workbook:

.. .I happen to be someone who feels deeply that this
communication is possible for everyone. We are talking
about a natural partnership between humans and nature
and it is not meant to be exclusive. It only stands to
reason that there be simple ways for us and nature to
communicate with one another. There have to be
language frameworks that are just waiting to be
developed.
I see the communication problem as being similar to
the problem that arises when you are faced with someone
from another country who speaks a language that is
completely foreign to your ear. There isn't one sound
they are making that strikes a familiar note. We can back
off the situation and say, ''This is impossible." Or we
can tackle the situation together with the other person,
begin to learn each other's language, and devise
additional techniques for communication.
This is what I've done with nature. I've worked to
develop techniques which we can use for the purpose of
sending and receiving information. And it's not difficult.
In fact, it's embarrassingly simple. But that's as it
should be.

The workbook gives complete instructions on
how to use the form of communication that Machaelle
has found to be most effective - kinesiology. In the
following passage, she explains the principles of this
technique.
From The Perelandra Garden Workbook:
...Simply stated, if a negative energy (that is, any
physical object or energy vibration that does not maintain
or enhance the health and balance of an individual), is
introduced into a person's overall energy field, his
muscles, when having physical pressure applied, will be
unable to hold their power. For example, if pressure is
applied to an individual's extended arm while his field is
being affected by a negative, the arm will not be able to
resist the pressure. It will weaken and fall to his side. If
pressure is applied wl\ile being affected by a positive, the
person will easily be able to resist IUld the arm will hold
its position.
To expand on a more technical level, when a negative
is placed within a person's field, his electrical system
(the electrical energy grid contained within the body) will
immediately respond by "short-circuiting," making it
di.fficll]t for the muscles to maintain their strength and
hold their position when pressure is added. When a
positive is placed within the field, the electrical system
holds and the muscles are able to maintain their level of
strength when pressure is applied.
Original Drawings by Kore Loy McWhirtt:r

SPRING - 1988

�This electrical/muscular relationship is a natural pan of
the human system. It is not mystical or magical.
Kinesiology is the established method for reading their
state of interaction at any given moment. It is most
commonly used today by wholistic physicians,
chiropractors and the Touch for Health people.
What does this have to do with "hearing" information
from the nature spirits and devic levels, you ask. Simple.
If you ask a question using the yes/no format, they can
answer your question by transferring a yes (positive) or
no (negative) into your energy field. Then you read the
answer by testing yourself using kinesiology...

For good communication, Machaelle emphasizes
being outside in the garden space, achieving an inner
quiet, and vocalizing one's requests. She then affirms
the importance of asking simple, precise questions and
being willing to act on the information and ideas
received...even if they challenge one's conventional
concepts.
The workbook provides detailed information on
how to formulate these questions. It also includes many
insights and practical tips that Machaelle has gained
from her own experience in the garden.
From The Perelandra Garden Workbook:
...It has been over ten years since I began gardening
under the tutelage of these nature intelligences and the
result has been a garden in which all inhabitants, be they
animal, mineral or vegetable arc truly compatible with
one another. Each member of the garden enhances the
health and well being of all the others. And this includes
the bugs. The garden is inclusive, not excl usive. I do
nothing for the purpose of repelling. The focus is to
create a balanced, wholistic environment in which all
within that environment arc enhanced. The results are not
only more food than I know what to do with, but also
food that has contained within it a very high level of life
energy - light.
...The Perelandra garden thrives because of the
approach I have been taught and the underlying
consciousness and reality that motivates the approach.
What l'm going to describe to you in this book docs not
fit comfonably into the recognized notions of tradition,
logic or even sanity. Be that as it may, it works. And
that's what drives traditional gardening thinkers a little
nuts. Everything you know which has gone into
establishing your sense of order, stability and balance, in
other words, logic, both in your garden and your life
away from it, will be constantly challenged. For you see,
this gardening is, in fact, a metaphor for the whole of
life. As you change how you approach the garden, you
will, in turn, change the very fabric of how you
approach your life.
'"~7~,.....~~t

In addition to the specific information that
Machaelle obtains through kioesiology, she also
receives more extensive messages from the nature
intelligences. In both books, she includes these
messages that have deepened her understanding of
herself and her garden. (1be devic voices are indicated
by italics.)
From Behaving As If The God in All Li/e
Mattered:
... As each deva came into my awareness, 1 noticed
that there was a slight shift in vibration, that each had its
own vibration. After awhile, I could recognize which
deva was entering my awareness. This led me to develop
tho ability to call upon specific devas by "aiming" my
awareness for the deva's own vibratory pattern...

Overlighring Deva ofthe Garden
We urge you to join our creative process. When you
planr a seed, invoke the deva and nature spirits connected
with that seed. The seed is the door between you and the
various energies that are drawn rogether on the devic
level and cared/or by the nattue spirits. Once you have
planted the seed, put our the call for the deva to draw
together all the individual energy components of that
variety. Ask that the natwe spirits receive the energies
and, in essence.fuse them to the seed. The seed contains
the potential of the plant's perfection. The grounding of
the plant's energy into the seed activates that potential
and transfonns it inw reality. As you call the energy into
form, see its energy channel wuch into the seed as it is
growuled by the nattue spirits.
By joining in our creative process in this manner,
you will begin to see the importance of worldng with the
nature energies with clarity. We urge you to plant the
garden in this new way and see the difference yow clear
panicipatkm as a co·creative partner with us makes i11 the
germi11arion ofthe seeds and the qualily ofplant growth.
· continued on page 24

KATUAH - page 5

�dandelion can be used throughout the growing season. but
to avoid bitterness you need to look for new growth and
young plants.

Spring Tonics!

The docks, dandelion, roostard, sorrel and lamb's
quarters can all be used as cooked greens. V- 0/ets can also
1
be cooked, but I have never bothered. They are too good
raw. When cooking greens it's best to pid&lt; a lot because
they cook down. Most can be thrown into boiling water and
cooked, but dandelion leaves should be started in cold
water and brought to a boH.

by Lucinda Flodin

A s I sit poring over seed catalogues, looking for
bargains on untreated, non-hybrid seeds, scheming and
dreaming my gardens. plotting crop rotations, remembering
ga"tr:Jens past, wishing gardens future. feeling in my rooscles
the reminders of turning spring soil - I remember a time not
too long ago when I thought one could not have food
without the hard work of digging, planting, and weeding.

Lamb's Quarters

M ind you, gardening is work I love, especially in the
springtime, but in recent years I have disct:Jvered the joy of
foraging for wild foods, food that is Earth's gift - available at
the cost of some study and a walk in the sunshine (although
some plarts I hardly have to leave my door to find!). I feel a
wonderful balance when I take a break from the garden to
seek out a treasvred wild food which grew gloriously without
my help or work. It gives an insight into how the Earth
worlcS..... who, after all, really grows the food.
I start to forage early, pulling bad&lt; snow looking for
that first new growth. By the time spring arrives •officially"
there is food abounding - rooch moffJ than I find in my garden
at that point. This is a time when mountain people tonic with
wild foods, knowing their health will be more vigorous year
round. It is a tradition worth embracing.

My favorite cooked green is poke, which roost be
cooked when young and tender. ff the stems are red or the
plant is over 12" high, it is too old, because it becomes
poisonous with maturity. The roots and the seeds are
medicinal, but they are poisonous and should be used under
the guidance of an experienced herbalist. Some folks will say
that poke should always be eaten cooked. I always do, but I
have seen ffJCjJes that cal for it raw.
Another fine cooked green, ff you don't mind the
hassle, is nettle, the stinging variety. Anyone who's ever
been caught in nettle knows the respect the plant requires.
Long pants, long sleeved shirt and heavy gloves are
necessary to gather and handle it until it's cooked or dried.
Repeated cookings, each in fffJsh water, get rid of the
stinging hails. It's a wonderful food rich in vitamins A and C
and high in protein. It is also a lot of wolk. I always gather a
bunch to dry for nettle tea in the winter.

There BffJ so many edib/8 plants and so many ways to
eat them. An old timer is a great ally in teaming local plants.
and theffJ are also many books that contain good pictures
and important information. I am fond of Foraging For Dinner
by Helen Ross Russell, Roda/e's Herb Book, and also the
Foxfire books. It is important to know your food plants,
because there are others which can poison you.
Early spring salads can begin with a base of sorrel
rumex and sorrel moxalis. Rumex sorrel can be eaten in great
quantity; moxalis sorrel must be eaten In small amounts to
avoid too much oxalic acid. Both have a slightly sour taste. I
add small amounts of the more bitter plants - dandelion,
cress, and the docks (yellow, curled, or burdock) - using very
young leaves because they get more bitter the bigger they
grow. I try to pick dock leaves before they have completely
unfolded. In early salads I also use leaf lettuce from my
greenhouse, and I add in violet leaves and flowers as soon as
I see them. Violets are also a favorite hiking food, a nice
munch while you walk.
Later in the spring saxifrage comes in season,
followed closely by lamb's quarters. a great salad green which
will carry you to the first frost. Late spring salads are also nice
with purslane leaves and shepherd's purse leaves. Dock and

Plantain

A nother way to prepare spring foods is green drinks.
Rll your blender with leaves • violet, plantain, mints,

dandelion, or other tasty greens (either singly or as a mix).
Cover with water and whiz in the blender until it is a pretty
green color. Strain and drink immediately.
I have heard that you should blend green drinks for at
least a minute, but that makes a powerful drink, which Is too
heroic and strong for most. When I use bitter plants In a drink,
I add a lot of mint to sweeten it. Some vegies like carrots w11
1
also sweeten the taste. Experimentation will lead you to the
tastes you like. Green drinks have become a standard In our
home when the children decide to hate green food. Then
they get a ChOice - they can eat a salad or drink a green drink •
it's the same great nutrition whichever they choose.
Ramps are a food which people either love or love to
hate. I love them - in moderation. The blend of onion and
garlic taste is a wonderful seasoner to food. A few ramps will
season a pot of beans or a mess of greens. Try them cooked
if you don't like the strong raw taste. Ramps are not only
good tasting, their lily·like appearance makes them one of
the prettiest plants.

Violet

KATUAH - page 6

illustrations by Ellen John

SPRING - 1988

�rooting blueberries
After a warm rain, when the darl&lt; blue violets bloom,
the morel ~shrooms grow. They Jove old apple groves in
the fn!'Untams.....and they are the highlight of spring
foragmg. Morels are all one piece and they are hollow. f went
rooshrooming ona tifn8 with a neighbor to be sure I could
cfistingufsh the right kind, before I set off on my own. Morels
are fun to hunt, beause they hide In the undergrowth.
Sometimes one will appear beneath your feet, as though in
that instant it had magically popped to full growth. .... perhaps

by Will Ashe Bason

it did.
In my kltehen the best meal of springtime happens in
May when we have stir-fried rafTfJS, morel rooshrooms and
asparagus with a wild green salad. To me it's Thanksgiving
spring-style • knowing that each food is there because the
Earth grew It, and we were blessed to find it. We look forward ~
to it and celebrate It. The Earth Is good to us.

P'

Scientific classifications and vitamin/mineral information on
above mentioned plants:
Nettle (urt/ca d/oica) • contains almost all vitamins and
minerals necessary for human growth and health.
Vitamins A, C, 0, K. Calcium. potassium, iron, sulphur,
silicon, copper.
Lamb·~ quaners (Chimopodium abum) - contains calcium,
silicon, follc acid.
Dandelion (Taraxacum otricinale) ·contains vitamins A, 81.
82, niacin, C, E. Calcium, phosphorous, potassium,
magnesium and many trace minerals. The bast
at(angthener of tha liver.
Yellow dock (Rumu crispus) • Fully absorbable,
non-consllpating source of iron.
Burdock (Att:tium lappa) • Vitamin C, iron.
Watercress (Nasturtium ofrlcina/e) • contains Vitamins A,
81, E, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium,
Iron, manganese, flourine, copper, sulphur, Iodine,
zinc.
Plantain (P/anlago ma;or) - contains calcium, potassium,
sulphur
Sorrel (Rumex aa.tosa} • oontains iron.
Violet (Viola psp/lionacea) • contains vrtamin A, calcium
Shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pa. toris) - contains
s
calcium, Vitamin K. A great remedy for all bleeding
problems
Poke (Phytolacca amerlcana) • contains vitamin A. C,
calcium.

Lucinda Flodin lives a1 Moon Dance Fann in Hampton,
TN where she crea1es herbal health care products, Moon
Dance Farm Herbals. Moon Dance Farm, Rt. I , Box
726, Hampton, TN 37658.

First Dogwoods
Now I don't know what is going on.
These days I wale the fJBJds with tears
in my eyes. Spring is so lovely
l follows fn8 around and gives mB shame.
In quiet little D~minations of the moment,
when rlJbons of light descend between the ic.B and snow,
my heatt achBs with death and dying itto the nBW land.
Sure it is good to bum li&lt;e the eatth with desire,
and then by aystal beauty to be cooled. Each brief
rainshower glistens the air so the sollBI)' trees
in first leaf glow li&lt;e candles on the mountainsides.
During spaC6s between the birds singing so freely,
my lamentation unfolds. My mind bursts open
like the hard·held ctUst finally gona to green.
My woe Is akin the whispers of an errant breeze
enveloped and carried off by the long west winds.

SPRING · 1988

© ev'J

B lueberries are an excellent crop for Katuah. They
bloom late enough to almost always escape spring frosts and
love acid soil. Here In Floyd Co. VA we doni have the high
quality wild blueberries found in most of the rest of Katuah
The oldest planting I know of is a half acre in the Riverflow
Comroonity that is seven years old and doing very well.
Last year, as my friend Alta was pruning the Riverflow
blueberries, we decided to try to root the prunings. Alta put the
prunlngs Into water In which I'd placed willow cuttings several
days before. The willow has magic rooting enzymes which the
blueberries lack. Chris, my wife, cut these prunlngs Into pieces
about 3 or 4 Inches long, and dipped their tower ends In
rooting hormone powder. She then Inserted the cuttings Into a
propagation frame filled with a mixture of half sand and half
peatmoss.
T his frame was oovered with a layer cl plastie and then a
layer of burtap. The plastic keeps the environment humid and
the burtap reduces the amount of sun to a tolerable level We
made our frame 2' by 4', from 1x4's and with a bottom of
hardware cloth. We made the ribs for the covering from some
bent rebar we had but bamboO, lath or pvc pipe would wort&lt;.
We watered the cuttings mostly with comfrey and with a
ittle manure tea We took the poly oover off in June and the
burtap off In August although I think this last could have been
e811ier. We had about a 90% soocess rate and some cl cuttings
put on 6 inches of new growth.
We were worl&lt;lng with highbush varieties but this year

we are rooting some rabblt-i!ye varieties as weU. These are
larger bushes and though oonsldered less oold tolerant than
highbush or lowbush, some are thriving in the riverflow
oomroonity and we are at neal1y 2500 feet at the northern tip of
Karuah. Rabbit-eye blueberries fruit later than the hlghbush
and, In our area, continue till frost. They are supposed to be
harder to root.
-Will Ashe Bason /

KATUAH - page 7

�..

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rot\li

Ejardtns "f-t11e 13(11f.
'RiJ,t..
...Each displaying its own particular
beauty beneath the young sunshine and soft
waters ofspring
·
...Each with its own particular niche
in tMwoodland habitat benelllh the tall rrees
- the right balance of fll()iscure and light, the
particular soil that will encourage its
growth.
...And each with its own unique
capabilities and strategies for sustaining life
and reproducing its ldnd.
The world of the forest wildflowers is simultaneously
one of exquisite beauty, rigorous specialization, and
demanding competition. Though the soft colors and delicate
textures of their blossoms delight the eye in springtime, these
plants have evolved through eons of stress. and change to
prove their sturdiness and resiliency among the life forms,
great and small, inhabiting the Appalachian forest.
Their magical appearance in the spring, their apparent
daintiness, and their impossible beauty, have enchanted the
human beings of every age. And in these days, when people
want their affluence to be tasteful, there is a resurgence of
interest in purchasing the small wildflowers of the eastern
forest for shade gardening and home landscaping.

KATUAH-page 8

There are several companies now catering to that
interest, but none have been in the trade longer than a small
concern located off Highway 221 near ihe smaU town of
Linville, NC at 4,000 feet elevation in the heart of Katuah
province. The Gardens of the -Blue Ridge was begun in
1892 by the family of a surveyor named S.T. Kelsey. The
sense of power and grandeur around nearby Grandfather
Mountain had always atttacted people to the area. In Indian
times it was known as a sacred place of power. In Kelsey's
day, Grandfather Mountain Corporation and the Linville
Improvement Co. were founded on a cenain reverence for
the area's durable real estate values.
Kelsey was called to use his surveying skills to help
parcel out the lands at the Grandfather's feet. He liked the
area and bought a tract for himself for the nursery from
which he sold ornamental shrubbery.
A young man from the area, Edward C. Robins, took
a job at the nursery and worked there steadily until 1923,
when he bought the operation. Since then the Gardens of the
Blue Ridge has been a Robins family enterprise. Members
of t~e fourth generation of Robins' are now worlcing in the
company.
For a time E.C. Robins carried on the business as
Kelsey had left it to him. He dug a tremendous number of
nati\'e rhododendrons, azaleas, mountain laurel, and
dogWood trees and shipped them by rail throughout the East.
As a sideline, he also collected and sold the small woodland
wildflowers.
. But the ornamental shrubs trade grew more
competitive, and the native varieties began to be eclipsed in
the eyes of wealthy buyers by new hybrids developed
especially for the color, holding capacity, and brilliance of
thei{ blooms. Robins decided to deal exclusively in
wildflowers and began a tradition that the family has adhered
to since.
In those early days of the Garden's development, the
trees still stood tall in many areas of the forest. The ground
was largely clear beneath the great trees' massive crowns,
and hunters and bikers could still stumble into clearings
carpeted in ginseng or brilliant with the color of an extensive
colony of pink ladyslippers in full bloom.
In those days it seemed that the forest would never die,
and .the wildflowers would always grace the forest floor.
Robins employed 30 - 40 men digging, transplanting, and
shipping shrubs and flowers. They dug wherever they could
and took all they could find. Trilliums and lilies were
popular at the time, and Robins shipped thousands of
individuals of the various trillium species, the (now rare and
endangered) Gray's JiJy, (Lilium Grayii) and the Tur.k's cap
lily (Lilium superbum) to the eastern cities. As he became
more completely committed to the wildflowers, Robins
gathered all the local varieties he could find, until he was
offering 200 varieties of plants.
E.C. Robins lived until 1969, when he died at the age
of 93. Today the Gardens of the Blue Ridge is run by hrs
son, Edward P. Robins. The company still offers 159
varieties of flowering plants, 22 varieties of native fems,
and 38 types of trees and shrubs. But the plants are now
propagated almost exclusively in 10 acres of mulched, raised
beds at the nursery.
Logging practices and extensive development were
largely responsible for changing the face of the forest, and it
was in the late 1940's -and early 1950's that the Robins
realized that the supply of local flora was limited and that
their methods of coUecting were helping to diminish the
supply. The family shares with their customers a deep
appreciation for the subtle beauties of the native wildflowers.
So, once begun, the transition to nursery propagation was
made swiftly.
In 1969 ginseng (Panax quinquefolium) became a
protected plant in the state of Nonh Carolina. Now the small
plant known as shortia or Oconee bells (Shortia galacifolia)
and the medicinal plant golden seal (Hydrastis canadensis)

SPRING - 1988

�are also registered plants, requiring a special certificate to
accompany each individual sold. Pink ladyslipper
(Cypripidium acaule) in all probability will soon join the list.
The Robins family follows scrupulously all regulations
for producing and selling the native plants. They note that by
making wildflowe~ available, they are relieving pressures on
the wild natives and that they are actuaUy aiding several
species of wildflowers to survive by spreading them as
domestic plantings, while their native habitats are being
destroyed or drastically cunailed. In particular, they have
helped ex.tend the range of shortia by shipping it throughout
the East. The plant grows on runners and is easy to
establish, if it is planted in a moist spot or kept wet until it is
well secured. E.P. Robins remembers one private wildlife
preserve in western Massachusetts where they planted
"thousands, literally thousands" of shortia as a ground cover.
Pink ladyslipper is harder to establish. The plant
depends on a relationship with a particular variety of funius
that lives in the soil close to the plant roots. Wherever 1t is
planted, pink ladyslipper will prosper for the first year, but
unless the soil is such that it can produce the particular strain
of symbiotic fungus, the plant will soon languish and die.
Once the business of collecting native plants '+'as
strictly a matter of stamina and endurance. E.P. Robins
remembers fondly the day when the company received a
permit to collect plants on some land near the North
Carolina-South Carolina state line that was to be cleared by
Duke Power Company. "We dug 10,000 shortia that day."
But idiosyncrasies such as that shown by the pink
ladyslipper make propagating the wild plants in nursery beds
more a question of familiarity and accurate attention to detail.
The demand for the graceful natives has been steady
through the years, and there is room for new companies to
enter the field.
"There's good prospects for this business," says E.P.
Robins. ''It's always been steady. Even during the
Depression it was a good business. Wildflowers are
becoming popular, so the demand might go up for awhile.
But we have all the business we can handle right now, so we
don't care if it goes up more or not.''
Breaking into commercial wildflower raising requires
more initiative and careful attention than capital. It is a
business that can sran small and grow to whatever ~ize is
desired. But it is slow work. While most of the flower
varieties are easy to raise, some varieties have special
requirements that can only be learned through long familiarity
and by suffering through mistakes. It takes time to establish
a market and to~ain a reputation.
"We never got rich," says E.P. Robins, "but we didn't
expect to get rich, and we're making a living. As long as we
keep our bead &lt;tbove water and have a liltle, that's all·we

·:.:· .....
.··
..·:
:-.

·.

.! ·.

shortw

·:·..·.
.

·: ...

©~

Shortia, Oconee bells (Shortia galacifolia), the
mystery plant of the mountains of western North Carolina
was first discovered by a French botanist, Andre Michaux,
on December 8, 1788. He had been sent to America by the
French government to seek new plants that might be of value
ro France. In his search through western North Carolina and
eastern Tennessee, Andre Michaux found and described
many new species and carried back to France pressed
specimens to be placed in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris.
Some were labeled "unknown" and among these was a leaf
and root of this plant from the mountains of western
Carolina.

care."

Perhaps many botanists studied the specimens with M
identity over a period of the next fifty years. In 1839 Asa
Gray, a young American botanist, became intrigued with a
specimen and recognized it as a new genus, and wrote a
scientific description of the genus from the single specimen
in France. To lwMr Dr. Charles W. Short, an able botanist
of Kentucky, Gray devised the scientific name of tlte genus,
Shortia. And, since it resembled galax, the species name
became galacifolia.

But growing the native wildflowers offers rich
rewards in satisfaction. The international reputation for
quality plants developed over the last 96 years by the
Gardens of the Blue Ridge is obviously a source of d~ep
pride to Mr. Robins. Propagating the native wild plants is an
occupation that takes little from the land and offers much in
the way of natural beauty. And it is good to walk beneath the
tall trees and see the colors of the flowers shining in the
spring rain.
~

Gray soon returned to America and began his search,
high in the mountains ofNorth Carolina and Tennessee.for
shortia. In 1842 Dr. Gray was appointed professor of nanual
history at Harvard University. For 38 years on every field
trip high in the mountains of North Carolina, Gray hunted
for the elusive slwrtia. He found many plants and published
manuals on botany, but always the little specimen in Paris
continued to haunt him.

Sources for wildflower plants:
- Gardens of the Blue Ridge
P.O. Box 10
Pineola. N.C. 28662
- Appalachian Wildflower Nursery
RL I, Box 275-A
Reedsville, PA 17084

,P'

Further reading:
Growing and Propagating Native
Wildflowers. Harry Phillips (UNC
Press; Chapel Hill, NC. 1985)

SPRING - 1988

Then, on an April day in 1877, George HytllnS went
fishing in the Catawba River in McDowell County. His
father was a botanist employed by Wallace Brothers of
Statesville, NC, whose firm collected plants for
pharmaceutical purposes. Nodding and swaying in the breeze
were some charming bell-shaped, waxy white flowers, on
slender stems, with irregularly-toothed petals, growing from
a roserre of wavy-margined, roundish, shiny evergreen
leaves, similar to the familiar mountain galax. George
decided to take a piece Jwme to his father. Mr. Hyams did
Mt know the plant, but it looked so interesting that he sent a
specimen to Dr. Gray at Harvard University for
identijicaJion. Dr. Gray replied, "You have smmbled on what
for many years I have tried so hard to find."
continued on page 26
KATUAH - page 9

�;-

--

- ____.,._...,..,.

_

_,_

-- -- ---·-------~

F'inclitUJ Out Abou t lka!int] with Plants ....

A Visit with Granny
An Interview with Carolyn Port
by Karen Watkins-Decker and Christina Morrison

Carolyn Porr has been a practitioner
of herbal medicine in Burke County, NC for
over 50 years. She has also given lectures,
classes and workshops on herbology and
will soon publish a book of herbal
remedies.
As a single woman, Carolyn raised
two adopted childre11 and now has several
grandchildren a11d great-gra11dchildren. She
is fondly referred to as "Granny" by family
and friends.
Katuah:: How did you begin your work?

G r anny: I'm a registered nurse. I also
carried a midwife's certificate for years until
retirement age pushed me out

K: How did you become specifically
interested in the use of herbs?

G: I don't know that I was more interested
in herbs than anything else. The body is a
whole. If it's sick one place it's sick all
over, and it needs help all the way around.
Anything that brings it back to normal is
good.

K: Yet you've found that herbs treat the
whole body better than olher medicines?

G: Yes. I believe that herbs build health
as well as treat symptoms. And if an old
woman told you that wall link tea would
save a baby's life that had bold hives, you'd
try it.

K: What is wall link? I've never heard of
it

G: It's a kind of lichen that grows in spring

have to take a knife and scrape those little
roots off to make it clean enough for the
baby.
Editor's ll()te: Wall·linJc "lichen" is actually a type
of liverwort (probably Marcha!ltla polymorpha).
conjectured to bt among the very first plants to
exist on land. It is interesting that such a primitive
plant is healing to humans in our tarly stages of
developmen1; i.e. infancy.

branches. Some people call it "turkey
tracks."

K : Where did you gather all your
knowledge? From your own experience?

K: And bold hives - what kind of illness is
this?

G: People told me things just like I'm

G: I don't really know. I think in the
medical profession some would say that
there is no such thing as bold hives. The old
folks said there was. The babies would just
tum blue - they'd find them blue in the bed.
Some of them broke out in a red rash first.
like pimples, and not be able to catch their
breath - so they'd die.

K: The symptoms you mention remind me
of sudden infant death syndrome for which
no cause or cure has been discovered. I'd
like to know just exactly which lichen
you're talking about.

G: I can't show it to you as good as if I
had you over on the creek bank. It's a deep
green • not a green green. It has a ridge right
under the center seam and its hair-like roots
go down into the moss to get moisture. You

KATIJAH - na2e 10

telling you. They told me about the wall link
tea and I said I'd remember that and try it
and see if it works .. .if I need it • and I did
need it again for a baby that was JO months
old. They called me in the night and I went.
The baby had been blue for two weeks.
They'd had her to the doctor twice and in
the hospital once for a day or so. It didn't
do her any good - still she was blue and
beginning to get the red rash. Quick as I got
there, I gave her a hot and a cold bath to
stimulate circulation and it pinked her up
right away. She seemed a little more alen,
but as soon as she was out of the bath she
began to look blue again. So I asked if
anyone knew where I could find some wall
link. They said there was some in an old
spring half way down the mountain. I asked
if anybody would go get some. One woman
said she'd go if I'd go with her; nobody
else wanted to - they knew how bad the
road was. (she laughs, remembering). We

took a pine pitch torch and climbed down
the mountain at 2 o'clock in the morning
and gathered wall link. I got a nice handful
of it and went back and made some tea.
When the baby got a taste of it she just
drank that bottle Hke she'd never had
anything good before. And before she was
through she began to get pink. I stayed
around to 5 o'clock when I was sure she
was alright, and then I went home... and
that's the way I got the remedy.

K : From what age did you begin paying
ancntion to these things?

G: I decided I was going to be a nurse
when I was just three years old. My mother
was a nUTSC and while she treated people I
treated my doll. I'd give my doll an enema
and then hang her on the clothesline by her
toes to dry. (laughs)
K: Your mother took care of people at
home too, just as you do?

G: Yes, and my father was a veterinarian.
K: Did your mother use many herbs?

G: What she knew she used. For instance,
when they learned that raspberry leaf tea
would stop hemorrhaging we always kept it
on hand. She used blackberry roots for
diarrhea; things like that

K: Did you and your parents work
together?
SPRING - 1988

�G: Yes. When we moved here (to
Morganton) in 1920 we built a home across

K: Do you have any' favorite plants that
you work with?

the street. We had three private room units
and an upstairs for father and mother. We
could take up to 4 mothers with their babies.

G: I just get whatever people need. rve
also got a greenhouse full of aloe and I use

K: So that's when you became a midwife?

G: I was a midwife from the time I finished
school in 1929.
K : You already had your degree by the
time you were 20?

G: Yes. You didn't have to finish high
school back then, so I went straight into
nursing school. Then when I was about to
finish up, they said I couldn't take the stare
board exams because I was 100 young to
become a nurse. But my supervisors
worked things ou1 for me to take the exams
anyway and I made a 98 average.
K: Do you use any standard medicines in
your practice?

G: I never have. That's the reason I didn't
nurse in a hospital professionally. I had 10
find some other way to help people, because
I'm not going to give others something I
won't take myself.

K: And how did you develop that attitude?
Did your mother have that approach?

G: Yes. She never gave drugs. She was an
old Battle Creek, Mich. graduate if you've
ever heard of that school. When she was
there it was in its heyday. It was around the
tum of the century and they had patients
from all over the world. They used many
kinds of therapies like hydrotherapy, diet,
herbs ...as well as standard medicine.
K: That must have been quite a departure
from the general trend in the rest of the
country.

G: Yes. They believed the body was the
temple of God and they treated it that way.
They used very few drugs.

K: Seems that possibly we've gotten away
from the use of herbs because people have
come to mistrust them - they're unknown,
unfamiliar. Maybe if we stan using them
more we'll come to trust them again.

G: We've got to.
K: They can even become like old friends.

G: You wouldn't think that the humble
little violet would cure stomach ulcers - bu1
it does.

K: Do you gather most of the herbs you
use?
G: Yes, I love to... but I don't have time to
pick many. And I try 10 get people to gather
them on their own. If they're going to get
any real lasting benefit they'll have to learn
10 do it themselves. That's why people
don't doctor with herbs - they think it's too
much trouble to get out and hunt for them
and fix them up.

it for lots of things - it helps people with
cancer who are losing strength, its good for
the stomach if drunk· as a juice... ! make
suppositories with it for hemorrhoids or
vaginal infections. And of course for bums
there's nothing that takes its place.
So, many herbs li,kc aloe can be used
for different things, but when you think of a
malady you should use the plant that's the
I!!Qfil ~ for that problem. For instance,
aloe is good for the stomach but if you have
an ulcered stomach and are having pain,
violet leaf tea is the thing you wanL There
are also lots of remedies for colds, flu and
bronchitis, but the best one l know is a tea
made from mullein and cockleburrs
(xanthium pensylvanicum)... the cockleburrs
really make it taste good. And the beauty of
it is, you can put it right in a baby's bottle just dilute it a little. (see REMEDIES)

G: Comsi1k tea and Queen Anne's lace tea
are good for kidney ailments too. A woman
came to me who was going to the hospital
the next day to have one of her kidneys
taken out as she had so many stones in it. It
was right in the summer when Queen
Anne's lace was in bloom all over the place.
I told her I believed I'd try some Queen
Anne's lace tea before I had an operation.
She said, " Alright, I will." We went up on
the hill and galhered flowers and stems to
make the tea. I told her to drink a cup every
thirty minutes 'til bedtime and whenever she
got up in the night to use her chamber pot
she should drink some more. Well, by
morning she'd filled that pot up half-way,
but the bottom of it looked like red clay In."
thick. Those stones had dissolved. And as
far as I know, she's never had that problem
again.
Editor's note: Queen Anne's lace (Daucus
carota) somewhat resembles poison
hemlock (Conium maculatum). Be sure to
know the difference.

K: My neighbor's baby often has colds I'll recommend it.

G: You know, when you give a child herbs
you're giving them a kind of nourishment
they don't get any other way. And it seems
to immunize them to that same malady.
They won't have it nearly so quickly or so
badly again, and they'll get over it faster.

K: Why do you think the medical
profession has gouen so far away from
using herbs?

"Of course these
common weeds we walk
over all the time, like
dandelion and chickweeds,
are some of the best - if
you can get to them before
the mower does!"

G: How would they make any money with
it? Oaughs). I knew a doctor once whose
little girl nearly bled to death with a nose
bleed. I told him to give her raspberry leaf
tea to stop the bleeding - and he did and it
worked - but he didn't seem interested in
finding out why it worked or in using it
again.

K: What do you think about when you're
harvesting herbs?

G: I think about how quick I can get this
person enough plant to do some good
Oaughs) and get home and get it fixed up.
And I don't get to go out and harvest all the
time. If I did I might be like the man I know
who went up on the parkway towazd Jonas
Ridge. There was a whole bank of ttailing
arbutus there and he decided to gather
some. He'd filled a bag half full when a
lady patrolman came along and asked him
what he was doing. II was against the law
up there to pick those leaves, so she took
them and put them in the back of her car. He
told her, "I hope you know what to do with
them!"
K: What arc ttailing arbutus leaves used
for?
G: Kidney stones, or as the old folks say,
"gravel" ...some folks call arbutus, "gravel
weed" because it eases the pain in passing
kidney stones by dissolving them.
K: Sounds as though it's been a useful and
well-known remedy.

K: How did you learn to identify plants?

G: We always studied nature in our family.
Sabbath afternoons we'd go for hikes in the
woods and look for bmls and flowers ...and
whatever we didn't know we'd look up. Of
course these common weeds we walk over
all the time, like dandelion and chickweeds,
arc some of the best - if you can get to them
before the mower does! Chickweed is a
wonderful little weed.
K: ... and it tastes so good fresh.

G: Yes, and it's a good wash for any skin
ailment. But it's not only the wilder plants
that arc good, we have tame things like
marigolds and calendula which arc good for
salves.
K: You use marigolds? I use those for a
dye.
G: If you grow them in your gazden they
keep the bugs off your plants ... and a
tincture of them will keep the bugs off your
head! A young'un of mine got uce at scnool
and we rubbed the tincture into his scalp and
wrapped it in a towel overnight. Next
morning we washed it out and that was thaL
(see REMEDIES) You can also dry the
blossoms for tea that takes polyps out of the
intestines.

• continued on next page.

SPRING - 1988

KATUAH - page 11

u. OSCO - nn.v '""

�- continued from page 11

K: I never knew marigolds had so many
uses!

G: Well, when you get started on
something you find so many things its good
for ...
K: What is your feeling about the healing
properties of plants - the origin of that?

G: God put it there. That's exactly where
it comes from. He knows what we need.
Now right around here, there's lots of
kidney stones ...something in the soil
contributes to that problem. There's also a
lot of trailing arbutus. It's like an herbalist
once telling me to gather stinging nettles and
I said, "Yes, if I can stand the sting." And
she said, "Wherever the nettles grow you'll
find yellow dock - just rub your sting with
its leaves and it won't hurt."
K: That reminds me of using jewel weed to
neutralize poison ivy. Do you primarily
make teas with herbs?

G: Most herbs do yield their strength best
to water - some to cold, some to hot - either
boiled or steeped - according to what you
need. For high blood pressure you use cold
mistletoe tea. (see REMEDIES) But if
you've got epilepsy or seizures then you
make a hot infusion. (see REMEDIES)

K: I know of a dog with epilepsy - maybe
it would cure him. (laughs)

outlawed in the U.S. And now I've beard
they're closed down. I hope its not true.

K: Did you keep the literature from that
course or do you just remember everything?
G: Well, I got all hepped up studying it and
ii worked so good...that I got the address of
Indiana Botanical Gardens - and what I
didn't know I'd order so J could recognize it
and test it out.
K: Did your father use herbs as a
veterinarian?

G: Yes, we studied together. One day a
man came to us who'd overworked his
horse. He said her heart was pounding like
a hammer and she was standing with all
four legs splayed - wouldn't eat; wouldn't
drink. So I fixed some lobelia tea and filled
up a big drenching bottle full. When we got
to the mare the sweat was running off her in
a stream and her nostrils were red and
looked like they would burst. We lifted her
head and drenched her but only got half of it
in her before she reared up and came back
down and slobbered. After a while she
began to walk around and drink water. He
asked if she'd live and I said I didn't know she might have burst a blood vessel.
Months later my father saw him again and
asked about the horse. He said he'd been
logging her everyday.

G: Well, you just be a brave woman and
drink it down - and drink some water after.
K: What if someone's ailments demanded
remedies of an opposite kind - of opposing
forces, so to speak'?

G: Nature fits with nature.
K : Lobelia is an herb I've beard you
should be careful with.

G: Did you ever taste Indian Turnip?
Lobelia's like that - very strong. It smells
good, but nobody's going to eat much of it.
Only a very little is needed for healing.
K: I've also heard that the seeds of the
poke plant are supposed to be poisonous,
although I've eaten them myself. The young
shoots are very good cooked Do you use
poke?

G: Yes, I've given the berries for arthritis
(see REMEDIES) and folks have had good
results. Some harvest the berries every fall
and freeze them to have oo hand all year.
K: Staghom sumac berries (rhus typhina)
crushed and soaked in water make good
lemonade. Have you used them as a
remedy?

G: The tea is good for bedwetting - helps
K: Not quite as hard, I hope! That's

retain the urine.

interesting - lobelia grows in my holler

G: A woman came to me one day and said,

where horses are still

used for

logging... Has anyone ever had a bad
''What can I do for my poor little doggie?
reaction to remedies you've prescribed?
He's having seizures one right after
another." So I said, "Give him some
G: I don't give them anything that would
mistletoe tea." She said, "That's poison,
cause a bad reaction.
isn't it?" I said, "They say so - but birds eat
it." She said, "Well ..." A couple wee.ks
K: Are there any herbs that you finally
later I saw her and she said, "What can I do
decided to stop using?
for my doggy?" And I said, "Did you give
him the tea?" She said, "No." So I said,
G: Some are easier to get than others...and
"Well, just let him die then." And she
some taste a lot better than others.
looked at me as if I was the meanest thing in
Personal) y I like things that taste better. If I
the world. I didn't think she was very
much impressed. Then a few months later I
saw her husband and he said, "Did you
hear-the dog's all well." I said, "Good what did you do?" He said, "We gave it
mistletoe tea!" (laughs) The dog had gotten
so weak he couldn't get into his little wicker
bed. He wouldn't drink water and hadn't
eaten for days. She put down a bowl of tea
and she said his nose twitched and he raised
up and began to drink. When he finished
she set down another bowl and some food
and water. She expected him to be dead by
morning. But in the morning the tea was
gone, the water was gone, the food was
gone and the dog was gone! He was over
V'.......~~~*::;:;:·~rt;.l'!D
across the carport in his bed.
K: What a great success story! So how did
you learn how to prepare so many different
herbs - was it just from people telling you?

G: No, honey, l see what you're after.. .!
took a correspondence course from
Canadian Herbal College in the early '30's.
They had to go to Canada because they were

K: Do you have any ideas about the
intelligenc.e behind plants?

G: The same God that made you and me
made the plants. He knows what they need and they haven't perverted their appetites
like I have. So they take only the
nourishment they need from their
environment..! think the.main good we get
comes through the life of the plant - from
the minerals and food value it gives us.
K: It's very pure, isn't it..

G: It gives your body just what it needs.
K: Do you feel the plants you gather have
any awareness of your picking lhem?

G: I don't feel they have a ...what would
you say?... a soul...or a menrality. But they
do have some kind of feelings and ability to
communicate. And I think in the new earth
state, after sin is gone, that we'll be able to
communicate with animals and plant life
better than we can now.
K: But you don't feel like you do thar at all
now - when you're working with them?

G: No...when I'm gathering plants I think
Mullein

illustra11on b'f Ellen John

give people somerhing that tastes good
they'll probably use more of it.
K: How do you mask the ones that don't
taste good?

of the good they're going to do. I don't
believe in nature spirirs or fairies ... Angels
exist, and can lead us to plants, but God is
the spirit And He is a personal God. I le
made us and He made the herbs. He knew
what we needed so He put their healing
qualities in them.
- continued on page 27

KATIJAH- page 12

SPRING - 1988

�Frower Essences:
Harmony wtth Sp£r£t and Nature

Flower essences serve as catalysts to
awaken the natural life force and spiritual
consciousness within us. Each flower essence
embodies the hamumious vibrational panern of
the particular flower species used, and thus
attunes and resonates with specific human
energy patterns. The essences stimulate an
enhanced awareness and ability to transform
limiting attitudes, emotions and behavior into
more creative and health-affirming ways of
living.
Flower essences are liquid, potentized
preparations which carry a distinct imprint ofa
given flower and only an insignificant material
component. They are prepared from
sun-infusions ofj[Qwers in water, diluted and
preserved with brandy and generally taken
orally af~ drops at a time, several tim&amp;r per

flower, coltsfoot In the joy of the moment we
found the radiance within one another and
made our life commitment together, although
the golden flower eluded us then. Since that
lovely day, coltsfoot has found us often...and
in most surprising places... along highways
and mountainsides, dry bulldozed places and
small streams...during needful, dark and
joyous moments. Each time she Earths the
Light for us along our journey. Each time she
opens us to our own knowing.

day.

yellow is used to dispel depression. One
spring, Edward and I both developed 'lung
fevers' - my first, his, a long endured ailment
It was this particular Spring that we felt
agreement to prepare the flower essence. I'd
been relating with friends with 'lung troubles'
and this encouraged my own healing. fd been
holding grief for so long. The Equinox came
brightly and we t.ook our healing bodies to the
cold creek to be with the coltsfoot flower. In a
sacred way we happily created coltsfoot
essence, with her permission. Her radiant light
dispelled our 'darkness' and we got welU

These essences are completely safe and
do not inteifere with and are not ajfected by
other medications. They show a lack of
effectiveness if used improperly but if too
much is taken they do no harm. Flower
essences harmonize well with other health and
growth practices including exercise, nourishing
diet, relaxation, balanced lifestyle, and
appropriale medical care.
Always gentle and strengthening.flower
essences bring a continual union between soul
and body, Higher Self and personality. The
graduiJJ attuning within blends and connects
one with one's source.

As a medicinal herb, ~o farfm
(coltsfoot) is traditionally used for lung
ailments. The lung is an "earth" organ and

Drawing by Shell Lodge

Cottsfoot

~tooc£t"oot

C oltsfoot is the earliest blooming flower
here where we live in Katuah, appearing in
February before the cold snows have finished
melting. Blooming fully bright, coltsfoot
brings her Promise of the Light and Radiance
of Spring from the deepening regenerative
forces of Winter's Dark.

In early Spring, before leaves cast
shadowy images, petite candles stand erect on
hardwood forest floors. Arriving at dawn, one
can lie amongst their glow. As the sun warms
the day, one then can watch the delieate
unfolding petals of the beautiful bloodrool
flower. A single protective leaf shelters this
flower in her early development As it matures,
the candlelight shoots up from the leaf and
opens to fullness. Then the forest ground
covering is a myriad of white stars with
glowing golden centers.
Heaven laying to rest a s~ll on Earth...Spirit
blossoming with matter.

Her special way of responding to the
sun lends to us knowledge of her use as a
flower essence. She follows the arc of sunlight
across the blue Heavens then closes up silently
to the cold night awaiting the Sun's ever
re-appearing warmth for opening each day. The
large green leaves developing at the end of her
flowering season grow in the shape of a "
colt's foot" and tell us of her ability to ground
us as well as enlighten.
My husband and I affectionately call
coltsfoot our initiator. On a clear sunshiny day
along a delightfully cold rushing mounrain
creek, Edward and I searched the banks and
boulders for signs of the radiant yellow ray

F eelings of my sacredness flow while in
the presence of Red Puccoon ( Indian for
bloodroot). a revelation of my opening psyche.
My initial experience of using bloodroot flower
essence came like the swift flooding river over
rapids, gurgling forth in living affirmations.
Life affirming words came pouring forth from
my being, streaming out. fd been struggling
with the use of affirmations, but no more! I
experience their inner wadrings now; I foci
surprise and delight and laughter. The aeative
process of receiving the Divine Feminine
within began blossoming.
T hrough this process Bloodroot
becomes my friend ...sharing her self wilh me
through the opening of my feminine
psyche...and being so intimately here with me
while I clear the cobwebs from my ancient
cauldron. The exhilarating union with my
feminine creative spirit and ageless wisdoms is
coming home using bloodroot flower essence.

As an herb, this member of the poppy
family is known to be internally poisonous in
all but small doses. The red root was used
medicinally to make tinctures and decoctions
for internal use , and external washes for skin
Edward &amp; Elaine Geouge are flower ess~nce
infections. When freshly dug, the root of
sanquinaria canadensis bleeds a red juice. Dried lovers living in Yancey Co., NC ga1herinY'
flowers and wisdom to co-create flower
and powdered roots were used by the Indians
essences with Nature in KaJUah.
as a dye and as a body paint
These Appalachian Gower essences are available lhtough

Flower Essence Services, P.O. Box 586, Nevada City,
CA 95959. A.sic ror the research flower essence list.

SPRING - 1988

KATUAH-page 13

�THE ORIGIN OF THE ANIMALS
by Clyde Hollifield

" lam a storyteller. You can take this
story any way you want to - as a dream, a
Ue, an exaggeration, a vision, or as the
truth. l am only required to tell the tale. "
Long, long ago, at the dawn ohime,
there were only plants upon the Earth. No
people, no animals, no birds, no fish - only
plants.
At first the plants were rather meager.
T here were onl y algaes, liule mosses,
lichens, and fems, but gradually they grew
into larger species. The early trees began to
develop.
If you look at the geological record,
you will see that animals came into existence
about the same time that plants began to
develop fruit, nuts, and grains. Of course,
the animals could not have existed before
this, because there would not have been
anything to eat. Here is how it came to
happen.
Plants bad evolved for millions of
years before any animal was even thought
of. For eons they had experimented with
dispersing seed using water and air as
carriers. For a lot of the plants, this was a
problem. Some, like the milkweed, bad
learned to send their liule seeds on
parachutes through the air. The cattails and
the rushes experimented with floating seeds
that were carried to the other shore of the
lake and took root there. But many of the
other plants could only drop their seed at the
base of their own stem, and were thus
crowded out by their own offspring.
As the plants evolved, and their
intelligence grew, some among them began
to discuss a radically new way of dispersing
seed. The oak trees, in particular, were
precocious plants. They watc hed the
mistletoe, the only mobile plant, which had
no roots and flew from one oak tree to
another. From this the oak trees got an idea:
they would devise a small, living creature
that could move !lllml around from one place
to another, as the mistletoe was able to do.
They called together the hickory trees, the
walnut trees, the hazel, and all the other
nut-bearing trees, and they made their plan.
It being such a new idea, it was
difficult at first to convince the other plants
to allow it.
"It'll never happen."
"Ridiculous."
"Go away," said the other trees, but
the oak tree persisted. (Oaks are very
persistant trees) .T hey agreed that they
would design their creature so it would not
harm the environment or intrude on the
living spaces of the other trees and plants.
They also agreed to provide total care for
this little "animal" creature.
You have probably guessed already
that the animal they were devising was the
squirrel. His job would be to plant oak
seeds at some distance from the parent tree.
lo exchange, the tree would offer him a
place to live, hollow places in which to take
shelter, and food in the form of acorns and
nuts.
They finally completed their task,
and, as you can see to this day, the plan
KATUAH- page 14

worked very well. A squirrel will get a
mouthful of nuts, run down the tree, and go
off into the woods a little way. Then he will
dig a little hole, plant the seed right side up,
and pack the din back around it very
carefully. Then be will promptly forget
where he's planted it. That's the business of
the squirrel; it's in his nature.
With the help of the squirrel, oak
trees began to become a dominant tree on
the Earth. The other trees began to think that
maybe this was not such a silly idea after
all, and the persimmon tree, the
serviceberry, and the pawpaw got together
and decided to create a creature of their
own. The persimmon tree suggested an
idea, and they all thought it was a good one,
and carried it out. They made the possum.
The possum was different from the
squirrel. It was completely nomadic, it
never denned up. This was an improvement
because they did not have to provide the
possum with a home, only food.
The fruit trees were not as determined
as the stout nut trees, and the possum was
the lazy approach to making a squirrel. The
fruit trees did not waste a lot of energy
filling up the possum's brain housing. The
possum, therefore, is not quick and clever
like the squirrel. Face it, a possum is dumb.
But the possum does not have to be
smart, because it has a natural design
advantage. It eats the sweet, ripe fruit off
the trees. Then, as the possum meanders on
through the forest, the fruit passes through
its body, and when the possum is a good
distance from the parent tree, the seeds are

deposited .among tho leaves, neatly packed
in a small bundle of fertilizer.
But neither squirrels nor po5sums can
cross large bodies of water;·and some of the
other plants began to think that they would
have a big advantage if they could come up
with an animal that could fly.
What a totally outrageous idea! None
of the other plants thought it would work,
but a daring group of plants - blackberries,
blueberries, mulberries, and even cherries got together on it, and so many of them
were working on the plan that they actually
made it come about. They took the best
features of the possum, passing the seeds
through the digestive tract, combined with
the brightness of the squirrel, and they
designed their creature with wings and a
new invention, feathers and this new being a bird - actually flew!
With their mobility and sense of
purpose, birds could fly to where a crop of
berries were ripening, eat these, and fly,
often for hundreds of miles, to where other
berries were coming into season, depositing
their seed packages along the way.
These plants, too, took care of their
own particular creature. They gave the birds
materials to use in building a nest and a safe
place back in among the briars or high in the
tree branches to protect themselves and
safely raise their young.
The new idea worked splendidly, and
there came to be more and more birds of all
sizes and varieties, and at the same time
more new and different animals were being
created as well.
SPRING - 1988

�But what plant devised the human
beings? This is a question that bas baffled
science for centuries. Some say that the
humans were thought up by the intestinal
bacteria. but l happen to know that the apple
tree was responsible.
The apple tree felt that life was
becoming too confusing, because there were
too many kinds of apples. Each young tree
created from seed was different from its
parents, and when the young ones crossed,
they themselves produced entirely different
types. It was a dilemma that required a
quick and drastic solution. So the apple tree
devised a creature with the intelligence to
help them reproduce by cloning. In this way
a strain would remain true to its original
form.
This required a creature with special
qualifications. This creature needed to be
able to graft a tree, and, when the graft was
established, to transplant it in a good
location, and then wait seven to ten years
before being rewarded with any apples.
This was a remarkable achievement. None
of the other trees had created a creature that
could do that. It took a coalition of different
kinds of plants - the apple tree and other
fruits, the grains, and the vegetables - to
create and sustain the human animal.
The new "animal" system was turning
out to be successful beyond any plant's
wildest expectations. The plants were doing
extremely well. and there was hardly a pan
of the Earth that they could not coloniz.e.
But too much was happening at
once. It was too much to control. The fust
sign of trouble was when some lower
orders of plants. being too lazy to take the
trouble to devise and maintain their own
animal or bird, grew seeds that could ride in
other animal's fur. These were the
hitcbikers: cockleburrs, beggar lice,
agrimony, and others like them.
This was just the beginning of the
troubles. The animal kingdom that the plants
had created took on a will of its own, and
new animal species began appearing that the
plants bad never dreamed of. Animals
apppeared that ate the flesh of other animals
and were not under the control of any of the
plants. Other animals began to manipulate
the environment to their satsfaction.
Beavers, for instance, began gnawing down
their host trees to build dams and lodges.
Shocking! Before this only the plants had
done anything to change the way of the
world.
A bad day came when the humans
discovered fire. With fire they became the
greatest threat to the plant world that had
ever appeared. They could start fires, but
they were not so proficient at putting them
out. The humans made a lot of mistakes and
did a lot of damage in the early days when
they were learning how to manage fire.
·
The beautiful system the plants had
created was careening out of control, and
the plants could do nothing to bring it back
into balance. The plant kingdom began to go
on the defensive against the very creatures
they themselves had created. Poisonous
plants developed, vines and brambles
appeared to hinder the animals' way through
the forest. Long prickers grew on the locust
tree and other plants that had never bome
thorns before.
The humans, their most complex
creation, turned out to be devilishly adept at
cutting, cleating, digging, and poisoning the

SACRAMENT
Candlemas Day divined one blue violet.
Yesterday trout lilies were spawning
down at the creek.
I have saved a beeswax candle;
there will be other times to celebrate
the rites of spring:
the planting of peas &amp; potatoes,
signs of urging warmth, a stirring of the earth,
the surging of the body to stir the earth.
One honeyed candle burns at an altar of lilies.
bringing the poems of spring to light.
-Janeice Ray

RAIN HAS COME AGAIN
Rain has come again

after the dryest spring recorded
deep in me the garden has leapt
these past weeks-mullein sends up spires
in the moonlight.
The four o'clocks burn a bush
of sweet purple, effigy of efflorescense.
The garden is a dense verdant
mass of growing summer vine &amp; bush &amp; stalk
screaming recklessly open to
foraging bees, wasps, bugs, birds, me.
I think I have seen it climax,
baptiz.ed in pale the night of the last
full moon of summer, wide wide open
and singing with life.
Flowers of luffa glow yellow and grow long.
Vines vein white; leaves in a mad ebb
of chlorophyll drink in the sudden
abundance of water
and are reborn.
The mute sundial casts gray &amp; wan.
Stolons passing underground
fountain into spearmint.
These are the showers of blessings.
From the wetness comes redemption.
- Janeice Ray

- C01llinuod on page 21

SPRIN,9 - 1988

_ KATUAH-pagel5

�(These are lhe words of a traditional Cherokee 111-0dicinc person.)

ON POWER
There are three types of power, and they are:

Power over others or power over ideas. This is the
power to force other people to do certain actions,
whether they would like ro or not.
Personal power. This is the power of will. This power
can bring ideas into physical form. A person can also use
this power to step into a negative situation and change it
into a positive situation by simple strength of will.
The third kind of power is spiritual power, and this kind
of power comes when one is connected to the Greater
Life, which is the totality ofcreation. We must recognize
that we are only a part of a greater whole. Then we will
be able to receive spiritual power. This is the greatest
power ofall.
To attain spirirual power, one has to be open to it. This
is done, not by cultivating a strong desire for spiritual power,
but by recognizing a need for that power. This creates a hole
or a space that the spiritual power can flow into.

In the story of the Garden of Eden, it was separation,
not fornication, that was man and woman's original failing in
the Garden. Separation from the Greater Life is the source of
all our limitations. We limit ourselves by emphasizing and
valuing our egos, our fears, and our prejudices. This limits
the spiritual power we can contain. We cannot be changed by
the spiritual power if we indulge ourselves by dwelling on
our limitations. What if your mother did do something that
was not right to you when you were a kid?! The hell with it!
We all have to continue and to live our own lives.
Ask some spiritual people the simple question "How
are you doing?" and they will say "Oh, I'm working
on...... " and give a whole involved list of what they see as
their personality defects. These people devote a good part of
their attention and energy to what is holding them back,
instead of thinking about how far they have gotten. If those
people would think about how far they have gotten, they
would be amazed at the resources they have to work with and
what they could do. If they would share those resources and
put them to use, they would find that they would grow mucli
faster than by "working" on their limitations.

0

ne way to overcome our limits is by serving
unselfishly. Most people begin to practice this in order to
increase their spiritual power. This is ''serving selfishly," but
service becomes a habit that is performed without thinking,
and then it begins to woik. Another way to gain spirirual
power is by practicing unconditional love. This means to
love somebody without requiring that the person do
something, be something, or act in any particular way to
"deserve" that love. What a strong magic this is!
Fasting is also useful in helping to become conscious
of our limitations. We may feel that we cannot go four days
without food or four days without food or water. But when
we accomplish that, even if there is some bitching, we learn
about how we can go beyond our limits.

Praying is talking to the power of creation. When
praying, express your feelings clearly. Any person who
would pray for 15 minutes every day would witness
remarkable changes in themselves and in the world. It does
not maner how you identify the Spirit to which you pray.
The action and sincerity of praying will bring amazing
changes in just a few months.
We have been told not to pray for ourselves, but to
pray on behalf of others. The only thfog to ask for oneself is
the strength and endurance to continue to serve the Creation
and to help others. Praying is a humbling activity, because
prayers must be humble to be sincere.
A sincere prayer is powerful and can bring about real
accomplishments. When even just one person is convinced
that something is true, the power of that belief is enough to
set changes in motion. If only one person sees an obvious
injustice and knows that it is an injustice, that is enough to
change the situation a little bit
It may appear that nothing has happened, but if one
person out of 100 can be changed, then much has been
accomplished, because an idea grows like a seed, and once
the seed is planted in someone's mind, that person will
change somebody else, and the idea will keep growing and
spreading in that way.
Spiritual power is greatly magnified in the circle of the
people. We need to get over our separation - literally - and
come together to pray. If 20 people who are fairly clean
inside gather together in the circle and hook into the power,
that group could accomplish almost anylhing. Of course if
there are people working in opposition to the goals of thls
group. that limits the degree of unity that can be reached.
And, of course, we cannot eliminate negativity and evil. If
we did, there would be nothing in the world! Each of the
opposing forces, positive and negative, is the basis for the
other, but the negative can be neutralized or deflected by
people's focussed energies.
How is this done? On the spiritual level we do not try
to defeat other people or their energies. Instead we 1ransform
them by bringing them to the awareness that the world is a
unified and connected entity, and that we are not separate
from the world or from each other. Thus we achieve our
goals by increasing the opposition's spirirual power!
Conjuring in the traditional Cherokee medicine is a
way a medicine person empowers his or her prayers. To
bring about a healing, a medicine person first would pray and
then would do conjuring, which is acting out the cure and
seeing the result already accomplished. The act of conjuring
opens part.S of the mind that do not act through verbalization
and focusses the deeper power of the mind on the task at
band.
The old-time conjurors knew that praying does not
take the place of action. The old Cherokee belief is: "You put
the seed in the ground before you pray for the crops to
grow." You do your work, and then you hook into the
Greater Power to bring it to fruition. This is very sincere,
very humble. The physical work is an important part of the
magic.
- continued on page 26

KATUAH - page 16

SPRING - 1988

�BEA TREE
by Brian Ellis

The following is a brief exercise I
use frequently with children at camp and
with adults at conferences. You may want to
adjust the vocabulary to the child or group
you are working .with. Be sure to add lots of
pauses... and speak In a soft voice.

F ind a tree that you feel really
drawn towards, one that speaks
of beauty...perhaps, one that you
may have climbed in your youth.
Stand facing that tree. If a small
group, hold hands encircling the
tree. Then, begin to center down,
breathing deeply and relaxing.
(At this point, I introduce the
idea of "deep listening" or
"hearing with your inner ear".)
Ask, "Have you ever been sitting
quietly, maybe thinking about a
problem, and all of a sudden you
hear a voice inside that tells you
what you need to know? Or have
you ever sort of known
something and not known exactly
where it came from? Well,
that's a kind of deep listening.
What we are going to do is to let
our "inner ear" open to what
this tree may want to share with
us. Some of you might hear a
song, a poem, or a story of what
happened here long ago. For some
of you it might be a feeling,
pictures, or Images.
Continue to breathe slowly and
deeply. Keep your eyes closed
and focus your attention on your
feet. Wiggle your toes a little.
Now imagine that you are
growing roots. Feel your roots
sinking down Into the soll,
sprouting out In all directions.
And like a tree, draw energy
from the earth. Feel warm,
healing energy flowing Into your
roots, into your feet and legs, up
your strong straight trunk. Feel
Iha! energy coming from the
earth up into your heart,
shoulders, arms, and head.

SPRING - 1988

Now Imagine yourself growing
limbs, reaching out in all
directions. Send earth energy
from your body, up, out into
your branches. Draw the
warmth of the sun into your
leaves. Feel the warm light soak
down into you, filling your
heart, filling your body and
sinking down into the earth.
Earth energy surging up through
your roots; Sun energy pouring
down through your
branches...and mixing in your
heart.
Now feel your own heart send
love, warm light, into this t.ree.
Open your heart to this tree.
Allow the love to flow back and
forth. Take a few moments of
silence and listen with your
inner ear to what this tree might
have to share with you...open
your heart to this tree... (pause
2 - 5 minutes)...and know that
you can always reconnect In this
way. (again, pause)
Now it Is time to finish up.
Remember to give the tree
thanks...now draw back into your
heart. Feel your body becoming
human. Feel how strong and
healthy it feels to be a human
being. Wiggle your toes and
fingers, drop hands and stretch.
Open your eyes and shake your
arms and legs. Feel how vibrant
and alive you feel! Now give the
tree a hug, maybe a kiss and a
deep thank you.

At this point, I give folks a
chance to share what it felt like
to be a tree, or something the
tree shared with them. Almost
every time people have really
powerful feelings of empathy and
often some neat idea or bit of
wisdom.
I remember once a girl shared a
real clear image of what the
place looked like when the tree
was a sprout. Another time a
child said, "The tree told me how
old it ls...157". I have counted a
lot of rings on a lot of trees and I
would have guessed it was about
150orso.

Please be careful when you lead
this exercise with a group. Let
them know what they are getting
Into and carefully guide them
out. Please try it many times by
yourself or with an experienced
guide before leading others. And
make offerings to the spirit of
the forest. Mo/ All my relations/
Walk in Balance~
BRIAN ELLIS (alias Flying Fox)
/iv9s in Celo, NC. HB is a dynamic
storytBllBr, pOBt, and songw1iter
as well as a membBr of lhB National
Association for the PBrpetuation
and Preservation of StorytBliing.

KATUAH-page 17

�an issue when dealing with the giant utility
corporations, but Duke Power Co. in
panicular seems to have a hazy conception
of the difference between public service and
corporate adventurism. The company bas
promised
ratepayers
in
t h e ir
recently-acquired NP&amp;L territories that for
several years their rates will remain lower
than those of Duke customers on !he
piedmont. After that promise has expired,
however, Dulce's new dependents may find
themselves contributing the capital to fuel
Duke's continued corporate expansion.

NATURAL
WORLD

NEWS

THE LATEST WORD IN
NUCLEAR WASTE
P ANTHERTOWN SOLD!
Nllllr&amp;I Worid Naws Service

High at the headwaters of the east
fork of the Tuckaseegee River lies a valley
called Panthertown. The beauty of the
valley's striking features was for many
years a secret known only to a few. But
Panthertown may soon be crossed by a
Dulce Power high-voltage electric al
transmission line.
The site has recently been the focus of
much attention and activity, but for a long
time it lay in relative obscurity, the property
of the Liberty Life Insurance Company,
which limited access to the area. Before last
year few people knew of the white, domed
cliffs that framed the valley and the sttcams
and waterfalls that graced the location.
When Liberty Life decided to unload
the 7100-acre tract, they tagged it with an
aslcing price of $10 million. Congress
passed bills in both houses, one sponsored
by NC Senator Terry Sanford and the other
by Rep. Jamie Clarice of the NC Eleventh
Distriet, that appropriated $6 million toward
the purchase. But this was not enough for
Liberty Life, so the Nature Conservancy, a
private land conservation organization, went
to work to try to engineer the purchase to
bring the prized site into the public domain.
For financial reasons, the Nature
Conservancy let its option on the
Panthenown tract lapse. Immediately Duke
Power stepped in and bought up the
prope.rty for the $10 million asking price.
Dulce is in the final stages of acquiring the
holdings of the Nantahala Power and Light
Co. (NP&amp;L), and the utility has been
rapidly buying up land in the Panthertown
area to create a link between the NP&amp;L
territory and Duke's other facilities in the
Piedmont. The high-profile, high tension
wires will span 30 miles to join a station in
the Jocassee watershed area to a tie-in in the
Tuckaseegee district that links with all the
NP&amp;L facilities. The proposed ttansmission
line will cost $30 million to build.
It is unclear whether Dulce's
expressed interest in the Panthertown
property contributed to Liberty Life's
intransigence in the land dealings. Duke has
been willing (and is certainly able) to pay a
high price to obtain clear ownership and
avoid any public accountability over the
route. The corporation has reportedly paid
exorbitant rates for small-acreage tracts, so
as to have complete control over the
proposed right-of-way.
That control is now virtually
consolidated, and Duke is acting the part of
a magnaminious benefactor who might

KAUIAH- page l8

- - -~--~

compromise its own interests to accomodate
those who wish to preserve the beauty and
habitat areas in the Panthertown valley,
rather than a public agency that must
consider the best interests of all in its
decisions. In other words, Duke is holding
all the cards, and those who arc interested in
keeping the valley in a wild state arc
scrambling to petition the company to take
the least obtrusive route for the proposed
power line.
While the utility corporation's first
proposal was to run the high-tension wires
down the middle of the valley corridor,
there are now several alternate routes under
consideration. Ralph Bauman, land
acquisition officer for the US Forest
Service, has indicated that the agency is
open to land swaps of adjoining National
Forest land to make alternative routes
possible. Congressman Clarke's office and
the Nature Conservancy are still hopeful of
acquiring the unused remainder of the
property a fter the locatio n of the
transmission corridor is set
The route of the proposed power line
will affect other areas as well. From the
power house at Bear Lake through the
magnificent Tuckaseegee Gorge, the
Tuckasccgee River valley is pristine with no
sign of human habitation. A route should be
chosen that would spare the river the
massive intrusion of a high-voltage line.
The installation of the new power line
will be tho culmination of decades of
corporate planning and desire on the part of
Duke Power. The company has the dubious
honor of being known as efficient and
effective managers of nuclear reactors,
because they have been making their
stoclcholdcrs substantial profits from the
generation of nuclear power while other
utilities have beeen backpedaling from the
nukes lilce the proverbial "hot potato."
In recent years Duke has maintained
an aggressively expansionist stance. Their
insistence on initiating a gig antic
engineering project to generate electricity on
Coley Creek in the Jocassec watershed
when the need for that amount of power
remains still unproven, and the enormous
size of the proposed transmission line that is
to penetrate the Panthertown area has raised
questions that perhaps the company is
contemplating a move into TV A territory in
east Tennessee, as the TVA nuclear plants
along the Tennessee River are currently
inoperable. There has been speculation that
Duke plans to install yet another reactor on
the shores of the Oconee lakes to funnel
power west to accomplish this goal.
Public accountability has always been

Nllunl Worid News Service

Under the t e rms of the
Johnston-McClure Bill passed by Congress
in December, 1987 an unwilling state of
Nevada was chosen as the site of the first
nuclear waste repository.
The bill also eliminated the eastern
repository - which in politicians' language
means, "eliminated the eastern repository
for awhile." An area overlapping Madison,
Buncombe, and Haywood counties in
Katilah was considered a lilcely site for the
eastern dump.
The Monitored Retrievable Storage
(MRS) facility, a "temporary" storage area
which the Department of Energy is counting
on to hold tons of spent nuclear fuel rods
that become government property in 1996,
was re-ratified in principle, but no
construction work may be begun until a site
for the first underground repository is
clearly decided. As part of the political

dealings around the bill, the states of
Tennessee and South Carolina were grant.e d
immunity from consideration as MRS sites.
A . three-person panel will be
appointed by Congress to study the need for
a MRS facility, which may delay plans for
the facility somewhat, and a negative
finding by the commission will most
certainly strengthen opposition to the MRS.
A DOE study at Yucca Mountain,
NV, the favored first repository site, shows
a strong possibility !hat groundwater
contamination may occur. This may delay
first repository siting and therefore slow the
MRS as well.
Johnston-McClure serves notice that
if a politically feasible solution presents
itself, Congress will seize it immediately to
hasten an end to the nuclear waste debacle.
The bill does buy us additional time.
Meanwhile, heed the words of
Congressman Clarke: "We must be prepared
to fight any future plans to locate an MRS
facility in our region."

ENDANGERING AN
ENDANGER ED SPECIES
T he Roanoke logperc h, an
endangered species, will become more
endangered if developers and ignorant
public officials of Roanoke County, VA
have their way. Their plan is IO withdraw
most of the flow of the Roanoke River and
pump it into the proposed Spring Hollow
Reservoir.
Even after strenuous opposition from
a citizens' group, "Friends of the River" and
SPRJNG - 1988

�milder opposition from the US Fish and
Wildlife Service and the State of Virginia, a
colonel of the US Army Corps of Engineers
responsible for the project "leans" toward
approval of the reservoir.
The question for people interested in
the future of the river is, "Arc the profits to
be made from this project worth sucking
away the habitat of an endangered species?"
If the answer to this question seems
clear, send a letter of protest to:
US Army Corps of Engineers
P.O. Box 1890
Wilmington, NC 28401

EVEN CANTON IS
DOWNSTREAM
Na.tural World News Scrv""'

"We have to give quality water to our
people!" shrilled C.W. Hardin, the mayor
of the town of Canton, NC.
A turnabout on the question of
Champion International Paper Company's
effluent discharge?
Not hardly. It was discovered that a
faulty wastewater treatment system was
discharging improperly treated effluent into
the little Pigeon Creek, which feeds into the
Pigeon River from which Canton draws its
drinking water. The system handles wastes
from the Pisgah Inn, a concession on the
Blue Ridge Parkway at the head of the
Pigeon River watershed. It was Canton's
tum to be downstream.
Public health officials closed down
the old treatment plant, but the inn bas a
permit to install a new system that would
again discharge imo Little Pigeon Qcclc.
Unfortunately, that permit was sought
and received without consultation with the
Environmental Advisory Board of the Blue
Ridge Parkway. The board has among its
members Dr. Dan Pittillo and Dr. Garrett
Smathers, well-known and respect¢d
scientists in the region, who sincerely care
about the fragile ridge-top environment the
Parkway traverses.
"Overload on the original facilities
was a contributing cause to the system
failure, " said Pittillo, ''but they are adding
even more buildings and extending the
paved roads in the campground even
further. And flushing down oil from the gas
station and chemicals from RV chemical
toilets is not going to help. Those
substances kill organisms in the biological
treatment system and will slow or possibly
stop decomposition.
"The Pisgah Inn is acting like any
business: it's trying to get more and more
people in. And the Parkway administration
is saying everything is alright, but it's not
alright.
'They need to remember where they
are. That is a very delicate area, and the
greatest resource they have up there is the
area itself.
''The whole operation needs to be
reviewed. Perhaps it is time for a study to
determine a ceiling on the traffic the area can
handle."
Serious questions arise when people
throng to a delicate area like the top of the
Pisgah Ridge. Those questions are always
close to tho surface when vigilant
watchdogs like the Environmental Advisory
Board and the town of Canton are standing
up for water quality.

SLOWING THE LAND RUSH
NllUnl World News Seivice

Two concurrent bills now before the
Georgia state legislature offer some relief
against the rampant development proceeding
unimpeded in the north Georgia hill
country.
The Senate unanimously passed Bill
393, the Mountain Protection Act, which
restricts development on lands over 2200
feet in elevation and with more than a 25
percent slope to one single-family unit per
acre. Within the area of the bill's
jurisdiction only one single-family dwelling
or six-family unit could be built per acre.
No structure may extend more than 40 feet
above the ridge line. The measure also
provides that any land on which more than
40 percent of the forest cover is removed
must be reforested.
Other minimum standards would
require an environmental assessment and
landscape plan for commercial construction,
a soil erosion prevention plan for
agricultural activities, and would permit
private logging activities only after a harvest
plan had been professionally prepared.
A similar bill is now before the
Natural Resources Committee of the GA
House of Representatives. The House bill
has been modified to restrict construction on
lands over 1200 feet in elevation that
maintain a 33 1/3 percent slope over a
distance of 500 feet
In other respects the bill as it stands
before the House is only slightly different
from the measure that passed the Senate.
One clause in the House bill attempts to put
some teeth into the Soil Erosion and
Sedimentation Act by allowing the GA
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to
charge counties and municipalities for the
services of the DNR if the agency has to
move in to enforce the terms of the
anti-erosion law.
Although the Mountain Protection Act
is just a beginning at alleviating human
pressures on the north Georgia habitat, it
bas attracted a major amount of attention.
With the legislative session nearing its
close, it is in doubt whether there is time for
the House to pass its version of the bill and
work out a joint measure with the Senate to
give Georgia a much-needed land use
Statute.

EARTH SHAKE!
NlllnU World News Seivice

The mountains trembled Wednesday
evening, February 17, as a minor
earthquake shook Cherokee, Clay, and
Graham counties in western North Carolina
and parts of eastern Tennessee at 7:30 P.cc.
The tremor, centered near Robbinsv11le,
NC, registered 3.8 on the Richter scale.
No damage was reported. Residents
who experienced the quake felt a vibration
and beard a rumbling noise at the time of the
event. Some reported feeling a brief
sensation of being under pressure, as is
experienced when one goes deep
underwater.

©~
TRACHEAL BEE MITE
INVADES WESTERN SLOPE
Nallllal World News Service

Bee colonies in the Katuab region
have come under attack by the tracheal bee
mite, a destructive intemaJ parasite.
Officials of the Tennessee State

Agricultural Extension Service announced
that the state bee inspector found hives
dying from mite infestations in Greene
County, TN and Monroe County, TN
during the month of January.
The mites are suspected to have
arrived in shipments of bees from South
Carolina. Once established, the mites spread
rapidly. The infestation was first reported
within the national boundaries of tho United
States only four years ago. Since that time it
has spread to locations in 30 states. Bees
throughout the region are now under
immediate threat of the parasite invasion.
Chemical poisons cannot be used
inside of bee hives, as they contaminate
honey and beeswax in the hive, so
commercial beekeepers are deprived of the
orthodox method of recourse. The TN
Extension Service does not know of any
natural defenses the bees have against tho
parasite.
The only known method to protect
bees from the tracheal mite is complete
isolation of the hive. Hardest hit by the
infestation will be commercial apiarists who
routinely import bees and equipment. To
commercial producers, replacing lost hives
means a financial loss in labor and
equipment costs.
Honey producers who survive the
mite attack will not receive premium prices
for their honey, according to the Extension
Service announcement, because cheaper,
imported honey will make up for any
shortage in the regional supply. Allergenics
and those who depend on local honey
supplies may have to look harder for honey
this summer, and there will be fewer
honeybees to pollinate the apple blossoms
and sunflowers this year.
- continued next

SPRING - 1988

~

KATUAH- page 19

�EPA TESTING FOR DIOXIN
IN PIGEON RIVER
Nllllnl World News Service

Who knows what evil lurks in the
murky shadows of the Pigeon River?
Officials of the Champion
International Paper Co. have consistently
claimed that it is only the excessive
coloration of their corporate effluent that
keeps the Pigeon River barren and lifeless
below the Canton paper mill in Haywood
County, NC. They are fond of deriding
"environmentalists'" and other residents'
concerns about the river as a big flap based
on arbitrary regulations of "harmless"
colorants.
River fish say otherwise, having
deserted the river in droves, leaving only a
few species of pollution-tolerant "garbage
fish" to inhabit the lower reaches of the
Pigeon.
Now, alerted by reports of the highly
toxic compound dioxin being found in the
effluents of other paper-making companies
that employ a process similar to that used at
the Canton mill, the federal Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has ordered that
fish samples be taken from the river to test
for that substance, which is a deadly
carcinogen.
Dioxin was a primary component of
the herbicide 2,4,5,-T, which gained
notoriety as the defoliant Agent Orange in
Vietnam and which came under attack in this
country as a dangerous substance that
causes cancers and mutations.
Fish samples from both the NC and
TN stretches of the Pigeon River have been
sent to the EPA for analysis. The samples
were obtained by an elecao-shock technique
that stuns f1Sh within an eight-foot radius of
the point of contact with a powerful
electrical source.The fish are then gathered
and sent to EPA laboratories in Atlanta for
testing.
Tennessee officials had to return to
the river for a second round of
fish-gathering after taking initial samples in
January, 1988. They did not bring in
enough fish in their first try to make an
adequate sample.
The government fishermen said that
the water in the deep pools where they
fished was a dark brown color. They
complained of the foul smell of the river.
Local people living along the
riverbanks said that although fish were few
in the river, they would catch what they
could, untiJ lhrcc years ago when, according
to one resident, the fish "had a lcind of blue
mold on them and their eyes were
funny-looking."
Dioxin has been shown 10 pass along
the foodchain via small, bottom-feeding fish
and into the larger predator fish.
Officials from Champion International
and the state of Tennessee are involved in
protracted negotiations that might perhaps
resolve the immediate fate of the river. The
EPA has indicated that it would be amenable
to ratifying a compromise agreement on
color standards for the Pigeon, if one could
be reached.
The fish say that unless the river is
cleaned up completely, they will noc return.
The Dead Pigeon River Council
(DPRC) is a group of western slope
residents who feel victimized by
Champion's misuse of the river. The group

KATIJAH - page 20

was a strontt voice urging the EPA to
undertake the dioxin testing. They also have
been persiste.ntly urging the TN Department
of Health and Environment to undertake a
study of the abnormally high number of
cancer deaths of residents of the
downstream community of Hanford, TN.
An informal survey by residents of
the town (population 500) revealed that 167
cancer deaths have occurred there in the past
20 years. The Cocke County commu ' t;y is
.locally known as "Widowville."
The TN Water Quality Control Board
will test Hanford's well for contamination
of the local water table by river water
pending a review of the EPA 's dioxin tests.

ConlOCI:
The Dead Pigeon River Council
803 Prospect Ave.
Newport, TN 37821

MEETINGS CALLED
ON TOXIC SPRAYING
Nanni World News Set\lice

Carol McGincbey, Mary Ann Delany,
and Nancy Barnhardt are three women who
litcralJy cannot stand toxic chemicals in the
environment. The women, who are from
neighboring Floyd and Patrick counties,
VA, have body systems that are extremely
sensitive to toxic chemicals. They have
suffered acute symptoms of poisoning in the
presence of chemical insecticides and
herbicides.
The three arc acting as a liason
committee between community people and
state agencies on the questions of
agricultural and silvicultural spraying. They
are meeting with Dennis Anderson of the
Vrrginia Forest Service and a representative
of the state Agricultural Extension to discuss
the spraying of the herbicide "Round-up" to
weed out young broadleaf trees, particularly
yellow locust, which contend with young
plantings of white pines, and the spraying
of "Paraquat" as a pre-emergence herbicide
oo "no-till" com plantings.
Nancy experiences liver problems and
respiratory ailments in the presence of the
poisonous sprays.
"When I feel an aching sensation in
the area near my liver," she says, "I start to
ask around. If I investigate, I always find
that someone is spraying nearby."
Carol has more extreme symptoms in
the presence of the toxics. Her body reacts
with a high fever, sore throat, numbness of
the extremities, nausea, and extreme fatigue.
"I was laid out in bed for three or four
days at a time in several instances last spring
and summer," she said.
The
women
maintained
communication with Anderson during last
year's spraying season. The Forest Service
officer said it was almost uncanny how the
women pinpointed his spraying schedule
through their bodily reactions.
The women also approached the
Appalachian Power Co. about clearing
brush under their transmission lines by
mechanical means rather than with
poisonous herbicides. The company is now
considering the idea.
This year the three are meeting with
Anderson and the state Extension Service
before the spraying season to communicate
the depth of feeling that some area residents
have about this question and to suggest
measures like publicizing spraying
schedules so sensitive people can avoid the

toxic clouds.
"We are going to meet with them in a
non-confrontational way," said Carol, "to
tell them about our needs and viewpoints,
and to seek out any common ground we
may have about this issue."
"Everyone, whether they know it or
not, is affected by these poisons near our
living-places," said Nancy. "Everyone who
is exposed accumulates those complex
chemical compounds within their bodies to
the detriment of their life and overall health.
Because our special sensitivity causes us to
have immediate, visible reactions to the
poisons, we have been selected to be the
buffer between the sprayers and the general
community."
Suppon the women advocates of air
that is clean and safe to breathe. Investigate
toxic spraying in every part of the
bioregional province. To offer suppon, or
to receive advice and a standard survey form
to evaluate the effects of chemical poisons in
the local environment. write to:
Nancy Barnhardt
P.O. Box 417
Aoyd, VA 24091

US FOREST SERVICE
RELENTS ON RIVERS
Nawn! World News SCNlce

104 miles of eleven rivers in Katuah
are among 35 rivers and 98,000 acres of
riparian land in the southeast that are at least
temporarily protected by agreements with
US National Forest supervisors.
"Binding comminmcnts" by the US
Forest Service (USFS) provide for
evaluation of ponions of these rivers to be
included into the National Wild and Scenic
Rivers System and five 10 ten years of
protection while the study is being carried
out. Only the parts of the rivers on National
Forest land arc presently under
consideration.
The agreement was negotiated by the
American Rivers organization with the
assistance of the Sierra Club Legal Defense
Fund. Highly pleased with the results of
their talks, American Rivers withdrew
motions of appeal the group had filed
against the forest management plans for the
National Forests involved.
American Rivers is a non-profit
organization seeking legal protections for
rivers in the US.

FORECAST: CLOUDY UNLESS THE PEOPLE ACT!
Nllllnl World News Service

Against overwhelming economic,
scientific, and ecological evidence,
incineration still persists among technocrats
as a preferred choice for solid waste
disposal. The engineering mentality
apparently demands a technological solution
to the waste disposal problem, as it has in
so many aspects of our society.
Yee, when the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) announced their
opinion that incineration of Asheville's
dehydrated sewage sludge by the
metropolitan Sewage District (MSD) would
require no environmental impact
assessment, such a squall of protest arose
that the agency extended the public comment
period, and is now considering public
SPRING- 1988

�petitions for a full environmental irnJ?act
statement.
Local residents and organizations
have sent documentation to the EPA that the
most favored alternative, biological
composting, as well as being cheaper, is
ecologically safer. The airborne emissions
from incinerator p lants simply move
pollution into the upper at:m0sphere, and the
leftover ash is in most cases classified as a
hazardous waste. Dangerous cadmium
levels from industrial process wastes in
Asheville's sludge can only be removed by
an electrostatic precipitator. This is much
more expensive that the Venturi scrubber
process currently budgeted by the MSD and
might make the cost of incineration
prohibitive.
Activists have also informed the EPA
that land next to the MSD facilicy is available
to buy, which would considerably lower
MSD cost estimates for composting, which
were boosted by the addition of expenses
for transportation and transportation
equipment to move the sludge to a distant
site.
Cocke Councy, TN is also flirting
with the incineration alternative for waste
disposal. A Nashville, TN company,
ironically called Resource Recovery
Tech nology, has approached the
commissioners of the west slope councy
with a package plan in which the private
corporation .would assume all construction
costs for an incineration facilicy and charge
a disposal fee of $18-22 per ton of trash. As
Cocke Co. is producing about 100 tons of
refuse daily, the cost for incine.ration would
likely be over $100,000 per year.
Steam power from the incineration
plant would be sold to a local industry for
additional profits for the contractor.
Apparently, Resource Recovery
Technology Co. did not mention toxic gases
and heavy metal particulate matter among
the benefits of the plan.

CSI WASTE INCINERATOR
waL BE CLOSED
The county commissioners of
Caldwell Councy announced that they will
close the Caldwell System Inc. (CSI)
hazardous waste incinerator.
There is a major law suit pending
involving the county commissioners,
Caldwell Systems, and several local
ci ti:zens. At issue is the fate of a dairy farmer
located just below the plant who bas
suffered a complete Joss of his business due
to health concerns about his product. Other
local citizens in the neighborhood have
suffered r ashes and burns, and a study
commissio ned by members of the local
chapter of the Western North Caro lina
Alliance uncovered evidence of toxic soot
falling miles away on the 1-40 expressway.
CSI is offe ring an out-of-court
settle ment, whic h is meeting mixed
reactions from local citizens. The company
wants to shut down its operation but use the
site for hazardous waste storage for five
years. Many feel that plan is unacceptable
and want guarantees of verifi able
monitoring written into any agreement.

From WNCA "Issues Update"
available from WNCA; Box 180
~
Asheville, NC 28814

P'

SPRING - 1988

The Origin of the Animals
continued from page IS

plant people. They even learned to hybridi:ze
the plants. By stealing their reproductive
power the humans gained control over the
plant kingdom. They made the plants serve
as human food sources, instead of
cooper ating in serving the plants as
seed-bearers, as it was intended to be.
This is a most dangerous new
development. Hybridization is causing the
disappearance of the str0ng, old varieties
that could reproduce themselves. They are
being replaced by new varieties that,
although they better serve the humans'
immediate purposes, are weak and not able
to stand up to stressful conditions like the
natural varieties. By their desire for control,
the humans are putting themselves in
jeopardy. If their ltost plants cannot swvive
in the world as it changes, then the humans
will perish as well..
The humans also have still not learned
to control their fire. Their powerful nuclear
fire is the most dangerous form yet

discovered. This above all causes the plants
to be concerned about the future of the
world which has been thrown so out
balance by their wayward experiment.
But the story continues. It is not over
yet. There may be other developments in the
evolutionary game.
Who knows? The world may be
returned to the plants. once again. Plants are
more immune to radiation than animals.
They mutate and change in the presence of
radiation; they are not as likely to die and
become extinct. Plants eat sunlight, which is
one fonn of radiation. They may find the
means to utilize other types of radiation.
They are far ahead of the humans in that
respect and may once again become the
masters of the planet
It is obvious from this look at our
history that if we want to fulfill our true
purpose on Earth, we should save seeds and
propagate plants. That is our inborn duty
and one of the most healthy things we can
do for our world.
/

Rediscovering Heirloom Seeds
Janeice Ray
Hybridization has taken the ancient art
of seed-saving away from us. F-1 hybrids
(meaning first filial generation) are a forced
genetic cross between two unalike parents and
exhibit unusual vigor and uniformity. Their
seeds, when grown out, revert back to some
ancestral strain. Hybrids must be re-crossed
year after year by seed companies, so we
become totally dependent upon them for the
basic source of our food.
The uniformity of hybrids produces
vulnerability to crop failure. Hybridization and
the lack of varieties shrinks the genetic base of
our crops, leaving them in a weakened state.
This caused the potato famine In Ireland in the
1840's · the people were growing only a few
varieties of potatoes, which were not blight
resistant, and the country starved when the
disease spread through the fields.
Crop diversity may save us in the future
when we are searching for a gene that may
withstand the environmental problems that our
world faces. Are there varieties that can take
the effects of acid rain? Or of shifting weather
patterns? Some old variety may be the answer,
and we need to keep those gene pools alive.
So I am convinced to buy only standard,
open-pollinated varieties, no matter how
amazing the hybrids sound, and I am learning to
save my own seeds. I buy seeds from small,
family-owned seed companies. Many of the
major companies have been taken over by
huge corporations, usually petrochemical in
nature. The smaller companies with the less
glossy catalogs (most of whJch enoourage seed
independence) need our support. The Graham
Center Seed and Nursery Directory published
by the Rural Advancement Fund is a wonderful
resou rce for localing these seedspeople.
Send a few dollars to:
Rural Advancement Fund
P.O. Box 1029
Pittsboro, NC 27312
I am beginning to plant heirlooms -

vari eties our foreparents grew for generations.
With the advent of seed companies, many of

these were lost, many endangered, and only
now are folks rediscovering them and returning
them to our collective gene pool. The book to
read is Heirloom Gardening by Carolyn Jabs,
and the place to connect with like-minded
people is:
The Seed Savers' Exchang~
Rt. 3, Box 239
Decorah, IA 52101
Here are a few seed companies offering
open-pollinated and traditional varieties:
Johnny's Selected Seeds
Albion, ME 04901
JL. Hudson,Seedsman
P.O. Box 1058
Redwood City, CA 94064
(Catalog: $1 J)())
F/Qating MoUlltain Seeds
P.O. Box 1275
Port Angl!les, WA 98362
forganically-grqwn heirWoms ca1a/og: $1 .00)
BounJiful Gar&lt;kns

5798 Ridgewood Rd.
Willits, CA 95490
(open-pollint1led, untrea1ed)
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
P.O. Box 158
North Garden, VA 22959
(Caralog: $1 J)())
Peace Seeds
1130 TetJu:row Rd.
Williams, OR 97544
(Caralog: $1 .00)
Seeds Blum
ldalw City Stage
Boise, ID 83707
(1-ltirloom seeds, catalog $2.00)

KATUAH - page 21

�DRUMMING
LETTERS TO KATUAH

Dear Katuah My husband and I own 40+ acres in Kaniah. We have no
children and are concerned about whnt will happen to our
land when we die. We would like 10 sec it prorected, not
subdivided, and used in a way that is kind to the earth hopefully continuing the organic gardening &amp; orcharding we
arc doing, carefully using and preserving the forest land, etc.
Ideally we would also like to sec it benefit people in need. A
lot to ask! If you have any ideas or can refer us to anyone
with solutions for this sort of situation, we would appreciate
it. We don't want to sec the place tied up in such a way as to
be useful to no one.
Thanks for any help you can give us.
Shalom,
Sheila Wofsy
Reggie Lenoir
Rt. 1Box178
Suchcs, GA 30572

Dear Editor,
Someone who did not identify themselves sent me an
unsolicited photocopy of your Fall, 1987 issue of K.i1.iah
containing the article "Smells Like Money To Me" CKiW.i\11
#17 - ed.)
The author presented a corporacc image of the wealth
of the Champion Corporation, however implications in the
article were critical because Haywood County had not
diversified the economy, and because Champion did little to
support quality of life, including this generation of Haywood
County residents. True, the mill is old, and Haywood
County should be offering incentives to keep the industry,
and to assure that better environmental controls arc the goal.
In the meantime, children are threatened by the attitude
of fear and unrest that prevails because their parents,
grandparents, and neighbors are frightened.
If your publication is truly interested in the
bio-technical development of Southern Appalachia, publish
positive approaches about appropriate industrial development
which will match our workforce, our geographical terrain,
our water and sewerage supply, our cultural and ethnic
heritage.
Please include articles 10 which the common man who
has a sense of stewardship for the earth can relates. l am of
Scotch-Irish descent, a daughter of generations of farmers
who valued land. Today I see developers cutting into the
mountains wilhout regard to the sediment which will be
altered and moved into our streams. l see local real estate
developments over-building on fragile land sites. J see that
the larger number of land holders are no longer full time
residents of the county. A land use plan is a critical issue for
Haywood County. An indusrrial recruitment plan would add
balance to the economy.
Yes, I care about poUotion, but try to be
comprehensive in future articles rachcr than singling out our
"greatesc bread basket" in Haywood. r believe a reasonable
solution such as a five-year plan could be implemented.
Sincerely,
Ernestine E. Upchurch
Maggie Valley, NC
Thank you/or your thbughtful reply. - The Editors

Hopefully KJJ.nu11J 1120 will be ofsome help. - Editors

The Stones at Laurel Creek
The stones here are
shoulders and elbows of the lover I
looked for everywhere I travelled
to anive hen:
poking through her
garment of rhododendron, shaped
by the rush of her laughter,
pools of thought
I feel her
enjoying my step best when I step
naked, enjoying it
Like the pause
when the fingers seem to listen to the skin
and forget which name the lover has
and what color the skin,
I bend
to soothe my bands on her tender grain
Through the slow, gigantic
pulse of sun in stone I suddenly
recognize her- "Mother!" (bur even thar

is just a name
She lies
under every itch and movement ofmy f001
and I have only known her
by names-)

- Stephen Wing
KAlUAH - page 22

Awakening
Soft vault of sleep
attended darkness
Quiet folds around me
silence screams
In the midst of pitch
my eyes arc opened
to wondrous views
ineffable
Angel's garments, as white smoke
gently billowing
as they tum

My mouth is opened to kiss
hot coals
burning away mortality
I change
and enter, again, the womb
of infinity
- Diane Yeager
SPRING - 1988

�Dear Katuah -

An idea we have been considering here in Spring
CTCCk is the Community Computer Bulletin Board This is an
interlocking system of computers in users' households that
are connected by telephone lines to a central computer that
stores the messages that folks wa.nt to share with their
neighbors. The networlc could be set up on a local or regional
level.
The system could be used for communication, keeping
records, playing games, word processing, and planning
various projects. The network could coordinate bulk
purchases of commonly-used items like clothing, shoes,
tires, seeds, and fertilizer to obtain substantial discounts.
People could barter, buy and sell, call for help, announce a
baby, share car-pool infonnation.....the list of uses is
endless.
The information on the bulletin board appears on the
individual TV sets or monitors in the users' homes or places
of business. The central computer is located in the home of
the system operator. If desired, the computers could connect
to national and international networks, so the bulletin could
extend all over the world.
If a user had a telephone and a TV set, the minimum
cost to buy a computer would be around $270. The cost of
the central computer and its operation would be shared by the
users.
If any readers are interested in the Community
Computer Bulletin Board idea, please have them contact me.
John Artley
Rt 1, Box 27-A
Hot Springs, NC 28743
(704) 622-7421

Flowers
I'm cleaning up
the inner environment
I'm plowing the fear
to prepare the soil
I'm mixing the elements
to make my hean fertile
rm weeding the hun

4:00 A.M.
Grandmother moon
is caught in the branches
of the tulip tree.
My husband's arm
is around me.
She calls out her longing.
We hold the crystal aloft
and catch her Light
in its center.
This moment is Forever.

Our moccasins
lie still
Upon the flintstone.

to care for the love
I'm coming up flowers
- Colleen Redman
SPRING - 1988

- Rose Morningstar
Bryson City, NC

Drawings by Kore Loy McWhiner
KATI IAH - oa2e 23

�continued from page 5

From The Perelandra Garden Workbook:

Deva of Soil
When Jmmans open a garden, any garden, a note is
sounded within the devic level. One mustn.'tforget that a
garden is a man.made invention. Therefore, the sounding
of the note indicating that one is w be created must come
from humans. When such a thing occurs, 1he devic level
immediately responds by creating the numerous energy
units which will even.tually be grounded into form.
When a human sounds the note with the intent to
work in co-creative partnership with devas and n.ature
spirits, that note is very different in sound, quality, and
vibration. If I were w use an orchestra as an example, I
would say that in the case of the ordin.ary garden, the
note sounded would be that of one instrument. Add to it
the intent to co-create the garden with nature itself, and
one would suddenly hear a full orchestra sounding a
deep and vibran.t multi-levelled chord.
Nawre, on all its levels, will respon.d in kind. The
various energy units we on the devic level create when
the single note is heard is very different from the units
we create when the full orchestra is sounded. So from
the instant you sound the note with the more expanded
intent, you will set off creation and movement on a far
grander scale.

As Machaelle's relationship with the garden grew,
she found herself appreciating the quallity and integrity
of the relationship itself as much as the fruits and
vegetables produced.
From The Perela11dra Garden Workbook:

Deva ofthe Pere/andra Garden
The physical planting process of a garden is not the
primary issue. What is of utmost importance is attitude
and i111ent...
I have specifically chosen dance (as metaphor for the
garden)for in order w parricipatefully within dance, one
must lift his spirit, center his senses.focus his thoughts in essence, he must strike an attitude that will allow him
to hear the mu.sic all the way into his soul and move in
accordance to that music. It is this attimde I wish to
convey for one who wishes to move into the garden in
harmony with what is happening there....
...Through (your mind and heart), the music will
1nove an.d you will naturally move with ~t both within
and outside yourself. And you will be most surprised at
the ease and grace in which you. your tools, and your
young plants and seeds join in effortless movement.
...My experience in the harvesting process has been
to sense joy and celebration for a job well done. At
special times, I can feel all of nature around me, on its
various levels, literally celebrate not just the health and
balance of the garden, but the resulting incredible
production as well. When I approach gardening, it is
with my sights set on creating a bala111ced, healthful
environment. I don't consider production. That
automatically takes care of itself. So there is always a
moment of happy surprise on my part when 1 realize the
green bean row has produced a whole slew of beans. It
may sound terribly naive, but I think this probably
illusttates best how changed my thoughts, focus and
intent are around gardening.

The larger issue of humankind's relationship with
nature is a central theme in the messages Machaelle
receives from the devas. It is in her garden that the
macrocosm becomes revealed by the microcosm.
KATUAH - page 24

Photographs by Clarence Wright

The devic messages address the importance of
reverence for life in the Perelandra garden as well as
the importance of reverence for all of life. Machaelle's
sensitivity and attention to the Perelandra garden opens
up for her a "window" on the needs and cures for the
whole planet.
Machaelle Small Wright's journey to the center of
her garden was a long one. The first half of her
autobiographical work, Behaving, recalls a childhood
of intense pain and trauma. Yet the chaos of events,
memories, and feelings has now become a sensible
whole.
Through her garden, the healing of herself and of
the land has become a single and continual process. It is
in her garden that Machaelle has taken the opportunity
to interact in a daily, conscious way with the dynamic
energies present there. Through her works, she offers
us the inspiration and encouragement t_o begin the
endeavor ourselves.
From Tiie Perela11dr0: Garden Workbook:
...The Perelandra garden is my life, my. heart aoo .
my very breath. It is my friend, my healer, my nurturer
and teacher - about myself, my planet and my unjverse ...
.. .It has taught me about power - my own and that
which is contained in all life around me. About equality.
About balance. About teamwork on a peer level...
... And it has taught me that we are a vibrant, active
planet fully participating in a larger, loving whole. /

Excerp&lt;s rq&gt;rinJedfrom The Pcrclandra Garden Workbook with f"m1issit111.

Machaelle Small Wriglu has just completed her third book, eniitled
Flower Essences: Reordering Our Understanding and
Approach to Illness and Health. It will be available in June 1988.

Gardening workshops and an annual open house are held at
Perelandra during the summer and early fall. For schedules and infomlillion
or to order any of Macluulle's books. meditation tapes orflower essences,
write 10: Perelandra, Box 136. Jefferson/on. VA 22724.

Excerpts selected by Christina Morrison with Mamie Mui/er
and Sam Gray assisting.
SPRING - 1988

�The
true art
of dancing
is
dancing what
comes out and not
following the rules.
Dancing
ho~ you want.
Because if you
follow rules
your soul
will never
get to show you
the dance you've
known ever since
you were born.
- Emily

1dance within myself
And look without
Joy within
Sadness without
Music within
Silence without

Lying on my bed
Waiting for morning to come
The moon sings to me
About the sun
Words by Emily Turner, age 6 with
Drawings by Amelia Brommer, age 8
SPRING - 1988

KATIJAH - page 25

�900€£ me€£i.ci.ne
continued from 1&gt;3ge 16

What people call "visualii.ation" today
is a fonn of conjuring. People can visualiu:
a healing and by putting their collective
energy behind it and getting some sense of
how it fits in with the all, they can "push it
with power."
It is best not to try to visualize a
specific end to a situation, because that
limits lhe possibilities. Also, things seldom
tum out the way we plan. It is bes1 10
visualiu: a return to balance and hannony
and to encourage the awareness that the
lives of all things are interrelated. However,
I do see anything lhat works against the Life
Force as a whole as being negative and evil.
Nuclear arms and nuclear power, for
instance, appear to be destructive forces as
far as l can see. They seem like something
we can gel along without.

The human species is a high
consciousness, bu1 a1 the same time 1he
human race is a cancerous cell that is trying
to diges1 its host, the Greater Life. Yet
people on the spiritual path are always
searching for the connection to the whole.
As individuals 1hey realize their separation,
and they are searching for that connection
with every part of every cell from the
marrow of their bones outward.
One of the greatest blocks for us
.humans is our intellect. lt is self-defeating to
try to comprehend the universe with the
intellect, for it is not designed to
comprehend the whole. Being in a linear,
critical culture as we are makes it even more
difficult. Not impossible, but certainly more
difficulL It leads us to try to understand the
whole by adding up all of the parts. But the
whole is greater than 1he sum of its parts.

Organ ic Gr owin g Coop e rotiue
The Organic Gardening Cooperative
of Western North Carolina was started in
the early spring of 1987. A small group of
enthusiastic people came together 10
promote the merits of organic gardening and
fanning and the health and life-giving value
of organically-raised food. Meetings are at
Unity of Arden on Airport Road. The
cooperative meets the third Monday evening
of each month. There is time for sharing at
6:30 pm and a meeting at 7:00 pm.
The name "cooperative" was chosen,
because the group wished 10 create an open
forum for sharing experience, infonnation,
resources, and projects. There is a steering
committee that plans and coordinates the
meetings and other activi1ies. 01her
commiuees take on the tasks of a newsletter,
education, publicity, and telephoning. These
committees are volunteer efforts, and new
participants are always welcome. Th~ are
no dues. A small voluntary donation per
meeting helps to cover expenses.
The cooperative's meetings offer an
array of interesting activities such as songs
and music about gardening and nature; an
educational program with speakers, films,
slide shows, etc; a short nutritional update;
news on environmental issues; and a time

for sharing among the group. The main
topic of each program usually pertains to
gardening ac1ivities appropriate for that
month of the year, such as composting, soil
preparation, seed starting, etc. A varied
program is designed to meet the needs of
beginning gardeners as well as the
experienced ones in the group. There are
presentations of resources like magazines,
seed catalogs. extra seeds and produce, and
group seed or narural fenilizer orders. Glass
(clear and colored) and aluminum are
collected for recycling at each meeting.
We who are active in the cooperative
feel it is an exciting opportunity to
encourage each other and the public at large
to learn how to live in harmony with the
Earth and to produce quality food, which
will make us all more healthy and happy.
We invite newcomers to come and
participate at the meetings. Together we can
create rewarding adventures in learning and
"growing!"
- Ellen John

For more information about the
Organic Gartkning CooperaJjve, call Cheryl
Stippich a1(704)687-1741.

Herbology
Clinic
M. C. Majebe
Licensed Acupuncturist

78 E.ast Chestnut St. Ashevllle, NC 28801
(704) 258-9016
KATUAH - page 26

• conlinucd Crom JlliC 9

Dr. Gray soon arrived in Statesville
bringing several eminent botanists. Dr.
Gray had been misled by Miclraux's
description of the habitaJ of slwrtia. ltistead
of the moun1ain tops where he Juul always
looked, it Juul been found along a stream in
the foothills. Michaux's directions had been
fairly specific, bw his continual references
to the "high mountains" misled Gray, the
botany detective. Shorria, the mystery
flower of the mountains, soon became so
famous that pressed specimens of a single
plaru were selling/or fifty dollars.
SJwrtia makes a good grour1d-cover
under rhododer1drons. It needs a shady sire
with an acid soil rich in humus, plemy of
water, and regular mulching with oflk
leaves. It spreads mostly by runners, and
grows in luxuriant, dense colonies where
conditions are to its liking. Its delicate white
flowers lost for several days. It is one ofthe
most coveted plants of any wild flower
garden.
A collector has written, "No idea of
the beauty of this planI can be formed unJil it
hos been seen in its native Jwme. The mass
of glossy green and white, once seer1, car1
never be forgotten." It was never Gray's
privilege to see shortia at the height of its
blooming period, which is the latter part of
March into early April.
Of the 25,000 botanical specimens
that Gray classified before he died, Gray
asked that shortia cover his grave at
Cambridge, Massachusetts. In Gray's life,
many honors had come to him, but they
were os naughl compared to the discovery
ofthe little mountain pla111 thal Dr. Asa Gray
named shortia.
The mystery plant, sJwrtia, lost/or a
hundred years, because ofits limited narural
distribution, is probably to be found
growing more in culdvarion now than in the
~ild. This is especially significant today
because of the destruction of much of
shortia's native habiuu in North and Sowh
Carolina due to artificial lake construction.
Rtprinltd from the Noah Carolina Native
p(o111 Proaagqljon Handbook prepared by the North
Carolina Wild Flower Prtsuvalion Sociery (Tollen

Chinese
Acupuncture

and

sh.ot"tta

Garlkn Centtr 3375; University ofNorth Cmolina;
Chapel Hiil, NC 27599 - $5.00 ppd.) /

Natural Food Store
&amp; Dell
160 Bro.ctway
Ashevllle, NC 28801

Whlf-e llroadwmy n..ia
MlrTlmon Ave I. ~240

OPEN 7 DAYS A WE. K
E
Mond•y·Salurday: 9am·8pm
Sunday: 1pm-Spm

(704) 253-7656

DE_51GNS
by Rob Messick
Illustration &amp; Design
In Pen &amp; Ink and Colored Pencil
P.O . 8o)( 260t . eoone. NC 28U07 • (704J7a4 tiOQ7'
SPRING - 1988

�· continued from page 12

K: How d o you think people first
determined how to use herbs?

G: The first herbs that were used were the
leaves of the Tree of Life in the Garden of
Eden. And we'll never find the fountain of
youth until we get the Garden of Eden back
and get back to the Tree of Life.

K: Until we get back in touch with nature?

G: No, back to the Tree of Life. God took
that to heaven before the flood. And when
he makes this earth new again he's going to
bring it back. And when we see the Garden
of Eden we'll see herbs as they're s'posed
to be.

K : Do you think this will be a sudden
occurence or will it be a gradual awakening

of God, and now Satan's walking up and
down, to and fro on the earth. You see, this
battle isn't something done in a comer; this
earth is the theatre of God's love. God had
to let us tear things up and let things go
because our natures won't accept the truth
otherwise.

Are you passing your knowledge on to
them? Are they receptive?

G: No young people are interested like I
was when I was young. Some are interested
and could learn, but they're all afraid of
being tied down. They're interested when
they feel like it, but when they don't feel
like it they don't want to be bothered.

K: Do you know when your book will be
out or what you11 call it?

G: When there are enough people that will

G: No, I don't. I was held up all summer

be true to God then Christ will come. Think
how all this time the angels have tried to
help people to think of these things and do
what's right Still we go on in our lives and
don't study, don't stop to read what God's
given us. And just look what a mess we've
made. Think of the Garden of Eden - the
beautiful flowers and trees - and then loolc at
that hillside over there (points to trailer park
across road) ... all the death and dying. Of
course there's still a lot of beauty here...
Satan tried his best to get Christ to give
up and not go through with his plan of
salvation, but He stuck to it and proved that
God's truth could be followed. Adam sold
out because he chose to obey Satan instead

with my eyes - couldn't see to read. And
many days like today are holding me
baclc...(laughs). [While talking to us,
Granny gracefully received five patients and
several phone calls. We arrived at 10 a.m.
and by 5 p.m. she hadn't paused once.]

K: Thanks so much for your time and
energy! We both have personal questions
but they can wait 'til another day.

G: Oh, I can help you now - would you
like that?

K: Sure, but you must be tired...

COMF TOlHf

FOR

Drcamwcaver l!Boomllcn:
Books and Tapes by Mall and Special
Order. Metaphysics, Comparative Religion,
Psychology, Children and Women' s
Studies. New Age Music. Call Barbara,
(912) 233--5934 for Info.

NEW AGE SEMI NARS

\llHOLISTIC lf[ALTH
RETRf;ATS
&amp;md fnr our Ire,.. bcuchurtr:
L.1.F. E. • Bo• 144K
Pullmon WV 26421
(.1041 t.5?·319:1

'Living In Full E nergy

K : Everything!

REMEDIES

K: What about your great-grandchildren?

among people?

l.l.F.E. RETREAT
CENTER

G: What have I been doing?

Cockleburr and Mullein cold remedy:
A large handful each of cocldebuns and mullein
leaves to 2 qts waJtt. Boil 20 minutes. Suain well
and drink. Burrs and leaves can be used a 2nd time
with 2 more quarts waier boiled 20 minutes again.
Mar l&amp;old tin cture for lice:

Chop marigold blossoms fine. Cover with rubbing
alcohol in glass jar. Sel in sun for 2 wect.s, stirring
once each day. Strain and boWe.
MislldOt tea
For lal&amp;b blood pressure: 1 Tbsp crushed
mislleioe leaves 10 1 qt cold water. Shake and let
Slalld ovcmighL Strain and drink 1(2 cup before
breakfast; 1/2 cup after brealdasL Repeat wilh

supper.
Mlstlttc&gt;t tea
For epilepsy or Stizuns: Pour 1 pint boiling
water over l Tbsp crushed leaves. Take 2 Tbsp.
every 2 boors.
Poktbtrry artbrlt.ls remedy:
Take one berry at each meal the lst day, 2 at each
meal the 2nd, 3 the 3rd and so on for 8 days. Then
drop back to one berry again and begin climbing
back up IO 8. Continue until joints feel free. Then
drop back one berry per meat 8-7-6-5, until you're
baclc to ooe, and quit

mtl&amp;n

WEEKLY CRAFTS COURSES

~

Woodcarving,We aving,
Blacksmithing,Basketry,
Pottery,Spinning,etc.

John C. Campbell Folk School
Brasstown, NC 28902
(704) 837-2775 o r 837-7329

T-SHIRTS, SWEATSHIRTS
For ADULTS and CHILDREN

15 ORIGINAL
HAND·PRINTED
NATURE DESIGNS

,_.'?
ULTRAVIOLET l'UNFICATIOH AHO FILTENNG SYSTalS
SOI.AR PflOOUCTS ·WATER ANALYSIS
.HWY. 107

EACH COLORFUL
DE.SIGN IS

RT. 88 BOX 125
CULLOWHEE, NC 28723

PRIN'IED ON

QUALITY T' s
Alill SWEA'IS

APPALACIDAN BUILDING
&amp; DESIGN
Passive Solar,
Eartlt-Shellered Homes
Greenhouses, Spas,

Decks
SCOTI BIRD
(704) 683·1414
GREG BLACK
683-4795

SPRING - 1988

KATUAH - page 27

�MARCH
20

evenrs

SPRING EQUINOX

23-24

ASHEVILLE, NC
Rhythm Alive! Classes in African
drumming with Martha Overlock and Dean
Buchan:ln. Ongoing. Wed and Thu evenings, 7: l S al
Asheville Academy of BallcL Call (704) 645~

16

canoes.

New Moon
CULLOWHEE, NC
Tuckaseegee River Cleanup. Rllfts,
kayaks. Mcct 11 am. 227-7206 for more

info.

14-15

GREAT SMOKY MT'NS.
Spring WildOower Pilgrimage. Auto,
wal.lcing tours lO view plants and birds of the
Smokies. SS. Call (615) 436-1257.

27-29

24

ASHEVILLE, NC
Sierra Club meeting. Spcllkcr Bill
Thomas, "TheJocasse WatcrShed" with slides. 7:30.
Unitarian Univcrsalist Church, Edwin Pl. and
Oiarloue.
25-27

WAYNESV ILLE, NC
"Vibrational Healing" with Joyce
Keane. "Flowers arc the highest vibratory
expression in the vegetable kingdom." Lc:im to use
Oower essences - gentle, yet powerful. $20.
Stil-Light Center; Rt. I, Box 326: 28786. (704)
452-4569.
26

ASHEVILLE, NC
The Paul Winter Consort,
"Celebration of Creation." Central Methodist
Church. Tickets $10.SO at Malaprop's.

and meditation with Fr. John Groff. SSS.Southern
Dharma Foundation; RL I, Box 34-H; Hot Springs,
NC28743.

29-30 &amp; T ANASJ RIDGE
MAY I Come to X.~.'TU.~K SJ&gt;1t1.N&lt;l
(l.~'JKE1t1.Nlll Worlcshops, waterfall, crystals,
mountain meadows. Join the family circle! (Sec ad
next page.)

30

BELTANE (MAY EVE)
ROANOKE, VA
Sixth Annual New Horizons Festival
of alternative healing and lifestyles at Roanoke
Civic Center. Pre-register. S26.00.

TRENTON, GA
Caving Expedition with Snow Be:ir.
Learn safety, techniQue, geology.Camping at
Cloudlaad Canyoo. f.quipmem provided. Sec sn.s.

IS

New Moon

BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC
The Black Mountain Music Festival.
Taj Mahal, Rare Air, Robin and Linda Williams,
Elise Win and the Small Family Band, Fred
Armstrong-Park, and more will be there.
Pre-register: $35 for the weekend. For more info,
ctll Gray Eagle and Friends, (704) 669-2456.
20-22

20-22

WAYNESVILL E, NC
"Therapeutic Touch" • using hands to
direct human energies in healing with Maria
Parisen. SLil-Light Sec 3(25-27.
WILLIS, VA
"Finding Our Place.• Developing a
deeper relatiooship with the land and the spirilS who
dwell there. Brian Ellis. Pre-rcgisler. $85. Indian
Valley Holistic Center. Sec 4/8-10.
28-29

APRIL

31

2

Full Moon
CELO, NC
Full Moon Drumming Celebration al
Mountain Gardens. Call (704) 675-5664 for more
info. ONGOING.

Full Moon ("Blue Moon")

JUNE
1·30

3

CHEROKEE, NC
"Cherokee Concepts of Birth and
DcBlh" art exhibit on display al Cherolcee Hcriwge
Museum and Gallery.

EASTER SUNDAY

8-10

WILLIS, VA
"lmaginccring Ourselves and the
Crystal Planet." Exploring Earth energies with
Mary and Joseph Jochmans. Pre-register: $95.
Indian Valley Holistic Center; Rt. 2, Box 58;
Willis, VA. (404) 789-4295.
APPALACH IAN TRAIL
Trail work. Bring gloves. Call
Thelbett Dowdy, (704) 684-3053 for dcUlils.

4

MAY

9

9

BLACK MT'N., NC
David Wilcox, singer and songwriter
Bl McDibbs'. $4. Sec 3(l2.
9-10

ATLANTA, GA
Shamanic Jowney, Power and Healing
workshop. $100. Call Barbara Hmison, (9 12)
233-5934.

HELEN, GA
EARTHSKILLS WORKSHOP Lc:im
old ways, a new awattllCSS of the woods with Snow
Bear, Darry Wood, and EUSUllCe Conway. For more
info, call (404) 878-2201.

GREAT SMOKY MT'NS.
"Forests and Trees or the Smokies."
Pre-register: $25. Smoky Mountain Field School;
Univ. of TN: 2016 Lake Ave; Knoxville, TN
37996.

F ull Moon
GREAT SMOKY MT'NS.
•A Historical Perspective of the Great
Smoky Mountains NP." Natural and human history
of the Park with Wilma Dykeman. Pre-register:
$25. See 6/4.
!!

1-31

ASHEVILLE, NC
Robert Johnson's paintings on exhibit
t the Asheville An Museum. One of the main
themes that runs through his work is the
tionsbip between the inner world of dreams and
visions and the world of Natwe.
He has lived in the Cclo Community near
o, NC for the past 16 years and the Katuah
ioregion has had a strong innuencc on his worlc. %
o Community. Burnsville, NC 28714.

lS-16

14
15-19

HIGHLANDS, NC
"Meianora• with Walter Chappell.
Recording the ethcric image or local nora. $250
includes accommodations.Highlands Biological
Center. P.O. Drawer 580; Higblllnds, NC 28741.

WILLIS, VA
"HEALING WISE • an Herbal
Medicine Intensive.• Work with botanical
medicines, spirit healing, body systems, and
self-love with herbal healer Susun Weed.
Pre-register: S9S. Indian Valley Holistic CenlCr. Sec
-4/8-10.

KATUAH - page 28

CHEROKEE, NC
"The Eagle Dancer." exhibit or the
worlc or carver John Julius Wilnoty on display at
Cherokee Heritage Museum and Gallery.

17-19

7-8
IS-17

New Moon

1-31

17-19

FARNER, TN
"Wild Foods and Medicines• taught by
Sn.ow Bear. Peppcrland Farm Camp; Swr Rt;
Farner, TN 37333. (704) 494-2353.
13-15

HOT SPRINGS, NC
"The Mystic Journey

Rc1tc~11·

- talks

BOT SJ&gt;RINGS, NC
"A Rinz.ai Zen Retreat" with Sandy
Stewart. Pre-register: SSS. Sec 5/13-15.
WAYNESVILLE, NC
Workshop: "Fundamentals of the
Ancient Wisdom.· Esoteric philosophy with Ed and
Mary Abdill. Pre-register: S20. Stil-Light. Sec
3(}.S-27.

20

SUMMER SOLSTICE

..

SPRING - 1988

�KATUAH JOURNAL is beginning
compilation of a regional directory... a
GREEN PAGES of political, food,
environmental, clothing, arts and
crafts, shelter, healing, and other basic
resources in the Katuah bioregional
province. Listings will be free. If you or
your group would like to enter a listing
( including a brief description ) in these
or any other categories, please send
to:
KatUah Journal
P.O. Box638
Leicester, NC 28748
The International 4th World
Assembly wilJ hold its seventh assembly
this summer, July 31-August 4, 1988 at
Meredith College in Raleigh, NC. The 4th
World is an informal group of people from
all over the world who affirm the right of
urban neighborhoods and rural villages to
make their own decisions about their own
lives. The theme this year is "Community
Economics As If the Earth Mattered".
Registration is open to all. Full conference
fee including meals, lodging and
proceedings is $150. ($130 before June 1).
For more info: School of Living, 7th
assembly; 3030 Sleepy Hollow Rd, Falls
Church, VA 22042.

News Flash!
Environmentalist in NC
Governor's Race

NABCID
The third North American
Bloregiolllll Congress will be
held in the bioregion ofthe Ish
River Confluenc-e, north or
Vancouver, British Columbia. It
will be held August 21·26, 1988.
NABC I ('84) and NABC II
('86) brought together local and
regional peoples from all over
Turtle Island to celebrate and
work towards preservln&amp; the
spiritual, environmental and
cultural diversily or this
precious continent. NABC Ill
will continue lhis work and
discover other ways to cooperale
in this way.
Katuah has been represented
at these congressings. If you
are Interested In participatin&amp;
in this upcoming coneress,
please contact KaJilah, P.O. Box
638, uicttter, NC 28748 or
write to: NABC m, Box 1012,
Lillooet, BC, VOK lVO, Canada.

... Avram Friedman (Bruce A.
Friedman) announces his candidacy
for Governor of the state of North
Carolina...
As director of the NC Political Action
Committee to Dump the Co~act. Avram had
been looking lor candidates for all the NC state
offices who oppose NC's membership In the
Southeast Low Level Radioactive Waste
Compact. Because there was no gubernatorial
or lieutenant gubernatorial candidate who was
In favor of withdrawing from the compact, he
began a statewide search to enlist a candidate
for governor. Because he found no one who
would be willing, he registered himself as a
democratic candidate right ahead of the
deadline.
He Is basing his gubernatorial campaign
specifically on getting NC out of the Compact
although he stresses there are many more
related Issues including NC's economy and its
future.
For more information, w rite: CCNW, P.O. Box
653, Dillsboro, NC 28725

on the Tanasl Ridge, near Blue Ridge Parkway

'.F'rtday - Sunday, A.priL 29-'.M.a.y 1
Wor~nops:

Nati.ve Crysta.Cs
Kerb f"ora.91..n&lt;J
Women 's Ci.rcCe
The ftiorecJional Poet
Commu.ni.ty
nowsi.n&lt;_J ... and: others

..USo: M.eadows, Waterf~ . M.usic,
Dancl.tuJ, &amp; Drummi.tuJ
and
Cdebratl.on of the first of ttay
wUh MoypoCe, Dc:mc1.!19 !o S""e4 Ckc;C.e

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tent or RV Camping
Bring your shelter, bedding and utensils.
Bring clothing for all weather conditions.
Friday night potluck
Other meals community cooking,
with food provided

Name:_______________________________
Address:_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ __
Phone: L_)_ _ _ _ __
Number of Adults_ _ _ _ __
Number of Children_________

SPRING· 1988

$15/adult before April15
$1 O/child before April 15
$17/ adult at camp
$121 child at camp

Mail to: Karen Rodriguez
U.S. 19W, Box481

Bryson City, NC
Katuah Province 28713

KAnJAH · page 29

�PEPPERl.AND FARM CAMP - a unique summer
camp experience for child!Cn 6-16 years. Adventure
trips, riding, Indian lore, swimming, more.
Delicious vegetarian meals - special diets
accomodatcd. Also seeking counsellors and staff.
For info: Pepperland Farm Camp; Star Route:
Farner, TN 37333 (704) 494-2353

STIL-LIGHT THEOSOPHICAL RETREAT
CENTER - a quiet space for petSOnal meditation,
group interacti. n through study and community
o
work. and spiritual seminars. Contact Leon Frankel;
RL l, Box 326; Waynesville, NC 28786
RM DESIGNS - I use the media of pencils, colored
pencils, gouache, pen and ink, and pholOgraphy in
creating unique fine and grafick an. l can make
diagrams, logos, finished prints, and designs for
brochwes, calenders, cards, books, ete. Mandalas and
symbols are my tendancy among other styles.
Coo tact Rob Messick (704) 754-6097.
ALTERNATIVE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL - Al
Arthur Morgan School students and staff learn
t0gether by living in community. Curriculum
includes creative academics, group decision-making,
a worlc program, service projects, extensive field
trips, cballcnging outdoor experiences. Write: 1901
Hannah Branch Rd.; Burnsville, NC 28714 (704)
675-4262

SEEDS FOR SALE - organically grown lurfa
sponge, purple globe amaranth, Mexican sunflower,
bushel basket gourd, garlic chives, holy basil SJ/pkt. w/SASE. Velvet beans, jack bean - S2/pkL
w/SASE lO Janeice Ray; RL. I Box 188-H; Quincy,
FL 32351
SIX RURAL COMMUNITIES - established over
lhe last 20 years, invite visitors/members.
Nonsexist, Nonracist, genlie cullUres based on
equality and cooperation. Write (SI appreciated):
Federation ofEgalitarian Communities; Twin Oaks,
KH8; Louisa, VA 23093
FREE CATALOG - Our books cover solar energy,
natural foods, metaphysics, fiction and poetry. The

latest project is Black Mountain Review, with
themes on the individual vs. society. Write: Lorien
House; P.O. Box 1112; Black Mountain, NC 28711
(704) 669-621 l.

KA1UAH- page 30

HAND CARVED WOODSPIRITS. mystical
hilting staffs and wall hangings by Steve Duncan.
For brochure, please write Wippoorwill Studio; RL
4, Box 981; Marion, NC 28752.

SOCIAL ECOLOGY SUMMER SEMESTER June 10 lO July 24. For more information call (802)
454-8493, or write: Institute For Social Ecology;
P.O. Box 89, DepL K; Plainfield. VT 05667
CENTER FOR ROBERT BLY STUDIES - Ally
Press is now maintaining a mailing list for people
who would like lO be informed of Robert Bly's
workshop and reading sciledules. An updated listing
is sent out twice a year along with a catalog of all
available books and tapes. Please write Ally Press;
Box K; 524 Orleans SL; SL Paul, MN 55107

1988 SUMMER WORKSHOPS at the Penny
Royal Center (Winged Heart Homestead) by Sufi
teacher Muzawir. How to prepare spiritually for
Earth Changes, How to build a no mortgage shelter
and much more. Send SASE lO P.O. Box 552;
Floyd. VA 24091

TEACHER NEEDED: Alternative, parent-governed
elementary (K-6), set in Monongahela National
ForesL Send resume lO Valley School; P.O. Box
83; Elkins, WV 26241.

DRUMS • Custom handcrafted ceramic dumbecks &amp;
wooden medicine drums. CaU Joe Roberts at (704}
258-1038 or write to: 738 Town Mountain Rd.;
Asheville, NC 28804.

REVERSE OSMOSIS WATER PURIFICATION better than dislillers. To find out why write New
Energy Products; 660 K SL; Pullman, WV 26421

BLIGHT RESISTANT CHESTNUT - hybrid
American/Chinese Dunstan Chestnut trees - bliglht
resistant, timber growth form, productive orchard
crop with large, sweet, easily peeled nuts. Chestnut
Hill Nursery; RL 1 Box 341K; Alachua, FL 32615
(904) 462-2820.

NA1lVE AMERICAN MEDICINAL PRODUCfS:
white sage, cedar, sweet grass, k:innikinnick and
more. Please specify your needs and send SASE lO:
Good Medicine; 77 Parle Terrace East, D38; New
York, NY 10034 (212) 304-9605.

M. TREE DESIGNS: Illustrations and design
Beyond the pages of this journal, I work in pencil,
colored pencil, ink, cut paper, and batik. Fine and
graphic art to express and enhance our lives. Logos,
brochures, books, portraiture, window and wall
hangings. Cont.act Martha Tree (704) 754-6097.

HANDWOVEN WOOL BLANKETS - inexpensive,
from Mexico. Federation of Christian Cooperatives;
P.O. Box 120154; San AnlOnio, TX 78212

LETT'ERS OF FRlENDSHIP AND SUPPORT
would be appreciated by incarcerated brother. Write
t0: Rick Whilalcer #85670; Box 2000; Wartburg,
TN37887

WANTED: IDEAL SPACE FOR RURAL
COMMUNITY/HEALING CENTER. 50 - 150
acres, at least 30 arable, with southern exposure,
privacy, within 45 min. of Asheville or equivalent
urban center. One large house and several cabins
preferred. StteamS, springs, river, lalcc? Finder's fee.
Write Hibiscus; 521 Northeast Blvd.; Gainesville,
FL 32601 or call collect (904) 376-2146.

GARDENERS are encouraged lO visit our Paradise
garden for instruction and inspiration (free) and/or
pereMial plant sale (cheap). Artists are invited 10
come and create in the garden - painting, drawing
and photography are encouraged. We also bnvc a
cabin available in exchange for working in lhe
garden. Mountain Gardens; 3020 While Oak Creek;
Celo, NC 28714 (704) 675-5664

"TREASURES IN THE STREAM" - a cassette tape
of songs by Bob Avery-Grubel. $10 postpaid to Bob
at RL 1 Box 735; Floyd, VA 24091
ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY NOW FORMING
in the mountains of north Georgia. Join others
seeking greater cooperation and self-sufficiency.
Based on spiritual and ecological values. Propeny is
now available. (404) 778-8754
'ESSENCE' - the all-one skin - dress - jumper pantaloons with nursing pockets. Earthwear; RD 1,
Box 75-Cl; CarllOn, PA 16311
WOMANSONG - ongoing choral group forming.
Songs of beauty, meaning, spirit, fun, peace,
cooperation, sisterhood. Come and sing! Monday
evenings 7:30 - 9. Also Orff Schulwerk:
music-making for beginners of aU ages. Come and
sec the studio! CaU (704) 254-7()68

WANTED - LAND in western NC. Family seeks 5
or more acres, preferably near Cullowhee, 10
preserve and eventually inhabiL If you have or know
of affordable land, contacl Bob &amp; Mary Davis; 213
Westmoreland Cowt: Georgetown, KY 40324 (502}
863-4267.
WISCONSIN RENAISSANCE FAIRE - 2-story
shop for sale or renL Weekends July 9 - Aug. 21.
Excellent location with sales and living space. Write
or call Becky Farnam; RL 1: Check, VA 24072
(703) 651-6170

WEBWORKING is.free.
Send submissions to:

K.a.IW.

P.O. Box 638
Leicester, NC
Kaulah Province 28748

SPRING - 1988

�I

Comt.n«J Up . . .

Mtdfrfn,.. Allfts

The Katuall Journal wants to communicare your thoughts and feelings to the
other people in the bioregional province. Send them to LIS as letters, poems, stories,
arricles, drawings, or photographs, etc. Please send your co111ribwions to u.s at: Katuah
Jo11r11al, P. 0. Box 638, Leicester, NC, Katuah Province 28748.
The summer issue of Katiiah will concern itself with "Our Relations with the
Land" ...our effect on the land, new forms of relating, visions of our fumre habitat, and
other perspectives.
In the fall, Katuah will look at Castanea dentata, tile American cliestnut
tree. Any information abo1a this great tree's past andfmure will be welcome.

BACK ISSUES OF KATUAH AVAILABLE
ISSUE ELEVEN · SPRING 1986
Community Planning
Cities and the
Bioregional Vision • Recycling • Community
Gardening· Floyd Couruy. VA • Guohol •
Two BIORgional Views • Nuel- Supplemau
Foxfire GllllCS ·Good Medicine: Visions

ISSUE THREE · SPRING 1984
Sustainable Aj!ricuhure · Sunflowers - Human
Impact on the Forest • Cllildrens' Education
Veronica Nicholas:Woman in Politics· Ullle
Ptopl.e . Medicine Albea
ISSUE FOUR - SUMMER 1984
Water Drwn • Waiu Quality • Kudzu • Solu
Eclipse· C~tling ·Trout ·Going IO W1.1U
Ram Pumps. Microhydro · Poems: Bennie
Lee Sinclair, Jim Wayne Miller

full rolor
T-s61rts
In the traditional Cherokee Indian belief,
the creatures in the world today are only
diminuitive forms of the mythic beings who
once inhabited the world. but who now reside
in Galuna'ti, the spirit world, the highest
heaven. But a few of the original powers broke
through the splritual barrier and exist yet In the
world as we know fl. These beings are called
with reverence •grandfathers·. And of them,
the strongest are Kanai/, the lightning, the
power of the sky; Utsa'nati, the rattlesnake.
who personifies the power of the earth plane;
and Yunwi Usdi. ihe little man", as ginseng is
called in the sacred ceremonies. who draws up
power from the underworld.
Each Is the strongest power in Its o wn
domain. Together they are allies: their energies
complement each other to form an even
greater power. As medicine allies. they
represent the healing powers of t he
Appalachian Mountains.
The medicine powers of Kawah have been
depicted in a striking T-shirt design by Ibby
Kenna. Printed In 5-color silkscreen by
Ridgerunner Naturals on top quality, a/I-cotton
shirts, they are available now in ail adult sizes
from the Katiiah Joumsl.
"To show respect for this supernatural trinity
of the natural world is to in tum become an ally
in the continuing process of maintaining
harmony and balance here in the mountains of
KatUah."
To order. use the form be/Ow.

ISSUE TIURTEEN - Fall 1986
Ccnicr For Awakening • Elizabeth Callari ·A
Gentle Death • Hospice • Ernest Morgan •
Dealing Creatively with Death • Home Burial
Box • The Wake • The Raven Mocker •
Woodslore and Wildwoods Wisdom • Good
Medicine: The SWeat Lodp

ISSUE FIVE • FALL 1984
Hatvest ·Old Ways in Cherokee - Ginseng Nucleu Waste • Our Celtic Heritage •
Bioregionalism: Put. Present. and Future •
John Wilnoty • Healing Dukness • Politics or
Plttiaipation

ISSUE SIX-WINTER 1984·85
Winia Solstice Earth Cuemony • Horsepas1ur•
River - Coming or the Uaht • Log ~in
Root• • Mounl&amp;in AgricullW'C: The Right Crop
• W"tll.i.IJn Taylor· The Furore or the foiat
ISSUE SEVEN • SPRING 1985
Sustainable Eco~ics . Hot Springs ·Worker
Ownership • The Great Economy • Self Help
Credit Union • Wild Turkey • Responsible
Investing • Woriting in Iha Wab of Ll!e
ISSUE EIGIIT ·SUMMER 198S
Celebration: A Way or Ufe • Katuah 18,000
Ycan Ago • Sacred Sites • Folk Aru in the
Schools • Sun Cycle/Moon Cycle • Poems:
Hilda Downer • Chciokee Hcri• Cenu:r •
Who Owns Appalachia?
ISSUE NINE- FALL 198S
The Waldee Forest • The Trees Speak •
Migating Foresll • Horse Logaing • SW1lng a
Tree Crop - Urban Trees • Acom Bread - Mylh
lllllC

'

ISSUE FOURTEEN· Winlef 1986-87
Uoyd Cul Owle • Boogcrs and Mummen • All
Species Day • Cabin Fever University •
Homeless in Katuah • Homemade Hot Waicr
Siovemakcr·s Narrative • Good Medicine:
lnLcrspCcics Communication
ISSUE FIFTEEN· Spring 1987
Coverlets • Wo~ Forester • Susia McMllwi
Midwife • Alternative Contraception •
Biosexuallty • Bioregionalism and Women •
Good Medicine: Matriacharial Culwre • &amp;ad
ISSUE SIXTEEN· Summer 1987
Helen Waite • Poem: Visions in 1 Garden •
Vision Quest • First Flow • Initiation •
Leaming in the Wildcmeas • Cherokeea
OWlcnJ!C ·"Valuing Trees"
ISSUE EIGH1E£N ·WU- 1987-88
Vemaculu Atehi1eeiure ·Dreams in Wood and
Stone • Mowllain Home • Earth Energiea •
Earth.Sheltered Living • Membtanc Houses •
Brush Shelter • Poems: Oc1ol!cr Dusk • Good
Mcdk:inc: "Shelia" •

ISSUE TEN. WINl'ER 1985-86
Kate Rogers • Circles of Sione • Internal
Mylhmaking • Holistic Healing on Trial •
Poems: SleVe Knaulb • Mythic Places • The
Uk:ten a's Ta.la • Crystal Magic •
"Dmmspeakin&amp;.

/'"r"

~UA~URNAL
P.O. Box 638

Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748

For more information:

(704) 683-1414

Name

RegularMembcrship........ $10/yr.
Sponsor- .......................$20/yr.
Contributor.....................$50/yr.

Address

Enclosed is $
to give
this ejfon an extra bOOst
City
Area Code

State

Phone Number

Zip

I can be a local contact
person for my area

Back Issues
Issue# _@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue# _@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue # _@ $2.50 = $ _ _
Issue# __@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue# _ @ $2.50 = $_ _
Complete Set (3-11, 13-16, 18)
@ $25.00 =$_ _
T-Shins: specify quantity

color: tan
S_ _ M_ _

L_ _ XL_ _

@ $9.50 each............$_

TOTAL PRICE =

_

$_ _

postage paid
SPRING - 1988

KATUAH - page3 1

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                <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, Issue 19, Spring 1988</text>
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                <text>The nineteenth issue of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; focuses on springtime, plants, and the New Age movement: gardening with "nature intelligences", rooting blueberries, native plants, and herbal medicine. Authors and artists in this issue include: Michael Hockaday, Clyde Hollifield, Janeice Ray, Lucinda Flodin, Will Ashe Bason, Karen Watkins-Decker, Christina Morrison, Elaine Geouge, Sheli Lodge, Martha Tree, Brian Ellis, Stephen Wing, Diane Yeager, Colleen Redman, Rose Morningstar, and Ellen John. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Beginning this issue, the title of the journal was simplified to &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;.  A quarterly publication, it was published from 1983 to 1993 and was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.</text>
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·.

~UAl:i~ ®URNAL
...
ISSUE 22 WINTER 1988-89

seeds of survival

$1.50

�When strong-hearted people keep on singing the Song of Creation,
they will find the true path, forgotten by many,
so Grandpa David says.
When prayer and meditation are used rather than relying
on new inventions to create more Imbalance,
they will also find the true path.
Mother Nature tells us which is the right way.
When earthquakes, floods, hailstorms, drought, and famine
will be the life of every day, the time will have then come
for the return to the true path ...
-from Meditations with The Hopi

~LJAH JOURNAL
P.O. Box 638 Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

Postage Paid
Bulk Mail
Permit #18
Leicester, NC
28748

�Global Wanning and Katuah .......... 3
by Kim Sarulland
Fire This Time ............................. 5
by lyfich Crabawr
Bioregions: The Context
for Reinhabiting the Earth .............6
by Thomas Berl)
Earth Exercise .............................9
by Marnie Muller and
2.oa Rockensrein
Poems and Drawings
by Kore Loy McWhirter.............. 10
Drawing by ESTHER

An Abundance of Emptiness......... 12
by Richard lowenJlia/

Reviews:
Thinking like a Mountain
Talkfog with Nawre .................... 14
Options For Regional Currency:
The LETSystem .......................... 15
by Fred MignoM
"Chronicles of Floyd" .................. 16
by "Granny" DeLauney

Knife, Axe, and Saw.................... 18
An lnrerview with Dorry Wood

Natural World News ................... 20

111c Bear Clan ...................•........22
Poem by luci11da Flodin ................. 23
Drumming: Letters to Kalllah ....... 24
Wcbworking .............................. 30

the Earth stirs in her dream
she wakens and arises.
she comes! she comes!
great in her gifts, striding with purpose.
each step an age in the evolution of life.
she is moving.
she will not remain to stagnate in our wastes.
she would be healed.
and we would break
through our brittle egg casings of separateness
to rejoin this planetary life community.
we are too powerful
to remain so ignorant
the change is begun.
we can cry out in pain or rejoice in our healing.
we Loo need to move. to work for the change,
to pray that the balance be restored
and, moving. we will be swept up and carried in the
wave of her motion.

�STAFFTI-IIS ISSUE:
Will Ashe Bason Rob Messick Mamie Muller
David Wheeler Chip Smith Christina Morrison
Kim Sandland Richard Lowenthal

EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:
Scou Bird MlU'lha Tree Jack Chaney John Creech Andy Half-Baker
Lisa Franklin Sam Gray Michael Red Fox Marsha Ring

COVER by Martha Tree
INVOCATION by Andy Half-Baker
PUBLISHED BY: Kart1ahJournal

THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BlORECION
ANO MAJOR EASTERN RIVER SYSTEMS

PRINTED BY: The Waynesville Mo1111tai11eer Press
WBITEUS AT:

KatWih Journal

TELE Pl JONE:
(704)683-1414

Box 638
Leicester. NC
Kaufah Province 28748
Diversity il&gt; an impor13111 clcmcn1 of bion:gional ecology, both
n3tural and social. In line with this princ;iple, the Katiiah Journal
tries 10 serve as a forum for the discussion of n:gion:ll issues. Signed
article.~ express only the opinion of the authors and are nol ncccs.o;arily
lhc opinions of lhe Katuab Journal editors or staff.
The ln!Cmal Revenue Service ha.~ dcclru-ed KaJU4h o non profit
organization under sccuon SO I(c)(3) of the In LemaI Revenue Code. A11
contributions IO Kartlah arc deductible from J&gt;C™lll3I income uu.

invocation
From the deep dark place in ourselves,
Through the darkest part
of the changing year,
Through the darkness
of the turning world cycle,
We know of troubles facing us,
and of hope bearing us on.
Birth, death, rebirth.
Spring, Summer. Fall. Winter.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
lltrt in tht southern-most heartland of the Appaluchian mounlllins. thl"
oldest mountain range on our continent. Turtle Island, o small bur growing grmip
has begun to take on a stn.ft of responsibiliry for tht imp/icarions of 1ha1
geographical and cultural heritagt. This .ftnse of ruponsibiliry ctnters on 1~
conupt of living within the natural scalt and balance of univtnal system.1 a.1d
principles.
Within this circle wt begin by invoking the Ch1•ro~e nam11 " Katiu.ih"
as the oldr
new nameforthi.1 area of the mountains and/or iu journal at well. 1he
provmce u indicated by its natural bawuJaries: rhe Roanoke River ~'allt•v ta th~
narrh: ti~ foothills of the piedmont arta to the east: Yona Mountain and the
Georgia hi/1.1 to the sowh: and the Tennessee River ~'allq 10 the we.11.
J'he editorial prioririu for u.1 are to colleet and disseminate 111/ rmatirJn
o
and energy which ~rtains sptcifically 10 this region. anJ rofoster the awarelll!u
that the land is a living being deserving of our love and respect. Lfring in thi.s
manner is a way to insure the su:uailrability of the biosphere and a lasting place
for ourselves in its continwng evolutionary process.
We seem to have reached the fulcrum point of a• do or die • situation in
terms of a quality sta/ldard of lift for all living beingson thi:r planet. Asa voice
for rhe carttak.trs of this sacred land, KariJah. we advocate a centered approach to
the co11cept of tkcentralizaiio11. /1 is our hape to become a .1uppor1 system/or
rhase accepti11g the challenge of su.staiMbilil)' and the creation of harmony and
balance in a total sense, here in this ploce.
We welcome all co"espondence. criticism. perti11e11t informa1io11,
articles. arrwork, etc wirh hopes that Kariuih will grow 10 urve rhe best intt:rms
of this regio11 and all its living. breathing mtmber.1.
-The Editors

We all grow and change.
Darkness is followed by light,
Sickness is followed by healing.
As Gaia goes around the circle
We reap what we have sown,
and plant new seeds for the coming light.

rrs NOT NICE TO FOOL MOTilER NATURE

�-~·

~

•.... •-:....i. ..•••·••.,,..........-: .,.• .........·• ""·. \ ....\, .••. . 1 • ••••• "• •••••.............. •·:. ; , ........ :· ; ...... .

{~~~~~ ... ~··· ....--~­
·~.··

...~ .. .

GLOBAL WARMING AND KATUAH
By Kim Sandland
Just to satisfy a yearning for the breaking down of
barriers, this wricer is currently taking classes in the
beautiful, dramatic language of signs. a language
expressed with the bands and body and interpreted with
the eyes and the heart. My "sentences" arc stiJI a little
sluggish, my rtngerspclling a little awkward, and my
boots rattle around my ankles at the thought of
confronting a real live deaf person with no one's hands
around but my own. But someday. when I'm good
enough. sign language will allow me to enter the world
of the deaf and communicate with them. They will
understand me and I will understand them. It's all a
matter of knowing how.
There is another world that this human being would
like to know how to enter, another barrier to break
down. It is the barrier that prevents many people from
seeing and understanding the impact of human activities
on their Earth. It is the world in which many humans are
unable to interpret the language of the Earth, nor to hear
the voices of despair, cries of defilement, and pleas for

care.
Gary Miller, of the Depanment of Environmental
Studies at the University of North Carolina at Asheville,
hears the voices. In a recent interview, Miller outlined
the here and now of the global warming trend, the
depletion of the ozone layer, the increase of ozone
pollution, and acid rain - - all are similar in their origin
and require the same solution, says Miller. For Kauiah,
the pressures of environmental catastrophe are already
apparent, and growing worse.
Oak decline is taking place on our slopes, and
drought like that we experienced over the pa.~t &lt;;everal
years may exaggerate · and acceler,11e - that decline.
Miller a!lributes chat decline to a number of different
factors, including poor forest management practices
earlier in this century. like the harvest of prime trees,
leaving poorer trees which are more vulnerable to
adversity. If the greenhouse effec1 has staned, the
climate will only get warmer, and intense summer heat
and drought may make plant communities vulnerable to

wiY1h@1e ecosystem~ !\!re :irlll
je@pudy, !l!lld m!ly ~sa;p]pem ....
S1l!lclb. as the s:plrl.1ce-ffir ~osyitem
~yjpical @f aihe lb.ii.gh.er S@11.11tllaem
ApJP!lh1clmh1llll elev!lti~:ins, tfot
exm!I!ljplle. 111ds we bow."
invasion by disease, insects, and fungi. Plants and the
animal communities they suppon may not make the
necessary adjustments to severe climatic shifts in a shon
period of time. They need long-term evolution, Miller
says.
Whole ecosystems are in jeopardy, and may
disappear - - such as the spruce-Cir ecosystem typical of
the higher Southern Appalachian elevations, for
example. This we know. We have known, says Miller.
about acid rain since the 1870's, and about the
"greenhouse effect" since before the turn of the century.
Unfonunatcly we arc only now monitoring the changes
induced by these pollution effects and may yet be a
couple of years away from cfTectivcly implementing new
control legislation.
In 1988 we experienced the effect of increased water
temperatures and decreased water volume in our streams
and reservoirs, Miller says. Higher water temperatures
mean less oxygen concentrated in the water; less oxygen,
increased coxins, increased temperatures will mean less
fhh. For Katuah, this affects not only our fishermen.
but our trout industries as well, Trout fisheries ha\'e
already begun relying on well water, which has less
oxygen capacity than stream water, and so have turned to
(con1111ucJ on nest pegel

W1.NT£R. - 1988-89

Drawing by ROB MESSICK

Jeot.Uan Journa!

p~ 3

�(continued from previous page)

oxygenation systems, powered wilh electricity, powered
by fossil fuels.
Increasing populations, resulting in higher nitrogen
pollution from the burning of fossil fuels in power
plants, factories, and automobiles, coupled with the
temperature inversions characteristic of mountain
valleys, will fill our mountain air with unbreathable
substances, says Miller. During lhc past summer ~zone
pollution reached the highest levels ever recorded in our

"Refusing to learn the issues, refusing to raise
taxes and refusing to commit resources to
resolving environmental problems, will result
in an uninhabitable planet. Deferring action
until later will only cost us more in the long
run."

area. More air-conditioning will be desired by people as
the years go by; more air-conditioning means more
burning of fossil fuels, and more pollution, in a
never-ending cycle of waste and want. It's already
happening.
More people will be here, too. Miller believes it is
impossible to consider the ramifications of current trends
for the Katuah bioregion alone, because what happens in
other bioregions will have a direct effect on Kattiah.
Rising ocean waters, increasing greatly over the next
20-50 years, are likely 10 flood coastal areas. Coastal
communities, both marine and human, may be
devastated. Our wetlands, the coastal estuaries, the hean
of lhe seafood industry and the basis of the foodchain for
all species, will be destroyed by advancing seas. Sixty
to 65% of harvested fish and shellfish now spend pan of
their life cycle in the estuaries, says Miller, and they will
be affected. People have already begun flocking to the
mountain areas to escape hot climates; people will come
in droves, bringing their indusuies with them, as the
coastal economies and environments are changed. There
will be more fossil fuels consumed, more water
consumed, more native habitat destroyed here in Kattiah,
in the face of an already-shrinking resource base which
is falling 10 the effects of global warming and global
waste.
We know about all lhis. We know about hot
summers [which will grow hotter), and about
temperature inversions [which will only serve to make i1
hotter and harder to breathe, for all species), we know
about increasingly severe storms and drought and
landscapes of fallen trees and wi1hered undergrowth.
We know because we have read it, heard it, we have
already seen it. But is it 100 late for Katuah? Gary
Miller has some defini1e ideas.
There arc 1hree keys to understanding and action,
according to Miller, which m3y not undo what is already
upon us, but may save a pan of whnt we have for future
generations. The first is education. Gary Miller believes
that we should have a national required curriculum in
environmental science in all our schools. Says ~iller,
"The future of our planet depends on how well people
understand the issues." Many people are not aware;
they don't read, and they don't understand. lf we read
and understand, we can change our own wasteful
behaviors, and we can demand more of our politicians.
Part of education, says Miller, is comprehending the fact
that solutions are expensive. Refusing to learn the
issues, refusing to raise taxes and refusing to commit

resources 10 resolving environmental problems, will
result in an uninhabitable planet. Deferring action until
later will only cost us more in the long run. This has
always been the case.
The second key is consuming less, doing with less.
As Miller says, every time you lhrow it away, you waste
energy, because it must be recreated, using virgin
resources and more fossil fuels. And waste must be
disposed of, or incinerated when we run out of room for
disposal. More air pollution. Miller believes that all
people could cut their use of elecuicity by 40-50% today
and srill live comfonably, provided they give up their
need 10 live in a totally regulated environment with
temperature fluctuations of only a few degrees. Miller
calls it, "a new e1hos--try 10 live with less or do
without," and we can begin it in Karuah. It's not so
new, because some of us have been hearing it for years.
We can participate at any of several levels of activity:
recycling, avoiding plastics, wearing sweaters inside in
the winter. We can promote mass transit and drive our
personal cars less. We can conserve fossil fuels by
pursuing solar energy and other alternative energy
sources, excepting nuclear power. In the realm of
electoral politics, we need to investigate politicians'
records carefully, vote for pro-environmental candidates,
and demand more leadership from them. We can send
money to organizations trying to save lhe rain forests
(and those working on behalf of the temperate forests as
well), which are vital to our atmosphere.

"If we do not, we will lose our freedom of
choice as nature takes over, causing hurricanes
of magnificent force, high temperatures we can
not tum off, ultraviolet radiation and skin
cancer, air we can not breathe, a scarcity of
drinking water, and deserts where once there
were forests."
And the last key, says Miller, is planning. For
Katliah, this means that local and regional officials must
decide what is the true human carrying capacity of this
region, taking into consideration dwindling water
supplies, protection of habitat, and disposal of waste.
This is not being addressed by local planners and
officials, says Miller. An obvious example is lhe plan to
have incinerators handle the solid waste overload--and
anything, says Miller, with lhe potential of c?ntrib~ting
to air pollution, compounded by temperature inversions,
should be ruled out. Indiscriminate promotion of the
area in an effon to attract new mdusuies and more people
should be curtailed, until we understand what a
shrinking resource base will mean to us in the near
future.
We must make these difficult decisions now, says
Gary Miller. If we do not, we will lose our freedom of
choice as nature takes over, causing hurricanes of
magnificent force, high temperatures we c~ not rum off,
ultraviolet radiation and skin cancer, air we can not
breathe, a scarcity of drinking water, and desens where
once there were forests.
To those who don't hear, we must find a way to
communicate, a language of respect, conservation,
pro1ec1ion, and realization, to be shared among all
species. We must find that language soon, lest our
message have no ears to fall on.

WtNTDt - 1988- 89

�FIRE THIS TIME
by Lylich Crabawr
"God give Noah tM rainbow sign.

No more willer, fire~ time.•
• Block spiritual

Looking around at the forest about
me, l soe great imbalance. I see the forest
suffering as a result of acid rain,
clearcuuing, and the drought we have been
having. These are clearly the result of
human influence. The world is in need of
healing.
But each imbalance has within it the
conditions that will restore equilibrium. That
is also true in this case. There is a change
coming, and it is coming on much faster
than people think. We are presently caught
up in a cycle of drought. This is not going
to go away next summer. We might get a
reprieve next summer. it might not be as bad
as this year, but the following summer will
be, and the summer after that will be as
well.
Some drastic climatic shifts are in the
making. Different areas might become
weuer, drier, colder, or hotter. These
changes will occur for no apparent rilyme or
reason. The Southern Appalachians happen
10 be an area that is becoming hotter and
drier. In fact, I think this area is going to
dry up severely.
There is going to be a massive die-off
of the forest. We are seeing that already.
The Black Mountain Range is being
denuded by acid rain. Already there are
streaks of dry places on the ridgetops.
panicularly around rocky cliff areas, where
the water drops out quicker. If there is no
rain, those dry ridges have no source of
water. Lower down on the hillside, water
collects and drains down. But as the
moisture falls off and the water table drops,
the ridges suffer the mosc.

Already, the dries! varieties of plants
live on che ridgecops: scrub oak, scrub
pines, mountain laurel, and grasses. Those
are the species that are adapted to living up
there. Ginseng. the orchid species, or big
poplar IJ'CCS do not live up there.
ln effect, what is going 10 happen is
that the dry ridgecop conditions are going to
move down the hill. As the climatic change
intensifies and conditions become more
severe, the poplar cove associations will
become scarce as 1he dry ridgetop
community moves down into what were
once rich, moist coves. The moisture-loving
species will hold out longest alongside the
creeks. But then 1he smaller, higher
watersheds will dissipate, and 1he dry
conditions will move fanher and fanher
down. There will be a terrible decline in the
little streams now running through the hills.
r do not know if major rivers will dry up,
but they are going to become a 101 smaller.
How far ii will go, J do not know.
We have somewhat of an advantage in that
we have a number of micro-climates and a
vancty of different plants here in the
mountains. That will help lo offset the worst
aspects of the change.
When the forest dies off on 1he
ridges, greal amounts of dry tinder will be
left on the.hillsides. And as the dry weather
continues, there will probably be
tremendous firestonns burning off that
highly flammable material. That is going to
create an incredible amount of pollurion over
the temperate forest 1,ones, which will speed
up the degradation of the atmosphere and
intensify the "greenhouse effect" a1 an
exponential rate.
On these steep slopes, if the tree
cover dies off and fires burn off the organic

maner on the top of the soil layer, the soil
will be washed down the hillsides very
quickly, because the vegetation and the leaf
mulch is what holds the soil in place. If rhe
vegetation dies on the ridgetops, the soil is
going to come down. Strip a hillside now
and see how fast it gullies; see how fast the
streams silt up and die. There is always
more erosion in time of drought.
The situation here is going to be
similar to that in the island nation of Haiti
where the native people cut the wood off th~
hills for cooking fuel. With the vegetative
cover removed, che tropical rains washed all
the soil off the mountainsides, and the forest
could never grow back.
The Appalachian mountaintops are
basically granite rock with a couple of feet
of soil on the top. They will be eroded
down to bare rock. This is already
becoming evident. Mt. Mitchell has two to
three times as much rock showing on its
face as it used to have.
Eventually I believe we will have an
environment here similar to that of northern
New Mexico: bare, rocky mountaimops and
fenile valleys. There will be perhaps trees
and streams in the valleys, but all around us
1he hills will look like New Mexico. It
won't be unattractive. New Mexico is a
wonderful locale in its own way. But it is
going co be sad 10 see the species disappear
that live here in these rich coves.
Conditions might stabilize before
then. They might become more disastrous
than that The weather is not necessarily
going 10 be consistcnL Just because our
summers are going to be horter, that does
no1 mean tha1 our winters arc going to -be
warmer. We may have even colder winters,
but with more drastic changes, like sudden
storms followed by warm spells, or terrible
fronts coming down out of Canada.
I do not perceive the greenhouse
effect as causing worldwide desert,
however; ii is causing worldwide drastic
weather changes. Tl is not getting hotter
everywhere, but climate fluctuations arc
getting more extreme.
The Carri bean and the Gulf of Mexico
recently experienced the wors1 hurricane
within memory, Hurricane Gilben. Gilben
produced the lowest pressure ever recorded.
But as the climatic shift progresses, we may
see cyclones and hurricanes the likes of
which we cannot imagine at this time.
Massive thunderstorms may produce
corrential rains. There may be floods like
thO'iC this area experienced in 1916, but the
effects may be worse, because there will be
no vegetation on the hillsides to hold the
water and the mud.
The Anasazi and other pueblo Indians
in New Mexico and Arizona had a similar
experience. They suffered a drought and the
vegetation died off on the tops of the mesas,
so that when it did rain, nash noocts came
down the valleys, destroying their crops and
gullying out the fields, before the land
became dry again. Where they once had
com and squash growing at the edge of the
creek, the water was now running in a
trickle at the bonom of a gully 20 feet deep.
This made irrigation impossible for them,
and the uncontrolled erosion would carry
away more of their precious bouomland
(c;onunucd an pqc 26)

1.Jl.NTER - 1988-89

Eiching by ROB MESSICK

XAt.i&amp;M Joul'~ p~ 5

�Bioregions:
The Context for Reinhabiting the Earth

by Thomas Berry

Tlwmas Berry's new book The Dream of the Earth has recenrly
been published by Sierra Club Books. Ir is regarded as a major book
of our time. This excerpt provides an excel/em introduction to his
work on bioregional thought and humans' relationship with the
planet.

T he universe expresses itself in the blazing radiance of the
in the vast reaches of the galactic systems. Its most intimate
expression of itself, however, is in this tiny planet: a planet that could
not exist in ilS present form except in a universe such as this one, in
which it has emerged and from which it has received its life energies.
The planet presents itself to us, not as a uniform global reality, but as
a complex of highly differentiated regions caught up in the
comprehensive unity of the planet itself. There a.re arctic and tropical,
coastal and inland regions. mountains and plains, river valleys and
desens. Each of these regions has its distinctive geological
formation, climactic conditions, and living fonns. Together these
constitute the wide variety of life communities that may be referred 10
as bi0tegions. Each is coherent within itself and intimately related to
the others. Together they express the wonder and splendor of this
garden planet of the universe.
Slar'S and

The human species has emerged within this complex of life
communities; it has survived and developed through participation in
the functioning of these communities at their most basic level. Out of
this interaction have come our distinctive human cultures. But while
at an early period we were aware of our dependence on the integral
functioning of these surrounding communities, this awareness faded
as we learned, through our scientific and technological skills, to
mnnipulare the community functioning 10 our own advantage. This
manipulation has brought about a disruption of the entire complex of
life systems. The norcscence that distinguished these communities in
the past is now severely diminished. A degradation of the entire
natural world has taken place.
Even though humans as well as the other species are in a
stressful situation, few of us are aware of the order of magnitude of
what is happening. Fewer still have any adequate understanding of
its causes or the capacity to initiate any effective program for the
revitalization of these life systems upon which everything depends.
Disruption of the life process has led to a severe disruption of the
human communicy itself. If social tunnoil and international rivalries
have evoked significant concern. the disruption of the eanh's life
systems remains only a vague awareness in the human mind. This is
strange indeed when we consider that the disruption of our
bioregional communities is leading to a poisoning of the air we
breathe, the water we drink, the soil and the seas that provide our
food. We seek to remedy our social ills with industrial processes that
lead only to further ecological devastation. Indeed our sensitivity to
human conflict over the sharing of earth's resources has di~tracted us
from the imperiled condition of these resources themselves. a peril
associated with the loss of topsoil, the destruction of forests, the
desenification of fruitful areas, the elimination of wetlands and
spawning areas, the exhaustion of aquifers, the salinization of
irrigated areas, the damaging of coral reefs.

The urgency of a remedy for this situation is such that all social
groups and all nations are called upon to reassess the entire
human-earth situarion. As was indicated by Edwanl Schumacher, we
must rethink our industrial approach to "development." This
rethinking involves appropriate technologies, but also appropriate
lifestyles, and, beyond those, appropriate human-earth relations.
The most difficult transition to make is from an anthropocentric
to a biocentric norm of progress. If there is to be any true progress,
then the entire life community must progress. Any progress of the
human at the expense of the larger life community must ultimately
lead to a diminishment of human life itself. A degraded habitat will
produce degraded humans. An enhanced habitat suppons an elevated
mode of the human. This is evident not only in the economic order,
but also throughout the entire range of human affairs. The splendor of
eanh is in the variety of its land and its seas, its life forms and its
atmospheric phenomena; these constitute in color and sound and

Drawing by ROR MESSICK

loltNTER - 1988- 89

�movement that great symphonic context which has inspired our sense
of the divine, given us our emotional and imaginative powers, and
evoked from us those entrancing insights that have governed our
more sublime moments.
This context not only activates our interior faculties; it also
provides our physical nourishment. The air and water and soil and
seeds that provide our basic sustenance, the sunshine t.hat pours its
energies over the landscape--these are integral with the functioning of
the fruitful earth. Physically and spiritually we are woven into this
living process. As long as the integrity of the process is preserved,
we have air to breathe and water to drink and nourishing food to eaL
The difficulty has come from our subversion of this integral life
communily, supposedly for our own advantage. In the process, we
have tom apart the life system itself. Our technologies that do not
function in harmony with earth technologies. With chemicals we
force the soil to produce beyond its natural rhythms. Having lost our
ability to invoke natural forces, we seek by violence to impose
mechanistic patterns on life forces. In consequence of such actions,
we now live in a world of declining fertility, a wasted world, a world
in which its purity and life-giving qualities have been dissipated.
The solution is simply for us as humans to join the eanh
community as participating members, to foster the progress and
prosperity of the bioregional communities to which we belong. A
bioregion is an identifiable geographical area of interacting life
systems that is relatively self-sustaining in the ever-renewing
processes of nature. The full diversity of life functions is carried out,
not as individuals or as species, or even as organic beings, but as a
community that includes the physical as well as the organic
components of the region. Such a bioregion is a self-propagating,
self-nourishing, self-educating, self-governing, self-healing and
self-fulfilling community. Each of the component life systems must
integrate its own functioning within this community functioning to
survive in any effective manner.

The solution is simply for us as humans to join
1he earth community as participating members, to
foster the progress and prosperity of the bioregional
communities to which we belong.
The first function, self-propagation, requires that we recognize
the rights of each species to its habitat, to its migratory routes, to its
place in the community. The bioregion is the domestic setting of the
community just as the home is the domestic setting of the family. The
community continues itself through successive generations precisely
as a community. Both in terms of species and in terms of numbers. a
certain balance must be maintained within the community. For
humans to assume rights to occupy land by excluding other lifeforms
from their needed habitat is 10 offend the community in its deepest
structure. Further, il is even to declare a state of warfare, which
humans cannot win since they themselves are ultimately dependent on
those very lifeforms that they arc destroying.
The second bioregional function, self-nourishment, requires
that the members of the community sustain one another in the
established pallerns of the natural world for the well-being of the
entire community and each of its members. Within this pattern the
expansion of each species is limited by opposed life forms or
conditions so that no one lifeform or group of lifeforms should
overwhelm the others. In this function of the community we include,
for humans, the entire world of food gathering, of agriculture, of
commerce, and of economics. The various bioregional communities
of the natuml world can be considered as commercial ventureS as well
~\NTt:R. - 1988-89

as biological processes. Even in the natural world there is a constant
interchange of values, the laying up of capital, the quest for more
economic ways of doing things. The earth is our best model for any
commercial venture. h carries out its operations with an economy
and a productivity far beyond that of human institutions. It also runs
its system with a minimum of entropy. There is in nature none of that
sterile or toxic waste or non-decomposing liner such as is made by
humans.
The third function of a bioregion is its self-education through
physical, chemical, biological and cul rural patterning. Each of these
requires the others for its existence and fulfillment. The entire
evolutionary process can be considered as a most remarkable feat of
self-education on the pan of the planet earth and of its distinctive
biorcgional units. An important aspect of this self-educational
process is the experiential mode of its procedures. The eanh, and
each of its biorogions, has performed unnumbered billions of
experiments in designing the existing life system. Thus the
self-educational processes observed in the natural world fonn a model
for the human. There is presently no other way for humans to
educate themselves for survival and fulfillment than through the
instruction available through the natural world.
The fourth function of a bioregion is self-governance. Ao
integral functional order exists within every regional life community.
This order is not an extrinsic imposition but an interior bonding of lhe
community that enables each of its members to participate in the
governance and to achieve that fullness of life expression that is
proper to each. This governance is presided over in much of the
world by the seasonal sequence of life expression. It provides the
order in which florescence and exuberant renewal of life takes place.
Humans have iraditionally inserted themselves into !his community
process through their ritual celebrations. These are not simply hu1l13ll
activicies, but expressions of the entire panicipating community. ln
human deliberations each of the various members of the community
should be represented.
The fifth function of the biorcgional community is self-healing.
The community carries within itself not only the nourishing energies
that are needed by each member of the community; it also contains
within itself the special powers of regeneration. This takes place, for
example, when forests arc damaged by the great storms or when
periods of drought wither the fields or when locusts swarm over a
region and leave it desolate. In all these instances the life community
adjusts itself, reaches deeper into its recuperative powers and brings
about a healing. The healing occurs whether the damage is to a single
individual or to an entire area of the community. Humans, roo, find
that their healing takes place through submission to the discipline of
the community and acceptance of its nourishing and healing powers.
The sixth function of the bioregional community is found in its
self-fulfilling activities. The community is fulfilled in each of its
components: in the flowering fields, in the great oak trees. in the
night of the sparrow, in the surfacing whale, and in any of the other
expressions of the natural world. Also there arc the seasonal modes
of community fulfillment, such as the mysterious springtime renewal.
In conscious celebration of the numinous mystery of the universe
expressed in the unique qualities of each regional community, the
human fulfills its own special role. This is expressed in religious
liturgies, in market festivals, in the solemnities of political assembly,
in all manner of play, in music and dance, in all the visual and
performing ans. From these come the cultural identity of the
bioregion.
The fururc of the human lies in acceptance and fulfillment of the
human role in all six of these community functions. The change
indicated is the change from an exploitive anthropoccntrism to a
panicipative biocentrism. This change requires something beyond
environmentalism, which remains anthropocentric while trying to
limit the deleterious effects of human p~nce on the environment.

�(continued from previous page)

We have limited our discussion so far to the inner functioning
of the regional communities because these provide the most
immediate basis of survival. If these communities do not fulfill their
most essential functions, then the larger complex of biorcgions cannot
fulfill its role. Each of these bioregions is. as we have noted.
re/a1ively sclf-suscaining. None is fully self-sustaining since air and
water flow across the entire planet, across all its regions. So it is
with the animals. Some of them range widely from one end of a
continent to another. Birds cross multiple bioregional, and even
continental, boundaries. EvenruaJJy aJI bioregions are interdependent.
Tllls interdependence is presently accentuated by the toxic waste
poured into the environment by our industriaJ society. Such toxic
materials are borne across entire continents and even across the entire
planet by water and atr. Such an extensive continental problem
would not exist, of course, if each of the various bioregions
functioned properly within its own context.
The larger functioning of bioregions leads to a consideration
that the canh be viewed primarily as an interrelated system of
bioregions, and only secondarily as a community of nations. The
massive bureaucratic nations of the world have lost their inner vitality
because they can no longer respond to the panicular functioning of
the various bioregions within their borders. A second difficulty with
these large nations is the exploitation of some bioregions for the
advantage of Others. A third clifficulry is the threatened devastation of
the enrire planet by the conflict between bureaucratic nations, with
their w~aponry capable of continental, and even planetary,
devastation. To break these nations down into their appropriate
biorcgionaJ communities could be a possible way to peace.
The bioregional mode of thinldng and acting is presently one of
the most vigorous movements taking pince on the Nonh American
continent. Its comprehensive concern is leading toward a reordering
of aJl our existing establishments: political-legal, commercialindustriaJ, communications, educa1ional and religious. At present all
of these establishments arc involved in the devastating impact of
indu~trial society on the natural world. The human arrogance they
manifest toward the other natural members of the life communities
remains only slightly affected by the foreboding concerning the future
expressed by professional biologists and by others who have
recognized that the imminent peril to the planet is not exactly the
nuclear bomb, but the plundering processes that are extinguishing
those very life systems on which we depend.
Yet the numbers of those speaking and acting and leading
in. pro~rams of reinhabiting the eanh in a more benign
relauonshtp with the other members of these natural communities are
growing constantly. This movement, often referred to as the Green
Movement, is fostering an ecological or biorcgional context for every
as~~t of life, for educarion, economics, government. healing and
rehg1on. So far, the movement remains a pervasive and growing
m~e o~ consciousness that is groping toward a more precise
an1culanon of its own ideals, its institutional fonn and its most
effective programs of action.
othe~s

. Of primary imponancc in Nonh America is identifying the
vanous bioregions. To do that requires a sensitivity akin to that of
the s~amanic personality of tribal peoples. While bioregions have
~nai~ geographic boundaries, they also have cennin mythic and
h1stoncal modes of self-identification. This idenrification depends on
ourselves as we participate in this process, which only now we begin
to understand or appreciate.
/

Excerpted by permission of Sierra Club Books from The Dream of
the Earth, e&gt;I988 by Thomas Berry.
Available 11 bookslOfes around the region or by d!rec1 mail from: Sierra Club
Store Orders. 730 Polit Street. San Francisco. CA 94 IOCJ. (Prepaid orders only,
enclose S 18.95 plus SJ.00 for pomge and handling.)

Towards the Legal Recognition
of the Rights of All Species
Finally. II 1s beginning to dawn on us humans that the wider Earlh
communlly with whom we exist have nghts, IOO. Afl species have rights··such
as the right IO habi1a1. the right to breathe clean air, the right to have access 10
good water, elC.··and it is lime for these rights IO be legally rocognued.
In The Dream of the Ear1h, Thomas Berry refers to The World Charter
fur :&gt;lalure which was adop1ed by lhe U.N. in 1982. This chnncr can be a
valu:ible. dynarmc tool for draftJng a regional or local Ch.:incr for Nature. Citucns
groups. study grou~. 13Sk forces or individunls could speamcnd this effort IO 3dap1.
the charter lO 1he specific region where they live (or t0 draft an entirely new one).
The document can then be submitted to one's !Own council, county commission,
state legislature. etc. for adopuon.
Having the righ1s of other species be lcgnlly rccogni1.cd is an imPortnnl step
111 bnnging ourselves and our species more in balance with the Life community m
which we part.icipal.C.
If you arc interested an receiving a copy of The World Charter for Nature,
wr11e: Mamie Muller. KatUiJh Journal, P. 0. Box 638. Leicester, NC 28748,
Katililh Province.

Earth exercise:
a guided exercise designed for
personal/community/Earlh healing
Getting in touch with our own interior heaJing resoun:es as
well as those of the planet itself is an imponant facet of any
environmentaJ, political, or social effon. Often we see ourselves
as bucking the cultural ride and feel a sense of futility. Yet, it is
important to see the work that we each do, as an individual and as
pan of an organization, from a wider perspective.
The body wants to heal itself, the planet wants to heal
i1self. We need to let ourselves feel a pan of this wider biotic
system of self-healing. We don't have to invent or create a
"make-believe" connection, all we have to do is give ourselves
the opportunity to see these wider connections that eiUst.
There are many "spontaneities" within us that can be
tapped into in order to pnnicipate consciously in this heaJing
process but we need 10 get beyond our "everyday" mind to do
this. Exercises such as the one here can provide a
non-threatening, comfonable way to begin this process of getting
in touch with these resources.
As we become more familiar with this way of seeing, our
"everyday" self can more easily shift into this wider perspec1ive
as well. Even our breathing in and breathing out can gently
remind us of our intimate connection to the wider Earth process.
Another aspect to invite into this conscious participation is our
dreamworld, which so often remains isolated from our "regular"
consciousness.
This (next page) is a guided exercise for groups assisted by
a facilitator which was originally designed for and used at the
afternoon sessions of the second Annual New Priorities
Conference held this fall in Asheville, NC. The Conference
theme was: "Wake Up and Dream!" The exercise is intended for
both experienced as well as inexperienced facilitators.
-Mamie Muller
W'\JlfJ'Ejl - 1988-89

�Let every pan of your body feel a sense
of being relaxed .. .let an inner smile
come to you.... to every pan of your
body. (wait I minule or more)
Now that you arc becoming deeply
relaxed.... let yourself settle in to
yourself... ...to a place that feels very
secure to you....... very loving......very
beautiful... ...Let yourself feel "at
home" there. (pause)
Experience fully a sense of your own
well-being. Feel i.mmcrsed in it. Let Lhat
weU-beingness pour over you like
sunshine.
( wait 1 minute or more)

Earth Exercise I
cksUjnd blJ narnie nuller
cuut Zoa R.ocfunsui-n
In.structiollSfor faci/ital()r
Design the selling in the form of a circle whethu
indoors or out.Side. If'JOU/eel it is appropria1e.
have some taped music quietly playing as people
come in and se11le down (for uample. Kitaro's Silk
Road or some othu soothing music). Once all are
present. have everyone get corr(ortable. llandbags.
books. papers, should be m owsilk of the
bo1uularies of the circle. You, asfacilita1or, should
be si11ing as part of the circle. A.s 'JOU share this
t'.Urcise. be sure to speak slowly and distinctly in a
quiet. gentle manner. Be sure to leDW! quiet time
bcuween each phrase.

As you are feeling your own sense of
well-being...of joy.... begin to feel the
well-being of those around you ...feel
wannth and sunlight coming to this
circle hcre...immersing us all in a sense
of Life and well-being. (pause)
As you breathe in and out... .feel the
water coursing down from the
mountains... bringing life and
well-being to all....feel the roots of
trees as they grow deeper into the
soil..... feel the autumn leaves laying
themselves one on another as they
become pan of the eanh....ex.pericnce
Lhe plants around soaking in wamuh
and light from the sun.... making food
for themselves and for all... .listen 10 the
melodic call of the birds in the forest
trees. Watch the hawk circle in the
sky.......Feel the wind blow gently
across your face ....(pausc)

llere is a suggested "script" which you are
welcome to adapt for your own use.
...............Ex.er-ci.se.................

Right now, we will do a
relaxation/guided exercise having to do
with your well-being, the well-being of
others and the well-being of the planet
Just relax and enjoy it. Images,
thoughts or feelings may come to you;
don't be concerned as to whether you
are getting visunl images or not, just let
it happen. If at any time in the process,
you feel uncomfortable with this
ex.ercise, simply open your eyes and
wait for the rest of us to finish.
Let's begin.
Close your eyes, if you'd like..... And
begin to relax ...Take a deep breath
in .... pause for a moment .. then breathe
out ...Breathe in again .... pause.....and
breathe out Continue to breathe in this
way, and let yourself begin to relax as
you do this breathing. Breathe
in.... pause....and breathe
out..... Breathe in... pause....and
breathe out
Focus your attention on the place inside
yourself where you are pausing
... between breathing in and breathing
out.
(wait 1 minute or more)
Let your muscles begin to un-tighten
and relax .....Lct your whole body feel
free and comfonable.......... Breathe
in..... pause.....and ...... breathe out.
IJ\NTER. - l 988 - 89

•

Feel the self-healing that has been going
on....on this planet... for thousands of
years .... (pause) Feel yourself a pan of
this process.....(pause) ...you are pan
of this life-giving process...even your
breathing in ...and your brca1hing
out.. .. brings life.....
(I minute or more).
Now let us together imagine that this

sense of well-being is being restored
throughout our entire community
..... throughout our whole mountain
region. (pause) Let us imagine
well-being nowing through any painful
or distressed areas of our community
---both our human community and our
wider ecological community..... Let us
feel a healing an&lt;l a strengthening taking
place.... Let us feel a sense of
empowenncnt coming to all who are
afflicted. The well-being of each of us
is integral to the well-being of all of us.
Feel a sense of health and sufficiency
being available to all in our community
here.

Envision yourself as an importanl pan
of this healing and restoring that is
begiMing to take place in our
community. Sec how you, in an
on-going way, fit into this process.
(pause)..Fecl yourself a pan of the
Life-giving energy that will help ~tore
this community to a full state of
weU-being.
(1 minute or more)

Now imagine the entire planet........fecl
the tangible. intricate connection of all
life.... .Fecl the planet itself being
restored to a state of well-being
...(pause).........Though it is much
threatened right now, the planet is
working vigorously towards
self-healing. As your own body acts to
heal itself... from a cut or wound
...sense the planet's ability to work
towards self-healing.... Begjn to feel the
undercurrent well-being of the planet
itself....Feel yowself a pan of this
process.
(1 minute or more)
Return now to your secure place within
yoursclf...and let your own well-being
be strengthened.....and be renewed
...(pause). Experience deeply the
well-being that is at the hean of things,
and let yourself remember this sense
fully. (pause)
Now, gently, come to this circle
here...... Begin to arise out of this
meditation. (pausc)....As you begin to
arise out of this meditation. let yourself
know that this ability you have to see
things in this way is available Lo you
whenever you need it. ..... Now come
and be fully present Lo this circle, here.
-end-

InstructiollS/or facililator
Agiun. you may want to play sootl11ng music softly
for a few momtnts to give people timt to -come
bock". Lock aroUNJ the entire circle Olld ma.Jr.t f~#
each ~rson ts alnght and is 'with you".
;crediisc
The concqxof"ll\lltt smile" is dn..,, from TOO&lt;ll WO)&lt;llO
Traruform Strus Into ViJa/111 by ManW. Ch1a. The
imagery or autumn leaves layina lhcrruel•cs one on
anolhcr comes from lhe poem "Autumn" by Ycvgcny
Ycvlahenko.
l'CSOlll&lt;JCS'.

A good ldvanccd l'C9QWCe is Wor.tiitg l/Uilk O..i (Applibl
MtdllaJ1on for f111ui11vc Prabla..-Salvifll) by Margo
Adair. Wingbow Prus. 1984 Available from Boolq&gt;eoplc
2929 ri!lh S1r«1, Bcriu:ley, CA 94710.
Mtdita1/ng wull Cliildun by Deborah RoU\an and
Spwsilig 1-d by Mmy Mwdock ltC good for begimeo
mdcbMen.

�we are buUdinge a house
I wondre wille we evre real/ye live inne rharre place
wille we die inne ine
I nevre go rhere
ine is imaginarye space contained
I amme ftdfilled
imagininge irtefromme thisse distance
looking uppe ane ine as w the nighte skye
baskinge...no, skewered ande roasringe
inne irres vasre brillianre promise
I canne imagine livinge there
butte I cannorre imagine tllisse bodye
seuinge f oote inne the doore
we are buildinge rhisse house withe oure handes
withe woles moved bye oure bodies ande oure lives
closinge oute the skye
we looke oute the windowes
ro gette oure bearinges inne the worlde
we enrre tlzroughe the doorwaye to become sometlunge
otlzre thonne whane we have beene
I muste come zo ourgrowe tllisse comainre
we are makinge

lilce anye orhre cru.slllCeanne
mye lwde shelle
I amme softe inside
I musre reste ande growe winges
inne tllisse place tharre keepes oute the worlde
thenne openne a/le the doores ande windowes
takinge mye daughrres bye the hande
flye oure everywhere

I aname thisse womynne
I speak withe herre voice
she has beenefarre
she has seene the manye wayes
110 one beinge cannefarlwme a/le herre visionnes
I amme rhisse womynne
I canne feele a/le man11re ofherre senses
swellinge ande flowinge inne herre bloode
she is worthye ofyou.re deepeste arre11do.11ce
a/le creanues grea1e and smalle
va.sre ande f ewe
are honoured bye herre giftes ande blessinges
I amme thisse womynne
I canne see through alle herre harde walles
o\·re alle herre higheste rampartes
the warmrhe inne the brigluc roomes ofherre hcarte
the joyouse wisdomme
abundan1e ande ge11ero11Se
inne the da.rke ferrite groU/lde o/ lierrc soulle
I amme thisse womynne
I COJllU! telle you
she bearres no mysterye or angre so greaie
thatte itte deserves none youre moste trusti11ge
ande rendre regarde
I amme tllisse womynne
emered ande conJained
I speake withe herre voice
~iUM Jo\lrna.£ P"'Jll 10

W\.Nn:Jt - 1988- 89

�"

somerimes the goldenn.e-handed one
wille arrende you
she wille rouclli! youre woundes
ande tlieye wille openne
bloominge like tlli! manyejWwres
a place w reste
cradlinge youre sorroM-'t!S
she canne do no wronge
alle lierre ministrationnes
are rlie rainnes' attendance
onne thirstye growule
she willes you tender/ye backe to life
you cann.e joinne thisse downpourre
amonge the greaifulle herbes ande grasses
reachinge joyous/ye
withe youre manye-petalled woundes
goinge to seede
thisse softe-spokenne invirationne
w 1111! springe
ofllJ!rre unconditioMOlle generositye

....

.....

.....
"•

-~

thisse lwu.se is tire cauldrenne
where we drive 01ue lives inne withe everye 11aille
a/le horde lessonnes are learned inr1e iues newe raftres
withe oure booces onne
we walke inne or oute 011ne the dayes irte ope1111es irres dnores
irtes walles ca/le to us inne oure sleepe
come 111110 me I wille give you reste
I .amme watchinge tire vaste surface of yo1u face
like the oceamU! forre signes of re11u11e
yorue habintalle morio1111es to a11de fromme mye shores
are so like the tide
tharre I waslie owe to sea ande re11une smootlw
Olide more rare eache time you release me
the hmLl·e standl!s onne the edge ofshore ande sl11Jllnwes
irce is the liglulumse visible
inne the dangerouse ande beawiftule fogge we trm:elle
to reaclie orie tJJwthre
sometimes I amme the lande creature/you rite sea 011e
the house is wliere we meete ande pane
inne otLre bootes and inne 01uejinnes
washinge inne ande owe ofi11es dnores ande windowes
like anye commormefLSlre
or mysteriouse glwste watchre-womynne we/le sunge
who changes herre skinne to jinde love owe of herre elemente
wlw longes forre a place to harboure
a/le tlU!se unruleye weedes ande l11Juntes/11eedes ande wantes
you are bttildingtll amme imagininge 1/iisse house
011ne the slwre ofoure lives givenne ovre
we are maldnge oure betides
le11e us lie inne themme tellinge tW lies
k&gt;'LNTER. - 1988-89

• I slil11ed wmingc withe t's mne
highc &lt;;choolc bccnusc I wns bored antic I
hked lhc rrcnche and&lt;: oldc cnglishc wayc
of domgc 1.l11~e; the waye the wordes
lookc antic rcctc ... htr.c lhc!yc don1.c stoppe
butte s1ghc into !he! nexte a huJc. Nowe I
~ulle do iue to slowe mysclfc ande the
wortdc downc ju.st a little.•

poems and drawings by Kore Loy McWhirtcr

�completion.
Thus, paradoxically, consumerism is actually the undoing of
prosperity and abundance because it both fosters and feeds on the
feeling of lack., and of identification with only human creations
instead of the whole of creation. This leads to enslavement to
unending desires and to the frantic acquisitiveness of our culture.
How can we avoid panicipating in this mad delusion of
"consumerism" and "conquest"? l low can we be psychologically
heahhy and ethically aware? Undeniably, we are all somewhat
susceptible to the massive hype and pervasive illusion that surround
us. Under this influence, we tend either to resist our society and its
materialistic preoccupations or to acquiesce and "go for it".
Unfortunately, either way we end up trapped in reaction, and
emotionally chained, because both resistance and acquiesence involve
a kind of bondage.
ln order to neither resist nor acquiesce, we need to learn to
identify with that within us which is already complete, already
fulfilled, and to gradually merge with this inner Being which does not
always need "more". Without this inner development, it is very
difficult, if not impossible, to avoid being "possessed" by the
dominant thought-fonns and desires/reactions of mass culture.

An /1bu11d arice. of
€mpti11es5
by Richard Lowenthal
Our planet's deepening ecological crisis has recently been
forcing us to reassess our culture's most basic assump1ions and
attitudes about nature, society, technology, and prosperity. In
particular, it is now urgent tha1 we understand our culture's
pathological preoccupation with consumerism.
In earlier times, "consumption" referred 10 a disease, namely
tuberculosis; today it refers to an accepted social norm. Tuberculosis
was called a "wasting disease" which caused a person to gradually
weaken and "waste away". Is it possible that modern mass
consumption is also a wasting disease, causing the human spirit and
the Eanh itSClf to "waste away"?
Through this consumer mentality, our cul1ure has become so
out of touch with nature that we arc threatening the Eanh's capacity to
be a functioning suppon system - not only for ourselves, but for the
entire Life community of the planet.
Consumerism can easily be likened to parasitism, in which the
parasitic organism (the human species) lives off of and gradually
destroys the host organism (the Earth). In fact, Western industrialism
and "prosperity" has always been based on a profound disregard for
the Eanh and an unbelievably arrogant intention to "conquer nature".
What really concerns me most is the feeling behind labelling
people "consumers". For any culture to identify its members as
"consumers" is quite degrading. le reduces the complexity and
grandeur of being human down 10 the lowest - and saddest · common
denominator. To be a "consumer" is to feel anxious, hollow, waiting
to be filled ... cons1antly trying to fill the void inside, desperately
buying things to block lhe feelings of emptiness and isolation. ft is a
state of continual, ceaseless hunger without any lasting satiation or
X.Otuah Jo14rnQ£ pa&lt;Je 12

I am here reminded of Homer's Odyssey and his story of
Ullysses' encounter with the Sirens. As Ullysses' ship approached
the island of the Sirens, he recalled the warnings of the sorceress.
Circe. She had told him that if he and his men listened to the
hypnotic singing of the Sirens, they would steer towards those
rapturous voices even against their will, and be smashed to pieces on
the rocky shore. It took considerable ingenuity and strength of will
for Ullysses and his crew to get safely past them.
So how do we, on our own Life journeys, get past the Siren
songs, the hypnotic allure of consumerism and immersion in
appearances? Ullysses' tale dramatically shows us that we mustn't
delude ourselves into underestimating their influence upon us. One
of the most dangerous characteristics of modem materialism is its
insidious seductiveness, its open-armed invitation to those places in
us that feel most insecure and needy. "Come," murmur the Sirens of
consumerism in unison, "I will feed you, care for you, fulfill you,
satiate you. What you need, I can supply! I am yours ... (and you are
mine!)".
Obviously what we really need is the awareness and inner
resolve to steer clear of the hypnotic spell of our modem-day Sirens.
Just like Ullysses, we need to understand the nature and power of
these forces which can lure us into a spiritual 'wasteland' of illusion.
Jn order to free ourselves from Life-denying, illusory "consumer
prosperity". we need to face and identify our modem-day Sirens.
Here are some that J have identified for myself....
The Siren of Induced Need and Desire
We are subc.onsc1ously l13incd by advertising (and ofttn school and family)
to believe that we always need something ouisidc of ourselves to help us feel
okay. The undcnmble purpose of commercial advertising is to get us to foci
vulnerable and 111COmplctc, usually by playing on our &lt;:exual and social desires and
fears. And the purpo:&gt;e behind &amp;his, of~. is to crtalt "n~· and &amp;hen make
money from the "needy" in any way possible. Jn the swkes1 tcnns, whnt'~
happening is lha1 our $C11SC of inner self wonh and dignny 1s deliber:uely being
undermined, so we will buy lhctt message and thcirproducL Adverti:;crs know lhal
fulfilled and self-assured people aren't c:isily hocked; thus, their job is to nmplify
our fears and m'iCCuntie~ v.hilc prc1cnding to .\tn:nglhcn and help us.
The ltUly diabolical lwisl in this sccnano is &amp;hut when our needs and
de~res ate increased, our capacity for happiness and contcnuncnt co11cspondingly
decreases. What rcsulLS is a preposterous but deadly catch-22: we arc told, in
innumerable sublle ways, "You aren't happy, bill you could be happy by chBngmg
your ouiu circumstances .••.Of course. since there ate alway:; bt11tr eircums1D11Ccs
to aspire to, what you have and who you 11IC 1s never good enough, so you aren't
happy, but you could be by...eic."
So, ·round and 'round we go-unul we choo.i:e to get off this vicious
•merry• -go-round. llS viciousness shows up in painful and continual comparison
of who we are wilh who we supposedly could or should be-as well as in
1.11.NlDl - 1988-89

�judgement and comp:irison of Olhers. It presents appearances as ultimate reality,
denying the inner essence. IL affirms only what we IW and havt, not who we
inherem.ly art.
This judgemental aunospherc is all around us in our socicty--at school, at
work., at home, even in bed. In fact. oftcn 11's such an integral pan or our lives
that we aren't even aware of this subtle negauvity unless we're the obvious
victims of judgement .
The way to recognize compllllSOO and judgement is that it is always
sep:uative and contracting rat.hec lhan inclusive and exp:ins1vc. IL causes us to feel
defensive. different. "better" or "worse". and to close our hcarlS oo real hum31l
conlllet-and it inclines olhets to react t0 us in the same way. To avoid lhis Siren.
we need to cultivate discernment and empathy, which are humane responses
instead ofjudgemenull reactions, and t0 embrace this moment, os it acrually i.s.

'Ln many ways our f!Ujht from nature
ancl c!esire to remake the wort:&lt;£
arises from our fear of the unknown, the
uncontrollable, and ultimately of death.
The Sirtn or Unlimited Prognss and Technological Sah·ation
One of our most cherished modem beliefs is thru the natural world is not
designed for hum:111 comfort and lhus needs cictens1ve remodeling. This belief was
our key LO Pandora's boit. and it h3s motivated our rclcntlc.~s b3ttlc with nature,
with all ilS ierrible and unforeseen con.sequences. We h:lve acted as if the Earth and
a.II its plant and animal life exist to be used or abu.~ by humans, and we h3ve
ignOICd the fundnmental oneness and iolCtdependcncc of all life.
Underlying all this is a profound misunderstanding of the Structure of life:
we have ignored the foct that nature - including human mllun: • is inherently
imbued witll form, limits, structure, and boundaries. We apparently forgot - or
wiUfully denied - that we too are bound by ccnain nntural and ~iritual laws. rn
Greek tragedy, the hero is always brought down by a tragic naw known as
"hubns"··a blind arrog;incc which denies limits and auempts to usurp the power of
the gods. The desire for power over ll3lUl'C is our tragic naw--and a nlllll'al proccs.~
of rctribuuon has been set 1n motion. The uue place for limitless creative
'progress' is in our social and spiritual m3turation.
in mampulnting and
"conquering• physical n:ality.
.
£ven proponents of "prosperity consciousness• can be mesmcriied by this
Siren. lf one secs the universe as absolutely unlimited, doc:; this automnucally
mean that Lhc Earth's resources are also unlim11cd? ...that every person has a
"divine right" lO unlimited wealth and prosperity? Will we continue to ci1pcrience
"abundance" if, through our own doing, our p131lct's ecosystem becomes mcapable
or supporung life?
Allowing oneself Lo become a participant once agnm m the vibrancy of
lhe 113tural world and to begin to appreciate the beauty and wisdom of limit and
form is a step toward freedom from this Siren of "No Limiis".

"°'

The Siren or Domestication and lnsu1111ion rrom Reality
In many ways our night from na1urc and desire to remake the world arises
from our fear or the unknown, the unconuollable, and ulumately of dcalh
I once wa' on the Slaten Island ferry. cm.~g New York h:lrbor at n1ghL
when suddenly I had a vision of all those immense towers and all lhJl light and
glare functioning tO obliterate the mght. to !iOmehow shut out and dwarf the
darkness. the realm of death and lhe unkllown. Daylight helps us feel safe and m
rel31lvc conucl--everything is clear. distinct, visible, and the ego likes thaL Night
is a different mauer aliogethcr-disunctions and shapes blur and blend. the familillr
becomes unfamiliar, nnd the sun disappears. leaving us "in the dark". And then...
thousands of star.1 appear in lhe heavens, rem1nd1ng us of mlimtc ~. not only
'out there', but within us as well.
This is quite intolerable for lhe ego bent on conuol. to order 10 preserve 11S
illusion of omnipotence. lhe ego mu.st crcate an altcmntive reality which shuis
out change. decay, death. silence, diutness. And lo and behold, with modem
technology bolstered by advertising, we have seemingly accompli$hed !hi.~. We
insulate our homes so we don't h3ve to feel lhe heat or the cold; we light up our
houses and our strcelS lO negate lhe night, and lhe glow from our c1ues blocks out
the stan; we have radios. TV's, lape players. etc. 10 enien.am us and keep silence
at bay: we wash and scrub and dcodoril.e and disinfect our bodies, our dishes, our
clothes, our noors until everything is spotless-so clean that there is no place ror
germs and decay and death tO g;un a foolhold·-or so adverli&lt;;tt$ would have us
imagine.

k1tNTER. - 1988-89

We also shut away the darker side of ourselW!s--1.he irrational, angry,
lustful, sad or murderous rcelings that m1gh1 puncture our illu.~ion of control--and
uy our best to be "nice". always in control. Of course, this means it simply
won't do to be spontane00s and child-like. No, when we "grow up" we have to
behave like adults and plan everything. But boring and dcrulcning as this may be,
111. lcast it's safe-and lhe ego despcr.uely need!. to feel safe, because deep down we
know that this separate ego is itself an illusion. So nuher th31l face this and get
catapulted inoo another level or awareness, we cleverly devise count.less avoid3nce
mechanisms to distract us from the uuth.
There 1$, however, a huge dose of divlllC humor in au this-because having
to be in control actually feels terribly consuicting and uncomfortable, while
letting go of control and entering the !low of the moment feels bolh liberating nnd
very safe-after we eitpcriencc lhe fear and move through 1L Every time wechnnge,
every umc we let go of lhe past, we die a liule-but we're also reborn: and if we
continually ICL ourselves die t0 lhe past. we're also continually reborn. The cosmic
joke is: this is the power and immon.a.lity lhe poor frightened ego is constantly
wanting, but II has lO be willing to "let go" lO get lO 1L
Tbt Sirf'n or Over-orodutlivlty and Wasterulntss
This siren has had a dcvasm1ing impact on the environmcnL Its internal
"logic" goes like lhts: Westerners arc led to believe th3l somelhmg temble will
happen if they don't continually 111cn:ase their GNP, so they·re always pushing LO
grow. construct, or manufacture more and more goods. These goods are
increasingly dc.~igned to be disposable or 10 qUJCk.ly become obsolete. Afier all, if
people throw more things away, thcy11 have to buy more later, and I.his increases
production and profits. Perfunctory hp service is paid to the Idea of recycling. but
the dommant message sull "in lhe lllI" in this cuhure is that 1t is perfectly fine t0
waste resources 1r this increnses bolh eonvcrucnce and production. Even fwther, if
we're really "prosperous• m this cuhun:. we're able to throw things away at wall
and replace them (with "new, improved" ones. of course!)

:Every time we "throw somethiruJ
away " (where is "away"?) ... we add to
the out-of-control "9arha9t,fi,cation" of
our planet Home.
In olher words, waste, squandering, conspicuous consumption, gadget
mania, ond total d1~n for the environment are our measuring sticks for llow
"prosperous" we are! This attitude has more to do with ecological suicide than
prosperity. Every Lime we "throw somctlung away" (where 1s •away"?),
especially non-degradable pla~ucs and styroforun, we add to lhe out-of~ontrol
"g:irbagilication" of our planet Home. If lCllAnlS ever ucaled a house the way we
treat our planet. they'd be evicted immcda:ncly, and the Board of Health 11oould
prob:lbly condemn lhe property!
We've been vainly trying lO send our garbage abroad and to p:iy other
nauons to take 11 off our hands. In 1988 we've witnessed the sad spccll!Cle of
masses of g:irbage and medical refuse washing up on our beaches. again and again.
Thus, it's now impossible not to recognize that our garbage and our attitudes are a
major ecological problem. Yet the visible garbage is only the 1ip of the
iccberg--what about nuclear contanunatlon and other invisible, highly t0xic
effluvia?
True prospcnty would never give nse to such an absurd and ecologically
harmful "modus operandi". Conscious pl:lncwry 51ewardship clcrnands th.11 we be
awarc of waste and ac11·v~/y srop supponing 1L We can recycle most house.hold
wastes: we can simplify our live~ nnd decrease our "needs•: and we can help
Olhcrs do lhe same. In this way conscrvatlon can go hand-in·h:lnd with a d«pcr
prospenty that honors Life.
The Siren or Pain Avoidance and Addklion to Pleasure
People have always sought plca.wre and tried tO avoid pain, but modem
society has turned this iendcncy into a quas1·religious and fanatical faith. On
every side we are beset by messages and infCICllCCS that pleasure is "good• while
pam is "bad", and that we should always feel eitcited, happy. and carefree-which
mean~ that we must deny and suppress our pain at all co:.IS. This attitude can be
br117cnly obvlOU.,, as in most advcrus1ng; it can also opcr.llC very subtly, so 11 can
be difficult to pinpoint and counteract iL, effccis. One effect, though, is feeling
illi.IJy about eitpcriencing pain--it somehow &lt;;CCII\~ almos1 un-American to be in
pain! But growing up can at times be difficult and painful. In order to become
mature adults. we sometimes have LO go through and learn from painful

�Book Review:
11iINKING LIKE A MOUNTAIN:
Towanls a Council of all Beings
by John Seed, Joanna Macy, Pat Reming, Ame Naess
1988; New Society Publishers; 128 pp.; $9.50.

Thinking Like a Mow11ain is a deep ecologist's prayer book.
Running Lhrough ils collection of essays, poems, rituals and
workshop notes is a pervasive sense of the emergence of Gaia, the
living planel, not as a quasi-scientific hypothesis, but a living
presence, a goddess.
The book's opening invocation by John Seed is a good
example:
"We ask for lhe presence of the spirit ofGaia ...Wc call upon
the spirit of evolution...We calJ upon the power which sustains the
planets in their orbits, that wheels our Milky Way in its
200-million-year spiral."
Directly relevant to the defense of eanh, Gaia is experienced
not only as presence pervading all, but as Seti', the larger Self of
which everything is pan. Experiencing the planet body as one's own
is for Seed the radical bean of deep ecology and something he
discovered Lhrough his own direct action defending the rainforest near
his home in New South Wales. "J was literally part of the rainforest
defending herself." "... we arc the rocks dancing."
This point 1s most powerfully made in 'The Testimony of
Graham Innes" which includes a p1C1ure of Innes buried up to his
neck as part of a campaign defending the Da.intree Rainforest against
the onslaught of bulldozers. "A slow dawning of awareness
(occurred) of a hitheno unknown connection. Eanh bonding. Her
pulse became mine, and the vessel, my body, became the vehicle for
her expression."
In addition to direct action, Seed suggestS a variety of
methods for inspiring the experience of deep ecology including
prayer, poetry, wilderness vision quests, and ritual of the sort
provided in thjs book.
Indeed "The Council of AU Beings" ritual developed by Seed
and Joanna Macy and described in the book by Macy and Pat Fleming
deserves detailed auemion. The ritual consists of three stages. The
first is entitled "Mourning."
Drawing on her experience with despair workshops. Joanna
Macy observes that the destruction of our life suppon systems is the
deepest and most pervasive source of anxiety in our time, that this
destruction is happening now, felt in our bodies as depression and
despair that we fear expressing because of the taboos set up in our
society. The first stage of the ritual acknowledges this despair - the
pain involved in the devastation of our soil. the loss of our forests,
the extinction of species, the poisoning of our breathe and blood, air
and water. The aim of the ritual at this point is to have the
participants "hear within themselves the sound of lhe eanh crying."
The second stage of the ritual is entitled "remembering."
Through both guided fantasy and active mimicry, panic1pantS reenact
the entire evolutionary journey of the cosmos, the planet and life on
earth acknowledging the real physical links of this journey built into
the coding of our genes.
The last stage of the ritual is the council itself with each
participant speaking for another life form and acting out the drama of
the contemoorarv olanetarv situation from a non-human perspective
as well as taking rums playing a human.
Jn addition to the ritual, the book contains poems by
Robinson Jeffers. Gary Snyder and Joanna Macy. an essay by Ame
Xatuah Journal pQ.CJe 14

Naess, beautiful rainforest illUSII'lltJons by Duilan Pugh and much else
useful for all of us working to generate the experience of deep
ecology.
It is interesting that in a collection of eanh prayerl&gt; and
mvocauons to Gaia such as this, the selections are. w11h one
exception, the work of contemporary Western poets and authors
rather than excerpts from various Native American U'llditions which
have long revered the Great Spirit, Father Sky and Mother Earth.
(That one exception is a rcnrution of Chief Seattle's 1854 Duwam1sh
speech.) While the authors have undoubtedly been influen~ed by that
tradition, they represent what seems 10 be a new revelation shaped
both by contemporary science and contemporary vision. Their
poems, prayers and ritual evoke a spirit and offer a general fonn
rather than provide verbatim formulas. They begin to forge a path
into the teachings we must all be about the task of discovering and
inventing if the world of our children, let alone the world seven
generations hence is to survive as the rich luxuriant planet we have
known.
l must add that there is a healthy emphasis in the book that
ritual is not an end in itself but preparation for action by generating
deeply felt recognition that defense of the earth is self-defense. To
this end we join in the book's invocation: "O stars, lend us your
burning passion."
~
-Amy Hannon

Prinls by PAM and LIU TllOMAS

Book Review:
TALKING Wfl'H NATURE:
Sharing the Energies and Spirit ofTrees, Plants. Birds, and Earth
by Michael J. Roads
1987; H.J. Kramer, Inc.; 151 pp.; $9.95 (cloth)
The night was cloudy and I was alone with a book by the fire. So
l feh preny good Lo begin with,considering that's one of my favorite
places to be. but I was oot prepared for what the book would d~ to
me. As I read into it my heart opened and my sense of bemg
expanded. At midnight and half way through Lhe book, 1 could
contain myself no longer. I jumped out of my seat, rushed out the
door and flung my arms out 10 the night just as the wind blew the last
cloud from the moon and rushed past me in unbounded joy.
Ir's ha.rd to know what else to say about this book that really
matters. It is not as simple as the title implies, and yet in a very
deeply powerful way, it is simply about "talking with nature". It
brings that whole concept into an accessible reality. It is a sharing of
an unfolding that will touch you as deeply as your own untoldmg lies
within you. h holds vital pieces of wisdom, cruth and lighL It is
~
sweet nourishment.
• reprinted from 1~ EducOlional Resourct COOJ&gt;(T(JJivc N~.tlt111er
IJ'\.N1£R. - t 988-89

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An Original Idea For Ka!Uah Oirrcncy

Options for Regional Currency:
A Look at
Local Employment Trading System
(LETS)

This network also increases the amou nt of personal contaet
between neighbors.
Reminding us of our true
interconnectiveness, it's a tool for the reweaving of ancient
pauems.or !Jibe and village. l~'s about simplifying and taking
respons1b1hty for our collective economic behavior. T he
LETSy~tem is an altemalive as well as a supplement to rhe
convennonal economy that can be implemented right now.

A LETSystem is a network whose members use a local
currency to allow them to 1rade foods and services without
necessarily having access to federal dollars. Members have
accounts which start with a balance of zero. Goods and services
which members want to obtain or provide arc listed in a monthly
mailing.

There are currently about 50 LETSystems operating around
the world, with much experience to draw from. Computer
software for operaung the ne twork is readily available. A
videotape, and a game which models the workings of the system,
can be used in educating folks about iL

Prices are stated in 'green dollars', a quasi-currency
equivalent in value to federal dollars. The lOtal of all member~·
account balances always equals zero. At any one point, there are
some accounts with a positive balance ("in credit") and some
accounts with a negative balance ("in commitment"). A stntement
of one's transactions and balance is received with the momhlv
mailing. A charge is deducted from each accoun1 monthly,
according 10 use, to cover the operating cos1s of the ne1work.
For example: John cu1s firewood. Pe1er 1s a weldcr, and
he wants wood bu1 has no money. John doesn'1 need any
welding done. Thai's usually where ii stops. However, if John
and Pe1er are members of a LETSystem, then John delivers the
wood, and Peter picks up the phone. He dials the LETSy,tem
answering machine and says, ''Hi, this is Peter, #48, plea~c
acknowledge John, #83, $75 for firewood. " This informauon 1s
fed to a computer. which increases John's account by 75 green
dollars and decreases Peter's account by 75 green dollars. In
tum, John employs a carpen1cr. the carpenter has a haircut, gels
some clothes made. buy~ food from a farmer. The farmer now
has a way to pay for a welder. so Peter gets to work again. In
this network people need never be unemployed because of a lack
of federal dollars in the communily.
Many transactions are likely to consist of pan green dollars
and pan federal dollars, as members take care of their needs for
cash. The LETSystem is compatible with the conventional
monetary system and simply increases the amount of local
economic activity.

What I sec happening as a next step is people who are
juiced up about tltis taking the time to consider the details. Then a
group of peo~le who feel clear about it can get the ball rolling by
actually starling a LETSysiem and organizing an educational
workshop designed to ium larger numbers of people onto the
network.
We are c~rr~ntly ro:m.in.g a LETSystem for the Floyd
County community in the Vtrg1ma portion of Katuah.
compiled by Fred Mignone
-rtprinrtd from Educauonol Rtsouru Coopt'raJi\'t', Box 80, Floyd. Virginia
24(~/

If you wo uld like to know more abo ut LETSvstcms
tha l a re c urre ntly fun ctioning in Cana da a nd the L.S.
as we ll as audio-vis ual ma te rials, send a d olla r to:
Lands man Community Servi ces, Ltd., 37 5 J ohnston
Avenue Courtenay, BC V9N 2Y2 C anada.
Olhcr rosourus:
Economics as If tht Earth Rtally Ma11utd: A Ca1alyst Guide 10 Socially
Conscious lnvtsting. Su'ian Meeker-Lowry. 1988. New Society Publishers,
P.O. Bo~ 582, Sama Crur., CA 95061
"The Local Employment Trading System•. Wholl! Earth Revitw, r-;o. SS.

Summer 1987.

Oraw1na by ROB MESSICK
W'l.N'J'ER - 1988- 89

X.OWah Journot pGCJe 15

�tft.e cft.t'ontcie.s of fCoycL
At the time of the change there were so many
wildly imaginative approaches 10 transformation; all
worked some, some worked a 101! What a time for
adventure and opponunity.... shining days.
One thing I remember, there was n lot of knitting
and darning going on. People just staned to draw up
the rough and tattered edges of the life cloth and sewed
them back together. One of the signs of it was the
coming of prosperity; all over people got together good

shelter and strong gardens, 1here was a 101 of local
commerce and baner. health re1umed 10 1he land and
birds came back. and bear. The people 1hrived no
maner what the weather. The seasons began 10 make
sense 10 1he people and they noticed the changes and
understood themselves.... they were able 10 help each
other, so prosperity returned.
The apprentice pa1h came into focus again. People
all of a sudden began to think of what they knew as a
gift and a tool of their trade. The work people did was
recognized as a pan of 1heir lifesong and deserved 10
be honored. Quality returned, and guild houses;
young folk traveled from guild to guild getting a taste

Text reprinted from EducatiolllJI R~ouret Ctnru Nt'Wslcutr:

Bo~ 80: Floyd, VA

24091

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of the difference, then they would take their pick. At
first everybody kept jumping from one 10 the next,
midst alot of smoke and dust, but it settled pre11y
quickly and folks could hear their intuits, which
always speeds things up. Now the choices usually are
clear. Of course, all the decision-making was helped
along greatly when we re-connected with our ancestral
helpers: the others or our group in the past, present and
future, who all want the same thing. They reminded us
that discipline Le; just remembering what you want.
And, of course, a big, big change came with the
passing of the age of leadership. We know now it was
really just a thought, but it projected such substance

and energy it was difficult to see thru it for a while....
like a heavy fog on the ridges. Bui by and by it lifted
and nobody needed a leader anymore, we all fell a
sense of purpose and had a plan, of course that
brought order - real orderliness like the way water
moves along, or fire bums, or a rock splits along a
line.
When I look back to the before rime, it's hard to
believe how all our lives were ordered by confusion.
Our power circuit was unplugged. So. or course, the
~
change was awesome at first, but 11 quickly became
normal... ..i1's easy to forget
I'm so glad 10 have seen these times.
-by Granny DeLauney

p

�.KNIFE, AXE, AND SAW

•

or
" Getting Pocketknife Religion"
Recorded by David Wheeler

Darry Wood thinks of himself as an
anisan. The word is French and refers to
someone who works in the middle ground
between an artist and a craftsperson.
"/ am happiest when I am creating
fimct1onal objects that are beautiful," he
says. And that sums up his work, whether
it is his house built of hand-hewn logs.
drawings, sculptures, cabinetwork,
museum-standard replications of the
eighteemh and nineteenth century clothing
of the Sowheastern Indian tribes, or the
self-made hand tools that he uses in these
projects.
Darry is also a master of primitive
camping techniques and the ancient native
technologies that have come w be known as
"Earth skills."
To whatever project he undertakes
Darry brings his fme sense of observation,
an intense power of concentration, and a
love for natural materials. These personal
qualities are constantS in all of his work.
As we calked at his homestead on
Buck Creek in Clay County (NC), Darry
scraped hair off a deer skin stretched tight
on a wooden frame preparatory to
brain-tanning the hide to condition it. The
rhythmic scratching of /us wahinle, as the
hide-scraping tool is called in the LAkota
Indian language. pwicwated his words as he
e.tplained that primitive skills were not
simply techniques, bill a way of life.
Katl1ah. You've JUSt returned from
doing an "Eanh Skills Workshop" wilh
Snow Bear and Bob Slack at the Unicoi
Staie Park in north Georgia. How do the
skills that you teach at those workshops
benefit the students?
Dorry Wood: We focus on making
fire without matches, going into the natural
environment and finding food, making
shelter without the use of metal tools,
brain-tanning, and 01her practical affairs of
life.
To me, these are primitive skills in the
highest sense of that word. People often
think of "primitive" as being crude or
obsolete. and I suppose a lot of people
would say that what we do in our
workshops is obsolete. h's not something 1
would care to debate with people who have
n much different system of values. But I see
what we are doing ill&gt; "primilive" in the
Latin sense of the word meaning "the first,"
"the most basic" - "primary."
In practicing these ancient teehniqucs,
people inevitably touch back with
themselves, with who they really are. In this
day we are so insulated from lhc natural
world by plastic. aluminum, concrete, and
glass. we forget that we are of the Earth,
and that it is not Wi nn-Dixie and the Blue
Rjdge Mountain Electric Co-op and other
X4c.UM Jou.rna! p~ l 8

institutions !hat sustain us. It's the Mother
Eanh that sustains us, and by practicing
Eanh Skills people begin to see that in a real
way.
As we cook over an open fire, put our
hands into the flesh and blood of the deer,
and learn how to sharpen our knife and our
axe so that they'll serve us in the best
possible way, we can feel the simplicity of
life as it was in another time, and yet still
retain a feeling of just how relevant it is for
us in this time to take pan in the life process
as it has been continuing on this Eanh for
lhousands of years.
Our lifestyle has become so
dis-integrated, that living on a primitive
level for just 48 hours helps people
reintegrate in a way that lhey didn't realize
was possible.
What r teach are the basic skills of
life. It's home economics; it's rediscovering
our birthrighL

K: Even the practical techniques that
you talk about are highly sophisticated on
some levels. You showed me an adz.e in
your workshop that was made out of a
branch that was growing off the tree at just
the right angle, and showed me a ncshcr
that had a thong which went over your
wrist, so that it made your forearm into an
actual pan of the tool. Those tools show an
awareness of engineering lhat is more than
logical.
DW: Perhaps a more precise example
of what you arc talking about is the sticks
that make fire. Everybody has heard about
making fire by rubbing two sticks together,
it's almost legendary. Ir the knowledge of
how to create fire by friction were lost, it
would be very difficult to reinvent. There's
no telling how many thousands of years
human beings Strived to do this before
somebody succeeded. It must have been a
magical moment when a human being first
brought fire into being with his or her own
hands.
To actually bring fire, everything has
to be just so. h's not something one can
fake. The design of the tools has to be just
right. All the details of the fire-making
process have to be followed carefully or no
fire appears. This sk11l, or science,
whichever you want to call it, evolved over
lhousands of years. and while there arc
minor variations in method based on local
traditions and local material:., the basic
technique is always the same. Although this
is primitive, it is very specific. Like so
many things, it's easy when one knows
how and when one pays auention.
One of the basic facts of life in
America today that 1 have yet to face up to is
the operation of a computer. I know nothing
about it. And yet everywhere people are
doing it, and for a lot of people it has

become second nature, yet for me it's still a

great mystery. But ever since I was a kid I
have been making fire by friction and
preserving hides by brain-tanning, and all of
that is about as lhrcatening to me as making
a sandwich.

K: But operating a computer involves
only the pan of our brain that works with
logic. If someone is walking out in the
woods and sees a certain crook in a certain
kind of tree, and says, "Hey! There's my
adze handle," that involves knowledge and
logic but also an intuitive sense that does
not come into play in operating a computer.
OW. Let's say ii like this: to live in
the natural world requires a much greater
level of awareness than what most modem
people are used to manifesting.
I've thought about this a lot. In my
boyhood I was around some native people
who came as close as anything I could think
of to being prototypical savages. These
were native Creek and Seminole people
living in the Everglades of Florida, who,
unlike the Cherokees of these mountains,
were not exposed to the white people's
schools and churches throughout the
nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Yes, they had some European goods;
they had guns and they had cloth; but they
spoke very liule English. The old man who
taught me how to make moccasins, for
instance, was named Billy Bowlegs III. He
welcomed me to watch him at his work,
from which I gathered that my young
sma.n-alecky level of awareness was preny
shallow compared to the level of this
100-year-old man, who from behind could
tell that a crow was in his com, grab his
single-barrelled shotgun and, hardly
glancing more than once at the crow, could
knock it dead
l.1tNJER - 1988- 89

�I saw that happen !&gt;CVeral times when

people to go into the forest and create a
lifestyle. Put me down in the American
• hardwood forest with these basic tools.
primitive hunters in the times before
give me a linle time, and I couldn't imagine
European contact must have maintained a
a more ideal situation.
remarkable intensity of awareness to be so
totally at home in the wild environment. It's
It shocks people when I begin a
workshop by saying that w-hen they get
hard for us to imagine how finely-tuned
home from the hardware store with a
were the senses of those native people, w-ho
brand-new, American-made knife, they
lived with, and in some ways like, the
don't have a tool that is ready to use. The
animals · on the Eanh in a natuml way.
assumption is that a tool comes from the
store ready to go. The one cutting tool with
K So a simple thing like sharpening
which that is probably the case is the saw.
your knife 1s a staning point 10 reawaken
Saws work on a different principle, and
some of thnt.. ..
come from the manufacturer as good as they
DW: Surely. If I have anything real
arc going to geL
at all to offer people, something that the
But axes and knives need a whole lot
of work. It's very subtle, but the basic issue
average modem person docs not know and
needs to know, it is the knowledge of how
is the angle to whlch the manufacturer has
to sharpen a knife. That is the basic lecture
ground the bevel of the cutung edge. !l's all
that I give at almost any workshop situation
wrong for-doing practical work. h's way
that I'm in. h's the opening hand; it's the
too thick:
Before I use a br:ind~new knife or ~
foundation from which all the rest builds.
If we are going to create a viable
axe,) first do considetable filing OP it to
••
lifestyle in a natural environment, the basic : •
remove the n)etatjust behind the edge, So as
operation, upon which all the rest are built,
to taper it and thin ii down, .so it will
is to rune up a knife so ii will be performing
peni:trate wuhouL resistance. Once 1 've
done that, l hone a fine cutting edge on it
at the highest level. To do otherw11;e 1s like
asking a concen violinist to go on stage and
~with 11 stone. American.made knives
play Paganini with an inslJ'Umcnl that is out
genccally come with the bevel ground to
of tune. It's just not reasonable to do. And
40-45°, which is much too obtuse for most
cutting operations. So I immc0u11ely take a
yet that same level of ignorance is where
file and readjuSt that to an 20.25u angle.
most people are operating when they an: out
in the woods with a knife or 'an axe. Their
almost half as thick as the epge tMt they$11
tool is dull, because they don't know how
you. before I put ir 10 w6rlc. Most people
to manage it in a way that will make life
don't know to do that , h's not in the BfJ}'
easy and comfonable.
Scout Haiidbook. lt'i; not in '3ny of the
Witness the choice of word~ that we
common pl:tces where B ~rson might
have developed in the English l:in~age to
Cl';pc&lt;;t lO iud such a thing.
say "in trouble" or "in danger." We ~·
"Sharpening the Ktiife" s my basic
"We're not out of the w6ods yet," imJ&gt;ly"ng
sermon. It's a beginning)Jlace. It's a key
for us to open ourselves up so that we can
that to be in the wood. is to be in a
hazardous state and that we are~e and free
begin to look oeeper.
If someone is seekin&amp; enlightenment
when we get out of the wOOds. That's the
implication. But l totally reject rhat pq1nt of
11 nd their kl!ife is dull, they have the
view, for I am safe and at home when I am ~roverbial canoe~ the horse.
~
in the woods.
\
"\...
.It 1s .ror thnt reason that I don't
K: This priruidve lifestyle involves
an awful Jot of sophi~ticnted physic~ and
pamc1pate in any workshop where I am
advenised, and this has happened, as one engineering !
who is teaching "survival skills." That's
\
._
how the army writes its manuals dedicated
DW: That's beCnuse these arc thing
to teaching people how to hve m the narural ~ lhat peopTe haven't rhouglit vet)'. much
. nbo\lt. To sharpen a knife rcg_ujres ~IJ!Y.
environment. They call it "survival skills."
But to me survival skills are knowing how
two-minutes, once someone knows liOW.1
0
to cross Peach_tree Street without getting run
do lL
J. . , . . /
It's all relative io v.hat one bas been
over by a taxicab or how to walk through
the ci~y at night wi~out getting mugged.
exposed 10 and what one's condluoning is.
But give me my knife and set me down
It takes me at least one hour lO communicate
to someone else an understanding of what's
somewhere in the eastern hardwood forest,
going on down there where the steel meets
and I'm just like Bre'r Rabbit in the briar
patch. I'm home.
the stone. I find, however, that if someone
pays attention for an hour, then they can
K: And so "keeping your knife
bring a knife to useable condition in just a
sharp" is a way for people to live their lives,
few minutes.
even in a modem context.
K: But it's not just the knowledge
DW: Right. l call this "pocketknife
and the understanding, it's also nece!&gt;sary to
religion."
practice the motions.
The folding knife is our basic unit. If
we have our pants on, our knife is with us
DW. That's right. Mastery comes
at all times: that's the fundamental tenet of
with repetition, but there's nnother element
pocketknife religion. Proceeding from there
as well.
to the axe and the saw, we build our holy
fn hunting, even when someone
trinity. It is knife, axe, and saw that enable
acquires a skill and can perform it well, that
I was a kid, and I've often thought that the

1

of itself is not enough. When the moment
comes to strike. one has to be able to bring
one's full auention to bear on the necessary
action. One has to be there with awareness,
or else the arrow doesn't shoot the deer
through the hean. Mastering skills like that
requires practice beforehand, but that
split-second moment of action aJso requires
a "present awareness" of an intensity most
people can't comprehend.
That is one reason I go outside and
either shoot my blowgun or shoot my bow
and arrow at least once every day. It helps
me to tune myself up, because these are
things that I have done for a long time, and I
know that I can hit the bullseye when I get
myself very calm and very still and
concentrate on that bullseye with what I
think of as "a savage intensity!
It's the same reason Ted WilJiams had
such a good batting average. A sponswriter
asked Ted one time how he could hit the
baseball so well, and Ted offered what I
thin~ is one of the most famous quotes in
Qa.seball, "I keep my eye on the ball."
Jt's simple, yes, but the difficulty lies
in hllving the presence of mind to do it in the
J&gt;recisc moment. I know how to shoot the
bOW and the arrow, but I don't hit the
bullseye every time, because most of the
time I'm up there loafing - manifesting
verage flakey behavior. But there arc
momen~ when I wake myself up, and I
look intensely at that bullseye. I don't have
to thmk about technique at that moment; I've
practiced the technique for year.;. What is
required is tile determination, in that
moment, 10.put into practice what I Jcnow
how IO do. If· I can concenuare my aucntion
for that one split instant, the arrow goes
clean Into the center of the target. But
oftentimes I don't seem to have the
motivation to oo it at that level. Of course
ihe,old-time P,Cople living on the Eanh lrad
to do it, or they would have starved.
It may not be a weapon; it may be a
tQOI that l have in my hand. If I intend to fell
a tree with an ~e. to do it efficien~ly I have
to deliver the bu of my axe precisely to a
little pinpoint-sized spot that I pick out on
the bark. Then the next cut has to intersect
first precisely. The way most people flail
away at a tree with an axe, it looks like a
be~ver's been working t~ere, whereas a
skilled axehandler leaves JUSt a few large.
clean chips.

fill e

K· Some people are predicting an
economic collapse. saying that our whole
economic system is going to be changed on
a scale more catastrophic than the Great
Depression. Do you think that these ~kills
and the awareness they engender would be
of great practical value in a situation like
that?
DW:
I would think: so. The
awareness these skills create would be
particularly valuable. I'm not prophesying
it, but should such a coll3pse come, there is
no doubt but that we would have to do
things much differently. How we would
live, God only knows. There are not
enough deer in the woods that everyone
could wear deerskin clothing. In fact there's
((DllJinucd on p.tg~ 23)

WlNJER - 1988 89

Drawing by ROB MESSICK

JCAl.Ucm Jol.lrna!

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WORLD

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"WATCHIN' 'DEM
BOMBS GO BY"
Nlllllt&amp;I World News Savia:

A convoy of three ~ked trucks
accompanied by five escort vehicles pulled
out of the Pantex plant in Amarillo, Texas.
The trucks carried nuclear weapons or
nuclear weapons parts. There was no way
to identify the trucks or their cargo except
by the distinctive "goalpost" antenna~ tha~
extended up the sides and over the dnvers
cabs, but they were being watched: As they
emergl!d from the plant gates, a smgle car
swung in behind the convoy, and word
flashed ahead along !heir route.
As they proceeded east along the
interstate, newspapers were alerted ~nd
sign-carrying dcmonstrntOr.&gt; called at.tenuon
to I.lie presence of the bomb ~ruck:; m each
major city as the nuclear shipment roll~d
through town. The single sedan stayed. with
the trucks and their anned guard vch1cle$.
sometimes talking pleasantly with the
drivers over the CB radio and staying in
contact with a central switchboard in
Oklahoma City by cellular phone.
Before sunrise on the morning or
November 5, 1988 the convoy approached
their destination at Oak Ridge, Tennessee.
Thiny miles west of the town 12 more
vehicles joined their esc?"· but these cars
were unanned, full of noisy protestors. and
carried signs warning "H-Bomb Trucks
Ahead." As the trucks entered the town
limitS, the unofficial escort pulled ahead,
and as the big rigs pulled up to the gates of
the Y-12 Nuclear Weapons Components
Plant, they were greeted by shouting
demonstrators waving signs and banners.
This was Nukewatch.
During the week of October 31 November 5, tlie Oak Ridge Environmental
Peace Alliance (OREPA) joined the
nationwide Nukcwatch action by monitoring
the Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge. Volunteers
maintained conslllllt surveiUancc at the Y-12
gates waiting for the specially designed,
unmarked "safe secure trailers" (SSTs) that
transport nuclear warheads, weapons
components, and nuclear ingredients for the
Department of Energy (DOE) .
Communication networks between Oak
Ridge. the Nukewatch headquarters at
Oklahoma City, OK and other weapons
:Kcitiuah JolU'f\Ot PQ'}e 20

installarions trncked nuclear convoys across
the nation.
. .
On the first day of monnonng,
OREPA truckwatcher Stephen Clements
followed a weapons transpon vehicle and
escon cars from the Y-12 gates, through
downtown Knoxville, and north ~n
Interstate 81 to Gaithersburg, Maryland in
the suburbs of Washington, DC. The
Washington Post followed up on the stozy,
and a reporter learned from a D~E
spokesperson that the truck wa~ carrying
97% pure, bomb-grade uranium to a
research reactor ai the Bureau of Standards
in Gaithersburg. A rcpon appeared in the
Post the next day.
The public scrutiny makes the DOE
nervous. They give possi?le t~s!'l as the
reason for their paranoia, but It 1s mo~
likely that they would rather that people did
not know that unmarked radioactive
shipments are passing down the highw~ys.
Nukewatch believes that people have a nght
to know how close nuclear war is to th.cir
personal Jives. Nuclear weapons production
becomes real to people when they realize the
truck they arc passing on the interstate 1s
loaded with parts for n~clea_r warhe~ds.
When shipments of radtoactt~e uranium
passing through an urban neighborhood
suddenly become visible~ it .brings home the
lesson that the first v1cums o f nuclear
confrontation are those affected by the
environmental hazards of nuclear production
and nuclear waste.

The Oak Ridge Enviro11mental
and Peace Alliance
Bo:c 1101

Knoxville, TN 37901
Call (evenings): (615) 588-9370

ISN'T IT OBVIOUS?
Nawral World NcWfl Savic:e

The North Carolina Forestry
Association has announced that with the
Western Nonh Carolina Development
Association's Forestry Commission it will
be launching a $30,000 "educational
campaign" to convince people in the
mountain area or the state of the benefits of
the clearcu11ing technique or logging. the
method preferred by loggers and the US
Forest Service for its economy, speed, and
ease of managcmenL
The camP,aign will be panially funded
by a $9,000 grant from the US Forestry
Association.
Clearcuuing has been coming under
strong and often bitter auack from all
manner of people in the mountain area or
Katuah. Besides being aesthetic~lly
unpleasing to humans, clearcutttng
diminishes already scarce wildlife habitat by
fragmenting valuable cover areas and
favoring yellow poplar and other
non-food-producing tree species over
valuable mast-producing species, like oaks
and hickories.
The US Forest Service: has also been
criticized for clearcumng trees on a short
rotation schedule, causing mast·bearing
trees to be removed before Ibey can enter
their period of highest produ~tivity •. and .ror
replanting clearcut areas wtth whne P.tne
trees which create vezy poor habuat
coodltions for most wildlife species.

USFS PLANSTOINCREASE
HERBICIDE USE
N.wn! Wodd News Service

The US Forest Service (USFS) has
released a draft environmental impact
statement that indicates that the age~cy
intends to increase the use of chemical
herbicides and prescribed bums in the
National Forests of the Southern
Appalachian Mountains.
The "vegetation management"
proposal covers the National Forests in. the
mountain areas of North Carolina,
Tennessee, Georgia, Virginia and Kentucky
and isolated areas in South Carolina and
Alabama a total of 5.2 million acres. It
defined V:ork in the areas of site preparation
(for planting of white pine ttees). corridor
(trails, roads, and utility linc:s&gt; '!lainten~ce,
hazardous fuel reduction, wildlife clennngs,
and timber stand improvement operations.
The statement also considered the
impact of mechanica! and manu.al methods
of land clearing and stte preparation.
The statement was in the form of
eight alternative plans for management,
varying in intensity. The plans ranged fr~m
"no clearing" 10 clearing or preparing
173,000 acres each year. Under the most
intense regimen proposed, 3.3% of the
forest lands under study in the mountains
would be cleared or worked each year.
Herbicide use options varied from no
chemical treatment to treating 57 .~ acr~s
each year. Aerial spraying. by heh.copter 1s
considered in three of the eight opuons, and
1he alternative preferred by the USFS
provides for aerial applicauon~ ?n ru~ged
terrain and along some u11l11y lines.
Herbicide brands to be used would include
2,4-0; 2,4-DP; Tebuthiuron; Triclopyr. and
others.
.
The draft impact statement designates
a lOO·foot unsprayed buffer area around
wells, screams, springs, and private land
boundaries. and a 300-foot buffer .~ea
around private residences. No prov1s1on
was made for herbicide drift. The report
deemed that the poisonous spra}'.S ~ou!d
have "no significant effect" o~ w1ldhfe_ m
the spray areas and that se!ecuve sprar1ng
would minimize accumulauon of chemJcals
in the food chain.
These standards are unrealistic and
inadequate, and the persistent ~isoM being
used will have a strong negauve effect on
the plant and animal communities that live
on and in the forest soil and water.
Using heavy chemicals for economy
and convenience connicts with the USFS
mandate to protect the area's water sources.
The Appalachian public lands repre~~ts the
last large-scale habitat areas rem:.umng to
many species of wildlife. The l?resence of
str0ng and persistent toxic chemicals :vould
only contribute to the general degradauon.of
these already weakened and embattled hfe
systems.
.
.
Removing vege1a11on by chem1ca1
means takes money that could have
provided j~bs for moun~in ~sidents. The.se
jobs could improve the s11uat1on for counues
that have a low tax base because they
contain large percentages ofNati~nal.Forest
lands. Money spent on chcrrucals is divened
16'1.NTER. - 1988-89

�away from 1his region 10 gian1 chemical
manufac1uring conglomerates that arc major
producers of highly hazardou~ waMes.
The USFS draft environmental impact
sm1cment on vegeiation managcmcn1 seems
di-conceived and irresponsible. The public
will have the opponunity make commcnis
on the proposal until f-cbruary 17, 1989.
"Altcm:uive A," which provides for
"no treatment" is the only one of the
alternative plans that docs not in,'Olve the
use of 1ox1c chemicals. This is the bes1
choice for the fores1s until the USFS can
come up wi1h a be1tcr proposal 10 safely
manage the lands under their care.

Subm11 your comments to:
Bjorn Dahl, Fort·st Superl'isor
USDA Forest Scn•ice
Box 2750

Asheville, NC 28802

MRS HEARINGS
HeJrings on the proposed Monitored
Retrievable Storage facility for high-level
nuclear waste will be held in Atlanua, GA at
the Westin Peachtree Pl111.a Hotel from 9 am
- 5 pm on January 17, 1989.
For cronsponarion i11/orma1ion, write
Bo:c 291: Mars I/ill, NC 28754.

Biodiversity Bill Dies Will It Rise Again?
Nllllnll Wedd News Scr'liicc

HR 4335, the Nn1ional Biological
Diversity Conservation and Environmental
Research Ac1, did not pass the Congress
this year. Perhaps, however, i1 was a taste
of legislation to come as Congress auempts
to remedy what is now commonly
recognized as an environmental crisis of
monumental proportions: the mass
extinctions of other species stemming from
pollution and overdevelopment by the
human race.
The bill, sponsored in the I louse of
Representatives by Rep. James Scheuer
(D-NY) outlined a national policy for the
conservation of biological divcrsi1y and n
federal strategy for maintaining living
~ies and their habuat~ . The bill called for
a national research center devoted
exclusively to promoting understanding
about the conditioni. necessary to maintain
biological diversity and setting government
conscrvn1ion priorities. It also would have
amended the National Environmenial Policy
Act 10 insure that biological diversily y,ould
be required as a salient fac1or in preparing
environmental impac1 siatemcnis.
Ahhough the bill failed to pass the
Congress this year, it had wides11rcad
suppon and should be 11 s1rong contender
for passage in the next session of the
legislature. Write your representatives!

1"'lNTt:R. - 1988- 89

EIS ORDERED BEFORE CUT
BELOW CHEOAH BALO
Natural WDlid News Service

In 1979, during the days of 1hc
ill-fated Roadless Arca and Review
Evaluation II procedure (RARE II), the
Cheoah Bald area was the largc:.1 roadlcss
area in the National Fores1 lands in l\onh
Carolina, measuring 23,000 acres of
unbroken wild terrain. Roadlcss tracts
provide valuable wildlife habitat,
particularly for black bears, which arc
na1urally shy of roads, scnsi1ive 10 human
access, and rcquin: large, continuous range
areas in which 10 move.
Bui Cheoah Bald did not receive
wilderness designation in 1979, anCl when
the RARE II procer.s was nbandoncd, the
Fores1 Service moved quickly to cut roads
into 1hc area so that large tracts would be
removed from "roadless" status. Some
clearcuuing has already been earned out m
the area.
In 1987. however, when 1he US
Forest Service (USFS) announced plans to
clearcut ano1hcr 400 acres in 16 lr:J:CIS of
varying sizes in the Cheoah Bald area, the
Wilderness Society and other conservation
groups raised an outcry, and the USFS
consented to carr.• ou1 an cnvironmen1al
impact statement·(EIS) on the proposed
logging. This move sets a precedent,
because never before has 1he USFS
presented a full EIS for a clcarcuning
operation.
The usual procedure before a timber
sale is for a cursory "environmental
'ascr.sment" which inevi1ably produces a
verdict of "no significant impact" on the
environmen1 and rubber-stamps the timber
sale proceedings without serious
examination.
The crucial difference 1hat won the
Cheoah Bald area special consideration was
that the Appalachian Trnil passes through
the timber sale a~a. and some of the cuts
would be qui1e close to the trail, while
01hcrs would occur in vistas considered to
be among the mos1 spectacular along 1he
l,OOO·mile length of the trail. The Forest
Service's preccdcnt-seuing move, then. was
ra1her the resull of an aesthc1ic, rather than
an environmental, impact.
Other areas studied in the RARE II
proposal, the Big Creek area in Madison
County, NC, the Nolichucky area on the
.Nonh Carolina-Tennessee state line near
r:twin, TN. and the Wildcat area, which
adjoins the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park, also lie along 1hc
Appalachian Trail. Big Creek is a valuable
habiuu area as well as a scenic asset. as it
borders a wilderness area in the Cherokee
.National Fores1. that would be cxp:inded to
create an unbroken habitat area of 25,000
.acres if Big Creek were also designated
wilderness. Timber sales are planned in the
near future in Big Creek and Wilclca1, and
2,000 acn:s of the Nolichucky area arc to be
designated as available for logging, but
because of possible scenic disruption to tmil

hikers, these areas have an advantage in
their fight to ~m:Un primarily habirac :uus.
Aesthetic beauty does denote a
healthy. functioning forest community, and
it also is important for humans 10 find solace
from a ubiquitous civilization. However,
environmental needs ~ist even when they
arc no1 vi~iblc to human beings. There arc
01her roadless areas slaccd to be opened up
for clearcu1ring that will receive no special
consideration and no environmcnial impac1
Statements. Roads and timber sales will both
be pushed through in these areas, unless
citizeni&gt; stand up for the rights of \\ildlife
and the habitat that suppons them.
Some of these areas are:
• Upper Wilson creek - 6,530 acres.
inventoried in the RARE U s1udy. A timber
sale will be proposed for this area m 1989.
• Linville Gorge Extension - 2, 138
acres adjoining the Linville Gorge
Wilderness Arca now slated to be opened
for timbering.
• Balsam Cone - a 13,529-acre area
on the eastern slope of the Black Mount.a.ins,
adjoining Mt. Mitchell State Park and
encompassing six peaks over 6,000 feet, of
which 3,400 acres arc to be managed for
shon·ienn or longer-rotation logging.
• Middle Prong Extension - 2,265
acres near the Sunburst Recrca1ion Arca on
the Pigeon River in Haywood County tha1
will be opened to longer-rotation logging.
• Snowbird Wilderness Study A~a a large 8.490 tract high in the Snowbird
mountin of Graham County, NC and
adjacent to a roadless area in the Cherokee
N:uional Forest of Tennessee containing
prime habitat area, some natural balds, and
groves of virgin timber. Thi:. area was
studied for formal wilderness designation
by the Forest Service, but wilderness sta1us
was declined in the 15 -year draft
management plan, which is presently under
appeal.
• Tusquitce Mountains - a
16,720-acrc area studied under RARF. II
;;outheas1 of Andrews, NC.
• Chunky Gui - 12,446 acres near 1he
Tu~uitcc Mountains area. 5,600 acre:; arc
slated to be opened to intensive logging.
• Southern Nantahala Wilderness
Extcnsionr. - tracts totalling 11,402 acres
that adjoin the Southern Nantahala
Wilderness Area, the Chunky Gal tract, and
wilderness areas in Georgia, studied as pan
of RARE II. 8,000 acres are proposed for
short-1enn or long·term logging, and the
'Trail Ridge road and timber sale is soon to
go up for bid.
• Fishawk Mountain - 4,890 acres
southeast of Franklin, NC that is to be
opened for shon-tcrm and longer-term
logging rotations.

For illfom1ation on how you can
participate in habitaJ preunurion ejfons on
t/1£ public lands, conuzcr:

Forest Voices
Box 1275
West Jefferson, NC 28694
{T

Petc.r Kirby
The Wilderness Society
1819 Peaclllrt'e Rd. NE
Atlanta, GA 30309

,..
p;I/

XAti&amp;ah Journm p'"JC'- 21

�t

t:t

1

tt

41..li.r.i

lhe honeybees. Can you gather those without being s1Ung? And
lhey also cal odle.r inseclS, grubs, and rotting carrion. Do you have
lhe SIOmach for those foods?
•And in lhe fall !he bears eat lhe mast, the acoms end !he
nuts or the forest trCCS, lO ge1 faL for the win!Ct. The bears also
love lhe persimmons, pawpaws,and gropes lhlU grow in the woods,
bul the mast crops are what keep lhe bears alive in their dens.
"Wild foods arc powerful foods. Although they e.a1 li1lle
meal, black bears can grow lO 500 pounds In siz.e in these
mounlllins, although the females are generally less than I 50
pounds and the males less than 250 poWlds. Bears are strong! They
brealt branches from oak trees IO reach the tasty acorns. Bears are
fast! They can nm for eight to ten hours and can ouldisl!UlCe several
p:icks of dogs if need be. Bears are agile! They like best to run
through the thickets of lawcl and ivy IO lose their pursuers. Wild
foods give the bears their strcngth and endwance.
•Because you do not grow a black fur robe lhnl is warm and
beautiful, but are naked and hairless, I feel SOIT)' for you. You must
use olhcr furs and materials for clothing, and you musl have a den
to live in lhe year round."
And lhc Bear Old Man told them more things, and some of
the people listened carefully. and these in their own minds called
themselves the Bear Clan. and they put small images of the blnck
bear among the other objects on the swen1 lodge aliar and by their
sacred springs from which nowed their pure drinking waler.
And these humans began IO create a habimt for themselves
based on the word.s Yonah had 10ld them. They bulll lhemselvcs
dens 10 live in that were m3dc of rock boulders or heavy logs. so
1ha1 their homes were massive and cave-like, cool in lhe
summertime and wann in lhe wintcrS.
They walked I.he woods in the spring and found the wild
ramps, buL instead of enllllg !hem all, they replanted some in lhc
fore.q~ near lheir home den.~. and lhe ramps multiplied and sixcad.
They followed the c:rccks and picked lhe early branch leuuce
and ne11le leaves, but they would leave a number of lhe plant
people growing and kept lhe Slrenms running clear and
unobstructed, and always spoke a word of thanks to lhc plant
people as they gathered them, so !11at the green things would
conunuc tO feed the humans.
In their hollows and coves lhcy grew fruit 1recs, bolh
cu!Livatcd and wild, and among lhe trees they placed h1YC.10 or bees,
for they knew that this would please the Bear Old Man.
In olher fields they culLivalCd blnckberries, blueberries, nnd
raspberries close 1ogclhcr, as they grow on the mounminlops. and
m the summer they moved among the berry bushes foraging their
food much tn the manner of bears.
They tended gardens of corn, spring greens. squash,
climbing beans, and lhc roo1s of potatoes, onions, and
rich-smelling garlic. They let the polcewced. creasy greens, and
bmb,;quancrs grow, for Yonah told them the.~ greens were some
of the mo'l nutriuous of foods. Bul bccau.-.c the humans did no1
have the suong digestion of the bears, they had 10 hnng heavy
loo~ of wood lO their home dens 10 cool these foods 10 mnke them
pablllble.
In the woods the Bear Cbn encouraged lhc wild fruit trees.
The)' helped these trees wherever they found them growing by
keeping down the other uees around them 10 give lhc fruil uces
sp:icc nnd light. They spent a 101 or ume wandering through lhe
woods. jusl watching the IJ'CCS, plllDLS, and animals growing, and tn
I.he proper seasons they would come upon feasts of the succulenl

THE BEAR CLAN
Long ago, a young boy of the Chcrolcecs led his entire clan
away from I.he SCllled life of the village IO live in I.he forest. and
these people were lral'ISfonned inlO blaclc bears. Thus, says the old
Oicrokee legend. ~ the bear nation first crcalCd.
The spi:ril of the Wild Boy. who first led his people to their
new life in I.he wild, grew old and changed int0 YOO!lb, the Bear
OldMan.
Yonah returned once more 10 the sculemenlS where he had
lived before. He found his rebtives, I.he humans, much changed.
The villages were now large, and many new people lived there,
suange and different from the native people, with skins as pale as
fall mushrooms and hair of all shades of color instead of the
lustrous black of his own people's hair. Yet YoMh spoke lo lhe
humans, newcomers as well as the remnining native people, and
those who wanled IO live closely wilh the lnnd heard his words.
"You cannot wm int0 bears and come live in the foresl
with me as my people did once before. Times have changed; lhnl
way is closed, and ii perhaps may never be opened again. Bul I will
tell you what I.he bears know about living in the moumam forcslS,
Md, if you follow my insuuelions and conlinue 10 give the bears
honor and respect, you will be able 10 live here forever."
And the Bear Old Man lOld the People;
"The stcepesl mouniain land can support one female bear
for every six or eighl square miles. Males arc more of a luxury, and
the mounl3ins allow one only every 30-50 square miles.
"lmngine bemg able lO find all you needed for life within
six or eighl square miles of tnnd! You humans may no1 be able IO
do this. You do not have a warm fur coot growing on your back.
You do no&lt; have the strong digestive system of a bear, who CM\ cal
anytlUng!

•And you humans have seriously overbrcd beyond the
capabilily of the land lo sustain you. You need to reduce your
numbers so lhat you can live with the land. lkmg crowded 10gclhcr
so closely is a filthy and dismal way IO live. Your numbcn&gt; are so
great lhal you cannot forage in the open woods, bul must lend
certain plants and humbly serve their needs, in.'tcad of the plants
serving you, as il should be m the world.
"Truly, your lives arc going to be miserable ones indeed
until you learn IO control your numbers. The firsl duly of any
specie) of l:irgc animal is 10 cn~ure that enough off$pnng live 10
conlinue lhe Cllislcncc of the species. Bul lhe second duty of the
species is to limil lhc1r number' to what the land can pro,ide for.
Paying Ollention 10 those simple rcahues would &lt;1erve you far
bcu.cr than your prcoccupalion with "good and evil," which in truth
do no1cx1st m the world. Yet, if )'OU aire for the water and the soil
ond lend your plants, you will be able 10 make a living in l11e
mountain.\, although you will never know the true freedom of
being a block bear m the wild world. Bui do not complain aboul
your lol, ror you have brouglu this on yourselves by your own
doing.
·em as lhe belll'S cat. Bears ea1 the CMly greens m I.he spnng
·branch lcuuce and sungmg ncu.lcs from lhc cn:cks - and dig ramps
from under the leaves on the forest noor. Squawroot is a special
food reserved for I.he bc3rs, and you canoot cal that.
"lo !he summer the bears cal the many bClncs and the fruits
• serviccberries, wild plum~. wild cherries • thaL grow on lhe
moum.ainsides. They alw fca.\t on the sweet honey 8lld lilrVae of

(conunucd on p. 26)

Print by ULA 11-IOMAS

WtNTER.. - 1988-89

�(conllnucd from page 19)

not enough wood in the woods for
everybody to heat with wood! Those of us
who do these things arc taJc.ing advantage of
unique situations which in no event would
be available to the greater population.
So I would not want people to think
that learning these skills would guarantee
their survival. The real value of learning
these old techniques is to gain a feeling of
greater self-reliance. I don't usually use the
tenn ''self-sufficient," because it would be
foolish under any circumstances to uy to be
totally sufficient unto one's self. But I think
that to be more self-dependent is a great
virtUc. Going into the woods and learning
to identify ccnain plant and animal species
can help you in your life - even if you never
have to know them to survive.
Another economic shakedown is
certainly possible. I don't know whether it
will ever come to that, but 1 do know that
when I am able to do something even as
basic as being able to identify the plants and
the other animals of the forest, I gain a kind
of self-respect that helps me go on and face
up to whatever it is that has to be done.

K: But doesn't it also add a sense of
depth and meaning to the processes of life?

DW: It cenainly does for me.
Strangely enough, when I am doing my
thing right, concentrating totally on what I
am doing, I sometimes get a linle flash of
insight into the fact of our monali1y. Death
is an aspect of life that is important to face,
but most people in our culture prefer to
avoid it. We would rather live as if we were
never going to die, as though we could
maintain our present state of existence
indefinitely. But if we look at it for just a

moment, the obvious conclusion is that we

are mortal: our bodies arc going to perish
and in some way go back to the Eanh. And
when I am living my life correctly, I am
preparing for my death by getting myself a
little calmer and a little bit more in tune with
the overall plan.

K: Coming to terms with that has a
lot to do with achieving that "savage
intensity," doesn't it?

DW: I think it does. Exactly! To live
life to the fullest is what we are talking
about. That's what real "savage intensity"
is: right there in that moment to let this fine
brain that our species has inherited be
working in such a way that it's got us
breathing the most air, hearing the most
sounds, smelling the most smells, and
seeing all that we can see in that moment,
fully. And when that happens we are not at
all self-conscious about it.
K : If one were self-conscious, it
wouldn't be happening.

DW: That's right. In that state the
brain is not thinking as much as it is
processing the natural senses. Then
anything we do and anything that happens
arc spontaneous responses.
K: There is also a beauty to a
spontaneous action, because it is instinctual,
naturally graceful, and right.

DW: Often times I get too romantic
about this aspect of my work, but I do
believe that there is enough substance there
that I can insist 1ha1 when everything i~

1. st.um&amp;Ce4 upon tt.

wnUe watcfil.rn.J a &amp;I.rd t.n fCLcfot.
on one of those flrst. wuUl.s t.firou!Jh t.fie wooc!s
of my mountoln home
reU int.a l.t mmost.
&amp;ut was lns tont(y &amp;«Mn &amp;y Us lmmcnsi.ly
Thls 9l.anl.. remnant of fmun &amp;.fell, r..runfl. sia(a(;Jmtus rcad1lntJ
t.ft.yward
um( trotted over surrounded by Hs ci..rcfo
aU of me f ithnlJ msidc the cirdc
ant( 1 watd\a( the

uy

und h .r.t.crwd t.o llw voi.ccs from whuc the r oo ts had. &amp;«.n
and r..hcy t.oCd m e thc st.or I.cs
. . . of the 9i.unt trees •. of thc t~mc when thc chcstnut.s
towued over thc mounwins
.... uu 'i'-'"ns
anc! l f t!t part of I.he cages whU:fi arc t.hi.s (Qnd
and h."'w 1. was welcome.

kllNTER. - 1988-89

Drawing by MAR1llA TREE

flowing just right, I have momenlS lha1 arc
almost ecsraric.
When shooting the blowgun,
sometimes as I raise it up, I can feel where
the cen1er of lhc target is. And when I shoot
il, I can sense the flight path of the dan, my
consciousness follows i1 all the way 10 the
bullseye, and I know even before it hits that
it's going to be right on the mark.
Other times I might be working on a
piece of wood at my bench, and, although I
know I am shaping it, I'm not aware of any
intellcc1uaJ process going on. I'm just aware
that my body is moving in a rhythm, and
that a wonderful result is occurring between
this natural material and the tool I am
holding, which m many cases I have made
myself.
Even though I will never get rich
doing what I do, the possibilicy for making
a modest living and at the same time
enjoying myself is going to keep me a1 it the
rest of my life, as long as I have eyes and
breath. Again, it's what I think people are
seeking through spirirual disciplines that are
supposed to lead to enlightenment or
happiness. When it's done well, this very
ordinary, everyday process of creating
useful things for a living can accomplish
that.
That's why I, with mock seriousness
and yet with real sincerity, say that this is
religion 10 me, this business of tools and
material and trying to c:1;trac1 the best I can
from them. In doing so. I realize my highest
potential and that of the tools and the
material - having them all working together.

�DRUMMING
LETIE RS TO KATUAH

Dear KO!Uah,

Have you ever wondered why so few Americans have suff.cient
interest in environmental problems, and their solutions, to join
organizations, such as the National Audubon Society, (one of the largest
environmental organizations with a membership of only about 0.2
percen1 or our population) and support i1 in its efforts to solve our
environmental problems?

Dear K01Uah,
... I found the Ka1Uah Journot at a restaurant named Stooc Soop in
Ashe,•ille, NC and was nourished by both. J found the work you are doing very
empowering and wish you all good energies in continuaLion. Tiie EARTH is
healing thanlcs to us all!. ..
Sincerely,
Maria Tncp:icz
DearK.J.,

Greetings in the light. I'm writing to thank you for the Fall issue. Also
thanks for printing my letter in the "Wcbworking" section. The Kim Sandl:ind
anicle "Gin of the Chestnut• was very informative. My prayers arc with you.
I'm the prison librarian. I place copies or KJ. on the magwine rack when I run
through with them.
With love, in peace,
Riek

And upon Mocher Earth I crouched,
And the Voice wns within ....
New Beginnings

from the Drum quietly echoed.
New Begionings
from the fcathcrcn:atioo in prayer.
New Beginnings
in lhecircle of service for my
brothers and sislefli
as
my oolh providcth for mankind
your feather lay gently
when the Drum had 'llOken....
simply the lasting vision,
New beginnings,
all my relauves.
- Bern Gn:y Owl

Dear KatUah,
...I was in W. Virginia for the fll'St ume this spring for
the Wildflowcr Festival m Blacltwater Falls State Parle- it was
grc:u Cun! Met a man there leading a field trip who had this
lfemendous encrgy...a native of W. Virginiit..He said he got up
every morning and said: "This day is gomg to be a 101• and
added "It usually is.• This prompled the following poem:
Yesterday is aln:ady gone ..•
Tomorrow will get here when ...
Today is all I've really gOL..
And It's gonna be a 10!

Many than.ks,
Barbara Wickersham
Knoxville, Tenncsste
Drawing by ROB MESSICK

You could take any 300 Americans, load them on n jumbo jet LO
some dcstinatioo, and there would be immediale and great con&lt;:cm when
they had the slightcsl awareness of any problem with lhe plane's
environment. indicated by such events as decrease m cabin pressure,
increase in cabin temperature. sudden appcamnce or unnatural odor, etc.
And everyone, or course, is concerned when there are immediate and
obvious changes in the earth's environment in their vicinity. Who is
bored when they arc aware of an eanbquakc. volcanic eruption, tidal
wave, hurricane or tornado?
Yet very rew people I know, especially from my former habitat
(Long Island, NY) exhibit any emotlon, other than polite, sbon-term
interest, turning tO boredom, when I try to discuss the implications of
the discovery of a large bole m the 01.one layer in the atmosphere over
the South Pole. Their general viewpoint is something like •1 don't sec
how they can say It LS caused by escape to atmosphere of chemicals used
as refrigerants or aerosol propellants. Anyway, it is all to teehnical ror
me, and I don't believe there's anything to worry abou1 anyhow.•
A high government official, when told destruction of the ozone
layer could cause a great increase in the incidence of skin cancer.
responded with "People will have to learn to use more sunmn cream,
wear hats and wear datlter sunglasses.• This, or course, is hardly a viable
solution to the problem
In regard to the acid rain problem: it is rather difficult for the
non-teehnically oriented person to undcrsllll1d and accept bow smoke
from powethousc stacks containing combusuon products or a fuel
contaminnm (sulfur) can be convened, at very high altitudes, through
contact wi1h the ozone layer in the presence of the ultra-violcl
component of sunlight. into another gas. This. when absorbed into
water (rain, snow, or fog) in the aunosphere produces sulfuric acid.
Up on Long Island I listened to radio station WNEW. The ir
weather man seemed to be environmentally con&lt;:emcd, so I wrote and
suggested he give. as a pan of his repons. the acidity (ph) of the most
recent precipitation to indicate its potcntial to cause acid ram damage.
He replied, · 1 think it is a good idea, but since acidity is expressed as ph
few people would under.;tand whal I was rallcing abouL Therefore, there
would be liule interest in the data.•
People, when faced with problems hard 10 understand and whose
solutions will cost them and change their lifestyle prefer, instead, to
look for and emphasi7.e reasons, mostly irrelevant, which will allow
them to believe there are really no problems and to proceed on the basis
that everything is alright.
II might be well to reeall tha1 in January 1987 ano1her
spaceship, the Challenger, and its crew were destroyed because lhosc in
ch3rge ( exccutiv~ of NASA and M&lt;&gt;rton-Th1okol) refused to listen to
their engineers about a problem with its boostet rockc1 seals. They
continued to proceed with the launch to save money. save face. and
maintam a good press. One of the results or their proceeding was that
they did none of the above.
One can only hope the same fmc does not befall the spaceship
Earth because of the ~me short-sighted, mista.ken awwdc on the pan of
the go,'CITlmcnt and the public m, so far, refusing to heed the advice and
warnings of expens and envll'Ollmentalists on the problems mcntJoncd.
as well as on many more.
There is one cond1uon that might prevent it. Those "m
authority" might come to their senses soon enough to prevent it because
they, also. arc ridmg this space ship. (edited)
J. J. Combes
Newland, North Carolina

ltJlNTER. - 1988- 89

�The Third

Dear Sirs:
t-.1r. Runer was in town last week nnd solved my puulemcnt. Earlier in the
month I hlld received the autumn issue o( your journal and had no idea who sent ii.

Wh:it a ~utiful piece of work on my favourite subject • the American Chc.~tnut.
I re:id every word nnd learned so much. Would you please sent me four copies
of this issue tO be used in my missionary work with &lt;;0mc friends in Pcnnsylv:mia.
There are st.ill rolks up there who remember the talcs their folks told of this
1ru1gnificen1 tree.
Yours truly,
J.N. Salv1ro
Kensington. MD

NEW ZEALAND(IP

CHESTNUT

GROWERS ASSOCIATION INC.
P.O. Box 1328, lnvercargill
New Zealand

Dear Sir:

We would be pleased 1f you could supply us w1lh a copy or the Fall 1988 ediuon or
the KatUah Jourlll.ll which has cx1ensive nniclcs covering chcslllut rcscatth.
Cordially yours.
NEW ZEALAND CHESTNUT GROWERS ASSOCIATION INC.
ERNEST NEW
Executive Director

Dear KmUah,

Carolyn and I just got your letter and papers t1us morning. The enclosed
paper has been in circulat.ion for two years:
"You art invittd to con1emplme tht idta btlow, to sinctrtly short your idtas

about a just and ptactful world:
Cltarly lift on tht planet is in jeopardy. What will it takt to revtrst tht /tar,
tht weapons, the pollution, tht monopoly, tht inttr'Vtn/Wn ...and project Uft toward
abundance, coopuation, and environmental and social compassion? /low can wt
txperience such a miracle? "Consciousness crtatts form" /Seth/. PleaJe bt
prac11cal. fless than 500 words/ Art you willing to bt published? __yes _no.
Please include your llD.ml!, address. and a short tkscriptwn ofyourself.
It is our intention to circulate tht comributions, to create a conllnuwn and an
on-going forum
Facts. feelings. ideas. positivt creations art welcomed.
Transformation is inevitable. It is cltarly the will of the human race to live on
abundantly wt// into thtfuturt. Spirit awakn!
Send your responses to:
NamMt~ Consciousness
Box578
Ctnter Barnsttad, NII 03225
P.S Feel fret to copy and distribute"

My answer is: That best friends must bond around common pnnciples: to

share. care, heal, and enhance life locally in BIOCELLS by the thousands in every
BIOREGION. Each aulonomous cell is joined to the biorcgion by commitment to
the values.
Please share this invitation to respond with your readers.
Thanks,

Bruce
Center Barnstead, New Hampshire

I've got news for you. A Higher Jntclligencc has hlld me to know some
information about the way the Universe functions. What I learned was tha1 the
computers that we arc all growing so fond or arc a Gacan trick. The plan is Iha! the
h~man race will dump all their intelligence into those neat plastic boxes, then Gaea
will tum off the power. and it all will be gone. Then we'll be free! And we'll find we
dJdn'l need It anyway.
love.
l

..,'\.NTER. - 1988- 89

hildegardc

North American
Bioregional Congress
by Lisa Franklin
This summer I represented Katuah at the third Nonh
American Bioregional Congress (NABC Ill) held in a small
outdoor school nonh of Vancouver. B.C. Magical things had
happened to me while traveling on route to the congress, so I
came expecting more. 1 wasn't disappointed. It seemed that
an incredible exuberance just bubbled out of everyone.
At the morning circles we shared songs. information
and a sense of harmony that spread 1hroughoul 1he day. The
committee mceungs revealed an amazing array of qualified
and .in~onne~ individuals s~aring their ~nowledge. Some
spectaltzed in water qual11y, some in permaculture,
education, forest management, green cities, herbs. dow~ing,
etc.
Ideas were bounced around, scenarios entenained, and
a lot of creative. intellectual energy zipped about. The
previous congress resolutions were reviewed and any
proposed changes were brought before the plenary during the
last couple of days. This process was an inspiration to me
personally, and several different projects are now a part of
my life due to these idea sessions.
1 have begun working on an All Species Project in the
Asheville Alternative School and have been working with
education about organic agriculture and promoting local
production of organic produce. The proceedings from NABC
111 will be published in the spring of 1989 and will give
explicit deiails of the comminee discussions, their decisions,
and 1he plenary votes on issues brought before the whole
assembly.
Throughout the congress we were honored with
presentations from various native peoples from Tunle Island.
During many of these, we wept openly for the pain in their
lives which they shared with us. We took to heart the plea for
help that was extended by them. These people are asking to
be allowed to live their Lnlditions, as arc all native peoples
around the world, so that this spirituality can help to heal the
planet. May we each do whatever we can to let il be so.
The evening biorcgional presentations were a stream
of creative, honest ways of sharing the pain, humor and love
felt for the different partS of Tunic Island and the state of the
environment. The presentation for lhe Karuah bioregion was
well received and consisted of a Cherokee welcome song, a
creation myth, a slide show accompanied by banjo picking,
poetry, stories of home and family, and slides wi1h
commentary on lhe soulhem Appalachian trail
Late night drumming and dancing helped folks
loosen up after lots of intellectual discussion. It was a time
for physical expression and fun.
In the shon period of one week, we 300 or so people
bonded togclher into a tribal group, which no one wanted to
leave. Throughout 1he week, each person was working,
talking, lhinking, living, and breathing to find ways for all of
us to exist in greater hannony with our Mother Earth and all
the living things on it. We realized that we were seeds to help
the next shifl in consciousness happen and that we can help
the earth survive by loving her and not getting discouraged,
and by allowing that love to come lhrough our intellect to
solve problems. So at the week's end, reaffirmed in the
purpose that brought us together, we allowed the wind to
scatter us again so that each could set in motion the changes
needed everywhere to evolve life lo another level of
awareness. This is the energy that can help prevent worst
case scenarios in world problems and bring about change. I
am honored to have been a pan of it.
To obtain a copy of the Proceedings ofthe Third North
American Bioregional Congress, send $8.00 to:
Seth Zuckerman, P.O. Box 159, Petrolia, CA 7555
¥

Xo"'°" Journal ~ 25

�(continued from page 5)

each time it rained, so they moved on. They
still had water enough to drink, but the land
would no longer produce food.
Flash floods might come through my
little cove and take out my bottoms, as
happened to the Anasazis. The creekbcd
might suddenly become such a gorge that I
couldn't build a bridge across it, because it
was draining such a big torrent each time.
On the other hand, a mudslide might come
down the valley, and where my house and
fields once were, might suddenly be tree-top
high with ~ clay and boulders. That might
be the way of it I am not very optimistic.
As the cycle deepens, big fronts of
weather will be created. When big fronts get
moving, they move farther before they can
be dissipated. Strong, fast-moving cold
fronts could come down out of Canada. The
Sll'Onger they are, the further south they a.re
going to go. There may be routine freezes
in Miami at that lime, because the turbulent
weather will suck the winter fronts further
south, meaning more violent snow, cold, or
whatever, with each approaching front As
soon as a cold front dissipates, there may be
a SIJ'onger front approaching from the south,
bringing up warm, moist air or rainstorms
that thaw the ground and confuse the plants'
growing cycles. All one can say for sure is
that the climate will become turbulent and
unpredictable.
In ages past as the Earth evolved and
the climates changed, as in the wanning and
freezing periods in the time of the ice ages,
the process of change was a gradual one
talcing place over thousands of years. Plants
and animals had a chance to migrate, and
everything could adjust to maintain the
equilibrium. Species were extirpated,
cenainly, but many life-forms were able to
maintain their range in suitable habitat
conditions.

That is not the case this time. The
most disastrous element of these changes is
that everything is happening so fast, that
this time the desen plants in Arizona will not
have a chance to migrate to Kauiah to
replace the forest trees. And the plnnts here
are not going to have a chance to migrate to
New England or to some place more
habitable. They are simply going to die! The
difference is that this change is an artificial
one; it is not induced by natural causes. The
whole world is threatened, and, like a
patient thrashing around in a fever delirium,
the change is going to be convulsive and
simultaneous. There are not going to be safe
havens to flee to, because the change is
going to be happening everywhere at once.
It is going to be world-changing. It is going
to take a high toll on the animal and plant
species we live with today.
With the vegetation gone and the
soil gone from the hillsides, the damage
done will be permanent. There will come a
time when the world will get weuer again,
but it might be in 100,000 years. Of course,
we might get lucky and it might take only
10,000 years. To regenerate the vegetation,
of course, would take eons longer than that,
but I do not believe that conditions here will
ever again be the same as they are now.
The greenhouse effect is a cycle
already in motion, and it's not going to
Stop. The government does not even admit
that there is a problem yet The government
admits we are in a drought, but they assign
it to natural causes and will not admit that
the pollution, the ozone, or the nuclear
waste, are threats to our survival. The
government has just begun to mention skin
cancer as a possible effect of the degradation
of the atmosphere. Skin cancer is the least
of it! It may take 20 years to get skin cancer,
and someone could starve in six weeks.
The governments will recognize the

problem in a few y~ when it is too late to
do anything about it. Even if they said
tomorrow, "We've got a serious problem.
We're going to cut all traffic, you can only
use your vehicle half as much. Burn half as
much gas. Bum half as much wood. We're
going to shut down half the plants. We're
going to cut worldwide energy use in half,"
it would still be too late.
In the first place, a cutback in energy
consumption will never happen as long as
the profit motive is the first priority. But
even if we could make an immediate change
in the way we live, we might slow the
oncoming cycle down or we nU$ht not slow
it down at all, but we are not going to avoid
it. At this point it is snowballing. The
causes are all tied together, they are already
in motion, and I do not see any way that we
are not going to have to bite the bullet. We
caused the problem, and we are going to
have to face it. Basically Tdo not feel called
to conjure or to pray for relief from this
problem, because the only relief now is a
healing, a realignment of the Earth's
energies.
AJJ that we can do now is to try to
avoid contributing to the problem, do what
we can on behalf of the world environment,
let people know what is happening, and
prepare ourselves physically, mentally, and
spiritually for whatever future is coming.
But just in case, I'm going to plant
some cottonwood trees around my place and
put some western chokecherries in along the
creek.
Lylich Crabawr is an Appalachian
native of Scottish descent. He lives with his
family in a moUlllain cove also inhabited by
turkeys, hawks, owls, a pileated
woodpecker, gnomes, and others of the
Little People. He wrote on "Circles of
Stone" for Katuah Journal 1110.

_,

(continued &amp;om page 22)

wild fruits freely offered.
They also encouraged the young nauve chestnut trCCS with
prayers and songs, and whenever they chanced t0 find a U'CC bearing
nutS, these were e:igerly distributed to all parts of the region and
planted, wntchcd. and aided. Their efforts began to produce results.
for more and more cheSUlut trtcS began to grow without the killing
disease cankers. The magic of the Beat Clan was known to be
powerful, because it was causmg the chesuwt trees IO appear where
they h3d dlsappeared before.
In olhcr fields the Bear Clan planted nut uec.~ • cultivntcd
chestnulS. filberts, and walnuts - and they mode sure to gnlbcr
acorns from the foTCSt each year (su K:11Uah /19 - ~ds.), so that in
the fall among the Bear Clan lhcrc was a frenzy of activity when,
lilce the bears, they hurried to store enough food for the winter
But, because they could not line their bodies. with fnt like their
relatives the bears. they lined the insides or their home dens with
dried foods and nuts tO last them through the winter months when
snow covered the mountaintop.s and nothing grew through the

frozen ground.
Because they did not have the powerful mow teeth of the
bears lha1 could crush hickory nuts and acotru1 to a fine powder,
they hlld to grind lhe.ir foods between stone wheels. This they did
and combined the com and nw flours together inlO the llllt cakes
they tiokcd in their healed ovens.
One winier sciveral families tried swallow111g fecal plugs. a.~
the bears do to close their systems, so they oould fast and steqi
through the winier months, but that expcrimCTit came to a messy

end, and they round thnt they were humw after all. with human
limitations and a human nature that they hnd IO follow.
By living like the bears. the Bear Clan came to be more
like the bcnrs in their bodies and their ways. They tended 10 be
heavy and hairy. The men were strong, oftentimes quanelsomc, and
sometimes ferocious, even among others or their own clan The
molhcrs were wide. soft, and co1y, with enormous laps to snuggle
into. Tiie young women were also large, and were known as strong
fighlCIS if aroused, and ricrocly 1ndcpendcnt. Tiie women ruled the
home dens, and the cave-like shcllCIS were wann retn::11S where food
was plentiful even 111 wanter, and the young ones grew rapidly.
Among their own the Bear Clan were mostly jovial.
fun-loving, and playful. But lil:c their relatives in the woods, they
were somcumes moody. seemingly inOucnced in a dramatic wny by
the cycle of the seasons and the tides of the moon.
Bear Old Man saw the many changes, and he was glad. He
visited the Bear Clan often and brought them the best dreams
during the long nights of winter. Many or the dreams were
personally enhghlClling. others granted special powers of healing or
working with the elements, while others were strange or prophetic.
so that the Bear Clan shared a deep knowledge among themselves,
although 11 was never spoken.
And the Bear Old Man spoke ID the mount.ain spirit.s, and
they provided well for those who followed the way of the block
bears, and the Bear Clan lived full lives for generations beyond
counung In the hills of Katilah.

,,#
p

WtN'TEJt - 1988-89

�(corwnucd from page 13)

experiences as well as pleasurable ones. So if we deny our p:un, we never get lO
grow up. we never have to grow up (we 1maginc)... wc'll be "forever young" ...
The cruel irony is that this "faith" has been turning us int0 a culture of
spoiled, self-indulgent "takers" who want nothing more than to suc..le at the
breast of our bountiful tcchnolog1cal "mother". Think about TV-bound "couch
potatoes"; tremendous use of both legal and illegal drugs: the fanuwic rise in "Cast
foods". "convenience" storCS, and quick fixes of every description. The need for
immediate gratification is an infantile trait, and inability to dc:il with p:iin is a
sure sign of emotional and spiritual imm111.urity.
This siren of pain avoidance can be extremely elusive and dangerous
because its message often comes across in a cheerful, breezy, thoroughly
innocuous way, as if getting rid of pain was such an obvious benefit that nobody
could even question iL The real meaning is far from cheerful, though. The
underlying theme invariably implies that life on Eanh i.\ difficult and painful, so
we need to create an artificial, human-made reality to escape from our fear and
pain. This is expressed quite openly in most drug advcrtisemenis--and then people
nnively wonder why we have such a "drug problem" m this country! In one ad for
a "p:iin-ltiller", a jaunty, successful businesswoman is portrayed in action. while
the background music sings. • r haven't got time for the pain, I haven't got room
for the pain, etc.".
But what happens to the pain we supposedly get rid of? What if pain is a
messenger, come 10 tell us of a potential or present problem in our lifestyle?
What then? Answer: we've lost (at least temporarily) a clue LO our health and our
inner identity. But the pain will show up somewhere (or sornellmc) else, JUSt hke
our garbage on the beaehcs--thc problem is merely put off and avoided, not really
gotten rid of at all. Obviously, we haven't succeeded in our quest 10 eradicate the
problems and pain of living-in fact, we seem to have increased them, if we look
at what's happening around us. The truth is, It's impossible to outwit nature, and
pain and pleasure arc both natural aspecis of life. Pain is a signal, a vital
indicaior. Denial of pain is really denial of information that is being relayed to us
by our body/being.
Only if we're willing lO embrace the full range of cmotions--lO experience
the hcighLS of rapture and the depths of pain-are we able to reach full maturity.
Our planet and our cul lure is in a massive "healing crisis", and we as individuals
need to be able to empathize with the p:iin our world is expcriencing... thc pain of
the animals, the planlS, the sky, the oceans.... not deny it, if we arc to be able lO
assist in the healing. And we need to feel our own pain and the pain of our
brothers and sisters everywhere. if we arc to develop compassion, wisdom. and
wholeness. There is no quick fix, and the only way out 1s through.
The Siren or lud ividualibm 1o1ud Nou -com mun io ri
This Siren works to undermine our sense of interrelatedness and
community. The frontier-era ethic of "rugged individualism" seems lO have given

way to a consumer-Oriented ethic of "p:issive individualism" ·-which combines the
isolation and separateness of the former with the neediness and passivity of the
"ideal consumer".
There arc, however, powerful human needs which can only be met through
communicauon and interaction, and when community breaks down, no amount of
consumption of things can fill this gap. The truth is that we arc individuals and
members of many diffeccnt communities-both social and natural. But in western
culture we've made individualism our god and tried Lo banish the idea of
community, even associating it with "Communism".
Some striking examples of individunli.sm run ramp:int are:

The glorijicaJion of the auJol'fWbile and the tkcline of railroads, trolleys and other
forms ofpublic transportOJiorr. Most cars on the road have only one or two people
in them. walled off from others within their mobile mctalhc box. Work. home,
friends arc often great disl3Jlccs from each other and so the dependency on the
aut0mobilc is reinforced. Urban design often glorifies the car more than human
interaction so the isolation becomes more "set in stone".
The tkJ)&lt;ndency orr recorded SOWlds. Creating music used to mcan getting togc1hcr
with other people. either to listen or 10 play an instrument or sing. But toda&gt; it's
much simpler to JUSL put on a record or a casscue without having LO socialize or
put out any cffon. This is wonderful up to a point-·but when people arc out in
public with tiny earphones in their ears, oblivious IO the sounds of life :iround
them, and intent only on lheu inner cxpcnencc, perhaps it's become another way
to create separation and isolation and to deny rclatiomhip.
"/he corrtinued diminishment of J)&lt;Oplts' ho~ life. The M&gt;Cial dimension of
homclifc has been steadily shrinking--from the cxtcndcd family, lO the nuclear
family, lo :.inglc-parcnt familie:., t0 couple$ living together -..ithout children, to
people living alone. The extended family has practically disappeared m western
culture. And aclual homelessness has been increasing at a very frightening pace as
well.

JlNTER - t 988-89

the l'fWVt towards instantarrtous food. Eating used LO be a basic, shaied form of
communion. But today, cooking and c:iting togclhu i:; no longer nccessruy-cxccpt
for rare holidays. Instcad,the food industry offers us thOU!i:lllds of prcfabricalCd
foods. Wlmt we've lost in term~ of nunurance nnd nourishment 1s noc made up for
by the variety and convenience of industrial food products. There is also a
profound difference between supcrmarkelS and old-world style markets
-supermarkclS are not conducive lO socializing.
Siren or Spir ilual Mater ialism and Dependency
Even those who are "aware• can be caught by consumption mania and the
drive for "more", whether it is material . psychological, or spiritual.
Mother Teresa, while visiting the US, felt strongly that Americans are the
poorest people she'd ever seen-lost amidst a multitude of possessions. separated,
starving for love, she said. With little cultuml acknowledgement or suppon of
the non-material dimension, it's often hard to maintain awareness of our inner
essence. Thus, we may be 1ost' in this deeper sense as well. This loss of self leads
directly lo the povcny of soul Mother Teresa describes.
The result, of course, 1s that we look outside ourselves for our power and
satisfaction. We often project our own power onto authority figures or 'sy~tcms'
such as churches, astrologers, psychics, doclors. 'channelling', and spiritual
groups. We then look to these sources for dirccuon, validation. The guidance
received may be quilc helpful. but the use being made of 11 fosterS unheahhy
dependency. The emptint$ and hunger underneath IS sull there, as is the denial,
the desire to gloss 11 over. But u is only through jOUmeying inio the hean of that
emptiness that the cycle can be broken, and our inner abundance can f1owcr.
To be and feel abundant is a state of experienced "beingness•-a stat.e of
wholeness, fullness. satisfaction. love, gratiludc. Gratitude is the essence of true
prosperity consciousncss--to embrace all of life, to be humbly and truly
appreciative of our daily food. our breath, our friends, our growth--even our pain.
It is a deep reeogn1uon of, and rcspecl for, the inter-connectedness of all living
things.

The

All of these Sirens, and others, are best able to entrap us when
we feel ourselves alone, separate from the human community and
from the wider Eanh community. When we feel rooted in the wider
Reality of the true human spirit and of nature, the consumption
mentality has less of a hold on us. In fac1, it becomes decidedly
unreal.
Our culture wilh iLS emphasis on constant consumption hides
an elemental cruth from us -- one 1hat is essential for us to rediscover
in breaking our bondage to the consumer mentality: namely, that
"emptiness" is an imponnnt aspect of any essenrial growth cycle. It is
only when we are able 10 appreciate a stale of true emptiness (the
'creative void') ... thal we are capable of seeing what we need and
what we don't need...that we are able to see the amazing abundance
of creation. It is then, in a spirit of gratirude and humility, that we are
able to experience our own inherent abundance.
When we experience this 'beingness'., we no l?nger ha~e lo
heavily iden ifv ourselves with our belongings, beliefs, projects,
money, etc. We no longer need to create our identity that way.
Human beings do seem to be "identifying". creat.ures, 1hough--so our
only option is to upgrade what we. tdenufy with. As.we l~am lo
identify with more universal, fulfilhng values and re~nt10nsh~ps, we
can honestly feel complete with or without those things which we
"consume" or have been "atLaChcd to".
We who believe in conscious growth and a deeper sense of
prosperity for ourselves and lhe planet ha~e the res.ponsibility of
re-creating community and ways 10 share this sense ~th each other.
Ritual sharing, celebration, and all the . vaned forms of
communication/ communion are things we need in order 10 feel 1n1ly
alive to feel prosperous and fulfilled. This is so imponant--and we
have 'so much to unleam...and so much to learn about living together
and with ourselves and the Eanh. But we've got to do il, if we truly
wish to enjoy the abundance that's available to all of us an&lt;! the entir~
Life community. True abundance is a fonn of love, and like love, .tt
grows when we share it, and it withel'!t when we gra~p and clutch 11
tightly 10 ourselves.

�The Planetary Initiative
The Watauga
Land and Water Conservancy
"Open land and pure water for
all...for all time to come" is lhe motto of lhe
Waiauga Land and Water Conservancy, a
group forming to work in the upper
drainage basin of lhe Watauga and New
Rivers.
The group is not an advocacy group,
and want to reach out across all political
lines to form a broad-based group to acquire
wilderness and agricultural land through
donation and purchase. They envision
leasing land to farmers when appropriate
technology would be employed.
The Conservancy is still in the
fonnarive stage. 501 (c}3 non-profit status is
being sought.
For more information, contact: Gay
Gingrich (704) 963-5614 or Lowell Hayes
at (704) 963-5835.
• Su.son Rttd

DE.51GNS
by Rob Messick
lllus1ra1lon &amp; Design
In Pen &amp; Ink and Colore&lt;I Pcnc II

An estimated 1.5 billion people will
be participating world-wide for the third
annual World Healing Day, an international
observance aimed at raising our awareness
of global issues. The event is unique in that
all participants will be located around the
world in more than I 00 countries, and all
services will be held at 12 noon Greenwich
time, 7:00 AM EST. More than 500
peace-related organizations and all major
religious faiths will be included in lhe event,
with emphasis on prayer, meditation, and
song creating a global mind link ac one hour
in time to express the desires of people to
live on planet Eanh.
The initiative was originally taken by
the Texas based Quanas Foundation in
1984. The first World Healing Day was
held on December 31, 1986. with more than
500 million participants. The size of the
global event grew to 800 million in 1987.
The event is presently coordinated by
the "Planetary Commission", a world-wide,
non-denominational, non-political organization without headquaners, structure, or
fundraising activities.
Interested persons are invited to
attend the local observances.

(In Asheville, NC: local
observances will be December 31, from
6:30 11111il 8:00 AM at Central United
Methodist Church, 27 Church Srreet. For
further information contact Gloria Free ar
(704) 274-7539, or James Cassara at (704)
252-2819.)

Workshops. ..
at Ille NC BiodomeCommuniJy
Waynm-lflt, NC (704) 916 0273

Integration of Creative Landscape
Design
Instructor: Bob Gow
The family's food &amp; family fun; Landscaping
shelter for animals and friends; Food
production as an artistic expression; Designing
our evolving bioregional landscape
J a n. 21 $30 (or $25 w/ other garden or
herb workshop)
The Herbal Medicine Chest
lnstructor: Cindy Heath
Herbal Remedies that may ta.Ice lhe place of
aspirin, antihistamines, antibiotics. pain killers
and other commonly used drugs.
We will be making an herbal remedy to take
home.
February 4 $30 (or $25 w/ other garden
or herb workshop)
Relationship Enrichment
lnstructors: Jofannie Karla &amp; Marie Rocchio
A workshop for commiued couples.
Overnight arrangemcntS available.
For infonnation: (704) 926-1625
March 4 &amp; S $185 per couple
The Nursery for Home Use and Profit
Instructor: Bob Gow
Exploring gounnct vegetable production,
flower and herb cultivation, rock gardens, &amp;
landscaping with native cultured materials.
March 28 $30 (or $25 w/ other garden or
herb workshop)

P 0. 13&lt;&gt;X :!hOI • Boone. '-C: 2tlti07 • 7Cl4J754 h0!17

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1-800-544-4980

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~witchbo•rd •

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PRACTITIO"lt:Rs. H•:ALERS, SCl1 001 &lt;;,
Cl-:'-'Tl'RS &amp; RrTRF.ATS
l'hon~ lh~ HOT·llNE fO find ouf how )nur pr•ctia,
«h.,.,I, he.ling trnfrr or rrfr,..f on t... li&lt;f~ in fh~
'll•lion•I Oirttinrv.

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�WORKSHOP ON
FORMING A
LOCAL LAND TRUST
The Nonh Carolina Natural Heritage
Foundation announces a two-day training
conference on March 17-18, 1989 to assist
people in forming a land trust (local land
conservancy) and designing land prote~tion
projects. The goal of the conference 1s to
assist the formation of more non-profit land
protection organizations and to strengthen
the communications network between
people and organizations interested in
protecting the land.
.
Topics covered at the workshop will
include: definition and history of landtrusts;
organizing, building, and maintaining a land
trust organization; land protection methods;
and tax laws. A training manual and
extensive reference materials will be
provided.
The workshop will be held at the
Ka nuga Episcopal Center near
Hendersonville, NC. The event is expected
to cost $90 per person, which includes two
night's lodging and five meals.
For registration information, write to:
The NC Natural Heritage Foundation
P.O. Box 11105
Raleigh, NC 27604
or call
The NC Natural Heritage Program at:
(919) 733-770 I

'.M-'.EDlClN'.E ALLl '.ES
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 spirilual barrier and exist yet m the
world as we kno w ii. These beings are called
wilh reverence •grandfathers·. And of them,
the strongest are Kanatl, the lightning, the
power of the sky; U/sa·nati, the rattlesnake.
who personifies the power of the earth plane:
and Yunwi Usd1, "the lit/le 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 powetS of Katuah have
been depicted in a striking T-shirt design by
Ibby Kenna. Printed in 4-cofor silkscreen by
Ridgerunner Naturals on top quality, all- cotton
shirts, /hey are available now in all adult sizes
through the Kalanu bioregional mail-order
wpplier.
Order shirts from: KALANU
Box 282; Sylva, NC
Katuah Province 28779
Please specify size: Sm.. Med., Lg.•

X-lg.

~~

~ WINGS WAY CONSULTANTS
Multi-Level Wellness
Nutrients for Body, Mind, Spirit

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Bluebird Bol• nlcalb~ .;;,!-1&gt;
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PO Bo~ 12"1
Mnklon. NC Z8734
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Ashiko Dr ums

738 Towu Mou.nl&amp;i.A Rd.
Aabnille, N.C. 28804
(704) 258-1038

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Natural Food Store
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Ou111bcc.k$ ...

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Member NC Water Ouahly AS$0Ciatlon

RANDALL C. LANIER

704·293-5912

1.11.NTEJl - 1988-89

HWY. 107
RT 68 BOX 125
CULLOWHEE, NC 28723

KRLRNU

Soec1J1z1N9

Woo,f eN

WATER PURIFICATION EQUIPMENT
SOLAR PRODUCTS

Send requests to: Lucille Griffin;
Rt. 2, Box 42; Newport, VA 24128

KHLRNU

(704) 688-7016

All natural

ANNOUNCEMENT

The American Chestnut Cooperators'
Foundation reports a very good harvest of
American Chestnut seeds this year and has
nuts available to willing cooperators. The
seed is free and will be shipped with
planting a nd care Instructions. The
Foundation requires only a brief annual
progress report on the seedlings each
September.

P 0. Box 282; Sylva, NC;
Katunh Province 28789

LUCHIA MAISON

1&gt;i...A .. f1
.....
'/-a fumf- 'L Jf(lltL

841 Highway106
Higlilands, NC 28741
(704) 526-5638

Write for a f ree price list,
f rom :

Send $3.00 &amp; long S.A.S.E. for Samples
&amp; Catalogue

Box 1477
Old Fort, NC 28762

Members of the Elders' Circle of the
American lndlan Council will speak at a
weekend event at The Mountain Camp and
Conference Center in Highlands, NC on
March 17-19. They will present the native
perspective on important environmental,
social, and political issues.
The fee for the two-day meeting will
be $128, which includes two nights lodging
and six meals. For registration infonnation,
contact:
The Mow1tain Camp and Conference Cenrer

BI OREG I ONRL BOOKS
AND TOOLS FOR LIU ING
IN RPPRLRCHIR

Cost· $9.50, includes postage

P.O.

NATIVE ELDERS TO SPEAK

D~ vMcAses

'-

RAftl es

SeNd

160 Bl'Olldw8y

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AsheYllle, NC 28801

wi... a-dwlry....MlrTtmon Ave• l-240

~

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
Monday·S.urday: hrn·8pn&gt;
Sunday: 1pm-Spm

(704) 2.53-7656

�-ef6BWoR/S!t!g
APPROPRIATE PASSIVE SOLAR design,
blueprints. and foll working drawings for homes,
shops, and sheds. Creative drafting.....your ideas or
ours. Harmony Sunbuildcrs; P.O. Box 194; Sugar
Grove, NC 28697
MOTHER'S BREATH HERBAL PRODUCTS high quality herbal extracts, ointments, and oils,
lovingly created.. Send for free brochure 10 RL 2,
Box 25 I; Vilas, NC 28692.
ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY on bcauliful lnnd

near Cherokee, NC seeking families desiring grcalet
cooperation and self-sufficiency. Based on SpirilUal
and ecological values. Property now available. Call
(404) 778-8754 for info.
WANTED: LAND in western NC. Family seeks 5
or more acres, preferably near Cullowhce, to
pn:scrve and evenllla.lly inhabiL ff you have or know
of affordable land, coniact Bob and M3Jy Davis; 213
Wesunoreland CL; Georgeiown, KY 40324 (502)
863-4267.

RM DESIGNS • I use lhe media or pencils, colored
pencils. gouaehe, pen and ink, and pbOtOgraphy in
creating unique fine and graphic an. I can make
diagrams. logos, finished prints. and designs for
brochures. ~dcrs. cards. books, etc. Mandalas and
symbols are my tendency among other styles.
ContaCt Rob Messick (704) 754-6097.

r:o:

SI~ LIFESTYLE CALENDAR • The photos
on llus page appear with Olhcr striking portraits or
moumnin people in "The F:iccs of Appalachia•
c:alendar. Procccd.s support lhe work of Appabchia.
Science in the Public lnlCJ'CSL To receive your
calendar postpaid, send $7.00 to: RL 5. Box 423;
Livingston, KY 40445

"TREASURES IN THE STREAM" • a casse1tc iape
of 50ngs by Bob Avcry-Orubcl. $10 10 RL I, Box
735; Floyd, VA 24091.

M TREE DESIGNS: fllustrallons and Design .
Beyond the pages of !his journal, I work in pencil,
colcwed pericil, ink. cut paper, and bauk. Fine and
graphic an tO express and enhance our lives. Logos,
brochures, books, por11aiturc, window and wall
h;)ngings. Coniact Manha Tree (704) 754-6097.
HAND-CARVED WOODSPIRITS. mystical
hiking staffs, and wall hangings by Steve Durican.
For brochure, please write Whippoorwill Studio;
RL 4, Box 981; Marson, NC 211752.

...And Tk Earth Lived llappily Ever Aflu ·stories
from foll: traditions all around the world chosen tO
help protect all living beings by bringing the world
socie.ty a few steps closer 10 peace and respect for all
life. Edited by Floating Eagle Fealhcr. $7.00 ppd.
(All profits go to Green peace and lhe Peace
Museum.) Order from: Wages of Peace; 309 Trude.au
Dr.; Mctatre, LA 70003.

JOURNEY INTO THE SLICKROCK Wildcmcss
Area. Boys, fatbtt-son, falher-daughtcr expcdillons.
Learn observation and woodcraft in the deep w~.
Burt Kornegay, experienced guide. Sliclcrock
Expeditions; Box 1214; Cullowbce, NC 28723.
AMRITA HERBAL PRODUCTS • Comfrey,
Eucalyptus, or Golden Seal salve, Lemon or
Lavender lllcccream. Made wilh natural and ~llal
oils and love. Send for brochure: RL I, Box 737:
Floyd, VA 24091.

MOON DANCE FARM HERBALS • herbal salves
tinctures, &amp; oils for binhmg &amp; family health.
brochure, please writc: Moon Darice Farm; RL 1.
Box 726; Hampton, TN 37658

FUTONS by Simple Pleasures - affordably priced.
Send SASE for info 10: Simple Pleasures; RL I,
Box 1426; ClaylOll, GA 30525 (404) 782-3920.

STIL-LIGHT THEOSOPHlCAL RETREAT
CENTER • a quiet space for personal meditation,
group interaction through study, and community
work, and spiritual seminars. Contact Leon Frankel;
RL I, Box 326; Waynesville, NC 28786.

EARTH REACH EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
teaching primitive skills tO children and adults.

Robert Martin. Jr. and Jeanne Moore; Rt. I, Box
178-A: Ferrum. VA 24088.

llEIRlOOM GARDENING and Saving Your Own

Suds, pamphlet with specific Instruct.ions on
growing, harvesting, and storing non-hybrid seed.
Sl.00 w/ SASE. Also, SEEDS . Sl.00/packec
velvet bean, wormsced, mullein, brown cotlOll,
luffa. All from Hoedown Organic Fann. Rt. 1, Box
188·1: Quincy, FL 32351.

CAROLINA MTN. MACROBIOTIC CENTER
offers natural foods cooking classes, dietary
oounsclliog, cducntional lectures for a helnlhitt life.
Tom or Debbie Alhos. Call (704) 254·9606.

WANTED: SOAPSTONE for carving and
sculpting. Wiii pick up. Barter or cash. Please call:
Scott BU'd (704) 683-1414

"ESSENCE" • the all-one skirt/dress/
jumper/pantaloons with nursing pockets. Eanhwcar,
ROI. Box 75..CI; Carlton, PA 1631 1
FREE LABOR - I would like to learn about
beekeeping and building New Age Housing. Willing
to worlc for- free during lhc summer All I a"1c is a
place for my tcm and an occasional meal. Contact
Chris Irwin: 1712 White Ave.. Knoxville, TN
37916 (615) 673-0653.
INDIAN VALLEY RETREAT - 140 acres in Blue

MEDITATION CUSHIONS from Carolina
Morning Designs. Tradittonal and innatablc i.afus.
For fr~ brochure. write; Rt. I. Bo~ .31-B; Hot
Springs, 11\C 28743.
A~TERNATIVE

COMMtlNll Y in the Smoky
Mt M. of Cl.SI TN. 10 acre.~ with creek. springs,
vie"':s· good nc1ghboc~. Be a part for S!!SOO. Call
whe (615) 4S3·1S38.

Ridge mountain~ with facilities available to n:nt ror-

groups or individual retreats, c11hcr guided or
unstructured. Send for information and c;ea.&lt;ional
c:ilcntlar or healing tr.IClsfonnativc e•·ents to: Indian
Valley Holistic Center. RL 2, Box 58: W1lhs, VA
2-l3!!0.
MOU/ER £ART// N/ilVS " no longer rcJ1r1nung

back issue&lt;:. AJpha.B11 ha' many, at co~cr pnce plus
postage. Wntc Alpha·B1t; Box 465; Mapleton, OR
97453.

Grurhk• ~OIVlaJ ofApfdl.Ji·&gt;UaSc1mu in 1&gt;.c Pub/re
/N.,,~JJ from the "Arralacltia, /0&amp;9 • Slf1l('lc LJ/~
C""7dir."

\\'EB WORKING 1s free. Send subrn1ss1ons to:

Kattiah Journal
P.O. Box 638
U:scc,tcr, NC
Katliah Pro•·1nce 28741!

kllN'TEJl - 1988-89

�Send articles, drawings, and photos of what interests you about
the Katuah region for the spring issue of the journal.

The KatUtih Journal 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: Kau'lalr Jo11.mal. P. 0.
Box 638; Leicester, NC; Katuah Province 28748.

The summer issue of the Kati1aJ1 Journal will deal with the menning
of.1h.e word "Peace" a~ a dynamic process that can replace
e:iusung structures of domination with vibrant new relationships.

BACK ISSUES OF KATUAH AVAILABLE
ISSI IE 11-IREE ·Spring 1984
Sustainable Agricuhurc - Sunnowers Ruman Impact on lhe Forest - Childrcns'
Education - Veronica Nicholas:Woman in
Politics· Lui.le People - Medicine Allies

ISSUE FIFTEEN ·Spring 1987
Coverlets • Woman Forester - Susie
McMahon· Midwife - Altermuivc
Contracepuon - Biosexuality •
Biorcgionalism and Women - Good
Medicine· Mauinlchal Culwrc - Pearl

ISSUE FOUR· Summer 1984
Water Drum • Wnter Quality - Kudzu Solar Eclipse • Clearcuuing - Trout Going 10 Waler - Ram Pumps ·
Microhydro - Poems: Bennie Lee Sinclair,
Jim Wayne Miller

ISSUE SIXTEEN - Summer 1987
Helen Wane • Poem V1s1ons in a Garden
• Vis ion Quest • First Aow • Initiation •
Leaming in the Wilderness - Cherokee
Challenge· "Valuing Trees"

lSSUE FIVE - Fall 1984
Harvest - Old Ways in Cherokee Ginseng • Nuclear Waste • Our Celuc
Heritage • B1orcgionalism: Past, Prescm,
and Future • John Wilnoty • Healing
Darkness - Pol iucs or Participation

ISSUE EIGHTEEN· Winter 1987-88
Vernacular Architecture - Dn:ams in Wood
and Stone • Mountain Home - Earth
Energies • Enrth·Shellercd Living •
Membrane Houses Bru~h Shelter ._
Poems: Octobu Dusk - Good Medicine:
"Shelter"

ISSUE SIX - Winter 1984-85
Winter Solsuee Earth Ceremony
Hor.;cpaswre River· Coming of lhe Light
• Log Cabin Roots • Mountain
Agriculture: The Right Crop - William
Taylor - The Future of lhe Forc~t
ISSUE SEVEN - Spring 1985
Sustainable Economics • Hot Springs Worker Ownership - The Great Ecooomy Sclr Help Credit Union • Wild Turkey Responsible Investing • Working :•1 the
Web of Life
ISSUE EIGHT· Swnmer 1985
Celebration: A Way of Life • K:11iiah
18,000 Years Ago - Sacred Sites - Folk
Ans in the Schools • Sun Cycle/Moon
Cycle Poems: Hilda Downer - Cherokee
Heritage Center - Who Owns Appalachia?
ISSUE NINE- Fall 1985
The Waldee Forest - The Trees Speak Migrating Forests • Horse Logging •
Starting a Tree Crop • Urbnn Trees •
Acom Bread - Mylh Time

ISSUE NINETEEN ·Spring, 19&amp;8
Pcrleandra Garden - Spring Tonics •
Blueberries· WildOowcr Garden$ - Granny
Herbalist - Rower Essences • "The
Origin of the Animals:• Story - Good
M.:&lt;.licm.:: "E'U~cr· - Be A Tree

ISSUE THJRTEEN - Fall 1986
Center For Awakening· Eliuibcth Cnllllri
- A Gentle Death - Hospice · Ernest
Morgan - Dealing Creauvcly wilh Death Home Burial Boit - The Wake - The
Raven Mocker - Woodslore and
Wildwoods Wisdom - Good Medicine; The
Sweat Lodge

ISSUE TEN· Winta- 1985·86
Kale Rogers - Circles of Stone - Internal
Mylhmaking · Holistic Healing on Trial .
Poems: Steve Knaulh - Mythic Places •
The Uk1ena's Tale - Crystal Magic • Drcamspeaking.
ISSUE ELEVEN - Spring 1986
Community Plnnning • Cities and the
Biorcgional V1s1on - Recycling Community Gardening- Floyd County.
VA • Gasohol ·Two Biorcgional Views •
Nuclear Supplement • Foxfire Games •
Good Medicine: V!Sioos

ISSUE FOURTEEN - Winter 1986-87
Lloyd Carl Owlc - Boogcrs and Mummers
- All Species Day • Cabin Fever
University - Homeless in Ka1iiah •
Homemade Hot Water • Stovemakcr's
Narrative - Good Medicine: Interspecies
Communication

ISSUE TWENTY· Summer, 1988
Preserve Appalachian Wilderness
Highlands or Roan - Cclo Commuruty Land Trust • Arthur Morgan School Zoning ls.~ue - "The Ridge" - Farmers and
lhe Fann Bill • Good Medicine: "Land" .
Acid Rain - Duke's Power Play Cherokee Microhydro Projcc1
ISSUE TWENTY-ONE· Fall, 1988
Chcslnuts: A Na1ural History • Restoring
lhc Chestnut • "Poem of Presetvntion and
Praise" - Continuing the Qucs1 - Forests
and Wildlife· ChestnUlS in Regional Diet
- Chcslnut Resources - Herb Note • Good
Medicine: "Chnngcs to Come• - Review:
W~rf: legends Li~

/'

~UA~QURNAL
P.O. Box 638

For more infonna1ioo:

(704) 683-14 14

Leicester, NC KatUah Province 28748

this effort an txtra bOosr
I can be a local contact

Address
City

Back Issues
Issue#_@ $2.50 = $ _ _
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Complete Set (3-11, 13-16,
18-21)
@ $30.00 $_ _

Regular Membership........ $10/yr.
Sponsor.........................$20/yr.
Contributor.....................$50/yr.

Name

Enclosed is$
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to give

=

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                  <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;,&amp;nbsp;was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span&gt;, 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.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; 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.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This digital collection is only a portion of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah&lt;/em&gt;-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 &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;. 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.</text>
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                <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, Issue 22, Winter 1988-1989</text>
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                <text>The twenty-second issue of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; focuses on the relationship between humans and the environment. Authors and artists in this issue include: Kim Sandland, Lylich Crabawr, Thomas Berry, Marnie Muller, Zoa Rockenstein, Kore Loy McWhirter, Richard Lowenthal, Fred Mignone, "Granny" DeLauncey, Lucinda Flodin, "Esther," Rob Messick, Amy Hannon, Pam Thomas, Lila Thomas, David Wheeler, Martha Tree, Bern Grey Owl, and Lisa Franklin. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, 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.</text>
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                    <text>ISSUE 23 SPRING 1989

$1.50

BIOREGIONAL JOURNAL OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS

�~LJAHjOURNAL

Postage Paid
Bulk Mail
Permit #18
Leicester, NC

28748

P.O. Box 638 Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

�THE PISGAH VILLAGE:
A Window into Ancient Ways
..~..-··-·-···-"·-·- ··..·-----··-··-..··-......~..

......

·'

- .......
-

-......· -..

Pisgah Village:
A Window into Ancient Ways ..............!
by Kim Sandland

Planet Art in Katuah............................. 5
by Denise Newbourne

The Green City as Thriving City.........8
by David Morris

Poplar AppeaJ .................................... l 0
lJy Doug Elliott

Written and Illustrated by Kim Sandland

Clear Sky: A Composite Portrait... .... 13
by James Rhea

"A New Earth" ................................... 14
by Jerry Trivette

College as Community Resource .......16
by C.B. Squire

Wild l ovely Days ............................... 18
Poems by Elizabeth Griffin
Photographs by Gil Leebrick

Natural World News..........................20
Reviews:
Sacred Latu/ Sacred Se.x
Rapuue of the Deep .....................23
Stopping the Coming Ice Age ............25
Drumming: Leuers to Kafllah ...........26
''Sudden Tendrils" .............................28
a poem by Michael Hockaday
Events Calendar................................32
Webworking .....................................34

On a low rise above the Catawba River there
was a village .....Once, long ago, the village
flourished ..... Flanked by magnificent forests,
with mountains rising abruptly on the western
side, it stood on floodplain soils, with fields and
gardens enriched by seasonal deposits of sih..... lt
has long since been abandoned. and now it lies
underground, a ghost town enslirouded in the
mystery of its demise.....Remains of posts in 1he
ground delineate where homes once stood. cold
heanhs contain fragments of roasted nuts and
seeds and the bones of deer and small game
animals.....Picces of hand-formed and decorated
clay ea.nhenware. tempered with the sands of
village paths, litter old floors .....When one stands
in what was probably once the cemcr of the
village, there is a pervasive aura of kindred
association and the lingering question of why was
this village abandoned by its rcsidcnls 600 years
ago.....

The old town has been named the Pisgah
Village by mhaeologists presently excavating the
Cn1awbn River site. Ken Robinson of Warren
Wilson College and his field workers are only
now uncovering the village, and it will be some
time before a thorough picture of its rcs1den1s'
wiy of life is pieced together. Excavation hns
already taken months of work, and the project will
continue through October of 1989. Laboratory
study of the artifacts recovered from the site,
photography. drawing, mapwork, and
comparisons with other sites will take much
longer.
NOTE. The exact locOUO!t of the "Pisgah VI/Inge"
article 10 protect tlit #le fro111 po.r3iblt
di!.turlJanus before ucawJlion rs c:ompltttd.
is 1101 11l•tlf 111 thU

Archaeology allows us to reconstruct the
lifeways of chose who lived here before us. II
allows us to determine the distribution,
availability, and use of natural resources by
peoples of 1he past; climatic conditions; cultural,
behavioral, and spiritual traditions and their
material representations. Archaeological fieldwork
can also tell us when - and possibly even why •
such cultures dlsappeared.
The Pisgah Village is one of thirty
promising sites that were identified in McDowell
County. North Carolina. Three of the sites were
tested for future study, but this is the only one
currently under inrcnsive study.
The site is interesting. says Robinson,
because of its location at the edge of the mountains
on the boundary between 1 very differe nt
wo
geographical situations. This was not typical of
late prehistoric settlements. The Pisgah village
presents lhe first opportunity for study of what is
possibly a definitive boundary between the
ancestors of the Cherokee and the ances1ors of the
Catawba peoples. whose culrurcs were evidently
very differenL
Anifac1s so far recovered indicate two
occupations of I.he village sire - the first from about
500-1000 AD, the second from about 900·1500
AD. The focus of the current research is on the
later occupation, says Robinson. He hopes to shed
some light on why the Pisgah Village site was
ab3ndoned.
Widespread disruption of narive settlements
throughout the Southeast occurred around
1450· l 550, and the dissipation of such
(oonunucd on p:ige 3

�~LJAHjOURNAL
·-

EDITORl AL STAFF THIS ISSUE:
Will Ashe Bason
Michael Red Fox
Richard Lowenthal
Rob Messick

Christina Morrison
Marnie Muller
Kim Sandland

David Wheeler

EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:
Scou Bird Manha Tree Jack Otaney John Creech Jay Joyce
Marsha Ring Patrick Clark Chip Smith
COVER by Rob Messick
INVOCATION - a poem, •world.~ by Elizabeth Griffin

PUBLISHED BY: Kauiah Journal
PRINTED BY: The Waynesville Mow11ainecr Press

WRITE US AT:
Kail1ah Journal
Box 638
Leicester, NC
Katuah Province 28748

!ELF.PHONE:

(704)683-1414

D1vcrsi1y is an 1mport:tn1 elemcm of bioregional ecology, both
nawrol and social. Tn line wath Iha~ principle, lhe KaJ1'ah Journal uics 10
~e as a forum for the discussion ot regional Issues. Signed arucles e~rcss
only lhe op111ion of the aulbors and arc not necesSill'il)' Ille opanions of the
Karliah Jounw/ tduors or stnff.
The lmcmal Revenue Servtce bas declared Kat11ah a non·pront
organiza1ion under seer.ion SQl(cXJ) or Ille ln1cmnl Revenue Code. All
conuibwions lO Katiiah are deductible from person.al income tl.it.

tNVOC.ATWN

the vJorld is as W9- are

TH£ SOtll'HERN APPALACHtAN BJORECJON
AND MAJOR EASTERN RJVER SYSTEMS

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Herc m lhe souLhcm-most hcattlund of Lhc App:ilnchian mounuins, 1he oldest

mounlllan range on our continetll, Turtle lslnnd; a small bu1 growing group h:is begun
IO mke on a sense of responsibilhy for Ille implicau(ln.~ of lhl11 gcogr.tphicnl nnd
culturol heritngc. This sense of responsib1li1y c:cnu:rs on lhe conccp1 of hvmg w11hin
the ruuural ~ and bal3nce of universal sysiems Md pnllClJllcs.
Wilhan dus circle we began by invoking Lhc Cherokee mime • K;u.Ualt' a.~ lhe
old/new name for this nrca of the mouniains and for ii.s joU!Tllll as well The province is
indicated by •L~ naUDUI boundarie$! the Ro:inokc Ri~cr Valley 10 the nonh; the foollulls
of the piedmont area IO the cast: Yona Mount.am nnd lhc Georgia halls lO lhc :&gt;0u1h: and
the Tennessee Raver Valley to the west.
TI1~ editorial pnootieli ror u:; arc t0 c:o!Ject and disseminate mfonnar.ion Md
energy which pcrL'llllS specifically LO lllls region, nnd IO ro.u:r IJ1e awareness 1h:u 1hc
land i~ a hvmg be.mg de$CMng of our love and rcspeeL Livmg in this manner is a way

IO ansuro the su.~n:ibility of the bao.~phcrc and a la.rung placc for ourselves m 11.S
continuing cvolutlonary process.
We seem IO h3ve readied Ille fulcrum Point of a• do or die • si111t1tion m t.cnrn;
of a quality standard of life for all living beings on !his planeL A~ a voice for lhc
can:lakcrs or llus saarcd land. Kaniah. we advoc:uie a c:enlefed approach 10 Ilic cooccp1 of
dccenlnlli1..otion. II is our hope 1 become a support sysicm for those acocpong lhe
.0
challenge of SUStninabilhy and lhe creation of harmony and balance an a total sense,
here an this place.
We welcome all correspondence, critlcism, perunen1 infonnation, articles,
an work, etc. with hopes th31 K.a.tWib will grow ID serve lhe best in1eres1S of lhis region
and all us li11'11lg, breathing members.
-The EdilOrS

let us desire only
that consciousness
,r
Of life

in which the cosmic will
and the will to be

are.,one
Some of lhe K01iiah JourfllJ] Staff: (le1i IO right)
Foreeround: Andy Ha!I-Bak.cr Middlr: David Wheeler, Mamie Muller, Rob
Messick Standing: Will A.She Bason. Christina Morrison. Chip Smith,
Rithiud Lowenlh3l. Lisa Franklin
Sprt"'J, 1989

�(continued from page J)

well-developed, thriving cultures has never been
fully understood. Robinson feels lhat CJCcavauon
of the Pisgah Village may lend some support 10 the
theory that early Spanish explorers had a
devastating effect on native aboriginal peoples.
lt has long been surmised that Spa.nish
explorers, led by Hernando De Soto and Juan
Pardo among others, came up from the east and
Gulf coasts through South Carolina and then
inlMd to the Little Tennessee River. The routes of
these explorers have lately been re-evaluated,
however, and much evidence now indicates that
they came along the eastern edge of the mountains
~ perhaps even as far east as the Catawba River.
Some of the ac!ual records from the DeSoto and
l&gt;ardo expcdhions contain references to what are
now believed to be villages in McDowell County.

a hand in decimating these large animal
populations.
The burgeoning human population.
unchecked by disease and nunurcd by abundance,
reached a saturation point. The time from about
8,000 BC to I AD is called the Archaic Period.
when human living took on a very different
approach. In the woodlands the Archaic peoples
hunted small game - primarily deer - fished. and
collected plant foods. They were only seasonally
nomadic, capitalizing on the migrations of
animals, the spawning of fish, the maturing of
nuts, and the flush of ripening benics.
The people of the Archaic Period were
efficient enough in their hunting and gathering that
the search for food did not take up all of their time;
they also pursued other endeavors. They made
basketS and mats which have been found
preserved in sites in the dry Southwest desen.
They made hand-polished stone articles - some
done very anistically, others left undecorated fo~
utilitarian use. Graves from the Archaic Period
contain tools, weapons, red ochre (a pigment
associated with ceremonies), beads, pendants, and
dogs - all mcticulo_usly placed to accompany the
dead into an aflcrhfe. Their stone hunting points
were made with stems to be attached to sbaftS, an
innovation from the time of lhc Palco-Indians.
The earliest evidences of human occupation
in the Southern Appalachian Mountains date from
the Archaic Period. They consist of isolated find.~
of a distinct type of projectile point used for
hunting - the Morrow Mountain type - dated to
4500 BC.

The Woodland Period
The Woodland Period of human habirotion
The Spanish brought conflict and murder
along wi1h their pack trains. They also brought
Q.iseases - smallpox, measles, tuberculosis, and
influenza - the likes of which the native population
had not experienced on this continent. The
Spanish, according to their own writings, burned
villages, kidnapped and enslaved natives, abused
the native cullure, and spread their imponed
diseases. They formed trade alliances with some
of the native tribes and introduced European
materials. The full extent of the cultural and social
disruption caused by the introduction of these
trade goods is only now being realized. Robinson
hopes that study of the Pisgah Village site will
provide new links in the chain of undenaanding.

extended from about I AD to 1600 AD. Three
primary developmentS marked the transition from
the Archaic to the Woodland cuhural iypes:
· the development of pottery for cooking,
storing, and transporting food and other items:
- the cultivation of vegetable crops to
supplement hunting and gathering:
- and the first pcnnanent settlements.
People of the Woodland phase settled in
river valleys, where seed-bearing plants thrive.
and became almost sedentary. cultivating native
grains and then com. gourds, and squash as these
crops were passed nonh from Mexico. Projectile
poinis became smaller and more finely crafted.
The bow and arrow replaced the spear and the
dan.

Woodland peoples traded across long
distances. Mica from the Southern Appalachians
and shells and fossilized shark's teeth from the
coastal areas appear in archaeological sites
throughout the southeast
Burial practices continued the tradition of
placing grave goods to accompany the dead. Some
individuals were bwied in elaborate earth mounds,
indicating some status or rank among their feUow
villagers.
Some of the Woodland Period peoples built
tremendous carthworlcs for purposes that are still
unclear to archeo-historians. They show a
remarkable diversity, some being mathematically
executed, others shaped like serpents. birds, and
other figures. The full extent of some of these
landscape sculptures was fully realiz.cd only after
observers could fly above them.
In some pans of the Southeast during the
Woodland Period, clements of what is called
"Mississippian culture" appeared. Mississippian
culture was characterized by temple mounds
(eanhworks which were the foundation for
ceremonial centers). village) fortifLed with
encircling palisades of stakes. copper tools and
jewelry, and inrncruely designed ceremonial an.
The v.intings of early European explorers of
the 15th century describe palisaded towns with an
ehtborate soctal development and material culture.
(continued on JXl8C 4)

The First People
During the last lee Age a land bridge JOined
Asia and Nonh America acrosi. chc Berin~ Strait.
Many scientist:. believe that prehistoric people
followed the large game animals into the new
continent by this rou!e, and by the year 10,000 BC
the first humans were well-established in both
Nonh and South America. These Palco-Indian
people. as they arc called. were nomadic hunters.
They had no settlements, and the only evidences
of their culture that have been round arc hunting
weapons (stone spear points and darts), chipped
stone knives, choppers and scrapers used for
processing game meat and cutting wood, and
animal bones thnt are evidence of their big game
kills.
By 8,000 BC the glaciers had retreated, and
the climate became wanner. Many of the big game
animals - species of horse. camel. rhinoceros, and
bison not seen today. the great ground sloths and
the woolly mammoth - became extinct on this
continent Some scientists believe that humans had
Spr~"'J. 1989

Ken Rotmisnn and

visiring school class
t!t.Omi1U! parrially

ew1WJ1ed grid
.fllUl1re OJ PiSgaJ1
Vi/Inge.

Pho•o by Morme1 Mulltf

�(col\Ullucd from p:ige 3)

In the Southern Appalachians, lhis Mississippian

tradition, borrowed from cuhural influences 10 the
west is called "the Pisgah tradition" by
arch~eologists. Peoples of the Pisgah tradition
were the direct ancestors of the Cherokee.
The Pisgah tradition of lhe late Woodland
Period with its Mississippian influences, marks
the pi~nacle of the cultural evolution of native
peoples in the Southern Appalachians. Although
some cultural traditions persisted until the rime of
the Cherokee Removal, the native way of life was
altered forever with the arrival or white explorers
and seulers.

Pottery fragments, called sherds, cons~ilute
the majority of anifacts from the Warren Wilso11
excavations. Pottery vessels were fashioned from
coils of clay, shaped and rounded. Some of the
containers hnd handles or thickened runs and were
tempered with sand before firing for extra
s1rCng1h. Some were plain and undecorated, while
others bore complica1cd panerns created by
stamping the unfired vessels with carved wooden
paddles. Cords or nets were also used lO l~ve
fiber impressions in the wet clay, and des1~ns
were also incised with small, sharp. marking
tools.
Plnin and decorated clay tobacco pipes have
also been recovered, as well as small s1one and
clay discs. believed to be counters or gamepieces.
Also found were clay and soapstone beads and
polished stone gorgeis. A hole was drilled into
each of the ornaments so that it might be worn
around the neck.
The Pisgah rradition was a way of life
which allowed individualized expression of talent
and beliefs. During this phase livelihood was
secure enough to allow time for artistic
embellishment of functional tools. Carved
soapstone bowls were made in sizes to hold from

Relics AJong the Swannanoa
The Pisgah tradition is best represented by
archaeological discoveries made on the campus of
Warren Wilson C-0llegc in Swannanoa in Kan'.iah.
Artifacts found there preview what might be
uncovered at the Pisgah Village site along the
Catawba.
The Warren Wilson site snw four penods of
habitat ion by native peoples. The earliest
occupation daies back nearly to the beginning of
!he Archaic Period, The snc has been disturbed by
erosion, dig~ing. and more recently by plowing.
Disturbed sues are more dlfficull to interpret,
because artifacts are misplaced, and feature.~ such
as building foundations, heanhs and r::rosh pits are
scauered. Despilc such disturbances,
archaeologists have learned a great deal from the
Warren Wilson site. No anifacts later than the
Pisgah phase have been. recovered ~1 Warren
Wilson. Its residents vanished someume 1n the
mid- l600's and never returned.

two quaris to 1wo gallons of liquid. Polished stone
axes were found, some grooved to be anached to
shafts, others designed to be hand-held. The
excavation yielded monars and pestles of stone for
grinding seeds, nuts, and drie(benies. and caches
of red and yellow ochre and graphite used for
paint pigments.
The villagers who occupied the Warren
Wilson site lived in rectangular dwellings. Over
the years. the sunken posts rotted and left dark
circular Stains in lhe earth, like perfect shadows.
ghoslly visions of the past. The walls were Likely
made of waule-and-daub, a mixture of clay and
grasses. Mose of the dwellings were not within the
village itself, but in outlying farmsteads.
In lhe center of each house was a raised clay
fire basin for warmth and cooking. The heanhs
and the storage vessels buried nearby contained
evidence of the foods these early people utilii.ed,
among them hickory nuts, waJnucs, buuemuts,
acorns, persimmons, maypops, grapes, bl~ck
cherries. and chesmuts. There were also remains
of com, squash, beans, and sumpweed, all of
which were cultivated. Trash pits contained the
bones of 30 species of animals, including bear,
deer, bobcat, weasel, mountain lion, squirrels.
turtles, snakes, frogs, and turkeys. From the
distribution of foods, it is sunnised that the Pisgah
(conbJlued oo page 24)

EXCAVATION
OF A PREHISTORIC SITE

An archneological cxcavarion site is chosen
because of the discovery of surface artifacts.
because of a promising location that looks likely to
yield evidence of occupation, or because th.e area
is threatened by development or by destruction by
vandals.
Fieldwork begins with a surface collection
of artifacts. Surface finds are ploued on a detailed
map of the site, because their distribution may in
itself reveal important information.
The plow zone is scraped away and sifted
through mesh screen 10 separate out any artifacts.
Below the plow zone may lie a surface
undisturbed by the activities of lauer-day humans.
A grid of stakes and Jines is then laid out
over the site, usually in a true nonh-south
alignment, to correspond with grid l~nes mark~d
on a site map. The area of each gnd square 1s
usually one square meter.
Soil samples may be taken with augers to
determine distinct strata and/or the presence of
hidden constructions or features (visible item
which cannot be removed from the site and taken
to the laboratory, such as house floors. burials,
cooking fire pits, etc.).
Selected grid squares may be excavated at
random if the site is large. Small sites may be
excavated entirely. Test excavations help 10
determine where to concentrate digging e!Tons.
As the squares are excavated, the wall of
each square 1s left intaCt m display lhe stratigraphy
(visible layering) of the soil.
Small layers, and sometimes whole strata,
of soiJ are removed using shovels or trowels, and
the exposed surface is levelled. M~terial from each
level is sifted and soned. The an1facts recovered
are bagged, labelled with their exact location in the
soil stratigraphy. Soil samples are taken from each
stratum 10 be examined in the laboratory. for even
mJcroscop1c elements in the soil {such as pollen
grains) may reveal information about the nora of
the area and the climate (such 11s periods of
drought and rainfall).
Each exposed surface level is mapped and
photographed, and details arc recorded in field
notebooks.
Features arc very carefully u~covcred ~s
they appear in the strata. To d1~turb lh_e1r
placement would be 10 destroy the rnformauon
they contain. Small dental picks, 1ooth~:ushes,
and even fine paintbrushes may be uuhzed to
remove the soil from artifacL~ and features.
Laboratory analysis of the artifacts. notes,
maps, drawings. and photographs may take
months, possibly years, of additional work once
the fieldwork is completed.
.
Artifacts and features from each gnd and
srratum and their relationships to the other finds
through~ut the site, will reveal the lifeways of the
people who once lived there - their t&lt;?Ols,_ trades,
rituals, subsjstence. An archaeologist literally
delves into the relationship that ancient peoples
maintained with the world around them.
Archaeological fieldwork reveals details .of th~t
relationship. It may te~ how lo~g lhat ~elauonship
was sustained, and Dllgh1 possibly potnl to clues
as to why it came to an end

;st:t'

Sprtng, J!189 •

�Art

by Denise Newboume

Dream f rQl}ment . ••

Slt.e fell oslup that mghl and as she dre&lt;uttM her spirit was
luult'd through the long spiral tunnel and inII) till! scars.
M1uri-dimtJtSional ribbons with Jhimmering citcu.ils drifted past
aJ incompreJumsiblt spuds Slie realized she was in 1/ie center of
the 1rwi.rplanetary in~rface, a place similar to a radio sroJibn
w/ll!re lJfU! can nW'. into past &lt;JNlfimue choices and possibilities
for any piaMt, and/inc tune w tlic path ofgre01esr harmony.
"Hmmm," she wondered, .,what can that p01h possibly be
for the eartlrr Finding ow ~·as as simple as speaking the roMS
that most corresponded with Earth's vihrationaljreqrumcy ar tlie
prese111 tu~. No soonu had llll! said "John Wayne" than she
fo1uld lu:rself in a lwlogram oftill! Earth.
Her SU&amp;Sitivc a.11ral rectpum M-Ve overw/11:/med a1fv.~t
with an almost 1111/Jearablt colkaion of hurrlingferocities,
terrified srreaming, and lrnpelt!Ss fwiliry. She re111(Ji/led calm,
knowing from experience tll/Jl often tire jint reception ofsuch
planets was the hardest lmagu of marching soldiers appeared
before her, rows ofmen 1n unifonns, who turned on their heels
and became long rows of ballerinas, all dressed in the same rum
dolng rl~ uact SOllW hops and twirls while myriads of musicians
all played variatwns of the SattU'! song. A smal I number of
"others" hod them wrapped in strings, wl11ch the&gt;• kept rig/rt, and
twisted tfl/!nt this Wtl)' and tllDt, like puppets. Then she noticed
thOl'-fand:. of beings sitting i11 tlie darkness.paralyzed The
dancers and musicians wen' used to dii-en rheir anention from
tll/!ir dl!.rperarely repres.ud condition.
Then di/! Sct!nario began to change
the people in
darkness bt:gan to wake 11p and cw the strings. They swpped
allowing tl.e cloned do.nurs and arrisrs to llypnoti:e them and
started dancing tlll!mSelvts. Nor imuating any form, they simply
followed wh1tre their own bodies led tht!ITI. The "official" artisu
also stopptd their/~en.sh reprodJJJ:twnr ofprescribedforms
long en1mgh w listen to the songs and dances from wid1itt They
all begD11 listen.ing to and performing thdr own unique songs and
danus. and helping otlll!rs learn
tlll! s~. More and 1111&gt;re
strings were cw. and tlle ligliJ gr~ brigluer wilh t!llch ""e's gift
of color. until of/ the beings became a mandala ofilrlerw&lt;J\'tn
harmony and beawy.
Her anelllion tllrMd to a man in a belly dancers silks and
veils, doing rhl sinuous, anciefll dance of binh She looked
closer and saw it war .. John Wayfll!! "What a nice resolurilln,"
slie mused to herself. "It doesn't seem so hard looking at ft from
oUlhere.··

"'do

We are now witnesses to the ultimate dead-end created
when reason attempt~ to dominate spirit, men to dominate
women, science to dominate an. and "civilized" peoples ro
dominate "'n:uive" ones. The5e are all external eumples of a
fundamental split and sttuggle within e:ich of us. We have come
so far from our primordial heritage of wholeness. that many of us
arc at a los:. as to how to regain it We are still StrUggling to learn
lhnt our fundamental problem is not any category of people. but
the \'Cry existence of ~~teg~es.. 9ur problem ~s nOt science.~
power. not an, not ~pintuahty; n 1s the pcrcepuon of these tlnngs
as sepanuc rather than facc1~ of a unified whole.
,\ key clemenr of the 1houglit sys1cm in which we perceive
each Other ns lw lhan whole 1s the notion lhat some people arc
creative and Olhm arc no1. Thi:. is extremely discmpowcring
becllusc the power to cn.:.ltC is a cenrral attribute of divinity in all
n:ligions. Thi~ c~tivc now from within provides us with 1he
knowledge of our own power. b:iJance, and self-wonh. lf we
believe that we do not have this rcgcnenitive power, then we
promote scarcity for ourselves and others. So here we all nre
amidst terrifying psychological scarcity collectively creaccd by the
majority of the population who for one rcawn or another do no:i
belie~ they arc creo.rivi- nnd powerful The planet cnn only a1wn
the pence thut com~ from wholenes.~ when the beings who
comprise it acknowledge •heir own and each others' wonh

An. ai. we know 11 today. b a mirror for our plnnewy
condiuon. There arc some people who do it. and they are n:vercd
:is if they have something others do not. There is a funher
dhtinction between "fine" an and "folk" an, with the unplicarion
that fine an is somehow nobl~-r and better than folk., because it is
non-funclionnl. TIUs 1s the alienating idea that an is only real if it
is removed from the daily now oflifc.
When a peoplCli: he.1.rlfclt. arti~ cxprcs.sion is_ lo;-t or
s~tenurically extingu15.hcd, they begin to feel empty inside and
often beccmc caught up in a funle effon to saiisfy themselves
with utemal g~. 11us exu:mal grasping often IC3ds lO the
phenomenon o! ~ictiveness The fact &amp;tlat ~e !'ow ha~oe whole
societie~ c:."pcncnang desperate levels of addlCtlOn :uid_
1is
a11endan1 destruction is a signal that it is ume forchoosmg to heal
ourselves. One way we can do this is by tapping our unique
expression~ and bl~ing ourselves llild the planet ~;th the
creative energy that Oows from our spinL
Our culrural definition of an needs to expand from the
activiucs or an elite few to that or all people. Jose ArgueUes, in
his latest book Surfers ofthe luvuya, provides such a definition:
"You've all gott.t undcrsuind th:tt you're artists. Nothing fancy,
but anists of life. anists of reality....Anything that's harmoniwl.
that's an. This is an imponnn1 point ... since the planet's got to
(conunllCld on PQ&amp;ll 6)

SJJrin9' 1989

~ ~~~ - 1'.!'9'1 ~ y

�be cleaned up and rehnm1omzed, there isn't any1hmg that isn't
Planet An." With this kind of definition. an becomes intrinsic to
the flow of life. \Ve are now beginning to realize that a11y
expression that comes from our own spirits i'&gt; valid, even if it
docs not confom110 formerly prescribed ideas of'' an".
To see an as a force for hnrmonizing our world is also to

odd a higher di~s1on '?f social respon~i~ility to it. 111~.
question "Will this conmbute to harmomzing our plam:t?

becomes a standll!"d pan of the creative process, and an irnpon:mt
criteria for whether or not 10 mar.ifest nn idea. Also integral 10 a
holistic perspective is the understanding that an and science are
not separate but are indivisible facets of a life-oriented culture.
This understanding would ~1e a much-needed ~1al . .
responsibility for everyone m all areas of human producuvny
What exactly is Planet An? It is about reclaiming our
concept of an to encompass all forms of exchange with our
world. An is the language our species has used to communicate
with the universe for thousands of years. Primitive an focussed
on the intimate relationship of a tribe to it~ particular homeplace
and all of its inhabitants. Now our homeplace has become the
entire planet and beyond...aod our an has begun to rcllect this
reality.
Planetary an is a conscious awareness of the whole Life
community in which we participate and a strong intent to
.
hannonize with it. lt is vital to our species' survival that we shift
to this more active engagement and interplay with the universe. Jn
this way. the many facets of our reality become intimately woven
toget.hcr...our own interior world, our human cultural
communiry, our planetary life community and the rest of the
universe.

How does the Harmonic Convergencu fit in with all this?
Broadly speaking. the purpose of the Converge.nee wa.s 10
reactivate our ay, an:ness of the earth as a consc1ou~ b&lt;:ang and to
pro-.idc a time to rcatlirm our choice to co-create with her. Those
who consciously made that cho1ce at that umc are the people
Arguelles is now calling the "Eanh Force".
By next year, Arguelles feels that this Earth Force will
begin to manifest itself as a global and cultural phenomenon. He
also feels that all need 10 move in a much more direct, mobilized
way. By the second anniversary of Hannonic Convergence, he
sees the opponunity for a Rainbow Peace Event. That would
signal that the Campaign for the Earth has coalesced and bonded
enough in the underground to begin 10 manifest as an alternative
force of allied, planetary, non-government organizations moving
in concen to take measures int0 our own hands.
When I think of "art camps" and the "alternative force of
allied, planetary, non-government organizations", the bioregional
movement comes to my mind. We are a ready-made resource of
diverse people who are awan: of the Earth's aliveness and are
choosing to assist with her healing process. Karuah is a very
supportive communuy for Planet An, and a strong network is
already fom1ing. Here are some examples of Planet An going on
inKatuah...

Heart Dance
Pat Sharkey, who lives in Floyd, Virginia, makes beauoful
jewelry from crystals and stones. One lhing she has learned from
working with crystals is that our own bodies operate in a similar
way ... that is, they can be programmed, and they amplify
energy. These conceptS have inspired her to create ways for an
and science to become pans of a whole... through sacred dance.
"Dance is like a gridwork, a system of conduction," she
iold me. "By encompassing tones, using our bodies as
conductors by arranging them in specific geometric
configurations, employing corresponding herbs and stones, and
consciously utilizing the energy gridwork of Icy lines on the
planet, we can attune oarselves to move any specific energy
through, and use it for healing."
This kind of work could be done at key sites alJ over the
eanh ...those places that amplify energy as well as those in need
of healing. She Stressed the impon.nncc of a disciplined
preparation of daily meditation for at least a month before coming
together to do sacred dance.
"The more preparation, the clearer the channel, the more
juice we all reccive...the more we personally understand
-something, the more authentically we can put it out to others."

One way that planetary art is manifesting is through
networking. Jose Arguelles, one of the key figures in the 1987
Harmonic Convergence, helped to found The Planet An Network
in 1983. According to Arguelles. it is far too late for anything
else save for artists, from all medias, 10 converge and produce
inter-media performance rituals and other forms of planet art.
He feels that these performance rituals should be simulcast
via satellite to as many cities as possible to raise the
consciousness of humanity. He sees this as a higher purpose of
our extensive system of mass communication. When we are able
10 liberate this media system from the forces of fear and
domiruuion we will have an incredible tool for dispersing
immediate visions of peace.
Astrologer Amero Alli envisions "the emergence of
multiple 'art camps' ...clusters of resonant core groups dedicated
to varied forms of planet an." Again.. the indicauon is that this
an js a grassroots, collective phenomenon.
Some of the elements for such activities could be music,
dnnce, comedy, drama and sign language, combined with visual
an. lighting, costumes. holograms. crystals and audience
participation. There is no limit lO the possibilities!
Drawing by Sbe.IJ Lodge

The example she gave is for a Hean Dance, in which men
and women would come together nnd fonn into a Star of David
...men forming one triangle, women the other. Rose quru:ii;
would be in the center. Pora month beforehand each pamcipant
would have spent time meditating daily on healing between men
and women. They would then come together in meditation and
symbolic movemenrs. and allow their energies to interact for the
purpose of healing. The same concept can be used with any
symbol, for any healing purpose, anywhere on the planet.
Groups could begin travelling 10 other countries f~ the expres.s
purpose of performing sacred dance there to amplify the energies
of hannony and healing.

"This is a way we can utilize all the systems we've learned
- astrology, numerology, the tarot...and combine them in
perfonnance through our bodies. High technology has become
so overspecialized that no one can see the whole anymo.rc. By
using our bodies as holographic componenis we are going back
to lhe source of all recbnology...our inner beings."
Pat is interested in organizing an Earth Dance gathering,
and in exchanging inspiration and info with others interesled in
this idea. Her address is P.O. Box 606, Aoyd, Virginia, Kaulah
Province 2409 l.
SprLf19, 1989

�Orandmottu

A planetary art exhibit ...

The popular Gmndmothc:r band in Asheville, North
Carolina is a group tha1 is already doing visionary planet an. The
group is composed of four women who each play several
different insD"Uments and sing h:innonics 1ogelhl'r. They arc a
visual, muhi-me&lt;lia band. incorporating inro !heir performances
creative movement, sign language. masks, costumes. acting and
comedy. Their inclusive approach 10 music provides an
enthusiastic vision of peace. leaving nudiences with a tremendous
feeling of satisfaction. l talked with Deb Criss. one of 1he
founding members of Grandmother, on her thoughts about Pl:lnet

The People of Lhc One Song
UV!NG ART F!Xll/B!T

An.

Her inspiration for Grund mother crunc to her when she
was visiting lhe pyramid sites at Palenque. Mellico. She sa1 for
long periods of time in the part of the complex that had been the
Mayan's theatre. There :;he had visions of "blending ri1ual art
into a music concert with respect to 1he four elemems and a ~ensc
of oneness with 1he eanh, using costumes and masks. and
finding ways io reach ou1 and dec~se 1he distance be1wecn
audience and performers.''
''The original vision l had was for an intentional way of
doing a show, beginning by smudging the area, a group prayer
and quie1 rime of positive thought We could then play with
1oncs, color, and lights, blended with modem-day music 10
induce frequencies tha1 unify heart, will, and higher mind.
People of1en become uncomfonable when things are quiet,
sacred, and serious for 100 long, so comedy is also an important
part of our shows."
Grandmother is very community orienled ... at one of their
shows !his past fall four women joined 1he show for theatre and
signing. One of them was an 89-year·old woman from
Waynesville, the "honored Grandmother" of the evening. "I feel
1hat i1's important 10 in1cgra1e all ages, so that we all have a fuller
understanding of the circle of life," said Criss.
Their group is a dynamic process of consensus, and
chooses to be open to additional aclS (with prior pl!lnning) being
part of the show. "Grandmother is the ancient spiri1 of the winds
Lhrough lime that speak through the earth to all people ... if
s..meone feels that inner voice speaking through them. it is good
10 claim it and find a way to express ii. We hope 1hat
Grandmother is a catalystic agent to inspire others 10 do this."
For more information about Grandmother, call Deb Criss
at (704) 253-4831.

Contact Improvisation

Also going on in Asheville is the quie1 revolution of
Contact Improvisation, a newly arising dance form. Its emphasis
is on releasing individual and group creativity through
spontaneous movement rather than following a specific 1echnique
or choreography.
More than traditional dance forms, Contact relies heavily
on suppon and cooperation among the dancers. II strengthens
both the "I" and the "we" because the movements come from
one's own center as well as being shaped by one's interactions
with the other dancers. It's a way for 1 physical body to learn
he
trust. •. in a literal fashion, through physical imerac1ion. rn
Contact, there are no wrong steps or movemcn1s---1here is only
more or less fiowing, depending on how relaxed, trusting, and
sensitive the dancers allow themselves 10 be.
Contact is also p:utidpatory rather th:m perfoml!lnccorlented. fl is primarily an expenence for the d:lncel'li instead of
for an audience. The movemenlS spring from deep v. ithin and nre
a continual source of surprise, even 10 1he dancers This makes 11
nlJ the more dynamic to Y.itness. Audience and dancers are
brought together llS both expcnence in different ways the
everchanging now of movement coming from spiri1 into form.
Leigh Hollowell and Christina Morrison are co-1e.'lching
the first Conmct Dance class in Asheville. Chrisuna had auendcd
a Dance New E11gland Conmc1 ln1ensivc la.~1 summer and
rerurned home excited 10 share this fonn with others. She
immediately began teaching friends in Celo and talking with
Marnie Muller abou1 the possibility of a regional Dance Kn11"1Ji.
Spring, 1989

(continued on pago 29)

Who are the People of the One Song?
They are ILf a1ul nwre ...They are inspiratian ...
/&gt;a.rt 14ah.ng into furure ..Funue leaking into
past. We invite rlrem into prese111 being ro help
us remember rite word.f to The One Song Singing
in rite liearrs and mitids ofall Earth's People.

Tile People of rlie One Song is an art exhibit centering
on the clay pottery faces and masks by artisl/poner Jane
Avery-Grubel. The faces, strikingly adorned with
beadwork, .shells, and feathers by artiM Jeri Dewey,
represent a culture of people dr:Jwn from archetypal memory
of natural tribal living. and from the vision of a futuri.~1ic
tribe we may become.
Out of lhe faces have come stories, written by local
poet Colleen Redv.onun, tha1 1ell of the uibe's dreams,
ri1uals. roles. and relationships. The exhibit will also fua1ure
many local crafts people's works such as baskets, jewelry.
clothing, musical insuurnents, pottery and herbs that v.ill
repre~ent the tribe's anifacts of everyday living and
celebration.
The People ofThe One &amp;mg is a \ision of a tribe
leading resourceful, crea1ive, peaceful lives in relationship
with the Earth and each other. The concept is an expression
of 1ime transcending--a merging of pa~r. pn:o;en1, and future
10 cn:ati: a cuhure of our wildcs1 d~a~...one that may have
been...could be.
The artists involved sec Thr People nf'The o~ Snr.g
as a modcl....''Through art we can nffirm a fuum: that i~ noc
so dependent on modem 1echnology. Most c~cry1h1og
cxhib11ed can be made, grown, or found m na1ure 111e
show is a ·work in progress that we are continually crra1ing
and recreaung, jus1 as we create our every day rc;tli1y. It's
like opening our minds and doing an archeolog1cal dig into
1hc: future."

Open through April 1989 at Old Church Glllery. M:un
Street. Floyd, Virginia, Katuah Province 24091. For more
infonnation or to schedule additional gallery engngcments: _-~
(703) 7-i5-4849 or 745·3316
~
e

•

"-I

...

&gt;Can.ah Jourrnal pCMJe 1

�THE GREEN CITY AS THRIVING CITY
Implications For local Economic Development
by David Morris
This April, David Morris ofthe I nstiture for Local Self-Reliance will
be the key1Wte speaker for the WNC Environmental Summit '89.
Here is an article from the conriner110/ bioregionat publication Raise
the Stakes that highlighis some ofhis thoughrs.
In discussing the greening of ciLies. one is reminded of Lhe
slogan Lhat the French s1udents used in 1968. On their posters they
said "all that we want to change is every1hing," which comes from
that famous ecological dictum, "everything is connected to everything
else." When we pull a thread, we may in fact unwind a sweater.
The 1wo fundamental assumptions underlying the way we've
designed our communities nre the assumptions of cheap energy and
cheap disposal cosis. Jn constant dollars, a barrel of oil that cost five
dollars in 1910 cost a little over a dollar in 1965. The cost of
lhrowing away a ton of garbage remained preuy much the same from
1900 to 1960. We could lherefore ignore lite operating inefficiencies
and wastes of the systems that we developed.
Cities reflect that inefficiency and waste. Our cities are
dependent creatures. A city of 100,000 people impons 200 tons of
food, I 000 tons of fuel and 62,000 ions of water a day, and dumps
100,000 tons of garbage and 40,000 tons of human waste a ye:ir.
We've accepLed long disaibution systems as the price we pay for
progress and development. Jndeed, we've elevated separation to
Lhe status of vinue and internalized those principles into our way of
thinking about our local economies.
J was recently reminded of how much we take 1ha1 state of
affairs for granted when Twas in a SL Paul, Minnesota res1auran1.
After finishing lunch. 1 got a toothpick, and of course all toothpicks
now have an obligatory plastic wrapper. The word Japan was primed
on the wrapper. Now, I thought to myself, Japan has no wood, bur
it has been considered economical 10 take pieces of wood and send
them LO Japan, wrap them in plastic and send lhe whole thing back: 10
Minnesota. Thal toothpick embodied 50,000 miles within it. Well,
not to be outdone, Minnesota just set up a fac1ory. Ir's producing
chopsticks and it's sending them to Tokyo.
This brings to mind an image of two sh1ps passing each other
in lhc Pacific, one carrying lildc pieces of wood from Japan to the
United States, and the other carrying linle pieces of wood from the
United Slates to Japan. That is economical only if one acceplS the
twin assump1ions noted at the outset - those pillars upon which our
economic system has been established.
This impon-expon paradigm is the way our economy runs. It
is also the way our waste economy runs. Washington, D.C., for
instance, was becoming overwhelmed by its. hum:in wastes, and paid
a consulWlt $150,000 to come up with a solution. He suggested they
barge them to Haiti. That recommendation was approved by D.C.,
but Haiti vetoed lhe idea. Haiti decided though they'd been offered
the wastes of the c:apiLal of the Frtt World, they preferred nOL to be
shat upon.
The integrated planetary economy was supposed to make us
more secure, but has it? Global trade expands and so do planetary
tensions. For example, developing counaies arc now exporting more
and more food to the developed counaics to eam the hard currency
necessary to repay debts that they incurred primarily to build up their
expon indusaies. lndusaial development and utilizacion both have
increased. The developed counaies are in an inlCTesting protecrionis1
free trade dance, a pas de deux of late planelruy economics. in which
each country tries desperately to preserve ac lease some amount of ils
sovereignty and its productive assets. at the same rime trying not to
interfere with free trade and the mobility of resources.
Capilal has become the lubricant for the planetary economy, the
grease that lets the planetary machine functioo. We fervently believe
lhat capital should flow at least as freely as raw maLerinls and
products. Last year 20 times more currency was iraded than was
needed to underwrite world trade.
We are more reluctant to embrace the unimpeded rnobili1y of
the third factor of production: labor. But we're inching up to it Six
months ago the Council of Economic Advisors recommended
abolishing all barriers LO migration in order t0 improve the economy.
JC.cu .(ui.h ) o"rnal. p~ 8

We've lost sight of the underpinning of a society - lhe sense of
community. Mobility is not synonymous with progress. Weve
ignored Benjamin Franklin's advice: those who would trade
independence for security usually wind up with neither. We have
made tha1 crade and in the process have become an increasingly
dependent and insecure people.
But now the rules have changed. Cheap energy and cheap
disposal are no longer available. Despite the recent drop in oil prices,
lhe cos1 of energy has risen more than 1000 percent in the last 15
years. Disposal costs have risen even more dramatically. In 1975 it
typically cost about three to five dollars to dispose of a ton of
garbage. Today in the U.S. it costs between $30 and $50 to dispose
of that ton of garbage. In 1970, to dispose of a barrel of hazardous
waste cost berween $5 and $10 a barrel •• although most companies
just spilled ii on the side of the road. Today, to dispose of hazardous
waste costs abou1 $300 a barrel, and for many companies the
disposed hazardous wasce now has a legal liability attached to it that is
po~ntiallyenormous.

What's imponant to note about these price changes is that they
have changed not because or the real world exhaustion of supply, but
because of a change in political a1tirude. The rising price of oil did
not occur because oil began running out, but because OPEC
artificially limired the supply. The cost of W3SlC disposal did not rise
because we suddenly ran out of dump space but because
communities, by establishing new disposal rules, anificially limited
the supply. We consciously and willfully changed the cost of doing
things the traditional way.
One of lhe enduring legacies of the environmental movement is
that it bas managed to begin to move the price of doing things to the
cost of doing things. The price is what an individual pays; the cost is
what the community pays.
Let me give you a specific example of price versus cost Rock
salt is used 10 de-ice roadways. lls price is very cheap: one to rwo
centS a pound. There is at least one alternative to rock salt, made out
of plant mau~: calcium-magnesium acetate. It can be produced a1
present for abou1 20 cents a pound · 10 to 20 times more than rock
salt. That's ilS price. However, rock salt has some problems. It
corrodes the undcrbody of cars, it corrodes bridges, and ill New
York City, Coosolidnted Edison has found that it causes a great many
problems in the electrical supply system which runs through the
sewers.
Sprlf\9. 1989

�Sewer water, c1111yi11g dhsulved rock sah. can corrode
insulation and lay bare wires. A neoprene gas can be genmued and if

a spark occurs. an explosion can send manhole CO\et'S flying. By
one estimate Consolidated Edison spends S75 million to n:pa.ir
damage caused by rock sah. Thu's part of the cost of roclc salt.
Another cost is polluted groundwater and the devastation of
vcgetntion. New York S!Atc has made an informal esumate that the
acruaJ, internalized cost of rocl salt is 80 ccnlS a pound. Which
de-icer should you buy?
The individual is unt1warc: of this cost. It is the n:sponsibility
of the community 10 make price and cost similar.
Even though the rules have changed, we haven't yet adopl.Cd a
new paradigm, a new way of organiting our knowledge and our
information. One of the principles of that new paradigm should be to
extract the mnximum amounl of useful work ecologically possible
from the local resource base. Thar sounds like a very modest
proposal, but it has profound repercussions. As we begin to obtain
more and more u~ful work, we (ind thnt we've begun to be more
and more self-reliant and self-conlll.incd.
ls self-reliance economical? Whnt do we mean by eoooornics?
Whnt do we value in our economic system? Those who praise the
global economy and trade as the underpinnings of our economic
henlth invariably point to the benefits of comparnrive advantage and
just 11s invariably point to the example of bananas. Surely local
self-reliance docs not mean raising our own bananas in the United
States when the clirruue 1s so much more favorable in Guatemala.
Il may be cheaper to impon those bananas. once again,
depending on what the price is versus the cost. Bananas that come
from Central America cooie from countries that do not pennit unions.
arc produced by companies that do not pay any iaxcs, and are grown
by production methods that have no environmenta: regulations. I
submit that if you ca.lcuhued the number of dollars that have been
spent by the Unil.Cd Sratcs in military intervention in Central America,
and dh'ided by the number of bananas that 11.rC imponed into the
United States, you would find that it's very costly co tmpon bananas
rather 1h:ln 10 grow them you~lr.
When we look at c&lt;:onornic signals, we need ro look at them in
a holistic sense. first, we arc leamio&amp;, as our s)",\tems get ever
larger, tlw the downi.hle rhks get com:spondingly gru.icr. Twenty
years ago when we wked about a cau1strophe, it meant a flood or an
earthquake. Today when we talk about a catastrophe we mean the
end of the ozone layer. the end of the human species. Local
self-reliance also has a downside risk: you could try '&gt;Omething and it
might not work. but the risk Is modest.
Second, locnl self-reliance leads to a diversity of
cxpcnmenmion. As communities experiment with differcn1
technologies, we advance on the learning curve. Third, local
sclf-reliBnCe by definition reduces pollution by improving efficiency.
Fourth, local sclr-rcllancc Is economical because It recycles money
internally for more productive purposes that would otherwise have to
be spent on maintaining the system. A crude estimate that r made
recently :;uggcstcd that 15 years ago the United States was spending
between one and three percent of its overall income for system
maintenance and cleanup. Today we're spending almost 15 percent
of our income fOI' that purpo~.
And finally. an advan1.1gc of local self-rcli.tncc is that we begin
10 channel our ingenuity into developing new bodies of knowledge
that may be appropriate 10 a world that is in a vef} dlITcn:nt cond1tioo.
The technologies that we're developing 1n North America, for
example, art technologies appropnatc to ruuions that arc resource· rich
and pcople·poof. But ISO percent of the world's popufauon li\lcs in
countries that 31C rc~·poor nnd peoplc·nch.
ff you try 10 make the United State~ !&gt;Clf-~ufficicnt or
sdf·reli:mt, the technologies you develop tO do so will be neither
appropnaic nor comp:inble wnh the needs of dc\•eloping nat.tons.. Bui
if you move towazd m:tking our tknsely populated and rcsou~-short
cities sclf·rcliant the i«hnologicsdcvc:lopcd \I.Ill be appropnate to a
resource-poor 1.1.orld. The kno1.1. lcdge generated can become a fll!ljor
export commodity.
But the pnmary benefit or local sclf·rcliancc J~ not economic;
it's psychological and ~oc1nl. II improves decision nuldng because
the costs or the decision fall on the smne community. We do not
separate the productive process over long.dhtllllC~ Psycho.logicall)'.
we improve the setf-&lt;XX1fidencc 11nd socunty of our commuruues. We
begin to miniaturize the economy. h means achieving v.hat Fritz
Schumacher, one of the great cconomim of our time, dreamt of:
local productton tor local markets from local rcsourct$.
SprU\9• 1989

ls that theory or is that pr3Cticc? ..yeu: it rums out that in ~c
scrap metaJ industry, the scale of producuon IS much smal~ than 111
the raw matcrittls industry. The best ex.ample J know of is 1he steel
industry, where the newest technology is called the mini-mill. They
used to be called neighborhood mills. but the industry decided t.h:u
that would rais.c the image or Mao 1.e-&lt;long's backyard fumaus. aod
they didn't feel this was good advertising.
Miru-mills use 100 percen1 scrap, and arc very sm:all- 200.000
tons a year average produc1ioo. A raw ore-based, vcnically
integrated steel mill produces between two and three million ions a
year. The healthiest. fastest-growing pan of the steel indu~try is
based on scnp that comes from regional matb:ts and products often
sold regionally.
Another example 1~ the chemurgy movement, created SO yean
ago by scienlisti-. from around the world concerned with using the
then-large agriculrural surpluses lb mdustrial products. In 1932. the
ltalian ambass3dor 10 Oreat Bnlllin arrived at the coun of St James
dressed in a sun made or milk. That is, Italian scientists had
discovered how to weave the casein in milk into clolhes.
Tn 1941, Henry Ford, a devotee of the chemurgy movement,
unveiled his biological car. The car body was made or soybeans. lhe
fuel came from com, and the wheels were made of goldenrod. The
soybean plastic body weighed hlllf as much as a steel-bodied car, so
the car was more fuel·eflic1cnt. lf you dented it modestly, the dentS
could be knocked back out. The C11r was wanner in the winter and
(COISinuoj ... pq• lO)

Green C ily

11

How-To 11 Mnnual---Just Published!

"Cities need to be&lt;ome more 'green'. They must be
transformed illtu places that are life-enhancing an&lt;l
regenerarfre." • PelCr Berg
&lt;:rr~a Ci11 as a "how-to• m~nual (Of mdlv1&lt;tUllts and O(JJ.n11AllOns
antcmo1ed an a :iuswnablc future. tis intnl3C i.s &amp;hat urban att.aS Cllll Cl.isl
lunnonlou\I)" with na111nll 1ysu:im • :md 111nctudca bolb practical mid visL;xury
:aw1tcut1on1 lh11I •re uppllc•btt 1;; ny ci17 or 1ino11. lbcte ts also 1
~ 1ts11ng of volllllUlet o.:uv11a with i:lc:a. llbout gctllftS: wried and womns
0

IO'll&lt;-.ds D £n'C1)" fuwrc.

• URBA."' Pl.Af.ilNG
• SMARTTRASSPORTATIO'
• SUSTAIN"BLEPLA,~'t'l!O
• RF.l'&gt;'E\\'ARl.ll E.''ERGY
• l'."EIOHBORHOOD CHARAC'rnR AND li."IPOWERM£.'lol
• RECYCUNG Al'tl&gt; REUSE
• CE.l..EllRATtNG l.IF'E·l'L-\C'F. VITA.Un'
• IJRBA.'J WILD HABITAT

• SOC'tAU.Y RF.SPONSIBLE SMALL BUSINESSES ANO COOP'ERATIVE.S
'Tbe CrttD C117 Proi:nam 11 1V111bblc d1tcc1ty from Pbru:l Drum
Foundation for S7 f'CISIP.1ld Mcmben ol lbc Foundation =eh-cu free aloag
with lbc hl·annu.:11 ne11;1p;pcr lfluu tM Suills llld Olhcr public:atiol\1 for ~i:
yearly membership rec Sl5. Thta llddtc.ss Is PIAnet Drum FoundaUon, Boit
31251, Son 1'111nt11COCA 9413t

�POPLAR APPEAL
written and illustrated by Doug Elliott

W hen I tell northerners Lhat 1 built my house almost
entirely of poplar, including the framing, rafters, interior
panelling, and exterior siding, they seem confused. When I go on
to say that there arc a 101 of old log cabins in 1hc Carolina
mountains built from large poplar logs. they look a1 me like I'm

crazy.

I'm finally learning that to a nonhcmer, the word "poplar"
refers to the aspens and other related trees whose wood is light,
soft. and vinually useless for house construction. After a bit
more discussion, we finally ge1 our terminology straightened out,
and I get the response, " Oh, you mean 'tulip tree'".
Yes, this magnificent tree has many names and even more
uses. It is not a crue poplar, but was so named because iis leaves
are attatched to its branches by long petioles (or leaf stems) that
allow the leaves to move m the breeze in a manner not unlike that
of a quaking aspen.
The tulip poplar is actually in the Magnolia family . ' l ts
scientific name, Liriodendron tulipifera, translates roughly to
m~ "tulip-bearing lily tree". This is a fitting name for the ttee
because itS flowers look like a combination of a tulip and a lily.
They are a light greenish yellow and each of the six petals has a
blaze of orange at its base.
OUJ ofa giant tulip tree

A grem gay blossumfalls on me;

Old gold andfire iu petals are.
Ir flashes like a/al/Ing swr.
- Maurice Thomas
A large tulip poplar lit up wilh hundreds of these large,
cup-like blooms in spring is a magnificent sight indeed.
The tulip poplar is the king of the magnolia family. 11 is
considered to be the tallest hardwood tree in North America. In
the old forests of the southern Appalachians il has been known to
attain a height of 200 feet with a straight ttUok 1en feet in diameter
and clear of branches for eighty to one hundred feet .
The largest tulip poplar on record is the "Reems Creek
Poplar" in Buncombe County. It was I98 feet 1all with a ttunk IO
fcec I I inches in diameter four feet above the ground. When it
was burned in April.1935, it was believed to be the largest tulip
poplar in the world, possibly over a thousand years old.
"But despite the splendor of its dimensions. there is
oothing overwhelming about the Tuliptree, bm rather
something joyous in ilS springing straightness, in the
candle-liU blaze of its sunlit flowers, in the fresh green ofus
leaves, which being more or less pendulous 011 long slender
sralks, are forever IW'ning and rusrling in the slighres1 breeze;
this gives the tree an air ofliveliness, lightening iJS grandeur.
So even a very ancieltl tUlip tree has no look of tld abou1 It,
for not only does it make a swift growth in youth, but in
maturity it maintains itself marvelously free of&lt;kcay.
This look of vitality comes partly from the vivid paleue
from which tire Tullptree is colored. The flowers which give
it 1/Us name are yellow or orange a t base, a liglu greenish
shade above. Almost as brilliant are the leaves when they
first appear, a glossy, sunshiny pale green: they deepen in
tint in summer, and in awwnn tum a rich, re1oicing gold.
Even in winter the tree is still flOt UJllldorned.for the .•.cone
remal'ns, candel/Jbrum f as/Uon, erect on r/le bare twig
...(1111Iil) all the seeds have.fallei1."
- DoNJld Culross P~

Each of the seed cones 10 which Pcauic refers can produce
l 00 or more seeds. Each seed is located a1 the end of a
blade-shaped wing, called a samara, which keeps it airborne. On
windy days 1hcse seeds whirl like tiny helicopters and are
dispersed over great distances. Because they are released
gradually all through the winter, the seeds arc important to
wildlife. They are ca1cn by many kinds of birds as well as by
squirrels, chipmunks. and other small rodenlS.
On a bright snowy day rwo friends cross-countty skiing in
the Pisgah National Forest were surprised to see a white-footed
mouse scampering all over I.he snow, so busy collecting and
devouring freshly shed tulip poplar seeds that ir seeme~
eomple1cl y unaware of their presence.
Old Uses
Indians had many uses for the rulip poplar. Us.ing fire and
stone tools, they carved dugout canoes out of large straight
sections of the ttunks and taught pioneer se1tlers the an. One of
the first accountS of this was in 1590 in Thomas Harriot's brief
and true report of the new-found land of Virginia:
" ... rite irrhabitams that were neere 10 us doe comrtlQnly
make tlleir boars or Canoes of the fomi oftrowes (troughs), only
with the helpe of fire , ltarcl~IS of stoMS and shels; we have
known soml! being so great ...tluu they have carried well XX men
at once besides much baggage· 1/ie timber being greor, ta/,
streight, soft, lig/11, &amp; yes tough ...".
Captain John Smith in 1612 reported canoes large enough
to hold 40 men.
Daniel Boone made such a canoe 60 feet long, capable of
carrying five tons. Into it he loaded his family and all their
possessions and in 1799 they floated from Kentucky down the
Ohio River and on into what was then Spanish territory. The tree
is still known as "canoewood" in some areas.
Poplar blossom time is very important to beekeepers. The
poplar is one of the most dependable sources of nectar in the
Southeast The yield of nectar per bloom is possibly the highest
of any plant on the continent and has been calculated at an
average of 1.64 grams - or about one third of a teaspoon - per
flower.
During a favorable season, poplar nectar is secreted so
abundantly that honey bees and other insects cannot carry i1 away
as faSt as it appears. Sometimes one can feel the nectar dripping
down like a gentle sticky rain when sranding under a blooming
wlip tree in a light breeze. (People who park their shiny new cars
under tulip trees often complain about this.)
Because the poplar blooms early in the season, many
honeybee colonies are not strong enough 10 fully utilize the
abundance. For StrOng hives, however, harvesLS of 100 pounds
of hooey per hive have been recorded during just the three week
poplar bloom. The honey is dark in color and is sometimes called
Spf'tn9. 1989

�"black poplar honey". When held up to the light, however, it can
be seen tha1 it is actually a deep amber-red in color. Though it is
not as light as locust honey nor as sought-after as sourwood
honey, it has a rlch full-bodied flavor that can sweeten fruit
salads, yogurt, tea, and other beverages. Poplar honey goes well
on pancakes, waffles, cereal, biscuits, cornbread, and other
baked goods. Rarely a day goes by that I don'1 eat some.
If you want the ultimate tulip-poplar-tasting experience, sip
the nectar straight from the flower like the bees do. You need to
find a freshly opened blossom within reach. Pick or lower the
blossom carefully without josrling it. Then lick. the drople1s on
the inside of the petals, and taSte tha1 ambrosial Sometimes the
nectar collects in a puddle on one of the lower sepals. If the air
has been warm and dry, the nectar will often be thick like syrup.
After one taste, you will know you have imbibed the nectar of the
gods!
In European gardens the tulip poplar is one of the favorite
"exotic" American ornamental shade trees, and it has been so for
mOTC than 300 years. In fact, the tulip poplar was first described
botanically in 1687 from a specimen that had been brought from
the New World and was growing in an English garden.
In the early part of the 18th century John Lawson,
Surveyor-General of North Ol.rolina, reponcd a hollow tulip
poplar "wherein a lusty Man had his Bed and Household
Furniture, and lived in it till his labor got him a more fashionable
MMsion." Of course the senler's "more fashionable mansion"
would probably have been no more than a log cabin made of tulip
poplar logs. There is many an old tulip poplar log cabin still
standing today and new ones arc still being built
Using Poplar Lumber
The first significant cutting of poplars in the new world
was by settlers who were clearing ground for farming. They
knew that where the tulip poplars grew, the soil was the richest.
Today this still tends to be true. Ginseng hunters look for stands
of tulip poplars when SC'Jnning distant mountainsides in search of
the moist soil that characterizes good ginseng habitat
lt was not until two decades after the Civil War, when the
r:&gt;ilroads began 10 penetrate the rugged mountainous areas of the
Southern Appalachians, that the huge poplars and other southern
hardwoods were harvested. In those days only trees over 30
inches in diameter, each yielding more than 400 board feet in
lumber, were accepl.ed at the mills.
In some areas tulip poplar grows in almost pure stands. In
1912, a tract of land near Looking Glass Rock in Transylvania
County yielded 40,000 board feet of tulip poplar lumber per acre.
Nowadays loggers are pleased IO get 10,000 board feet per acre.
Foresters call tulip poplar a hardwood because it is a
broad-leafed tree, like oaks and maples. Pinc, fir and other
conifers arc called softwoods. The wood of tulip poplar
however, is as soft and workable as white pine. Because the
extensive heanwood is a yellowish tan in color, it is known as
"yellow poplar" in the lumber business. The sapwood is creamy
white and has been used as interior panelling. When used in this
capacity, i1 has been called "whirewood". Because of its lighmess
and strength. ii is used for boxes and crates. Yokes for oxen

were often made from tulip poplar, because it was so easily
carved. lt was one of the favorite materials for building aircraft in
the days when airplane bodies were built of wood. Poplar wood
has the ability to return to its normal shape after being
compressed under great pressure. This property accounts for the
wood's popularity for building barrel bungs.
Poplar lumber is used extensively in the furniture-making
industry. Its porosity and ability to take glue makes it an ideal
core upon which to glue fine wood veneers, and, because it
talces a polish beuer than any orher native wood. poplar wood is
itself often used as a veneer.
Kiln-dried yellow poplar wood makes a good framing
lumber for house construction. It is moderately lightweight, yet
stronger than spruce, fit; or white pine. Unlike the whole poplar
logs used in cabin construction. milled, dry poplar lumber has
little tendency to split when nailed. The Nonh Carolina Building
Code accepts graded poplar lumber as a framing material.
However, it has been infrequently used in recent years because of
the.abundance of low cost softwood timber, such as Douglas fir
and spruce, shipped in from the western Sl4tes. As the supply of
western softwoods decreases. tulip poplar may come back into
more common use.
Dead and Rotting Wood

Tulip poplar is also valuable when dead and rotting. The
stumps decay quickly and provide an ideal habitat for various
wood boring beetles. These beetles and their larva are one of the
favorite foods of the majestic pilca1ed woodpecker (often called
"wood hen" by mounroin folks). The pileated woodpecker is so
named because of its brilliant red crest. It 1s our largest
woodpecker. almost as big as a crow. These and other
woodpeckers regularly visit decaying tulip poplar. and some
people purposely cut poplar slumps high or use the Jogs in
gn:rden beds near the house in order to artmct them.
Dead tulip poplar is also the favorite growing medium for
cenain fungi. most notably the delec1nble oyster mushroom
(Pleurorus osrrearus). Oys1er mushrooms arc one of my favorite
'Aild mushrooms. l learned to identify them by Clll'Cfully studying
them in mushroom field guides. They arc f.urly easy 10
recognilC, hence they are one of the safest of the edible wild
mushrooms. They grow in cluster:., usually out of the sides of
logs or stumps. They vary from a creamy. "oyster" whi1e to 1.1n
or gray in color and arc distincbve because the gills run down the
entire length of the stem. They arc delicious in soups. on p;ista.
and can be saut6ed and gently stewed lO make an elegant side
dish. Once l had oyster mushrooms fried in fritter batter, and
(conunucc1cmJllil&amp;e30)
they actually tasted like oyster mttcn..

~'°"""

J--'

9"'JS t t

�The bark of the poplar tree can be remo1Jed in the spring
and early swnmer and has been used in many ways. Large sheers
of Ir were used by the Indians as CO\'trings for wigwams,

wickiups, lodges, and orher living quarrers. In the Nonfl
Carolina mountain.s, poplar bark has bun used as siding on
frame houses. When I first disco11ered it on some homes near
Burns11ilfe in Yancey County, I was suuclc by ir.s rustic, }'et
eleganJ beaury.
As I was building my own house at the time, I wonted to
/ind ow how poplar bark siding wa.f made and how long it wollld
last. Wizen l asked around, however, it seemed tlw.t most of the
builders of these hauses Jw.d long since passed on, but t~y had
left a legacy ofpoplar bark. siding thol was sdll holding up well
qfter 70 or more years.
1 finally found one older man who was a poplar bark
crafts11w..n, and he tk.scribed tlie process UJ me. In early swnrner
when the "sap's running", large sheers of the bark are removed
from mediwn-sized trees. The bark is carefully pried off tlie trunk
with a to0I know11 as a "tan bark spud". This tool hark.ens back to
the days w}ien the collecting ofoak, chestnut and hemlock bark
was o pan ofevery timber cutting operation. The bark was sold
to tanneries as a source of tannic acid. A spud could be
Improvised mu of a stout curved stick with a chisel-like edge
carved on one end. Those made by blacksmiths look somewhat
like a small-lieaded spade.
After 1/ie bark is remo11ed, it is cut illro large rectangular
sheets, taken ro a barn or other dry p/act and "stacked and
stickered" like green lumber with na"ow strips ofwood between
each sheet of bark to allow air to circulate. Rocks or other
weights pilled on rop of the stock ofbark en.sure that the sheets
stay flat and do not curl up as they dry After a month or two of
drying, rhey can be cut 10 length and nailed like slung/es onro the
building.
Armed with th8se minimal instructions. and a lift·long love
of tulip poplar, I knew I had to onempt co/leering bark 10 cover at
lea.rt part ofmy house. A friend who was building ms own lwuse
was about to CUI some poplars on his land 10 use as suppon
beams. He told me that if I'd help him cut them and haul them
down to the building site, he'd help me get the bark.
The first tree we/tiled was aboUI afoot in dianieter, and it
fell uphill. We trimmed off the upper br01iches, until we had a
length ofclear trunk abou1 30 feet long. With 1he chainsaw, we
mode one long CUI throught the bark down the entire length ofth4
l.og. Then, staningfrom the bonom, with one of us on eilkr side
of the log, wt wenr at it with the bark spuds, ourf111gers, hate/let
blades and whatever else we collld improvise to genJly pry the
bark from the log.

. .. -

TIU! nt•wly formed cambium layer benn•e11 the bark and the
sapw(l(Jd was sofr, slippery and Yer)' juics. As the: bark gave way
10 our efforts arul .tepararedjrom ti~ rrunk, it made a slurpy
hissing noise. !Ve gradll(l//')! worked our Wll) up the log . The
bark was coming ojf bc:outifully. When wc:j1r1ally reached the
11pper end oftlu: log, tire remaining section f1f the bark StpcJrated
wirh a rtsowuling hollow "pop"
We stood up and ~ere congrarularing ourselves on a job
well dmu:, when we heard a noise. lt&gt;okinR down we sow our
newly-skinned log heading off down the hi/IT ltsfreshl)• removea
bark had created a trough t/IQJ was slick.er tlllJll any bobsled run,
and b&gt;· rhe time that log left that piece of bark, it had picW up a
terrific amo1u11 of speed and momenlltm.
It we111 careenin,g down the mountainside, and all we co11Jd
do was watch in astonisl11T1enl as thoJ log leapt over rock ledges
and crashed through thic~ts. It fi111Jlly .rropped uh0111 fl!ry yards
down the hill when i1 collided with a srump jusr above rhe house
.tire.
We breathed a huge sigh of relief. If it had nor been
sropped by the s111mp, that .flippery bauering ram would hove
done considerable damage to rhe ho11se founda1io11. Afrer rhar, we
senved a rope to each log before we removed ilS bark.
I found ow larer rluJt mountain loggers hove a word/or a
log sliding down a nwu111ainside. TluJt log is nball·hootin'," and
it is recognued as a serious danger in logging steep f1W11n1al11
,f/opes during spring and s1unmer. As one old logger told me,
'Them poplar logs is bad/or that. Wilen the sap's up, that bark
can slip off a log you're dragging and if tha1 log gets loose and
goes a balf-Jwotin' down the mou111ain, buddy, 'hit can kill a
ma11l"
The bark of small poplar trees can be scored and folded
into carrying 11essels ofall sizes from berry baskets to backpacks.
/11dia11s daubed the seams with pine pitch and used them as W(ller
buckets.
I was first introduced to bark basketry by my mountain
neighbor and friend Paul Geouge, wlio has been mak.i11g baskets
for years. I was enchanted by the way he explained their simple
practicalily;

"So you've been out fishing all morning .following the
creek up in.lb the nwuntain.t. You're cau:hlnJl some of 1/iem nmive
speckled trour, bUJ afrer a while the srream gets too small. So you
call it quir.s and head up onto the ridge/or rhe long walk home,
There you TUii into the biggest patch of ripe huckleberries you
halle ever seen.
~You'd 1011e to take some of them berries lwme, hut you
ai11'1 go11101hing to carry 'em in. Whor collld you do?" Paul asks
wirh a twinkle in his eye. "Well, if you knew how 10 make a
berry basker, you'd just find you a young poplar rree, make you
a poplar bark basket, and tote tllUn berries home. Now they'd
taste mighry g()()d after a fish dinner! ...
Between the ower layer of the bark and the sapwood is a
layer rich in fibro11s vascular material known as bast. When
rorred under controlled condirfons it can be used to mah ropes.
twine and other cordage. Ir was high/}' valued by Native
~ricansfor rhese tiles
Poplar bark has also been 11sed medicinally as a tonic and a
remedy/or fevers, stomach ailments, dysentary, rhe1unari.sm and
gour. It is a source oftulipiferine, an allt:aloid that acrs as a heart
stimulanr.
/
2

! ff.'"

• Doug Elliou's most recent book, (that includes step-by-s1ep
instruetions on how to make a rulip poplar bark basket) is entitled
Woods/ore and Wildwood Wisdom. It can be ordered from him
at Possum Productions; R1 1, Box 388; Union Mills. NC 28167
for $10.00 post paid.
Sprl·"'J· 1989

""''

.... -

�CLEAR SKY
a drawing by James Rhea
The concept for the drawing derives from my years
growing up in the southern foothills and hearing Cherokee
follclore, and being fascinated by their lifestyle and contributions.
I have always been inspired by other culrun:s, especially so called
primitives. This picture is pan of a series of portraits of healers or
philosophical leaders, who arc inspirational to their people,
representing cultures throughout the world.

From that I envisioned a change of bean from a life of war
and bloodshed to one of service and ~ce. This choice was
indicauve of several individuals who laid the foundation for the
later culturnl flowering of the Cherokees.

Clear Sky is more of a composite of an ideal figure lhan a

definite ponrait. The Cherokee people in the late l700's were in a
state of despair and desperation because of the encroachment
upon their lands and military defeat by European scnlcis. SC\'Cral
individu:tls came to the forefront to encourage and inspire their
people. To the Cherokee. they were lcnown as beloved persons.
both men and women. They felt a need for a transition or
integration into white society, but at the same time they hoped to
retain the best of their past for cultural survival.

Clear Sky's dress is typical for the time. He wears a blue
EngltSh bro3dcloth shin and has a Spanish trade blanket around
his waisr. The necklace is wampum with a silver gorget. The
eamngs are archaic beaten copper with slit earlobes. The hair is
trimmed with a dyed egret feather ornament In his band he holds
a turkey feather (an with natural bead work. a sign of respect and
dignity.

lsk.agua CJtr Clear Sky was listed in Duane K. King's book
CMrolcee Indian Na1ion as being present and signing a document
protesting the tt'Catment of Chickamauga Cherokees by the
Americans. The petition was sent to King George m of England
aslcing his government to intervene. At the time of the signing, or
thereabouts 1789-1791, he changed his name from NeMnoataah,
or "Bloody Fellow" to lsk.agua. "Clear Sky."
Spr~nAJ.

I used several sources Ill compiling his dress, ornaments
and general demcaner. but the most informative was the JnditlJIS
of the Southeastern Un11ed States by John R. Swanton,
Smithsonian Anthropology.

James Rhta lives in an old farmhou.st in a rural pan of
Cabarras CoUllt)'. Ht is illlertsttd in organic gardening and
environmental issul!S and spends time canoeing and hiking for
inspiration and peace of mind. His artwork includes tM subfecrs
of wildlife as well as portraits. "In gentral" he says •1 favor
world peace and holistic liftstyks".
,/

1989

Xat-~ )o\UnoL ~ 15

�II

a
Early, al tine o'clodt IWO sbocb ol-an
anbqaUe Wlft felt. Tbc boule D
cuM:d mid
ew:rytbing WU ID mowmelll.
The bcns fell to the paid fJOm lheir room
ud set up a pi.tifol cry.

You cm see chat the white people mR
diffaalt bc:ings from us, we are made
or.red clay. they of white sand.

About lbe J'Cll' 1811 IOIDC of the
Cleroba cbamed ud Olha'S
RCtiwd. in various ways.
cQ11111mictricw from lhe Oral
Spirit. all lr:Dding IO discredit die
ICbane ol c:ivilization.

See 10 ll dw you get back your old

Beloved Towns.
Yoor mother is not pleased you punish
each other so ha1d.
I have told you what the Gn:ac Spirit's
will is, and you are 10 pass on iL

la on:tcr that you might know bow things
want to tell you
what happened bcrc in the Nation ju,st the other
day.
~Pl in die Wkl IDday, I

Jusr dne rughis ago I was at a Wk in
C&gt;o&amp;1mally. To tha1 place came~ man and two
women who to1d that while they were on 11
journey, Ibey came eo an unoccupied house near a
hill called Rocky Mountain and enlCttd it in order
to spend the night thcte.
Just as it had become dark, they heard a
violenl noise in che air.•.As !hey went outside to
sec abou1 ii they saw a whole crowd of Indians
~g on I.be hill from the sky•...
nding on small black horses...their leader
beating a drum. .•came very close.• .They were
much frightened .•.•.

"Don'1 be afraid. we arc your brothers
and have been sent by the Great Spirit
10 spcalc co you.
The Great Spirit is dissatisfied that you

arc n:ceiving the white people into your
lnnd•.•..

You sec that the hunting is gone, you
are planting lhe corn of the white
people. go and sell ii back to them and
plant Indian com and pound it in the
manner of your forefathers. do away
with the mills.
The Mother of the Nation h~ fOtY.lccn

you. •. her bones are being broken
through the grinding. She will return co
you if you put the white people out of
lhe land and return to your fonncr
manner of life.

If you don't believe my words then

look up at the sky."
They did and saw the sky open...an
indescribably beautiful light and in it four white
houses.
"Such houses you are to build in your
Beloved Towns...
for white men who can be useful to
the Nation.. . ."

I mn not Ible IO delcribe lhe creat
perplexity into which we C11D11 Jasa ...L
Our dwelling bowie was in die most violent
mDVellXIH IO lhu it seemed IO be Deir II&gt; be
falling in.

.. .a strongviolent noise beard
from the W.N.W. _ .and stteaks of
l.ighlning.....
This morning between 7 and 81&gt;'c1ock we
felt tw0 more shocks without the sli1thtcst noise.
...our house was r:rembling..•the roof moved.
The m:es were in movemen1 wilhout !he
slightest wind.

It is true, the white people must all go from

lhe Nation; boWevcr, 4 smiths, S()tne school
ceachers a.rid those who arc building mills
for us a.re to be toleralbd. but later. they too
must return to their own country..•..

Some of them anribuce the occurrence
co the sorcerers; some, to a large snake
which must have crawled under their house;
some to the weakness and old age of the
eanh which will soon cave in.

. •.they held a grand feast and celebrated a
great medicine dance. .• ..

. . .if they believed and obeyed, then game
would abound, the white ll1!ll1 would
disappear. . • .•
.• .instead of beef and bacon they would
have venison, and instead of chicken they
would have turkeys.

. . •we heani today from a traveler
tb:u in Taloni. •. thiny miles from here
along the road to Georgia. in a field 13 sink
holes appeared as a result of the earthquake.
the largest of \\&lt;hich is 20fcet deep and 120
feet in circumference and is. • .full of
gn:enish water.

. . .he would like
to know whether
lhe end of 1hc world
were not near. .•• •

sprin9. 1989

�J

...many lndians believe that the white
people were responsible because they had already
taken possession of so much of the Indian land
and wruned still more.
The Great Spirit is angry...and be wanted
to put an end to it through eanhquakes.

, Soon after the eanh had tremble4 an Indian
was silting in his house in deep thought, his
children were lying sick in front of the fire.
...a tall man appe~ clothed entirely in
the foliage of ihe trees, with a wrca1b on his head.
..carrying a small child in his ami.~ and had a
larger child by the hand.
"The small child on my arm is the
s
ClJC:it Spirit.
l am not able to tell you whether the
Great Spirit will soon destroy the
earth or not.

1be Great Spirit is not pleased that
tbc lndillll$. have sold so 111uch land
to the white man.

:rugalo, wl!K:I\ is now possessed by
white people, u; the r~t place the
Great Spirit created.

There in a hill he placed the firs&amp; fire.
for all fin: comes from the Great
Spirit.
. . .the white people have built a
house on th3t hill. They should
ab:lndon th~ place; on thru hill there
~hould be grass growing. only then
will there be ptaee.
...the Indians no longer thank the
Great Spirit before they enjoy the
fust fruits of the land. They no
longer have dances in his honor
before they eat the first fruit~.
You arc sad because you thin.le your
childn:n m ill, they are not renlly ill.
but have only taken in a. little dust.~
•.. he gave him two small piece5 of bark from a
certain tree ••• and told him to cook them and to
give the drink to his children. and from that they
became weU right then.

7

...the residents of one wwn fled into the hills and
tried to crawl into hiding in the ho!~ of lhe rocks
in order to escape the danger of I.he hail stones, the
size of half bushels. which were to full .••..
...numbers of the aibe.. .abandoned their bees.
their orchards, their slaves, and everything else
that might have come to them through the white
man, and...took up their toilsome march for the
mounwns of Carolina.

..•mills. clothes, feather beds and iables
- worse still •.. books, and domestic cats!
This was not good· theieforc the buffaloes and
other game were disappearing. The Great Spirit
was angry. and had withdrawn his protection.

The Cherokees must return to the customs
of their fathers. They must kill their cats, cut
shon their frocks, and dress as became Indians
and warriors. They must discard all the
fashions of the whites, abandon the use of any
communication with each other except by word
of mouth, and give up their mills. their houses,
and all the ans learned from the white people.

~ Oicrokecs arc at this time in a
rcmarlc.able manner - occasioned by the late
shocks of the eanh ·endeavoring to appease
the Anger of the Ore3t Spirit

They have revived thcnr religious
dances of ancient origin to appease the
Anger of the Great Spirit....with 115 much
solemnicy as ever was seen in worship In
our churches. They then repair to the water,
go in and wash. These ablutions arc
intended 10 show that their sins are washed
away and that they are cleansed from all
defilements.
These fanatics or prophelS tell them
that the Great Spirit is :ingry with them for
adopting the manners, customs, and habfo;
of the white people who, they think. are
very wicked.
Some of the females an: mutililting
fine muslin drcsses and arc told that they
must discontinue dancing n:cls and country
dances whieh have become very common
ampn~l the young people.

. . .!here is llllk

...in the space of 3 months the moon
would again become black. and thereafter
hail stones as large as hominy blocks would
fall, all cattle would die Md soon the earth
would come to an end.
A sorcerer said uncil then there would
be peace; how things would be after thnt he
did not know.

that a new earth
will come into being
in the Spring.••..

•• ,it has bc!en revealed by the Great Spirit
th:u there would be an intense darkm~ss and that it
would last three day~ - during which :lll white
people would be snatched away as well as 1111
Indians who had any clothing or household
articles of the white man's kind.•••
•.• they should put aside everything that i:.
similar to the white people and that which they had
learned from them, so that in the darkness the

Great Spirit might not mistake them and snatch
them a~ay.
... many llre doing away with
their household articles and
clothing.•.•

The above ma1trial if parr fJf a /011ger work in
progress. Jr is drawn entirelyfrom actual occounLS
uf the events ~ntitmed, a.s recorded in ltrrers and
diaries from the period, many of wlrich were
locared in rhe Mortn•ian lfrchh'es In
Winsron·Salem, North Carolina.

5

�Imagine what could happen over, say, the next five
years, if similar projects were begun in cities and
communities all around the region and beyond....

A Look at the Black Swan Center
By C.8. Squire

College students encouraging community economic
development in the community that surrounds their campus? Thai
is exactly what's happening in the Swannanoa River Valley. The
effon is being carried out by student-faculty teams from Warren
Wilson College working ou1 of the BlacJc Swan Center.
The Black Swan Center. named for Black. Mountain and
Swnnnanoa, !he two towns in !he Valley it embraces. is currently
located on the Wnrrcn Wilson campus and serves as a community
resouN:e organization for the entire area. A key ob)ective is to
explore how small colleges can "serve as catalysts in their own
backyards for community and ce-0nomic development projec ts,"
according to Black Swan directors Laura Temple Haney and Louise
Solomon.
Initially funded by grants from the Z. Smith Reynolds
Foundation and the Broyhill Family Foundation, the Center
operates with a work/study crew made up of students and faculty
advisers responsible for various individual projects of the Center.
This "work crew". made up of fifteen students majoring in
Sociology, Environmental Studies, Social Work, Political Science,
and English, meets regularly to review their various projects
centered around !he "community economic developmem" concept.
The Black Swan Center grew out of lhe Swannanoa Valley
Projcc1 (SVP), a land-use planning and economic development
study carried out in 1985 by Swannanoa Valley residents and
Warren Wilson College Staff, faculty, and students. Funded by the
Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation and TV A, the SVP found that
most project participants wanted the Valley to reverse its downward
economic trend "while remaining an essentially rural area wilh a
viable economic base." It became apparent thm what wa!"&gt; needed
was an ongoing community resource center to serve these needs.
Thus, the Black Swan Center was born.
The vital importance of a community planning and resource
center such as this cannot be overestimated. Tf we wish to
preserve and enhance the quality of life here in Kaniah, in ways thar
nre ecologically and economically sound, we can no longer allow
the haphazard and Shon-sighted type of growth and development
that has predominated for decades. The key factor in reversing this
trend and in finding truly workable solutions is to encourage local
initiative, self-reliance, infonnalion exchange, and cooperative
effort. This can be a very powerful grassroots movement, with
far-reaching effects, but it demands susmined local commitment and
involvement. This k:ind of sustained effon can best be supported
JCQti&amp;Qh

Journot pc:M)e

by citizens and businesspeople acting in concen with local academic
institutions. After all, should we not make the mo.st of all of our
available local resources, in order to assure the contin ued
well-being of our communities? Only in this way can we
intelligently deal with the tremendous forces of change that are
confronting us. It is now critical !hat we re-learn and re-create the
an of community - and projects such as the Black Swan Center arc
beginning 10 lay the groundwork for !his crucial renaissance. In
fact, this dynamic pilot project has already achieved tangible
results. Imagine what could happen over, say, the next five years,
if similar projects were begun in cities and communities all around
lhe region and beyond. ...

A key objective is to explore
how small colleges can "serve as
catalysts in their own backyards
for community and economic
development projects" ...

In its first year, the Black Swan Center has been focusing on
three essential components: (I ) A community economic
development class for Warren Wilson students to prepare them to
work in the Center; (2) development of a college work crew made
up of faculty and students which operates and coordin:ncs Black
Swan ruitivitics; and (3) a community-based education course for
Valley residents designed to promote new business ventures,
develop rural leadership Skills and teach community economic
development concepts. AU three components are in place, with the
community-based education course starting in March.
Organalcd by Lisa Waners, a Sociology mnJOr, the course,
"Community Development and the Economy in the Swannanoa
Valley,''. is ~imed at .~elpmg Valley residents (l) "gain the
leadership skills and ab1hoes that can make positive changes in the
lives of the people that live in the Valley; (2) explore the
Swunnanoa Valley community and its resources; (3) understand the
problems facing the local economy; (4) seek: solutions. and; (5)
determine what small businesses might succeed in the Valley."

16

Sprl.n.g, 1989

12

�As Lisa points out. this type of course was designed by the
Highlander Center in Tennessee and has been used in such
co~uniri~s. as Jellico,_Tennessee, and Dungannon, Virginia.
Unlike tradiuonaJ educauon, the course doesn't separate learning
from doing, theory from practice and education from work. "When
Y?U put 'community' in front of 'economic development'," says
Lisa, "it means ordinary citizens revitalizing their communities and
stimulating quality economic development from within rather than
waiting for the 'expens' to do it, or for outside industries 10 come
in and provide jobs." In the long run, "community economic
development doesn't only mean jobs. because ic can aJso make the
difference in peoples' environments and quality of life."

exploring options for municipal structures for the community of
Swannanoa. He is also helping to draft a legal document that can
be used as pan of an offical petition to the state to incorporate
as a township.
Christy Allred, an Environmental Studies major, and
Katherine Crum, a Social Work major, are working with TV A 10
identify fanners in the Valley who are interested in growing
specialty crops such as shiitake mushrooms and baby
watennelons. Two workshops are planned, one in May, the other
in the fall of 1989, that wiU bring Canners from Buncombe and
Madison County together 10 discuss agricultural problems and
trends facing the area and how to effectively market specialry crops.

The 10.week course will be fnciJiiated by Louise Solomon
and Laura Temple Haney, both faculty members at Warren Wilson,
and Marilyn Bass, of the YMJ Cultural Center in Asheville. In the
second part of this course, they will be joined by Tim Richnrds, of
the Small Business Technology Development Center, and Dana
Smith, of the Self-Help Credit Union, who will specifically instruct
participants on how to work with a business idea.

One of the more impn:ssive activities growing out of the
Black Swan Center is a waste management center, directed by
Melissa Gildersleeve, an lntercultural Studies major. Alrendy in
operation on the College campus, the Center includes a processing
pavilion for rccycleable items, including a baler for cardboard and
specially designed "drop-off' bins for recycling glass, cans and
newspapers. The waste management center grew out of a class
exercise in an Environmental Policy cl:iss artd has resulted m the
recycling of much of the 25,000 lbs/yr. of ttash generated by the
collegc--trllSh that had been caned to the county landfill at a cost of
up to Sl2,000/yr. Melissa bcheves that within a couple of years the
college's waste management costs will be entirely covered by
n:venucs from recycling. Her bu.~iness plan includes e~panding the
College's program by establishing five more "drop·off' collection
sues in the Swannaoa Valley, possibly as early as this spring.

While important to carrying out the aims of the Center, the
course in communicy economic development th.is spring is by no
me~ns ~h~ center's sole: agenda_. A small ~usincss development
project is in progress with the rum of "keeping more money in the
Valley" by encouraging businesses in the area to buy from each
other whenever possible, explained Brad Brock. another Sociology
major and one of the Business Development coordinators for the
Center. He added that the Black Swan Center and the Swannanoa
Valley Ch:tmbcr of Commerce have almost completed a business
directory of the Valley with one section made up of chamber
members and the other. "the green pages". listing all valley-owned
businesses.
Brad and his partner. Rebel Bailey, an Environmental
Studies 1113jor and owner of a flourishing backpack business. have
a!so been working with Nonh Carolina REAL Enterprise (Rural
&amp;onomic Alternative Leaming, localed in Raleigh, North Carolina)
10 design a curriculum on developing student-owned enterprises for
Wam:n Wilson College. Fffty people attended a five-pan series of
workshops called "Business Basics''. Post-workshop follow-up
has resulted in consulting sessions with four entrepreneurs with a
"good strong prospect" for getting a business up and running in the
Valley. Still another project for Brad and Rebel is the Stan-up of a
breakfast club, modeled after the Briarpatch program on the west
coast, that will provide networking opponunities for local
entrepreneurs and owners of small businesses in the Valley.
Another Black Swan project, headed by Heidi Erick.son. :in
Environmental Studies and Education major, is a literacy program
with a new twist-worlting directly with the business community to
improve literacy. Heidi explains that those unable to read and write
are often reluctant to tell their employers or their lack of reading
skills. But one area employer, Charles D. Owen m, has agreed to
have a literacy project operating at his plant site, with employees
receiving half-pay for the time they spend on learning to read.
Heidi's project has already trained 12 people at Warren Wilson
College to teach such courses.
Still another project of the Center involves working with the
Alternative Energy Corporation. based 1n the Research Triangle
area, in developing a "Community Energy Campaign~ for the
Valley. This project plans to help weatherize non-profit buildings
anc,1 to audit heat loss in college and community
buildings-including the former Carver Alternative School property
in Black Mountain which the county has just acquired from the
town's Parks &amp; Recreation DepanmenL Eventually, with this
campaign, the Center hopes to help the community save much of
the 40 miJlion dollars a year or so lhat leaks out in energy cosrs in
the Swannanoa Valley.
Dan Scbeuch, a Political Science major, has been working
with Swannanoa Valley residents and the Nonh Carolina
Department of Natural Resources and Co1TUI1un1ty Development in
Sprt.nq. t989

Although all the ~tudents working at the Black Swan Center
have different 'main' projects they are working on. they all have
one thing in common. Each panicipates in one another's
programs... wch as lending the experti~e the1y have gained in
desktop publishing, to knocking on doors of local businesses. to
picking up the College'!\ waste and recycleablcs from around
campus once a week.
For the future, chc Black Swan Ccnu;r hopes 10: organize n
Swannanoa Valley community work day: perhaps relocate the
Center more into the heart of the community: encourage other small
colleges in Appalachia to explore setting up a similnr program. and,
in general. coordinate the community development projects and
courSCS and the starrup of at least one student-run entesprise.
One of the most promising aspects of this entire project is for
the Black Swan Center to serve as a working model for other
insututions in the region. They. too. may want to embark on a
similar cooperative program of community development that., in the
words of the Center's grant application, "will overcome the
'LOwn-gown' barriers that separate so many colleges from their
neighbors."
To quote Gnscom Morgan, son of Arthur Morgan who
founded the Cclo community in Yancey County. and who bjmself
for the last four decades has inspired and assisted the cause of
community through his association with Community Service. Inc.;
"We need fol,k colleges-people's colleges...not jus1 for intellect.uals
or whites, b11t to do what Highlander College (now Clllled
Highlander Center) has done for Appalachia and the South. lf we
had folk colleges 10 which the working class and rural people from
across a region could come and htive association with the
intellecruaJs--then rerum to their local communities with the strength
and conviction of their own culture--tbese different groups of the
common people could reinforce each other.•
Morgan's dream is being rcallz.ed by a group of pioneers:

so~ fifcecn students with very diverse background.&lt;&gt;, two faculty

advisors, and an involved community•..... You are welcome 10 visit
this dynamic center or call for more infonnation.

The Black Swan Ctn1er, 701 Warren Wilson Road, Swanrwnoa,
North Carolina 28778. (704) 299-9306

�wlld lovely days
the wild lovely days
come
with a wind tossed violence
they awaken
a tantalizing bitterness
of memory
the spring morning of lilacs
the wilting high noon
of orange poppies
the late afternoon sun
of autumn marigolds
and now
the great wheel of night
spins with dazzling circles
of blue and gold light

�dancer
the tender talents
of earth swelling
with rapture
birdsong and blue sky
fluttering encore
a thousand thousand
leaves turning
rich dark colors
awaiting
opulent carnage
exalted limbs rising
against dark skies

crucible

answer
I who hurried thru lhe years
running this way and that
sometimes strangely knowing
sometimes weeping beside the road
spent at last, alone
bereft of all I sought
you came to me
slowly without my knowing
you touched me

the stream carries me
my face is wet
I am submerged
I will not let
fear of drowning
darken the bright water
all that rs bright and clear
filters thru the translucent waves
of faith, the ineffable substance
that fills the
yearning crucible
with timeless light
endless peace

Selections from the book Wifd Lovely Days. portraits of moments In time and nature expressed in complementary words and images.

THE POET·

THE PHOTOGRAPH:R;

Ellmboth Griffin Is an artist, poet, and former lawyer residing in
Highlands. Katuah Province.

Gii Leebrick is an environmentally concerned falher, husband, mediator,
photographer, and director of the Appalachian Environmental Arts Center in
Highlands.

�.:•····;••·....................................
.,....
..
....
....
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~

~

i{ NATURAL \~.
: wORLD :
~
~
~

~

·!

i:

\. ..

:I
..

NEWS

..
..

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.~ ..

"!,

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~~~~~.·~··· · · ~·.·.·.•.•.•.·.·· · · ....~::::::!:

.!·

?·

PANTHERTOWN RESTORED!
Nllllnl World NCWJ Str-i=

In one Inst expression of disdain for
Congress and the Appalachian b1orcgion, the
Reagan administration m the la.~L days of its reign
took away money slated for the pun:hase of the
Pa.nthenown tract high in the headwaters of the
Tuckasegee River.
Through an arrangement with Duke Power
Company, which wants to run a high-voltage
power line across pan of the Panthenown area,
Congress hod appropriated $8 million to buy the
remainder of the propeny for inclusion in National
Forest Jnnds. Under a rechnicaliry the our-going
administration stole away that money. plus $47
million for other land appropriations. to pay the
costS of fighting the famous Yellowstone fire and
other fires that occurred in the summer of 1988 in
drought-soicken western states.
On March 13. 1989, however, the Office of
Management and Budget reversed the order, and
put the money back into the special Land and
Water Conservation Fund, where it is once
available for land acquisition purposes.
It is expected that the Panthcnown purchase
will be able to be completed this summer.

COLEY CREEK IS SAFE!

Systems Research Group, to review the Coley
Creelc plan. The study group pointed out that fuel
prices would have to escalate considerably lO make
the Coley Creek project economically viable.
However, cbe consultants' review found
that the most economical approach would be to
emphasize "demand-side programs." These
programs hcreate" extra energy by promoting
conservation on the pan of utility customers
through steps such as rewarding customers for
efficient energy use pancrns and helping to cut
down on energy consumption by wealherization
programs, promoting energy-efficient appliances,
etc. A more careful and judicious use of energy
reduces the need for increased energy production.
The report showed that through energy
conservation Duke could make avnilable the same
amount of energy that the Coley Creek pumped
storage project would have provided. but at
one-third the cost. The repon outlined five
different demand-side programs and gave
srep-by-srep directions for their implement.arlon.
Bill Thomas, co-chair of rhe Jocassee
Wate~hed Coalition, said, "h could be very
imponant for a company like Duke to stan a series
of pilot programs in energy conservation. Even if
they weren't completely convinced that this was
the best way to go, they should :u least experiment
and find out for themselves what programs wo11ld
work and what wouldn't."
"In September the Nonh Carolina Utilities
Commission will hold a series of six hearings at
locations across the stare to gather public comment
on a proposed least-cost planning rule that will
include demand-side management items. A good
tum-out by people s~ak.ing on behalf of these
measures wouJCI show the COinmission where the
public suppon lies."
The Jocnssee Watershed has obtained a
reprieve from funher depredations by Duke
Power, but efforts continue to gain binding
legislauve protection for the basin through
designation of the Thompson and the \v'hitewater
as Wild and Scenic Rivers. (The Horsepasturc
River already has protected stntus.) Preliminnry
studies have already been completed, and show
very definttely that further srudy is justified.
"We need to g~t legislacors to press the
North Carolina Natural Resoun:es and Community
Development Department to complete their sruclies
so that the lcgislat.ion can proceed," said Thomas.
"We arc asking people interested in the future of
the Jocnssee Watershed to contact their state
n:presentatives and ask them to get involved with
this.''

...AND NOW CHAITOOGA
Duke Power Company has announced that it
is postp&lt;&gt;ning indefinitely the Coley Creek Pump
Storage Project, which would have done
devastating environmental damage in the beautiful
Jocassee Watershed area in the foothills of the
Blue Ridge.
Officially, the company said that a review of
fuel prices and the economics of the pumped
storage alternative convinced them that providing
power by coal plants or combustion turbines was
economically more advantageous. What the
company did not mention was that they had met
stiff resistance to the project every step of the way
from the Jocassee Watershed Coalition, a
broad-based organization of hikers, hunters.
fishermen, and environmental groups. which may
also have influenced their decision. With a grant
from the Babcock Foundation. the coalition had
hired an independent consulting firm, the Energy
~

)o"'nat P • 20

Officials of Rabun County, Georgia and the
Associated Consulting Group are conspiring to
build a jetpon on a mountaintop in the upper
reaches of the Chattooga River, which is
designated as a Wild and Scenic River.
Preliminary design studies of the site
illegally conducted by Associated Cousulting at the
request of the Rabun County government have
detennined that they would need t.o level the entire
mountaintop to make room for the jet planes to
land. The jets would take off and land directly
over the river and roar over remote wild areas in
their flighL
The potential impacts on the Chattooga
watershed would be devastating. They include
massive sedimentation, wildlife habitat

destruction, and noise pollution, as well as the
fouling of the water and air. The remote and wild
character of the Chattooga whitewater run would
be severely degraded by the low-altitude
overflighcs.
The US Forest Service has refused ro talce a
position to protect the "wild and scenic" status of
the Chattooga despite their legislative mandate
under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to do so.
The agency has even backed down from an earlier
comrninment to require an Environmental Impact
Statement for actions affecting any Forest Service
site. The American Rivers organization and a
coalition of local citizens is working on behalf of
the river. They say, ''Since t.be Forest Service has
refused to direct the county away from the
Chanooga site, citizen voices are essential to
prevent the Chattooga site from bemg selected.
The county and Associated Consulting are known
to have a bias in favor of the Chattooga site, and
only overwhelming public sentiment against lhe
site can change their minds."

Make yourfeelings known! Write:
Associated Consulting Group
3 I5 W. Po111::e de Leon Ave. (Suite 125)
Decatur, OA 30084

Kenneth Henderson, Forest Supen·i,s()r

Cl111ual100d~e National Forest

508 Oak St. NW
Gainesville. GA 30501
American Rivers
801 Pennsylvania Ave. SE (Suire 303)
Washington. DC 20003

WHAT'S AN EIS?
(or JUDGE HALTS VULCAN)

There will be no rock quarry in Flat Creek nt least not anytime soon.
Vulcan Matenals Company had planned to
dig a 58-acre, open-pit quarry near Weaverville
despite protests from local residents until
Buncombe County Superior Coun Judge Roben
D. Lewis voided Vulcan's state permit early this
'd
year. Some 450 North Buncom be rest ents
snowed up at the last public hearing in October of
1987. Most were against the quarry projecL The
group fonned the North Buncombe Association of
Concerned Citizens, which filed suit against
VuJcan, a Fortune 500 company, and several state
officials. Residents claimed in their suitS tha1 the
mining permit was issued 10 the company despite
evidence from expens that the quarry, which
would have been sited about two miles nonh of
the town of Weaverville, would deplete and
pollute area groundwater.

Spri-n9, 1989

�INCINERATORS THREATEN
AIR QUALITY
Jllmnl World News Service

"Cloudy skies" would be the long-term
weather forecast for meb'OpoliUUl Knoxville and all
points downwind if four new waste incinerators
were to come into operation in the area.
Three proposed incinerators in the
Knoxville area and one that is already constructed
1hrea1en 1he Great Smoky Mounrains National
Park, only 40 miles downwind, and the already
beleaguered mounrains of the Kan1ah province.
Cum:n!ly, air in the Smokies ranks it among the
ten most polluted of all the National Parks. It used
to be that the Park was only "smokey" during the
summer months when natural chemicals from the
forest vegetation combined with panicles in the
air. Now, even on a clear winter day, the view is
noticeably hazy. An estimated 70% of the pall is
due to air pollution.
The Department of Energy (DOE) has built
an incinerator at the K-25 Gaseous Diffusion Plant
in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. According to engineer
John Patton of the Division of Air Pollution
Conttol for the State of Tennessee, it is licensed
under the Toxic Substances Control Act to burn
radioactively contaminated polychlorinated
biphenyls (PCB's) and other wastes which are
generated at the DOE facilities at Oak Ridge,
Paducah, and the Ponsmouth Gaseous Diffusion
Plants. The incinerator bums only propane gas
now, but when it goes on line in the summer of
1989, it will burn 3000 pounds of r.idioactive
waste every hour. A similar incinerator was
defeated in Rocky Flats, Colorado through public
opposition.
A private company mis-named the Safe
Ecology Group is proposing to build another
incinerator on Bear Creek Road in Oak Ridge that
will bum low-level radioactive waste for volume
reduction. According to Lisa Finaldi of the Nonh
Carolina Clean Water Fund, this incinerator will
take low-level radioactive waste from states that
are members of radioactive waste compact
agreements, such as North Carolina and New
York, reduce the volume of the waste, and then
send it back to the states for disposal. The
capacity of this incinerator will be 10,000 pounds
of radioactive waste per hour.
Also in the site selection stage is the East
Knoxville mass burn incinerator that will be
operated by Foster-Wheeler Power Systems of
New Jersey. The proposed incinerator will bum
900 tons of municipal garbage a day.
According to a Solid Waste Authority
spokesperson in Knoxville, "The incinerator and
recycling will be used to decrease landfill
dependency.''
Opponents of the incinerator,
however, declare that incineration will decrease the
recycling incentive, since the operating company
has a flat guarantee from the city and the county
that it will receive a certain amount of waste to
bum 10 produce electricity. Recyclers fear that
quota will be filled by waste that would otherwise
be potentially recoverable.
. Electricity sales will not cover operation and
maintenance costs for rhe incineraror facility. A
group called CARE in Knoxville claims that the
Solid Waste Authority did not compare the cost of
incineration, which will come to $370 million over
a 20-year period, with the coStS of alternative
methods of reducing solid waste, i.e. commercial
Sprl.ncj, l989

and household recycling, baling (compressing
THE FATE OF THE ROSE
garbage), and composting (brush, leaves, etc.).
Even with an incinerator, about 40% of
from• n;iort by N~ Blmhlrdl
solid waste must be landfilled. A new landfill will
Years ago the Agriculture Depanment
be needed in Knox County whether there is an
incincr.1tor or noL Incinerators actually raise the brought the multiflora rose into Virginia for soil
cost of disposal, because incinerator a.sh is a conservation and to attTact wildlife. Now the state
hazardous waste and must be sto1ed using encourages the eradication of this plant and may be
expensive protective techniques in special making a mistake that will tum out to be far more
serious than the spread of the shrubby muhiflora
landfills.
The CARE group also points out that, even bush. Montgomery and Grayson counties have
with air pollution conttols, incinerators pose a passed, and Floyd county is considering,
risk to public health that carries an incalculable legislation to force landowners to keep the plant
cosL The most dangerous chemicals cannot be from scrting seed on their propeny.
Farmers say that the roots of this plant arc
seen or smelled.
hard to lc:ill. Pulling multiflora roots out of the
Finally, next door to the proposed site for ground usually causes tbero to start new plants.
the Knoxville mass bum incinerator, the Dixie The multiflora grows in too many out-of-the-way
Cement Company may bum bai.ardous waste in a places to keep it all cut. Therefore, the st.ate
convened cement kiln.
recommends herbicides to lcilltbe plant - herbicides
that are particularly apt to contaminate
groundwater. Dicamba and 2,4-D arc both on the
list of pesticides which the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) considers most lillely to
leach into groundwater. Piclorfam, which is also
on the EPA leaching list, is conrained in the pellets
ofTordon, a restricted-use herbicide.
SLUDGE ISSUE STILL STEAMING
Though 2,4-D is not restricted and is
classed only as a "possible carcinogen," it may
soon be reclassified, because recent studies by the
National Institute of Cancer have shown a link
There is a new development in the bat!le between 2,4-D and cenain types of cancer. As
over the fate of Buncombe County's sewage 2,4-D breaks down, it can form products of
decomposition rhat are more toxic than the original
sludge: Advanced Alkaline Stabilization.
With encouragment from the Buncombe formulation. Like Tordon and Dicamba, 2,4-0 can
County Commissioners, the Buncombe also be contaminated with nitrosamines, which are
Metroplltan Sewerage District (MSD) has agreed cancer-causing. or more immediate concern is the
stress which pesticides put on rhe kidneys and
10 hold a hearing on this waste treatment process,
which mixes sludge with kilned lime dusr other pans of the human body.
William
(quicklime). ~ng pathogens and raising the pH agronomy at Wes1 Bryon, associate professor of
Virginiu University Wiil&gt; quolcd
of the mixture, thus binding heavy metals and
making the resulting material suitable for in the Roanoke TimtS of January 29, 1988 that
herbicides cannot eradicate the multiflora rose and
spreading on farm pastures. The hearing is are not wonh using. He also mentions a natural
scheduled to be held in Asheville on March 21.
rosette disease
Foes of che sludge incinerator say that che control called Missouri. Thiswhich is spreading
this way from
disease, spread by
outcome of that hearing will detennine their future a mite, can accomplish what the herbicides can't
strategy. "If the MSD continues to favor the and kills the multiflora in a few years.
incineration process," said Paul Gallimore of the
(conlinucd on next .-ae}
Long Branch Environmenral Education Center,
"we will push for a review of the Environmental
Protection Agency's health risk assessment that
OK'd the incinerator proposal.
"The EPA assessment is flawed. They
looked at only one possible pathway for airbome
pollution from the incineraror to enter the body by air inhalation - when actually there are four
other possible parhways - through direct
contamination of food, food grown in
contaminated soils, dermal exposure, and
inhalation of contaminared soil or dust.
"After some method - any method - of
sludge treatment is chosen, the next step is to put
pressure on the MSD to righten up industrial
pre-ueatrnent standards for wastes. Carcinogens
and heavy metals should not be allowed to leave
the point of origin regardless of the waste
treatment technology selected."
The MSD has agreed to institure a pilot
operation to tesc the feasibility of composting
sewage sludge no mauer what treatment process is
used for the bulk of the county's wasre.
"This is very positive," said GaJJimore.
"Where an incinerator will give out in 20 or 30
years and have to be completely replaced at great
expense, a composting operation just keeps
turning out the humus. Biological microorganisms
just don't quit."

�(CQn.tinucd from pag$ 21)

MOUNTAIN PEOPLE SAY
"CUT THE CLEARCUITING"
Nanni Wcxld News Savice

The Western Nonh Carolina Alliance
(WNCA) bas launched a public campaign to
Fuade the US Forest Service (USFS) to change
us primary timber management technique,
even-aged management. Under that scheme
patches of the National Forests up to 40 acres in
size an: cut to the ground so that the resulting
regrowth is of uniform size and easier 10 harvest.
Alliance members held an anti-clearcuuing
protest demonstration in front of the Forest
Service headquarters in downtown Asheville.
Banners and signs proclaiming "Cut the
Clearcutting" were hoisted by the protesters who
want the Forest Service to adopt a timber
management strategy that relics heavily on
uneven-aged management, which is based on
careful examination of individual siteS and logging
prescriptions that call for the thinning of
undesirable trees as welJ as the removal of good
sawtimbcr. so that future growcb is improved.
Uneven-aged management requires greater
expertise and auention to detail on the part of
foresters, and the Forest Service claims it docs not
have the budget to suppon these extra demands on
its staff.
Demonsttators lined the sidewalks in front
of the USPS offices with tree stumps to ~give the
flavor of what a forest of stumps looks like," said
WNCA member Monroe Gilmour. Also displayed
was a 90-foot long petition containing over 1,700
.names of Katuah residents opposed to
clearcuning.
The campaign was also carried into local
ranger districts at several meetings held to give
local community members a chance to speak about
proposed clearcurs in their immediate areas.
Over 100 Clay County residents auended a
community meeting in Hayesville to protest
planned clearcutting in their county. Retired
fores1cr Walton Smith, chair of the WNCA Timber
Management Taste Force, told the gathering that
since the clcarcuuing method was iniri:ued the
qualit) of the timber production had substanrially
declined. Smith noted that the growth of sprouted
limber, as found in clcarcuis. was substantially
faster, but produced trees of poorer quality than
trees grown from seed. Sprouts produced a
cross-grain growth that created a weakness in the
lumber, he said.
Smith recently walked scveml clearcuts with
USFS Regional Supervisor Bjorn Dahl. Smith
said Dahl was "quite surprised'' to see a tract under
uncven-:iged management thnt W3S full of young
seedling trees. whereas the clearcut areas were full
of sprouts.
In another meeting with Forest Service
personnel and a.ides to legis!Ative representatives,
150 Madison County residents met to protest
proposed road construction and clcarcuning at the
top of Bearpcn Ridge. The residenis complained
that the road and the clearcutting operation would
cause sedimentation in Hickey Fork Creek and
would destr0y the trout hatchery there. The cold
creek waters offer challenging fishing for rainbow
and native brook trout
The steep. remote forests in the Hickey
Fork Creek watershed ~ovide excellent habiiat for
bears and other wildlife, and the area is popular
with bunters. Many in the assemblage were bear
hunters who were concerned that the new roads
and the clearcutting would cause bears to shy
away &amp;om the area. They were especially alarmed
JGcitilah 'o~Ml P • 22

to learn that a stand of large white oalcs on top of
Bearpen Ridge were t0 be included in the clearcut
The hunters. who were all familiar with the woods
and wildlife in the area. agreed that this .stand was
one of the most imponant mast-eroducing areas in
the region and that it was heavily used by bears.
After hearing their concerns, Frank Roth of the
USFS indicated that he would set aside an acre of
so of the largest trees so that they could continue
10 provide wildlife food.
The WNCA is plannning a "Cut the
Clearcuuing" rally on April 15 at 11 :00 in the
City-County Plaza with music, talks, and

presenta1ion of a protest pe1itioo to USFS
officials.
For copies of the petirion in favor of uneven
-aged forest management, or more informt111on
on the "CUI the Clearct1tting" campaign, write or
aJil:

The Wesrern Nonlr Caro/iM Alliance P.O. Box
18087 Asheville, NC 28814 (704) 258- 8737
To win $50 in the "Ugliest Clearcut Photo
Contest," send entries 10 tlU! Alliance by April I.
Bjorn Dahl, Regional Forester US Porest
Service Box 2750 Asheville, NC 28802
(704) 2574200
.

.............

PEREGRINE FALCONS FLEDGE
While the Natural World News often seems
gloomy. here is a linle light:
Scott Ball. a temporary eml'loyec of the NC
Wildlife Resources Commission's Nongame
Program, perched high up on Whiteside
Mountain, observed lhe first confinned
naturally-bred peregrine falcon to fledge in the
Kal\fah province since 1957.
With the help of volunteer falcon wa1chers,
wildlife biologists found five pairs of peregrine
falcons defending territories at mountain cliffs last
ycor Three of these pairs made nesting attempts.
Two pairs each raised a single chick to fledging
age.
Wildlife biologists seem cau11ously
optimistic. While this level of reproduction will
nol sustain 1he newly-established peregrine
population, these successful auempts may augur
well for the fuwre of this magnificent predator in
Karuah.
Biologisis will continue releases of young
captive-bred peregrines for several more years. but
will release a smaller number each year. ln 1988
18 young falcons were released along the Blue
Ridge near Mt. Mitchell and on Grandfather
Mountain. Biologists have released 63 young
peregrine falcons in the mountains since the
restoration effort began in 1984.
If five breeding pairs can be csmblished in
the Southern Appalachians, the program's

emphasis will then switch to protection and
management of the nesting peregrines.

Excerptedfrom a report by John_ Alderman
\..:

CHEMTRONICS SPEWS POISONS

Toe infamous Chemtronics plant in
Swannahoa. North Carolina has dumped hundreds
of thousands of potinds of a highly toxic industrial
solvent into the air over the past several months,
despite pleas of a company chemist to install
equipment that would h.ave caught 90 percent of
the chemical.
.
The plant has released 256 596 pounds of
tetrachloroclhylcne, which is acutely or chronically
toxic. according to \he US, Environmental
Protection Agency '&lt;EPA). The .solvent i~ also
believed to destroy ozone in Jiu; high atmosphere,
allowing increased pen~~at1on 9[, l;larmful
ultra-viol~t radi;nio.o from ~he sun.
Terrachloroethylene is also a suspected carcinogen
and contribwes 10 s111o,g and air poJtutfon close to
the Eanh's.$urface.
.J
•
,
Cbemtronics senior sc1entiSt, John Tylldall.
who charted the releases. said a11
9ne.poln1t 'The
cnvfronmental . impac~ (&lt;~f the (eleases) is
enormous. and wt:. need \o act on this situation
immediately." He has since beep laid off by
Chemtronics.
Plans were approved for the installation of a
recovery system to capture the escaping solvent,
but Chemtronics' parent company, Halibunon
Corporation. never advanced the money to pay for
the lnstaUa1ion, according to a ~ll_en;llronics
official.
rn other recent and' rel~ued news,
negotiauons between the companies responsible
for dumping toxic industrial wastes at the
Chemtronics Supcrfund site in Swnnnanoa have
broken down, delaying clean-up of the former
military munitions plant there. according to the
EPA. Chemtronics, along with former owners
Northrop Corporation and Ce~nese Corporaiion
cannot agree on who should pay how much.
The breakdown in ncgotialions means a
delay of months and possibly years in the clean-up
operation if the disagreement 1s submiued to
litigation. according to EPA official John
Bomholm.
Celanese Corp. bought the now-polluted
propcny in 1959 and made explosive!\, solid
propellants, shells, rocket motors, and chemical
agents the.re. Northrop Corp. bought 1he facility in
1965 and continued the military contracts. Jn 1971
Ainronics. Inc. leased the site and continued the
work through its Cbemtronics division.
Chemtronics bought the plant from Northrop in
1978, about the same time the EPA discovered the
presence of more than 50 organic chemicals which
had leaked into the surrounding soil and
groundwater.
In another recent corporate shuffle, the
Halibl.lrlon Co. has dissolved its Chemtronics
branch. and has turned the Swannanoa plant over
co its Je1 Research subsidiary
"We'rl! going LO be a lot more responsible
company environmentally," said Bob King, Jet
Research vice-president. "Jct Research makes
warheads and other explosives for the military, but
the processes will not involve the release of
dangerous substances into the air and
groundwater, as was the practice at the plant for so
long."
-SprLnq, 19U

�REVIEW:
Sacred Land Sacred Sex RapIUTe ofthe Deep:
Concerning Deep Ecology and Celebrating Life
by Dolores LaOuipelle
(Pinn Hill AIU; Silvcncn, CO; 1988)

'7n this kind of learni11g, there is no knowledge, in the usual
stnse, to process and convey; thert is instead a deepening of
anenlion to the pattern ofall lift around you, so tltat you ~gin to
/Jw 'JOllT life accordUtg to thal pattern.• - DoWu LaC•Ue
"Biorcgion" is a word of power. It encompasses what
scientists call an "ecosystem," but goes beyond the mechanistic
limitations of scientific nomenclature. A bioregion is clearly a
community, a land alive - plants, animals. soil, water, sunlight, all
the elements of life womng tOJCther. each sustaining the others.
"Bioregion" is a word with the nng of rightness to it.
The word "biorcgional" follows. It is descriptive, "panalcing
of the qualities of the lioregion," but it is a little longer and the truth
that resonates in the original noun is just ever so slightly
diminished.
But "bioregionalism" is a word that cmies no force
whatsoever. Whenever the odious "-ism" is added to an otherwise
usefuJ root idea, it completely drains whatever value for powerful
communication that original word may previously have possessed.
That simple suffix, just three letters, hardens a worthwhile
approach to life into a dogmatic school of institutionalized thought,
limits flexibility, and rums a life-giving relationship with the natural
world into a set of precepts to be debated pro and con in sterile
classrooms.
"Deep ecology" is an alternative phrase inspired by
Norwegian philosopher Arne Naess to define the auth of our
individual and collective relationship to the natural world.
The phrase has drawbacks. It is based in part on the Greek
word meaning ''study," because ecology was developed as an
interdisciplinary course of i:nstroction to explain the relationships
between the different elements of a place and how they work
together to sustain life. Now, however, the word "ecology" has
grown beyond the idea of "a course of study" to mean an acrual life
community and the web of relationships on which i1 depends.
"Deep ecology" lacks the evocative sense of a phrase like
"furure primitive," which describes people living in the world.
"Future primitive" predicts a technology thar is sophisticated to the
point of simplicity. It refers to a people whose culture is beautifully
complex rather than needlessly complicated, because it is based on
primal values as well as biologically accurate observation.
Yet, while the actual choice of words may be somewhat stiff,
the definition of "deep ecology" is eloquent. lt is ecology with a
difference. The essential tenet of deep ecology is that there is
intrinsic value to life in all its fonns. To fully understand deep
ecology one must identify one's "self" as "all that lives." This in
tum demands perceiving the world with more of our brain than the
neo-conex, the seat of the intellect. Sensual and instinctual
responses are as valuable for survival as intellectual analysis. It is
also assumed that a full realization of the principles of deep ecology
requires that one acts on them - it is necessary to defend the Earth
and to work at changing our culture.
This is what living is all about. This is "bioregionalism" as it
should be.
"Deep ecology" is useful as a t:ranSitional concept to describe
our odysse.Y back into the world. It is not the perfect turn of phrase,
but usage ts what lends definition, and those who are maJctng the
strongest stance for the Eanh are doing so in the name of deep
ecology. It is deep enough to suffice until we simply can say
~being," and other people undersmnd.

~ing,

Because that is what it is all about, isn't i1? Being, simply

here. Yet in these times that is such a complicated mauer.

And it is the hardest of all things to express. The sages have always
said, "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.•
And that is where Dolores LaChapelle steps in. She has
attempted the impossible - and done it valiantly. Her book Sacred
Land Sacred Sex Raprure of ti~ Deep oies to communicate in
words what can only be known through experience: the essence of
deep ecology.
Dolores LaChapelle herself is well aware of this paradox,
which is faced by anyone who writes. And, like all writers, sbe
feels compelled 10 wrestle with iL
So in writing about deep ecology she takes another approach.
Like a hawk, Dolores circles, circles. She first describes the
essential mystery by describing the conditions of itS absence, and
tells us the story of how we Lost touch with it. She then directs us
10 teachers who can demonstrate ic our animal relations in their
rituals; authentic members of primitive cultures; scientists and
psychologists who explore our deeper self And she introduces us
to guides who can help us to find our own way: sage, the drum, the
gourd rattle, Tai Chi, ritual, and, of course, the mounulins.
Sacred land Sacred Sa Raprun of the Deep is a beautiful
book - as deep in the telling as in the subject maner - created
through a blend of hard scholarship, an unswerving dedication to
the sacred, fierce passion, and the life experience of one of the true
elders of our clan.
(continued on next page)

�(continued rrom page 4)
(cantinuad fJom ~ 23)

It is a difficult book, because I.he closer one approaches lO the
essenr:ial truth, the more do ideas become unbound. ~e more do
words betray their meanin&amp;. But Doto~ La Chapelle is a_
woman
of great intellectual stamma. Th~ stones and observatt.o ns we
encounter along this convoluted JOume.Y arc ~th ~mg and
wonderful. and each episode of the book is absorbing m itself. But,
tnken together, the insights delineate an infonnational fiel~ that
conveys a full sense (not mctely a pinned-to-the-board analysis) of
what deep ecology is all about
Impossible as it is to transmit an experiential stnte through
linear type, the book Sacred land. Sacred ~G ROf~"e of tlu! Deep
expertly i.rtfoans inclividuaJ cxpenence. It 1s a trauung manual that
reaches the reader how to open up to the deepest elements of his or
her own life joumey.
After reading Dolores LaChapelle's book, we know the
danger signals to watch for in our culture and in our own psyche.
We know where io look and how to call for instruction. And we
know what it feels like when we reach hannony, the center of the
world We arc prepared to experience the sacred.
Hopefully, the day will come when the concept "deep
ecology" is obsolete, books will no longer be needed, and our
minds won't be enmeshed in ideas. Then we won't have 10
sacrifice U'CCS to our earnest attempts IO explain the Mystery. Then a
story, a night of love, a smile, or the wind moving a leafy branch
will be communication enough. But until then we should be glad
we have teachers such as Dolores LaChapelle.
• reviewtd by David Whultr

#'

"AFFORDANCES"
From

Sacred land Sacred Sex Rapture of the Deep

phase peoples cultivated most of their food, and supplemented their
crops with native foods hunted and gathered from the forest.
There was a ceremonial center with room coougb for large
gatherings, built on raised earthen mounds. Ther~ wer~ semisubterranean eanh lodges. progenitors or those bwlt dunng the
historic Qualia phase by the Cherokee.
.
.
Pisgah phase peoples ma.de cane mats, the 1~prcssions of
which were found in graves, even though the actual amcles no longer
remained. Graves were dug in the floors or dwellings, and the dead
were usually buried in a flexed posicion (lying on their sides in foetal
position). They were accompanied by turtle shell rattles, bone
neck.laces, tools of srone and bone, and pottery.

Support Your Local Ar&lt;:haeologist
The Pisgah Village sue in McDowell County has been
excavated primarily with volunteer labor, much of on the pan of local
residents. Robinson is grateful for such suppon; in fact, it was local
interest that made excavation possible in the first place.
Archaeologists usually receive funding to conduct retrieval of
information only when n site is threatened by development The rather
comical image of the archaeologist busily sifting through the din in
front of a moving bulldoi.eris all too real
Robinson urges everyone who discovers artifacts or a possible
archaeological site to contact him at Wam:n Wilson College, or get in
touch with any archaeology laboratory. such as those located at
Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, the University of
Tennessee at Knoxville, or Appalachian State University io Boone.
Archaeological sites are resources to be preserved, protected,
and revered. It is only by careful recovery of the infonnatioo they
contain, which often takes many years of study, that we will benefit
from these historic resources. At a time when population saturation,
disease, and decimation of our narura.I resources threatens our very
survival, we cannot afford to desrroy the evidences of our region's
past, which might perhaps offer answers for our fu1ure.

Persons i111erested in leaniing f11()re abow archaeology can
contact the Archaeological Society of Norrh Carolina; Research
Laboratories of Archaeology; Universiry of Non/1 Carolina, and the
Friends of North Carolina Archaeology, NC Depanmenc of Cu/rural
Resources; 109 E. Jones St.; Raleigh, NC 27611.
Archaeologist Ken Robinson may~ co111acted by writing him
a1 Warren Wilson College, SwannallOQ, NC 28778 or calling (704)
298-3325.
~

"The affordances of the environment are what it offers
the animal, what it provides or furnishes, either for good or ill."
"Afford." as a verb, is found in the dictionary, but (James J.)
Gibson (of c.ome11 University) made up I.he word ''ajforda.nce." He
explains that this word refers to both the environment and the
animal (including the human) "in a way that no existing tenn does.
It implies the complementarity of the animal and the environment."
This is precisely why I think this word is so important In
our culture, we tend lO think that humans have discovered all these
amazing things; in some ways we believe that these things didn't
even exist until humans found them. I've been trying 10 break
down this laner presupposition throughout this work; first, by
showing how the affordancc we call the gourd gave us agri.culture
and later with other examples. Once you begin using this word,
you will find that every day you will realize how nature provides
affordances for us to use. It's all there before us - it's not
dependent on humans to figure it out This is a giant step forward
in overcoming our culturallr,-induced split from nature.
These affordanccs 'arc the way specific regions of the
environment directly address themselves to particular species or
individuals. Thus, to a human, a maple tree may afford 'looking at'
or 'sitting under,' while 10 a sparrow it affords 'perching,' and '? a
squincl it affords 'climbing.' But these values are not found inside
the minds of the animals. Rather I.hey are...a reciprocal interchan~e
between the living intentions of any animal and the dynamic
affordances of its world ...The psyche .. .is a property of the
ccosysLCm as a whole."

_,

- Dolores LoChopelle

'

FOR FURTI!ER READING:

Dickens, Roy S .. and J(JJ'MS l. McKinley. Frontiers in the
Soil: The Archaeology of Georgia (Chapel Hill; Fronriers Pub. Co.;
1979)

Hudson, Charles. The Southeastern Indians (Kn&lt;&gt;xville;
University o/Tennessu Press: 1978)
Keel, Bennie C .. Cherokee Archaeology: A Study of the
Appalachian Summit (Knoxville; University of Tennessee Press;
1976)
Mathis, Mark A. and Jeffrey J . Crow. The Prehistory of
Nonh Carolina: An Archaeological Symposium (Raleigh, NC Div. of
ArclUvesandHistory: 1983)
McHargue, Georgena and Michael Ro~rrs. A Field Guide to
Conservation Archaeology in North America (PhUadelphla: J.B .
Uppincorr Co.; 1977)
Wetmore. Rwh. First on the Land: The North Carolina Indians
(Winston-Sa/em; l&lt;&gt;hn F. Blair, PublishQ; 1977)
Wa.m:n Wilsoo College will offer an archaeologic:al f"icld 1thool 1his

summer lhnt wdl focus on the Pisgah Village site. SllldclllS will lc4m survey
and excavation leehniqucs mid will also be involved in lhe aruilysls of altifact
and site da.13.
Contact: Kt11 Robinson. Proj«t Dim&lt;:t.or; Box 5277; Warren Wiison
College; Swanannanoa. NC 28778 (704) 298-3325.

s

�Video Review:

"Stopping the Coming Ice Age"
Dirccled by l.JuTy Ephron
Produced by the Institute for a Future (57 minules)
Looking back, it ~eems tha1 1988 was ~ ye:ir for
important, "new" environmental issues and concerns to surface.
ln particular, ibis was the year in which the idc.i or lhe so-called
"greenhouse effect" finally gained public acceptance. if not
notoriety- a year lhat saw record-breaking drought. hurricanes,
and forest fires. Suddenly, the idea of global warming was
appearing everywhere in che media, and it seemed that concerned
scienliSlS and poliricians were unanimous in their suppon for the
global warming scenario.
However, this unanimity is an illusion, media coverage to
the contrary. ln fact, there is much contr0versy within the scientific
community ns to the chmatic effects and socio-polilicctl
nunificalions of the greenhouse effect. It is far from cenain that the
climate changes we're seeing arc leading to/caused by global
warming. In fact, there is ac1ually considerable evidence that points
to a very different conclusion: lhn1 1he planet may be teetering on
the brink of another Ice Age.
One of the foremost proponents of this laner view is John
Hamaker, a mechanical engineer who has cx1ensively analyzed
clima1e and ecological paucms, and hn.&lt;; developed a comprehensive
and holistic approach to understanding global climate change. His
lheories, expressed in h.is book The Survival of Civiliza1io11, arc
now being supported and dissemina1ed by a foundation called
"Institute For A Fu1urc", which re&lt;.-ently created a remarkable video
pr~ntation: "Stopping the Coming Jee Age".
This video is inspiring, frightening, challenging, and very
infonnative, as it takes us around the world in search of answers.
While Hamaker agrees that the greenhouse effect is a very real
Lhrea1, he believes - and backs this up with hard data and expert
opinion - that it will [ll2l.warm ihe Eanh unifonnly, but instead will
increase the temperarure differential between the equator and the
poles, causing increased thermal convection, atmospheric
turbulence, and rapidly shifting and biz:zare weather patterns.Jn
this scenario, high winds moving from the equator tow111ds the
poles will drop their abundan1 moisture in the h.ighcr latitudes in the
form of snow and ice, often creating drought condicions in the
temperate regions. He believes that lhe tropical and sub-tropical
zones will indeed get hotter, but the tempenue zones arc likely to
get cooler and drier.
Hamakcr"s understanding of the greenhouse effect talces us
far beyond the popularized, watered-down information available
Lhrough the mass media because he explores deeper levels of cause
and effec1, process and purpose. The mos1 profound information
presented in this video concerns the connections beiween lhe
greenhouse effect and the development of an ice age, and the
importance of understanding long-tmn cycles (100,000 years!) of
clima1e change. The video demonstrates the causal connections
linking together all the different environmenuil/atmospheric
phenomena that combine to bring on an ice age:
1) soil erosion and demineralizntion
2) the subscquem weakening and dying of the forestS
3) the resulting increase in insect inrestations, forest decay,
and massive fortst fires
4) I.be dramatic increase in C02 released into the atmosphere
by these na1ural causes, which induces the greenhouse effecL
5) and m the 20lh century - as opposed to 100,000 years ago
man-made pollution and our destrUCtive tampering with the natural
balance of life are intensifying and hastening the process.
According 10 Hamaker. an ice age performs a vitally
necessary natural function. As tbe glaciers advance and then
retreat, they move and grind up immense quantities of roclc,thus
spreading gravel and rock dust over much of lhe Lcmperate zones.
This process, along with the winds that help distribute lhis rock
dust even further, gradually l'Cllllneralizes the soil· which feeds the
planis and forests, promoting rapid and healthy growth • during
which lime the plants breathe in much of the excess C02 in the
atmosphere • wh.ich gradually stops the greenhouse effect! The
plants of the world breathe in C0 2, use the carbon, and release the
o&gt;cygen back into the air whlch we, and all other animals, breathe!
SprLnq, 1989

Thus, n primary function of glaciation i~ to ttminerali1.e and
help reforest the Eanh. The reason this video is called "S1oppfng
the Coming Ice Age" is that Hamaker thinks we humans can indeed must. if we wanr our cwilization to survive • reminemlizc
the Earth oursefres. We ourselves can fulfill the vital rolt pluyed
by an ice age, rendering ~uch a geological event obsolete.
This means, however. that the government~ and peoples of
nil countric:; and regions would need to make it a top priority to
remineralize our depleted ~ils, and also to engage in massive
reforcs1ation projec1s, planting billions of trees worldwide.
Without hc:aJthy forests, we have no chance at all of slowing the
ttemendous C02 buildup which fuels the greenhouse effect. As the
video pu1s it." The trees of the world are our best friends now. and
only they can save us". Obviously, then, we also need 10 i;iop
clear-cutting our foresis. both here and in the tropics, and to limit
our fossil fuel burning, wh.ich has been accelerating the greenhouse
process. Only by doing all these things, says Hamaker, can "e
avoid horrific consequences for humani1y in the very near foture.
The audacity of this theory and lhis proposal lies in its utter
simplicity and common-sense quality. Yet many people may not
heed H.ama.ker's message and information because we have become
so enamored of "high- tech" solutions and shon-tenn planning,
gratification, and profit. Hamaker's plan demands a clear
understanding of our planetary dilemma. and a deep comminnent t0
creating a viable future, as well as some sacrifice or comfon and
convenience. The video concludes with these questions: "Have we
got the guts to do it? How much do we really want to be here?"
Whether or not Hamaker's proposal is ever implemented on
a large scale, we can all do things individually and collectively to
help educate people and help heal the planet. The video pointS out
1hat even if these theories aren't totally "provable", or even
completdy accurate, we should X1ill do the things Lhat Hamaker
suggests, for 1he sake of ecological balance, conservation, and
planetary sanity.
rn addition to the ideas discussed in this review, this video
explores JDl!.W! other aspects of our ecological and social dilemmas •
many more than can be dealt with here. There is so much vital
information presented, within such a comprehensive framework,
that this video ranks as a definite "must see'· for anyone at all
concerned about environmental issues and social change.
• "Stopping The Coming Ice Age" is available for $20 from:
lnstitue for a Future, 2000 Cenfer St. Berkeley, CA 94704. For
info on other offerings of the lnstirutc call 1·800-441-77Cll
• To arrange a showing or this video in the Asheville area, or for
more information, call Richard Lowenthal ar(704) 251-2526. ~

LOCAL RESOURCE I ACTION INFORMATION
• The December t988 issue or "American ForeSIS" m;igirant (published by
the American Forcsuy Association) 11 cle110~ almo~1 ent.Ucl)' IO tropical
defore.suuion, lhc gJCCnhou.sc effll(:I, and lhc prc.~ng n~ to ref~ the e:inb.

II highlights the AlSOCiotion's nx:ently-formcd Olobal Ro-Leaf prognun, which
aims to cducaLC Americans aboul Ille vil,DJ 1mpc:111.a11CO of rcfottsuulon. lllld to
"cl'Cl!IC a new ruulon31 nctwort. (If c1ti~n aetiv1su· whU:h will, 11 i• hoped,
plant at l~t 100,000.000 ll'Ce.$ nntiOCl·wiclc over the ne~1 sc~eral ycatt. For
more informalion, wriie to: Amcriciln Forestry Association, PO Box 2000,
Washinguin, DC 20013
(202) 667-3300

· WNC Alliance "Cut l.M ~Jng" c.imJiaign (st.o pege22 ! :
P.O. Box 18087, A&amp;be\'IUC. NC 28814
(704)2$8-8737
• Forest Voices - •an /;jormatlon netW'Ofk lhat assi.sls citiz.cm m pal'_llcipating
in

1hc planning and managcmcmt or the Pisg:ih and Nant.ahala .h'!uional
(919j.182-36'33

Fol'CSIS"· P.0 Box 1275. West. lcffttiOn. NC 28694

• Adopl a Tree· a muhi-faceted ~on which "works 10 make the vital
connection between (IC(ll&gt;lc 111d ttee•' and wcrts &amp;c!;tly will\ rtfon:St3tion:

P.O. Box 144, Supr Gnwc. NC 28679
• The Fctwwy 1989 publ~ "Mounuun ~Al Risk! the FulllTC of
the Southern Appalachlari National ~13" )160+ pages, intludina 1ru1ny
cxccllentchart$ and appendices). Available on rcqucst from:
The Wilderness Society. 1819 Peaclusee Rood N.E. (Suite 714) Atlanlll , OA

30309

Drawing by rob mcJSlc:k

(404) 3SS-178l.

�What a wondetful journal! - a beanening combination of slwp-eycd
icalism and full hearted poetry. I feel rve encountered a true compt111ion.
Thanks IO D3ve Albert who passed iL on with your review of my book.
J0311na Macy
Bctb:ley, CA

DRUMMING
LETIERS TO KATUAH

Friends in Kallia.h -

"In the field or opponuni1y, it's plowing lime again.·
Those or you working in the cnwonmenllll. public henlth, resource
ma.nagcment fields may be questioning (tllllhority?). 1f your profe.~slOllal
orienllllion is on the same path as your human development and land~lhie
perogntivc.

My Friends at Katliah Journal·
Your publication is beautiful and 111Spirlng. I n:c:eived a
complimentary copy {Auwmn, 1988) conceming the great chcsmul n:vival.
and enjoyed lhe entire journal.
I visil I.be Kaul.ah bioregion each year (feeling very Sll'Ongly lhat I
was and am "born" lheic.) I am so cooccmcd about lhe negative human
impact on this n:gion, and would be in~ed in anylh1ng I could do for
l'CSIOnllion. rd&lt;Xallll.ion. pl'CllCCUon, eu:..
Blessings.
Nancy Llgnitt
Olalhe, KS
P. S. • Forgive my ignorance-.could you please lei me lmow the
correct pronunciation of "Kanlah1"

(Sure! Probably o lot of otltu ~pie have b4ie11 woNlerilog, IOO. bul
Soy, "lea - TOO • ah.•

jiut did11'1 d/Jre IO osk. Reody, fl/JW?

Guruu!Mil!

• eds.)

Dear Kat.Udl •
Many friends or mine propose pcrfeclioo (In lhe ronn or intcrpCtS0031
peace) as a .solution 10 Ille llul:aL or wincllOCl. I tell them, "Hey, I don't
think we've got Ume.• l think I saw the snmc thing happening In Katli.ah
JourMl 22 bul in an opposilC way. Thete the dhugence of individual,
corpome. and govtmmcntal behavior from the ideal was plCSClllCd so
forcdully as tO make any suggesuon of solutions ou1 or place. i wnnl tO
argue lh41 in both lhcsc in.~ ideals malfunction when they an: mnde
JWOX}mn1e goals rather !ban guiding beacons.
One p;ndox of idealism is lhlli lhe greai.cr the con1ras1 bdWllCll lhc
IC.Ill and ldCal behavior of people, the more wfficuh it Is to argue lhal Ille
JdcaJ is naturul (to them). the mon: claboralC mast be the explanation as to
how they got so aberrant. and lhe tw rusonablc it IS to hope Ibey will Ulkc
the 1113Jly.111lUly steps from one to lhe other. Usually the conimst is sortened
:wt hope ~by thc stnuch or cenlUries, millenia or aeons presumed 10
inluvcne between ~ and ideal But in the presclll crises the conuast and
~are ui=ased. Wh'fl
Wlw I see happcnmg 11 thal lhe apocolyplic p0!&gt;'iibili1y of our
cnviroomcn141 and mililllrist trues is malung people shnnk the middle
ground bctwcoo rc:il and ideal, mlllung them tlunk the ldeol m1m be nuained
right away, u we are to survive. The resuh Is that the I~ ome lhctl) is left
for clunge. the mocc of 11 is demanded. We use ideals to get at wlufs trul)'
wrong bul then in a cnsis rrusiake lhcm Lo be a pracllcal progTI1111 for se1ung
thmgsright.

In conuas1. thc closer we appro:ich disaster 1he mote focused should
be our analysis, the less suidcnt OU/ Judgcmcnl.s, the more specafte and
llmillld our prcscripuons. Out ideals C:tll still gwdc 11$ bu! from a dl$UIJIOC.
subonlloate to a goal of swvival as a ~ics w11l1 a 5uswnable OIOde or
exislcnc:c. Once that is a,s_'&gt;ll'Cd weC1111 resume lhc ncYCJ endulg wOlt or
moving oursclvt$ and the world IOW8td the 1dc;al
Respectfully yours.
JlcltOwley

M:idison County, NC

I would like to begin gcncmting plans fora small compt111y of
icsponsiblc people co promote land S?ewardsbip lllld conscrvlltion of natural
resources. We11 provide professi01131 and 1.CChnico.I consulUttion and CSU!blish
bioregi.oJllll criteria for environmerually sensitive site devclopmcnl
silviculturc, archiiecturc. fanning. wau:r use. nnd small Cl\C.f&amp;Y production.
rm intcreSICd in communicating with others who an: ready with ide:is
for lll!lking ~ TRANSmON to perpetual livelihood in a Clll'CCr lh;t1 will
reward our f11111ilies as well as our PLANET.
Sincetely.
Steve Ovcndcn
Box;JS
Pntmcuo. Ft. 34220

Dear Katllah Friends ·
I saw the "Sheller" issue of your journal and especially love and use
the Invocation (to WlnlU) - k's so beautiful to say. l was CMCCived and born
8lld also love those moun1auJS and tree$ tllld fresh air and flowing creeks.
1banlc you so much- .. the issue I saw wns bcauuful. iruly.
Blessings,
JUlllUI Forest
Octr0it. Ml

Docs my dog bite1
Lady. Lhat dog's so old
lllat he'd only gum you
If he caught you
if he even hnd the gumption
toehaseyou
which he don'L
Why do I keep him?
Hah!
Lady, that'~ the best watehdog
ICYCJhad
bar none.

How do yau mean?
Why, he don't chnsc chldtcn•

or run hvestoek

or keep me awake
barking all night.

Burgl:!n7
Lady, 1fyou see

anylhing around here worlh r.i.cahng
point ltOUI
and l'll nulc:e )'OU
a 11!31 good price on 1L
'Ccpl mlybe my dog.

• RonJohnson
Spn."9, 11109

�:

..

equal "p:lttllCrSlup" with all Olher living entities. I dream of a world whcie
long-sllllldmg cu1Lu!'111 tr3d11ions are honored and s upponcd, bolh in
hCICIOgcncous groupings of oil kinds of people living 1.ogcthcr and in more
isolntcd, sell-conlllined indigenous communities.
h 1s being said · and even channeled · lhal we are entering o pcnod
of 30 to 50 years of ca1BClysmic changes on the eanh. Some beings will
pass on in this ume of purging, while othetS will come in to !like iheir
place. Some or us wiU sUllld in the forefront of change and IJUllsmut.ation
while others of us wiU follow close behind. Let us begin then LO create the
v1s1ons that will ullimaiely provide the blueprints for our future on !his
planci., and begin to eultiva1e the liUlc poclu:IS oC mmly and wholeness Lhal
will evemually be the models from wrueh the rest of humanity cnn draw
msp1r.11ion and duectioo. The time has come_ dear comrades, lei us dream

...

together·
Jay Joyce
Asheville. NC

·.
Dear Friends·

c.ome. dream 11 liuJe dream with me.

As we all sil~ inexornbly tnLO thc not-so-nif1y nmcties. its becoming
clearer nnd c:ltlim dial life as we trow it mLISI be draWcally altered if we ait
to reverse the lides or ecologic:il desuuction gaihcring fon:e nround the globe.
h is clearly ume for us iocn:aie new visions for the rurure. lO look iownrd
the 2 lst centW')' with a sense of hope and purpOSe and direction, and OOl just
foreboding. And it i.~ in this spirit that I'd like to offer a few personal images
far a new bcguming, an altcmru.ive futun: - and LO invite compatriots
everywhere to color in these prclimm111Y skcu:hes fwther.
Farst of all, I sec a plllce where boclc:ynrd fences have been lOOI down,
and neighborhood gmdens, quiet ~cs, play SUUCUUCS. and gathering pl:ices
sprawl acro&amp;s the land insicad. Theo l see community ocntcJS blossoming
:i.mong the dctri~ of ab:lndoncd school buildmgs nnd agmg warchow.es,
where recycling proJCCU, compost dumps, and communru gardens repklce
blllciclOp parking lots; and where weekend Ilea mnrkel.nnd bloclt panics.
moon celebrotions, and ecology fairs fill those huge l&lt;&gt;nely spaces. where
computer nctwolks and refemil scrvtCCS and gallery car~ keep people in touch

Greetings Brochers and Sisu:ss of Ka111ah •
r love you all and pray with you always, and alwoys my heart is so
full wbeo I receive my copy of Ka1Uah JourMl. ll takes me back to the
Appalachians and the memories flood m.
r thought tha1 if your magazine came OUI be fan: Lbc equinox, you
could pnn1 something from • Aoccwoo,• the Maori name f&lt;W" New Zealo.nd.
since ii seems 1hc chcslnut arucles (KOJiiah Journol #21 · ed.) cre:it.ed some
communicauon.
We rue organizing o gaihering on a friend's propeny 111 lhe end of o
rood in a Nal.iOlllll Par1t, one or the mos1 beautiful places m lhe world. This
is the only gruhcring this year as our annual "Towards 2000"
workshop-oriented gathcrin~ wcrcn'1 held this yu.T. The annual nonh island
"Tc WaiOU3" glllhcring hosn't happened foe lhc l3Sl two yClll'S or our "Hui
Waiata." which is a musical glllhcring.
Although there arc loL\ of open-minded folk and mony good things
bnppcning here. we are going through a phase of fcwct gnthcrings ond feel the
need for folk t0 gel tQgct.hcr to share their ideas and views and feel strong in
their commitment to healing lhe Earth along with other brother! and !isters.
Hopefully, our pthcring will provide llus opponuru ty, as it's mo
progre$$ive area wilh communities. ocgaruc forms. and iCs a long way rrom
any ctties or polllllion. so a lOt of naturul beauty along wilh a good growing
climiue which has aurnc1ed 1'11311Y ovcneas follt. so we have an opponuouy to
share Lbcir visions, as ITIOSl of them come from a vccy comamintued Northern
Ht.maspbcrc.
As USUllJ, alu:malive folk find 1t hard to deal with local authorities,
but this is one of the few areas where people can make the effort ID be pin of
local dc:cislon·makmg and help make folk fll01C aware of what is hnppcrung
to our Mother and the roles W$ can play IO bcal Her and OUl1iClves.

with each other.
t look forward also LO a time when we all learn LO lhink about each
thing we "tlvow away" long enough to decule how u can be recycled or
properly disposed of. I imagine a place· ll Smithsonian of the mind. if you
will • whc:re a few old TV's, microwaves, electric am-openers. wa1apiks,
air-purifiers, etc. are kept in a museum lO remind us of whal we almost
buried ourselves in . .• while the rest oC them ~ no longer nccdcd or
wanted. I dlcll!n or a time when we no longer use tars, and freeways a.re no
longer necessary eitcept roe skalcboordulg, sledding, skhng, bicycling, and
wllldsurfing. I envision a scienlifx: communny thal seeks ou1 ways to gel
rid or the nukes, cleanly, lO biodegradc the phlsuc. 10 trunsfOJ111 ihe 10X1e
chemicals, IO clean up thc :ur and w.ucr, to cure the diseases, and IO develop
stmplincd, life-nunuring ways Cot all ihe criUCIS still 3.m0f18 us LO reinhabil
the pbneL
I look forwllr&lt;l to a lime when children learn IO love leaming, when
they arc iniegmtcd into ihe life of their communities and when !hey Ill'!:
openly adcoowlcdged and supponcd ror the grC&amp;l comnbutions they mlllcc to
our lives. 1 imagine a ume when people enj()y learning a&gt; much ttbout lheir
loctll ccosySlCITI as they now blow about the plol developments of the lalCSI
soap opelilS and lhe lifcstyles or lhc rich and famous. I envision a time: when
bUIDQll betn.gs 1cam LO QCCepl I.be Cllc:1 lha1 !hey tnhab11 one small niche m the
pta&amp; an:le of the eanh's ccosysicm end therefore leam IO uucmct m loving,
Drllwmp by Sheli Lodge

Love,
Pc1ctOay
16 Jarrow Plac;c

Christchurch 3 New 7.ea1ruld

�Earliest February I begin
searching along a neighbor's hedgerow
for just a tendril of the coming miracle.
Or gatlog as one stricken upon the si Us of morning
when the fir'lt dreamy memories of daffodils return.
l breathe a wisp of a vast movement stirring and alluring me.
Deep in e veins of southern sloping woods.
I know beside the coldest laughing waters
bubbling and glittering in the soft. buucry sun
some rich, mysterious. fragile awakenings unfold.
Long before the geese come winding surely homeward,
I discover and behold an anicle of r.ransfonnation
that by narure disregards mere joy or faith or sorrow,
to which uncr defeat or sheer victory remain the same.
So even in this old hean of winter full of woes.
the barrer1 season ofdui.t and frost is washed clean away.
And this, I suppose. is why l wander seeking ccnitudc.
ruming a 11one over by the path, or gazing above treetops.
or gliding clflike lhfouJh the forest's solemn ~lonnadtli.
for in this ~un-goW rime as the eaith starts siirring,
c:ven the ~' n dcith of my brother is cased and gree
the
ve, delicaie, relentless mari:h of Spring.
Alt. 1i\U..

~ '""

1'4Wah )ournal p«UJe 28

- Mitliattl Hockaday.
Sp rlfMJ, l 989

�Planet Art

conunucd rrom page 1

Christina then found Leigh Hollowell who had srudied Contact
extensively on the West Coast and who was also very interested
in seeing Contact happen in this area. Leigh enthusinstically
agreed to co-teach a ContAct class with Christina. They knew
that if they wanted to have people to do Contact with, they would
have to help create a Contact community first.
Leigh love:; Contact because "it's natural - it'~ not based on
socialized preceptS but on an open exchange with other people in
the reality of the present moment." She is aware that for many
people dance classes and physical education have been
emotionally painful and repressive, because they were not
encouraged to learn their own natural movement but to imitate
others. Her main goal is "to provide a positive movement
experience for people so they can become friends with their
bodies and learn to perceive it as a resource of creativity."
I asked her how she felt that Contact would affect the
larger community, and she said. "Because it is not based on any
one culture's movement and is a form naruraJ to all human
bodies, it is an effective way to trunscend barriers between
people..• it would simply create a more trusting, and therefore
more peaceful, community."
l have been panicipating in this dance class since
November and have been able to experience it "first hand". ln
Contact dance, we maintain a ''point of contact" with another
person, and it constantly shifts as both move. When we try to
control where the movement goes with our minds, it becomes
stiff and awkward. When we stop trying to control and simply
focus on the point of contact, that point guides us in a flowing
way towards movements that are easy and spontaneous. Our
minds are shocked at how well we can do without their control.
Imagine a society in which we allowed our interactions to come
from our point of connection instead of our differences!
For more information about Contact Improvisation, call
Leigh Hollowell at (704) 252-4475.

Art here in Karuah has begun to reflect the reality of our
connection wilh the planet.... making art-all fonns of creative
expression and ritual-a pan of our daily lives. By
acknowledging the sacredness of our co-existence with the rest of

~Water Systems
WATER PURIFICATION EQUIPMENT
SOLAR PRODUCTS
Membar NC Water O~lty AasoclaOon

RANDALL C. LANIER
704-293-5912

HWY 107
RT 68 BOX 125
CULLOWHEE, NC 28723

che universe, we are beginning 10 harmonize with it
Many of us, though, have closed off our energies to the
vision of a hnrmonit.ed planet because it seems so elusive and far
away, and we don't like feeling disappointed. Others have
refused to sec and accept the truth of the planet as it is because il
is painful .. and think that if they "shut their eyes it will go away.•
The tnJth 1s that the sooner we open our eyes and accept what is
there, the more effectively we will be able to deal with iL
In a book called The Path of Ltas1 Resistance, a simple
and effective method for manifesting a choice is given. This
method can apply lO planetary as well 3S personal mmsfonnation.
lt is lO constantly hold in our minds two things ... exactly what
our vision is and the full truth of our current reality. It is based
on the idea that "in order 10 ge1 where you want to go, you need
to know where you are."
Since we are all planet anisrs, this technique needs to be
widely understood. As we hold our vision firmly in mind and
continue to acknowledge what's happening now, new nod
unexpected ways of achieving our goals will come to us. Jn order
10 do this, we need co be aware of the deep, undercurrent
regenerative processes that exist around and within us that we can
tap into. As more and more of us choose to love and accept our
planet and all her inhabitanlS no matter what is happening, the
easier it will be.
A lot is happening in our region, and J'm sure there are
many more people here with ideas and enthusiasm to contribute
towards a biorcgional program of Planet An. Some suggestions
arc... a traveling multi-media show that would tour the region to
network and share bioregional idens...communicy rituals for
healing the la.ad... restoring our environment with "Clean-Up
An" events... synchronizing with planetary peace and art events
... All Species Day with parades and festivals ...Joining in the
preparations for Earth Day '90. There is no linu1 to what we can
dol...there is no shonage of things to rcharmonizel
It's time to find out who we all are as anists and get our
networks in place. At the next K.atuah Gathering we can come
together and bntinstonn. t can be contacted by wrirtng P.O. Boll:
278, Asheville, North Carolina, KatUah Province 28802 or _,,
~
calling (704) 253-4831.
~

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Sprl.fMJ, 1989

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FREE COLOR CATALOG

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Send S 2 ror fuU-&lt;:olor caulog/ Custom onlcrs llYlilablc
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P.O. Box 178, Asheville, NC 28801
(70-4) 25).431

�POPLAR APPEAL
Green City

conunucd rrom p.9

cooler in the summer. and it wai. quieter - if you knock on steel and
then knock on a soybean, you unders1and the sort of deadening
chMIClerislics on the inside of lhat car.
The dreams of Henry Ford and the rest of the chemurgy
movement were postponed. but they seem to be resurfacing again.
Russell Buchanan. a scientist in Maryland, envisions the rise of
botano-chemical complexes, as he calls them, rather than
pcrro-chemical complcitcs, as we learn to eittract from cellulose the
same things that we extract from pcuoch~micals. One ts a
hydrocarbon; the other is a carbohydrate. Compare these words and
they're basically the same. One of the differences. however, between
a botano·chcmical complex and a pcrro-&lt;:hemical complex is that it's
easy 10 transport oil over long distances, whereas it's not easy to
transport plant mauer over long distances. So botnno·chemical
complexes will tend to be locally based and rurally based near their
sources of raw material~ and supplies.
Local self-reliance can become an economic developmem
strntegy, and cities ate the best place to try it out, for several J'C3.'\0llS.
Mose of us live in cities. Cities tend to be large enough 10 have an
internal market, and can in fact become laboratories. Cities are
concentrations of science and technology. They have the ingeouil\',
the expertise and the machine toolshops to build prototypes and try
them out. Bur what is your nearest city's research and development
budget? h's probably zero.
The local self-reliance scenario is not inevil3ble nor is it even
probable. It depends on political decisions. Economic development
must be seen as a means to an end and not an end in itself. Alben
Einstein once said that perfection of means and confusion or cods
characterize our age. We're so mesmerized by technology and
development that we forget to ask, "Technology for what?" and
"Development for whom?" We have become consumers of change,
bul we don't know the difference between change and ,erogress. To
Bertrand Russell progiess is ethical and change ls scientific; change is
inevitable, while progress is problematic. In other words. progress is
valw:·laden and as we change, we need to ask ourselves, "Will we
progress?" We can have a green city within a brown world by
moving all or our production and disposal systems for away from our
city. But 10 truly embrace the ecological motivation behind a green
city, we must ~ome responsible for the wastes that are generated
for our convemence. And the only way to do that is 10 begin 10 return
that loop of production, use and disposal, b.'ICk to the community.
Marcel Proust once said that the voyage of discovery consists
nm In seeking new lands but in seeing with new eyes. It is in seeing
O!Jf communities and our citi~s with new eyes, in pursuing a globe of
Vlllag~s and not a global village, that we begin to create a new
paradigm.
@ lnsli1utc for Local Sclf·Rcli:incc. 2425 Ulm Sucet, t&lt;W WllSbinguin. DC
2000!&gt;. Also w1lh pcnnission fl'Ofll Raise IM Stt1lls. Planet Drum Foun&lt;bLinn,
P.O. Box 31251, San fran(isco, CA 94131. This anlclc appc:arcd 1n Winter 19118

issue.

M.El&gt;1.CtNE ALLtES

'J-SK1.1t'J

tQllUnued from page 11

h wru; always a rare
oy~rer mushrooms - that is.

und special occasion when I found
until I su1J1cd roaming the hills with
my older mounuineer buddy Theron. Theron was rai~ed
gathering roots and herbs at his grandmother's knee, and he
knows the woods well, but he had ulw11ys been wisely hesitant
about sampling unidentified wild mushrooms •tllc first few times
in our wanderings when we found some oyster mushrooms.
Theron would help me gather them and he would carefully
examine them, but be always declined to share the harvest nnd
rnke some home to em. However. after heming me talk so much
about how good they were (and seeing that I was still thriving),
he finally tried some. He and his wife enjoyed them immensely,
and from then on it seemed that. with Theron's help, I was
hardly ever without oyster mushrooms.
From Theron I learned 10 visit areas 1ha1 had been logged a
few years previosly and look on tulip poplar stumps after a spell
of rainy weather. In the$C Meas we could find man)' pounds of
the savory mushrooms in any season of the year. We often found
enough to dry and store for times when the fresh ones were
scarce.
When Theron and I sn down together and share a meal of
oyster mushrooms and other wild edibles, I think about what a
strongc pair we make: me, a naturalist from the Oat land with a
university education, and him, a tradjtional mountain wood~man
and fanncr who barely finished eighth grade. Yet we both realize
that if we hadn't met and been open and receptive 10 each other's
knowledge. neither of us would be earing this delicious wild
mushroom supper. Traditional knowledge and book learning can
go well together.

©1989 by the tlJ.Uhor.
Reprl111edfrom Wildlife in North Carolina Magazine.
"Ranger Doug" EUiolt, as he is known to rite cltildren i11 the
group, is an excellent naJuralist, but is also known as a lively~
storyteller and ''a real nice feller."

p

A Directory to
North Carolina's Natural Areas
(published by 1.he NC Natural Heritage Foundation)
As pan of its important work in rare and endangered
species identification and habitat preservation, the North Carolina
Natural Heritage Foundation, a non-profit organization, has
compiled the guidebook, A Directory to North Caroli11a's Namral
Areas. The compact guidebook features dC!ieripcions of more than
100 natural areas open to the public in the state. The descriptions
of each aro:i include infonnntion about natural history, geology.
1111d uuvcl information.
To obtain copies of the book, send S5.00 10 the NC
Natural Heritage Foundation; Box I I 105; Raleigh, NC 27604

Each is tl1c suongcst power 1n iis own domain.
Together !hey lll'C allies: !heir C1111tgics complement each
01hcr m rorm an e\'et1 greater power. As medicine ollics,
they rcpre«ent 1he hc;Uing powers of lbC Appalnahian
In lhe tr.1d1uonal Cherokee Indian belief, lhe Moun1:11ns.
TI111 medicine powers of Kl!uiah Juve been depicted
crca!Ure\ in the world lOclay arc only d1minu11.ive forms or
the mythic beings who once mlUlbucd the world, but who in o ~1r1l.;ing T-shin design by Ibby Kcn11:t. Printed in
now fC$idc in Oal11na'IJ, lite 5pmt world. the highest 5-coloc silksi;irccn by Ridgerunncr Nnwr.ils on top qu:ility,
he;ivcn. BuL • few of the ongmal powcr~ broke lhrough !he all-couoo shin.~. 1hcy arc avallnble now in all adul1 shes
!!p1riLUAI barrier and exist yet m the world a~ we know il. from KALANU; Boit 282; SylYll, NC 28779.
These beings arc called with rcv.:rcncc "grandfalhas" And
or tl1cm. the suonges1 arc K.allilti, lhc ligh1mng. thc power
Pl~ specify ~ir.t: Sm .• Med., Lg.. X·Lg.
or the sky; utsa·nau, 1he r:mlcsn:tke, who pcrsoniries the
Prke: S9.SO pOStf131d
power of lhc cnnh pL'lllc: lllld Yunwi U!ldi, "I.he li1Llc !Mn".
W.98 pns1pa1d for NC re.-i!knts
as ginseng is called in I.he S!Crcd ceremonies. who draws up
JlOYo er from lhc underwocld.

"To .f/ww TU~l"lftx lhlS lll{lctflOllll'DI /Tinily of thl:
Miura/ world iJ 10 111 111111 bcc0t1v t111 ally tn thl: con1i11w11g
fll'OUS!. of niai111&lt;Un111g harmony and bal1111Ct htrt 111 thl:
moll/IJJJJJU of Ka1Uah"

Spri.f19. 1969

�Emironmcntol Politics:

11Vlou.nttiln Ug'hl H!!:twork

Lessons from the Gras.'&gt;routs.
Bob Hall. Editor

Mountam Light Network is an eclec1ic, 1n1entionally
group of people living in the Kaulah srea. Th&lt;:
tntercsts of the group include 3 deep commilnlCnl to 1nd1vidu:il
llnd planct:u) peace. and to ecological hannony, with emphasis
on coopera1ion between human, animal, plant and mineral
kingdom~ . Other areas of interest include subtle energies,
h~::iling, and techniques for utilizing new forms of power. Many
w11hin t~c: g_oup n:lion::ite wi1h N?tive Indian philosophies and
r
;;eek to h~c in ~~c1ous balanl'c ~nh the land. The mu;ority are
involved in hohsuc heallh, explonng new paths now developing.
Some _ re invot:--ed in the Anciem Wisdom and spiritual
a
&lt;li-•c1phnes. Survival and food 11toragc are also of interest to
many individuals
We meet 4 times a year at the Franklin Communitv Center
on Sundays. at 2:00 PM near the Sol"iccs and Equino11tes. There
iU'C tables for those who wish to 5ell products or promote ideas;
many books arc available a!; welt. We feature a speaker at each
meeting. We have a directory of names. skiUs and intrn-~1~ Our
aim is to provide a time and place for communication and
exchange of ideas to become neighbors in a loose-I.nit network
of people in our area.
Part1c1pauon in meetings is free and open to all people of
Like mind. This year our meetings an: on March 19, June 18.
September 17. and Dcccmbct 17, 1989. For more anform:uion,
call (404} 746-2454.
~structured

ln.'itltule for Soul hem Studies, P. 0. Bo&gt;&lt; SJl,
Durham. f\C 17702. 1988. ~7.00. 12? pgs.
Whal can you do when an our·of·slalc corporation
an_nounc~

plans for a hazardouli was1c rrearment facility a few
nulc:s from your home. or when stare officials ~ay 1hey wan1 to
pave 11 highway through your neighborhood? Where can you
mm for help if real esta1e developers wuh close ties 10 local
politicians decide to build a condominium or shopping center in a
sensitive water;hed are;i?
_
How much energy should you devote 10 door-to-door
organizing, or seeking auention from the media, or gelling
involved in elecrorul pohtics?
For rhe past three yc:.m;, lhe lns111u1e for Southern Studies
has conducted an investigation of environmental and land·u&gt;e
controversies in one state, Nonh Carohna. rn a remarkable
number of cases. locnl citizens groups · even lhosc in relatively
!solatcd. rural areas • have won s1gnifican1 victories ag:unst
1mpress1ve odds. They h:ive beaten well-endowed corporations
and forced state policym:ikcu to change regulations, enforce
ex1snng standards, and enact new laws.
_Th~y have built ad hoc coalitions and enduring
orgamzauons, occas1onally across rucc lines, more often across
class and cultural divisions within the white community. And
they have moved from crisis-oriented, hit-and-miss organization
to sophisticated political lobbying and effective electoral activi~m.
The key ingredients of these successful citizen-led
camprugns are described in dwlll in the first chapter. The next 10
chapters chronicle the episodic. fragmented, yet growing
cnv1rorunental movcmenr in consc.rvwve North Carolirui. The
focus h less on the grim threats to life as we know it than on why
pe~p~e respond, whar they do to win, and how grassroots
acuv1s_m and electoral politics (including lobbying and voter
educanon) imersec.1 to produce i.nstitutionru change.
The result 1s a storybook of grassroots experiences. a
handbook that lets our own past teach us bow to wodc. for a bener
future. And while the location may be Nonh Carolina, the
common lessons running through these stOrics are plainly uc;cful
to people throughout the Soulh Md beyond.

- excerpted from tlie preface
,..0 &amp;..ot4(;t" WA.) I " '

..nw i-c.t

t,_f

------

TPC.. two ~Kt H~O M&amp;.L.01.0
AMO I loll', 1' C.111''1 HO!ISf..l

SprL119. t 989

JUST RECEIVED'

Mountain Treasures at Risk:
The Future of lhe
Soulh~rn

Appala&amp;llian Nalional Fonsts

by Laura E. Jackson
The N:uional Forests of the Southern App11lachian
Mountains are the last remaining habitar area available for many
species of pl3Ilts and wildlife. The book Mountain Treasuru ot
Risk says that these valuable habitat areas should be managed
from a regional viewpoint and offers valuable infonnation tQward
rcaliting n new vision for forest management which emphasizes
the values of life suppon and ~gional biodiversity.
Handsomely bound, profusely documented with photos,
tables, and charts.
Copies free on requ~t from The Wilderness Society; 1819
Peachm:c Rd NE (Suite 714); Atlanta, GA 30309.

... Katuah Journal is not just lull of Information. It is
also full of images, and we appeal to all visual artists
interested in ennching lhe pages of this journal, plus some
exposure for you, to send us copies of your work Many
times we need graphic images that are specific 10 a given
article, yet there Is often space to put Images that are not
specific You would be surprised the kinds of
synchronicities that can happen when you send wori&lt; in•
Drawings in Ink. prints, photographs, borders, symbols.
and cartoons that you think have some relevance to the
journal are all welcome Don't be shy. we need your talent
and image·ination to help visual-eyes a clearer relation
with Katuah ...

�evencs
2-8

BRASSTOWN, NC

Spring Music and Dance Week. Music.
StOries, dance, nature. John C. Campbell Folk School

28906.
8

BLOWING ROCK, NC
Ocan-up of the Glen Burnie Falls Trail .
Blue Ridge Group. Sletra Club. Call (704) 264-3931.

MARCH

8·9

HIGHLANDS, NC
Chiefs from the Native American
Elders Circle meet at the Mountain to discuss
Ecology and An. ''TIJU care how you place your
17-19

moccasins upon tM Eanh,step with care,for the
faces oftM I unve generarions are looking up from
Earth waiting their turn for life." $137. The

FARNER, TN
Leam "Wild Foods and Earth Medicines" with
Snow Bear at Pcppcrland Farm Camp: Sw Route: Farner,
37333. (70&lt;!) 494-2353.

™

IJ.16

GATUNBURG, TN

Womyn·s Weekend Rctn:at: Spccilll Gu=
Grey Cal, Lucinda F1odin. Write 10 P.O. Box 936:
Gatlinburg. TN 37738 for more info.

Mountain; 841 Highway 106: Highlands, NC
28741 (704) 526- 5838.

NEW MARKET, TN
sn&gt; (Stop the Poisoning!) School a1 the
Hishlander CcnlCf. Learn bow to figllt 1nduslrinl pollution
For more info, call (615) 933-3443.

30

UNICOI, GA
"Spring Earth Skills Workshop''
with Snow Bear, Darry Wood, Doug Elliott, and
Yanna. Leaming the ways of the woods. $65.
Comact Bob Slack at (404) 878-2201.

31·1

HENDEltSONVILLF., NC
Workshop on Local and Regional Land

Trusis. Kanug.a Episcopal Center. For more info call
(704) 692-9136.
WAYNESVILLE, NC
Kanna m Daily Life-A Spiritual Rctrcal,
with John Algeo. Stil·Light Tbcosopbieal RCllC41 Cent.er,
Rt I, BOA 326: Wayncsy1lle, NC 28786 (70&lt;!) 452-4569.

Neighborh ood" confcronce sponsored by Asheville
League of Women Votcts. Time and place TBA. Call (704)
258-8223.
ASHEVILLE. NC

A six-we.:k course. "Finding Your Path
with HC3rt", begins a.t the Spiritual Growth Foundation.
(sce4/l). The focus will be on finding our "lruC vmce• and
expressing Lhc lifc-affinmng energy of l1W" Heart's desire.
17·18

ASHEV l LLE, NC
Red Foll/Second ll.311gin', play prcscnltd by

I.be Roadside ThcatTC. S)l3rU'lnburg. SC. For ume and
location. call (606} 633-0108.

nLACK MOUNTAIN, NC

Robm Williamson. •a wl1.lltd of words and
music:.· "'I h~ hunter ond the hu11ted howl 011e howl.•
McDibbs'; S6 tdYanc~ door. 8pm, 119 Cherry Si.,
Black Mtn., NC 28711: (704)669-2456.

ASREVlLLE, NC
" Betw"n a Rock and a Hard Place:
Westtrn
No r th
Carolina's
Noclur

17

14-16

21-23

IS

ASHEVCLLE, NC
"Cut lhe Clearcutting!" says
WNCA. From 1t am. Music, dancing, speakers.
City/County Plaza, Asheville. Write Western
North Carolina Alli:lncc; Box 18087; Asheville,
NC 28814, orcall 258-8737
15

ASHEVILLE, NC
The Enrth First! Road Show wilh
Roger Featherstone and Susan Grace Stoltz,
audio·visuals, news on EF! issues and actions.
Lipinsky Auditorium, UNCA. 7:30 p.m.
Students $1. General admission $3. For more
info, call (704) 251-6144.
18

31·2

APRD..
1·30

CHEROKEE, NC
William Holland Thomas.

"little

ASlll-:VlLLE, NC
Hum.an Potential Education Foundation
Spring 1989 Conference, "Healers and the Healing
Proces:~." For regiwation and brochure conw:c Human
Poumlial Educlllion Foundation, Inc.: R1. s. 89 Tt1nyrud
Rd.: Greenville. SC 29609.

white

chicr or lhe ChclOkec. cxhibiL OicroJcoe H~14Sc MUNCwn
and GaJlcsy.
I&amp;8

28-30

ASHEVILLE, NC

'Commumcation and Healing." a lWO·Jllll

28-30

NEW MARKF.1', TN
STP (Stop I.he Poisoning!) School Bl the
Highlander Ccntcr. Learn how to fight tndu.suial pollution.

~3/21-23.

wotlcshop focusing on inner commumon and outer
communicauon as Yilal tools for bcaling ourselves Md our

rclalionsh1ps.

10-Spm each day.

Led by Richard

l.owenlhBI. M. A. Spiritual Growth Foundation: 891
Haywood .Rd. (704) 252-3508.
2-5

PISGAH FOREST, NC

Rockclimbing clinic for beginners
Tedmiques, safely, gear. S28S. Eagle's Nest Camp; 43 Hart
Road: Pisgah °Fon:.'ll: NC 28768. (704) 877-4349.
X.~.Jo~

pgqe 52 ·

29-31

FARNER, TN
KATUAH SPRING GATHERTNO.
Come celebrate. dance, play, meet. and talk with
the family from all over the region (see
announcement next page).

mustratlons by Jackie Taylor-

�JUNE
29

MOUNT AIRY, NC
18th
Annual Ml. Airy Fiddler~
Convention. A weekend of lrod1tion:il Appal3chian Music.
Bring instruments. tenlS, food. Regiwruion SlO.
2-3

SWANNANOA, NC

Environmental Summit '89: Ethics,
Economics and the Environment. This 5th annual
summit will focus on environmental problems of
immediate interest in WNC. and on how
environmental and economic realities affect each
other. Keynote speaker: David Morris of the Inst.
for Local Self-Reliance. Warren Wilson College.
9am-4 pm. $5. For more info or to preregister call
(704) 298-3325, ext. 250.

9· 11

CLOUDLAND CANYON
Caving weekend w11h Snow Bear as
instruc1or and guide. Equipment provided. Call (704)
494-2353 for more info.

9-11

WAYNESVILLE, NC
"Mythology - The Modem Search for the
Holy Grail" with Joy Mills. Stil-L1ghL See 3/31-4/2.

MAY

llRASSTOWN, NC
June Homecoming Music/Dance Weck.
English counuy dancing wi1h Jim Morison. John C.
Campbell Folk School, 28906.
11·17

5-7

WAYNESVILLE, NC
"Music as Meditation" with Diana
Dunningh:un. S20/day. Sul-Light Center: See 3{31-4/2.

21-25

HIGHLANDS, NC
Nature Photography Workshop.
Prc.rcgisicr. Appalachian Environmental Ans Center. Sec
5/12-14.

6

LINVILLE, NC.
Grandfather Mountain Prorilc Trait
wildflower hilce. Blue Ridge Group, Sierra Club. Call (704)
2974098.

6-10

PISGAH FOREST, NC
Whi1ewa1cr Canoe Clinic for novices and
m1crmedia1es. $455. Sec 4/2-5.
12-14

lllGllLANDS, NC
Spring Landscape Retreat Photography
Workshop. Pre-regisicr: Appalachian Environmental Arts
Ccnicr; Drawer S1l0: Highlands. NC 2874 I (704) 526-4303.

19-21

BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC
The Black Mouniain Spring Festival.
Three days of traditional music and dnnce at Black
Mountain College/Camp Rockmont. Brave
Combo, The Horsenies, Grandmother, David
Wilcox, Phil and Gaye Johnson. For advance
tickets call Grey Eagle and friends, (704)
, 669-4546 from 2pm- IOpm.

o~ ~3. &amp;q o.ncL 3o

o± -p e.p~et' la.rd.. ~ t()J\ft'l

7f.n

~
u.a -to
~~N.b..ooY

19·21

flfGllLANDS, NC
Wildflower Pho1ogruphy Workshop.
Pre-rcg1s1er. Appalachi$ Env1Tonmcnt.al Arts C..:nicr. Sec

qy'~

5/12-14.

u.ou.aL I~~

~ o..cliN~ a.r0.wo¥k shO(:.&gt;s ~ o...d.uJtto

19-21

MILLBORO, VA
EARTH FlRST! Appabchian Rendezvous.
Talk, drum. s.we au things wild. For more info, write: Box
2(&gt;6; Millboro. VA 2.4460 or call (703) 997-9448.
BRASSTOWN, NC
May Crafl/l)ance week. John C. Campbell
Folk School 28906.

27-29

WHITTIER, NC
Cclebralion on lhe land al Union Acres
Communuy. All friends of Kauiah welcome. For more
Info., ca11: Cynthia and Roy Gallinger, (704) 293-9230.

spil.NJ,

1989

µ~~.

~ u.;tl.L ~ -t:hL-

NEW MARKET, TN
STP (Siop the Poisoning!) School a1 lhe
Highlander Ccnier. Leum how IO figh1 indu.~trial poll111Jon.
Soc3nl-23.
19-21

21-27

().rd_

a.rd. ch.U.dA.t.n '
Pre-registration, by April 15: $15.00 adult
$10.00 child under 12

After April 15:

$17.00 adult
$12.00 child under 12

.For mon: infonnalion,
write: Snow Bear and Khallsa; Pepperland Farm Camp; Siar Route: Farner. TN 37333
or call: (704) 494-2353 or (704) 586-3146

�vfEBWO~
SEEKING TO JOIN OTHERS m a mlllllally -.upponivc
comml.INly. Singl.c mamn: womon. ll'lis1-1eac.htt can offer
skills: early childhood education. llU, earth llb111:, wri!Jnl
Wn1c Alwyn MosJ., 1007 Turner SL, Blacksburg, V/&gt;
24060: ("10'3) SS2·6331

VAGABOND GUJBETR01TTNG Stale of tlw Art.
Revised Edition., by M.L. Endicoll. One of lhc moll
compRhensivc insuucticm manua!J ror &lt;yro uavelcrt
SUS; Enchlridlon lntemational, Cullowhcc, NC 28723

ASCENSION Beg1111ttr's Mon.uJJ. a self-help boo1t for
auaining lhc touchable ruii1y of lhc ASCENDEO &lt;taic.
usually lhou&amp;ht to be bt!yood Raeh. By Theodore A
lluoody, Ir~ $13.SO pp; &amp;lcctic: Pren, 205 Pigeon SI.
Waynesville. NC 28786.

WlNCS WAY bttbal products. For pnce list. wme: Box
1477; Old Fon. NC 2.876Z
EUSTACE CONWAY- Ou.ide and !Udler of (ll1lnit1ve
£arlh Skills wilh cmphasi.t on rue blll1dln,. hide tanning
she.Iler. and fongilla. He ILachti at public schools, parks
cnvimnmencal oont.en, .and cJuscs ol .all tinds. For tllOl'C
informllion coniact lum II' 602 Deerwood Drive,
Oastonii. NC 28084 or oall Allcln Sianlcy al (704)
872-7972
FUTONS by Simple Pte.uuru affordably priced. Send
SASE for Info io: Sunplc PICU\lrtJ: RL I. Box 1426
Clayton. GA 30S2.S (404) 782·3920.
APPAJ..ACHIAN GINSENG CO.• sua.tified seeds.

PEPPERLAND ofrcn a variety of ouldoor cdu.eation
po,grams for chl.Wdl, school. or cMc gn&gt;Up&amp; ycu· round.
Wo will help you ~pl a pogrom for your group. Send
for infonnwon J*1c.ct to: Pcppcrland Fum Camp; Sw
RoUlA!; Farner, TN 37333.
R£AllERS' REACTIONS AND INSIGHTS wanic.d
i.ganling lhc "consum«" culun we five in, and lhc idea of
"consumaism" u a lifestyle.. Plcue write to Richard
Lowenthal, 53 Greely St.. Asheville, NC 28806 (or call

seedlings. roots. Send for price li51 io: P.O. Box S47

Dillsboro, NC 28725.

M. TR&amp; DESIGNS: UlllSIJlliom and Der;gn • Beyond lhc
p!l&amp;CS of lhis journal, I work DI penal. colored ponril. ink. QI\
paper. md t.lik. F'mc and graphk an to cxircu and cnh...,.,
our livea. Logos, btochuru, boob. ponnl1ure, window and
wall h&amp;ng~. Concct Manha Tree (704) 7S-4-«l97.

STit.·UGHTTHEOSOPHICAl..RETREATCENTER -a
qu1c1 spaeo for JlC'nOnal medilali&lt;m, aniup inc.cractioo
lhrough study, and community .-011&lt;. and spintual
smiinU$, Contact Leon Frankel; Rt. I. Box 326;
Wayncs•ilk. NC 28786
WANTED: LAND 111 WQt.cm NC. Famlly f«b Sor mon:
ICtCS. prd"crobly near Cullowhee. IO pr&lt;S&lt;TVC and evcnlll.ally

inhllbil. U}'OU have or kno..•of afford.&amp;blc l111d, oonlll:t Bob
llld Miry Davis; 213 Wcrunorcland Cc., Ccorgetown. KY
40324 (502) 8634167.

MOON DANCE FARM HERBAl..S · herbal salvC$,

tinc1111cs. &amp; oil• for b1nh111g a: family health. For
bcochure, pt.,,.e wrii.:: Moon Dance Farm; Re. I. Box
726; Harnpcon. TN 37658

FREE t..ABOR • I would like ID learn about beekeeping and
building New Ag&lt; Housing Willing to wo1'k for free during
summer. All I ask b a pl- for my tcnl and .., occasional
muL Con11e1 ClvU Irwin; 1712 Whhc /we.; Knoxville:. TN
37916 (6lS) 673-0653.

BUCITT RESISTANT CHESUIUT ·hybrid
AmcricanlCluncS 0wman c:hcstnut treea • blight rcsisW\I
timl&gt;C!r pc&gt;wth form. productive orchard crop wilh luge.
sweet CQily·pcc\ed nuu. Cbutnut Hill l'luncry; RL I, Bo&gt;.
34 l·K: Aadiua, FL 3261.S (904) 462·2820

ORGANTC FERTIUZERS. belts, and arganically-groMI.
local produce 11 the&gt; WNC Pannen' Marked Look for the
FaiJglcn Fanns slllll. units F and 0 in lhc wholesale 1tU of'
lhc F.umcn' Matkrl; 570 BteVud Rd.; Asheville, NC ("104

252-4414

Trudeau Dr.; Mc.Wrc, LA 70003.

CENTEJl FOR AWA.KENlNC scck:ing 2 full-time, live.in
volunlccn w/ main1cnance and/or n11ural food prep
eitpericnce. RmManl. Wri1e; Human Services Allianoc
Bo• IS42; WinSIOn.Salcm. NC 27102 (919) 761-874S.

APPROPRIATE PASSIVE SOLAR des1111. blueprints
and full wor.king dnwings for homes, shopt. and sheds
Cr.,•llve dr1fling .....yow- ideas or ours. Harmony
Sunbuildets; P.O. Bo• 194; Suiv Grove. NC 28697

SONGS OF LOVE ANO NATURE by Ron Lambe
fcawring the voice of Hearuingcr wilh Slcphen Klein,
Pi&amp;no. Lavaul&lt;r Lieder Records; R1 I, Box I JS;
Bakcnvillc, NC 28705. (704) 6884791.

B~c I01J.r111!1 inlo o f«alm of Evolution.ary lodvt:llllD'e
by Pauick Clerk. A inu: -=ounl of a bicycle tnp from

NATURAL FOOD SlORF. for ulc in Brevard, NC.
E•ccllcnt IOCllion. $80,000 CJOS1 sales. Growlh poienti&amp;I
Owncn n10ving. mus1 p•U ii on. Call IDiubcth (704)
293·9534 evcnin&amp;J.
ORCANlC FOOD PRODUCING CO-OP
land.
aqwprncnl, apcrienced fannen provided for members The
Bioclomc Pannet~lup; Rt. 2. Sox 184; Waynesville.. NC
28786. (704) 926-935$.
ECO HELP NEEDED Long 8r111Ch Envlfonmcn1al
Education Ccrue:r D«dJ volwileetlN!ICnlS 10 help "'•lh
orchards, gardens, farmworl. rainbow 1tou1.
cmrgy-efficimc bllild1ng. cnvimnmmtal/wildlifc/pmn1·
cul11m issues and organizing. Room and boatd negntiable.
Paul Calllmoce; l.BF.EC; RL 2. Box 132; ~icc.icr, NC
28748

YOU CAN CO HOME AGAIN· A Down To &amp;rth
JOURNEY INTO THE SLICK.ROCK Wildcmcu Atca
Boys. falhu-son. falher-daughter cxpcdttJoN. Learn
ob&lt;•rvttion and woodcraft in lhe deep woods. Bun
~gay, upericnced guide Slicktock ElpeditionJ; Box
1214; Cullowhec. NC .28723.
AMRITA HERBAL PRODUCTS · Comfrey. EucalyplUS
Oii C.olclcn Seal salve. ~mon ar LA•cncler (ICIC ctam. Medo:
wilh natural and c=nlial oih and love. Send for brochure
Rt I. Box 737; Floyd, VA 24091.

HAND.CARVED WOODSPIRITS. ln)"ucal hiking ital~
FINDING OUR "PATH WITH HEART" c.QI be v11al t0
O\lt health Ind ~•lfoxprasion. I offer guidcl&lt;:e lhrou&amp;h
courueling, spimual 111uncmm1. ..1rolog1cal rcadings
WOJbhops, common·llCJUC ftedbt.ell. For more info or an
appoin1mcnl, call Richard Lowenthal , M.A . (704)
2Sl·2526. Sliding scale fcea.
ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY on bcauuful land~
Cbualccc, NC sr&lt;king r1milirs domring gi:c11tt
c:oopenlicm and self·sufficlen&lt;:y. Based on Jpiricual Ind
ocological valuea. Pcoperty now av11f1ble. Call (404)
77S.S7S4 for info.

Wuhinglon, D.C 10 Ille au1boc's native home of
Cullowbcc, NC. following muah of lhc Bluc Ridge
Parkway. Avai1oblc for $7.95 pose paid from Dandylion
Publicatio111. 47 Pmola. Sc., Ashcvillc NC 28801.
COMMUNION WITH NATifRA • Long proclauncd to be
cclcsual •tan &amp;fOllllding their radiance on Mot.bcr !!viii
flowers ""' the rcvcl11ion of lhc plan!. Come •hllfe in
NATURA'$ sacred play. moyonunUJe facililJtin&amp;. 3931
Hwy 80 S. Toe River, Bunuvillc. NC 28714 ("104}
6~-4806

CARDE.NERS arc ..-UJated t0 v11u our Parad~ Gardens
for insirucuon and inspirauon (!'reel and/or peicmial plan11
sale (cheap). Artisu .re 1nvncd IO c:omtt and c:ru1c 1n tile
gllda&gt; • painUng. drawing. and phDioanplty arc cnMunged
We oho ba,·• • cabin avtJ.IAblc mcxcrumgc for warlcin&amp; in
lhc ganlcn. Mount.m Gardens; 3020 White Oak Creek;
Bunuvillc, NC 28714 (704) 67S·S664.

and wall hAAgmp by SICVc Dunc111 For broch1... plcuc
write Whippoorwill Swctio; llt 4, ~ 981; Manon. NC

28752.
MEDITATION CUSHIONS Crom Carolina M&lt;&gt;mUll
Do.signs. Troditionll ancl mllwblo 1.afus For free bnx:hurc
wrii.e; RL I. Boa 31·8: Hot Spnng1, NC 237&lt;13.
HANDMADE RATTI..ES fot the 'JMlual warrnor or hcal~r
made wilh maic.rial• provadcd by !he animal ltin1dom.
&lt;;:oncact: Jc._ HltnS Bathrict.-; SW Cm.notill AttifilC~
1307 lvcnon St.: Allmta. GA (404) 588-0296

•

INDIAN VAUEY RETREAT· 140 acrci in Blue Ridge
mountains wilh faeilitiea available to rent far group1 or
individual ll!lra!S. dlha 3J.1ided or unstn1C;1Ul1&gt;d. Send for
infom111ion and seasonal c1lo.ndar of h.e aling,
transfl&gt;ITil&amp;live evcnlJ lo: lndu111 Vllllcy Holislic Center
RL 2. Box S8; Willis, VA 24:180

h.Alld TN! Earth Li•ci /lappity Ever After - .caries from
folk lrlditioni all ltOWld the wtidd chosen to help prolt:Ct
all living beings by bringing 111'1 world soc1ecy a few steps
do5Ct to peace and ~l for 1111 fife. Edited by Floar.ing
Eagle Femhcr. $7 .00 ppd. (All profits go IO Clrempacc IJ1A!
!he Pcau Museum.) Order &amp;om: Wages of Peace; 309

704.251 ·2526).

•

MOTHER'S BREATit HERBAL PRODUCTS high
quali1y b"fbal c•"'""· oin1ments, and 011J, lov1n1ly
aa1cd. Send for free brochure 10 Re . 2. Ro• 251. Vllas.
NC2K692
EARTH REACH EDUCATION ASSOCIATION 1cae1Un1
pnmitivc skills 10 children md adulu.. Roben Manin. Jr
and JC&amp;1111C Moo!\!'. RL I, Box 178-A. Fcnum, VA 24088.
BEAUTIFUL EUCIUOE MOCCASINS Custom aitcd to
your f~• AO narural ma1erials. Sof!SOle $2.5/lw&lt;holt
SSO. Send tncm&amp; of your fool to Na1ivc American
FoQ1wcar, 47 Panola St., Alhevillc NC 2.8801; 7~
2:Sl·22.SO
WEBWORK!NO is &amp;cc 5""J •ubmis.1u1cu to:
K01"4Jt J&lt;&gt;&lt;1rnal
P.O. Bo• 638
ui=ler.NC
Kall!ah Pro"incc 28743

SprinlJ, 1999

•

�The Kaulah Journal wants to communicate your
thoughts and feelings to the other people in the
bioregional province. Send them to us as leners. poems,
stories. articles. drawings, or photographs, etc. Please
send your comnbutions to us at: Katuah Journal; P. 0.
Box 638; Leicester, NC; Karuah Province 28748.

•

The summer issue of lhc Ka11iah Jo11.rlllll will deal with the
meaning of the word "Pence" as a dynamic process lhal can
replace cxisung SU"Uctures of donunation with vibrant new
relarionships.
Please send us descriptions and contact infonnarion for
individuals and groups in your pan of the province that are doing
lhings that are helping co create peace Ill the world.
We would also Hke to know what is your definition of
pence. We would like to get a collection of the mo.~t interesting and
accurate definitions of that elusive idea.

BACK ISSUES
OF KATUAH AV All.ABLE

$1.50

-··

ISSUE FIFTEEN Sprin&amp; 1987
Coverlets - Woman Porcsler - Susie McMdwl
Midwife . Alternative Conlncqmon •
Bio&gt;CJtualily - 81orcgionalism ~ Women Good Mtdic:inc: MmWdlal Clll~ ,_,

WWJ[fl~-

ISSUE THREE SPRJN(l 1984
Sustain.thlc Agriculture . SunOowas Human
lmpac1 on lhc: Forut - Childrcns' Ed11c111ion
Vct0nlca Nicholu·Woman in Politics Llitlc

tsSUESIXTE:EN-Summerl987
Helen Wauc: Poem: Visions 111 • O~ .
Vision Que,r1 - Fim Flow - ln11ia1ion •
1.umina in lhc Wildemeu • Cherokee
Cllallcngc "Valuing T,_.

People. Mcdlrinc Allies

•

ISSUE FOUR - SUMMER 198'1
W11c1 !&gt;nun Water Quably Kudtu Solar
Ecli~c Ctc:arcuttin&amp; T1out • C.omg IO W111r1
Ram PllmP" • Mic:rohydro - Pocnu: Bennie
l...ec Sinclair, Jim Wrync Mnlcr

ISSUE EIGITTE.EN WUUO' 1987 88
VcmacuIIT Atchiittl\ITC - Dl'c;ams an Wood Q!
Sione - Mount&amp;Jll Home - E.Ulh l!ncrJi.. •
Eanh-S!u:hcrcd Livmg • Mcmbr- Houses
Brush Shchci - Poems· Ot:to«r Du.d • C'oOOd

ModX:.nc: "Sheller"

ISSLF. FIVE - FALL 191!4
llarv1:11 • Old Ways in Chc1ok"" GinKng
Nuclear Waste: • Our Cchic Hcri1•ge
Biorcgionalism: Put. Ptuc:nt. and Fu1ure Jahn Wilnol)' • Healing Dlltkness Politics or

ISSUE NINETEe.N -Sll'Ulg. 19811
Pcrloandra Cltdtn Spring Tonics · Blueberries
WUdOo11&gt;cr O•rdcns Granny Hcrbalis1 •
Flll"'l:r Es.cncea • lho Origin of lhe Animal :
Stoty -Good Malicmo: "Po.. cr" • Be ATroe

Paructp:iliDn

ISSLIE SIX. WTNTER 1984-85
Wini.:r Soi.ti« Eanh Ceremony· H0&lt;scpiu1u;i,

ISSUE TWENTY · S11m1na. 19811
l'reM!rve App.alathilll WildcnlU.J • Hi,ghbnll
of ltoan - Cel&lt;1 Community - L.nd Trun •
Arthur Miqan School • Zoning 'Wuc • ·'"The
Ridgo" - Fanncrs Ind lhe Fann Bill • Cood
Mcdir.:lnc! ''Lind" · Acid Rain · Duke"• Po..,cr
Play Chaoic&lt; Microhydro ProJCCI

Rt\CT Com1111 ol lhc Llshl • Log Clbm
Roo1a- MoUlll&amp;in Apicullurc: Tho Righi Crop
- W11l1am Tayl11&lt; The Fuiun: of lhc: Forc.t
ISSUE SEVEN SPRING 1985
Su.'ll&amp;JA•blc Ec:onomic:J Hot Srrinp - Worlte;
Ownership - The Great &amp;onomy - Self Help
Crccjj1 Union Wiid Turlt.cy - Rcsponslbl•
lnvuting Workitlg in Ilic Web of Lite
JSSUE EIGtrr - SUMMER 1985
Celebra11on: A Way of Life - Kat\Wl 18.000
Ye&amp;l'J Ago • Sacred Sil.Cl - Follc Ans in lhc
School&amp; - Sun Cyc:l~oon Cycle • Powu:
Hilda Downer Chcsolcu Heritage Caw:r •
Who Owns Appaladlhl?
ISSUENTNE- FALL 1985
The

Wal~

Forest - Thi&gt; Tfl'cS Spc:alt •

Milf&amp;llng Foruts • llcme Logging - Stanmg a
Treci Crop Urb&amp;n Trees · l\oom Btc«I - Mylh
Tane

~-

ISSUE Et.EVEN SPRINO 1986
Community Planning - Cities and the:
Biotcgional Vision - Roc:yclmg Community
Gardening- Floyd County, VA - Ouoliol Two Biottgional Views • Nuclear Suj)plema11
FoiU= Oarne.s. Good MtdldM: Visions

Box - The Wake - TI1c Raven Moclcor
Woodslorc and WildwoodJ Wildom Oood

tsSUETWEHTY-ONE · Fall, 1988
Chc:stnu~ A 1~i.1ura.1 Hl11ory • Rostoring w
Cheiulut. ·p~ orl'rcs&lt;!rvation Uld Praise"
Canunuing the Quesl Farella and Wildlife
Chos1ru111 in Regional 011~1
Chcsuuu
Ruoun:u - Hctb Noic - Good Mcdn:mc:
"Changes 10 C&lt;!me" • Rev~ Wkr# le&amp;~Nls

Medicine: The Sweat lodge

ISSUETBN ·WINTER 19l!S-86
Ka1c Rogas • Circles of Slone • lnicmal
Mylhmalcing - Holl•lic: Healing on Trial
Poem$: Sieve Knaulh • My1Juc Pbc:c:s The
Uklona's Talc:
Cry11al Magic -

Li~

ISSUE FOURTEEN - W-mi« 1986.t7
Uoyd Cul Owlc. Boogers and Mwnmcn - All

!SSUETWENTY TWOWin1ct", l9S8-89
Cilobal Wmnaig and Kat4ah .irire This T~ •
Thom.u Deny on "Biorcgsons" - Eanh E.xcrase Ko~ Loy McWluru:r • All Abundance oI
l'..mplincSJ - LETS • Chninicl.. or Flo)'d - o.ry
Wood lnlcrf!ICW The 9.,.., Clan

ISSUE THIRTEEN · Fall 1986
Ccnlcr For Awakening - Elinbc:th Callari A
Clc:n1lc Dca1h • Hosp&gt;CA! Eincsl Morgan
Dealing Crcalivcly with Dcalh Home Bunal

Species Day - Cabin Fcve1 Uni•aaity •
Homelcu !JI Kaiuah • Homcinadc Hos Wiler

S1ovanJtkCf'5 Narrauvc • Good Meche.inc::
lntmpcci.. Conununication

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - ,,
~UA~
QURNAL

0

-- - - - -

~

--------

For more info: call Mamie Muller (704) 683-1414

Boie 638; Leicester, NC; KatUah Province 28748

Regular Membership........ $10/yr.
Sponsor........................$20/yr.
Contributor.....................$50/yr.

Name

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Address
City
Area COde
Sprl.nq, 1989

ro give

this ejforr an extra boost
State

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l can be a local contact
person for my area

Back [ssues
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�</text>
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                  <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;,&amp;nbsp;was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span&gt;, 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.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; 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.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This digital collection is only a portion of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah&lt;/em&gt;-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 &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;. 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.</text>
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                <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, Issue 23, Spring 1989</text>
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                <text>The twenty-third issue of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; focuses on varied topics such as the ancient ways of the first people groups in Appalachia; "Planet Art;" tulip poplar trees; the Black Swan Center; and environmentally-friendly economics. Authors and artists in this issue include: Kim Sandland, Denise Newbourne, David Morris, Doug Elliott, James Rhea, Jerry Trivette, C.B. Squire, Elizabeth Griffin, Gil Leebrick, Michael Hockaday, Sheli Lodge, Rob Messick, David Wheeler, Dolores LaChapelle, Martha Tree, Laura E. Jackson, and Jackie Taylor. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, 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.</text>
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                <text>&lt;a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"&gt; AC.870 Katúah Journal records&lt;/a&gt;</text>
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                    <text>Postage Paid

Bu._M~
Permil 118
LeiceS1er, NC
28748

ISSUE 24 SUMMER 1989

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Dee~LD~~~~r~i~~................................ 3

7...............................s

Life ~~I::rr~~~~

Hiroshima Day 1989 .............................7
Direct Actioo! ....................................... 8

T'AI: PEACE

by Patrick Clark

Planting a Tree of Peace.......................9
Community Building and Peace......... IO
by Richard Lowen1Tial

Peacemakers: A Resource Listing....... 11
Ethnic SurvivaJ. ................................... 14
Black Mountain Pairing Project.. ........ 15
"Battlesong" ........................................ I6
A Poem by Heather Pirrillo

Growing Peace in Cultures................. 18
by Mamie MuJ/er

Review:
The Chalice and the Blade..................20
Natural World News...........................22

P eace. As we cxplon: the meaning of
this word in the Kanlah pro,·ince. we find as
many subjective definition5 as there are people
working to manifest lhem. Yet, is there an
underlying sense that ties together the different
perspectives and the work all these people are
carrying on?
The answer for us came very lute one
night while we wen: gathered to prep3te the
spring issue of the KatUa.h Journal. Someone
by chance called up from the I Ching the
hexagram T'ai, entitled "Peace." The sign was
composed of three yin lines over three yang
lines--illusuating n smte of vibrnnr balancing.
The yin energy, which represent&lt;&gt; the
receptive or yielding quality of nature, is above
the yang, moving downwnrc.1; and the yang
energy, which represents the active or creative
principle. is below the yin, moving upward.
Abovt

IMow

The Receptive Eanh ( K'un)
The Creative. Heaven (Ch'lcn}

A Children's Page...............................25

The ~I reads•

Drumming........................................... 26

"111is hel&lt;agram dcnotc.s ;i urne m nature when
Heaven seems to be on E:lrl.h. Hc:ivc:n has pixed
11sclf bcnCJlh Ille Eanh. and so lhcll' powers unite

Events Calendar..................................28
\Vebworking....................................... 30

in deep h:lrmony. Then ~and blc..~'illlJ;S dc.lecnd

upon :Ill living lhmg&amp;."

In this hexagram. the I Ching emphasius
that peace is not a sunk .st.:ite but r.uher one of
dynnmic balane"C, alway:. changing as conditions
change. Jn the world of nuture and m the world
of the human, everything is in motion. It is in
the midst of this swirling interplay of forces
which create this Life. rhat we begin to feel n
sense of hamiony, of communion, of
rightness...that could be: identified as peace.
When "'e do not cultiv:ue this hannony,
then Life becomes •·our of b:ilancc." Finding
balance and maintaining b.·llancc-, both

personally and culturally, is a process of
continuous exchange. When the exchange is
balanced. simple 1hough it sounds... peace
brings peace.
In this world of diversity :ind disparate
value systems. peace does not depend on "an
absence of con0ic1", but rather on the way we
get through the e-0nnic1. II is 1he embracing of all
the life forces. even those in apparent
opposition.
As we strive to preserve the habitats tha1
maint..'lin life and ro bring about specific political
and economic changes. we come to recognfae
the connec1cdncss of all things. In 1his way, we
produce changes rhat are Sll'Ong and enduring.
People like those listed in the pages of
this issue of Kattwh Journal, nnd many others in
the region, arc an lnspinuion to all of us In tl1eir
ded1ca11on. The way they go about workin~ for
change ii. itself crearing new ways of relating.
And the new rcJ31ionships 1h3t are now
incubating llJ'C the Ir.Isis of a new culture.
Eventually chc insti1u1ions of society, which are
simply renccuons of the basic relationships
escablishcd :1mong ourselves and other living
1hmgs, will be transfonncd.

"May the Spirit so stro11g in the ~hadow and
stmm
Hold fast 10 what is righ1,
A11d S!irt!ly as JOU breaJlre the gentle air of Peace
This ia11d shall shefur in the light of love
Tlzis land sl:all shelter in the light "
Blessed beThe Ednors
(l'w fn&gt;m I CIU11g "'T~

BooJ;. o{CiuJntu.1ranslllle&lt;l sn1et
ClcmwJ by Richard Wilhdm Uld ill1o Engluh bt Cory F.
Ba)'llCJ. Sons l1ria from "l.a:id ol l.i&amp;Jil" ias ro:orded 11) 1~

Ta-vtdtil/Weawrs)

�STAFFTHlS ISSUE:
Scott Bi.rd
Patrick Clark
Andy Half-Baker

Rob Messick
Marnie Muller
Mart.ha Tree

Richard Lowenthnl

David Wheeler

EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:
Susan Adam
Abby Bird
John Creech

WiJI Ashe Bason
Jack Chaney
Jim Houser

Christina Monison

PiCllllte

Rodney Webb

Chip Smilll

Morgan Swann ...and !honks IO Jake ror lnte-nighl brownies

COVER by Martha Tree
INVOCATION from "Meditations with Animals"
by Gerald Hausm:m
PUBLISHED BY: Ka1U1Jlr Joumal

THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BIOREOION
AND MAJOR EASTERN RIVER SYSTEMS

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

PRINTED BY: The Waynesville Mou11raineer Press
EDITORIAL OFFICE THIS ISSUE: Globe Valley
WRITEUS AT:

TELEPHO.'IE:
(704) 683-1414

KarUtiii Jour11al
Box 638
Leicesier, NC
Kaufah Province 28748

Divemty is an imponant clcmcru of biorog101Ul ecology, bolh
lllllUral ond social. In hne w11h I.his principle, lhe Kotuah Journol lrics
io serve a,~ o forum ror lhe discussion or regional issues. Signed anicles
cJtpn:ss only lhe opm1on of the 3uthors and are 001 ncccss:irily lhe

opimoos of lite KotUah Journal editors or sulff.

The lnierrutl Revenue Service h3S declared Ka1uah a non-profil
SOl(c)(3) of lhc lntem:il Revcnu.: Code. AU
contributions 10 Ka1U1Jh ore dcdLICllblc from pcrsont1I income twt.
orgnnl~tion under section

_,

SPIRIT FEATHERS

Death feather of the crow
puts my enemy
to sleep
Crow feather
Crow feather
Life feather of the Jay
makes my mind
awake

Jay feather
Jay feather

Peace feather of the crane

turns my enemy
into me

White crane
White crane
(Creek Indian)

Here in the southern-most heartland of the
Appalachian mountains, the oldest mouni.ain range on
our continent, Turtle Island, a smaU but growing group
has begun to take on a sense of responsibility for the
implications of that geographical and cultural heritage.
This sense of responsibility centers on the concept of
living within the natural scale and balance of universal
systems and principles.
Within this circle we begin by invoking the
Cherokee name" Katuah" as the old/new name for this
area of the mountains and for its journal as well. The
province is indicated by its natural boundaries: the
Roanoke River Valley to the north; the foothills of the
piedmont area to the east; Yona Mountain and the
Georgia hllls 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 pertain
specifically 10 this region, and to foster the awareness
that the land is a living being deserving of our love and
respecL Living in this manner is a way to insure the
sustainability of the biosphere and a lasting place for
ourselves in its continuing evolutionary process.
We seem to have reached the fulcrum point of a
" do or die " situation in terms of a qualicy 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.
IL 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 aU correspondence, criticism,
pertinent information. anicles. artwork, etc. with
hopes that Katliah will grow to serve the best interests
of this region and all its living, breathing members.
-The Editors
Su mmer. J989

�DEEP LISTENING
by David Wheeler

"We cannot make a change. We musr be rhe change
we wish I() create."
- Mohandas K. Gandhi

There occurs occasionally a unification of spiritual belief and
political activism in which the literal applica1ion of a spiritual
principle becomes a potent lever for social change. The resulting
techniques are so powerful that they arc a1 once a tactic for solving
a problem a11d also lhe solution 10 the problem. It might be said tha1
in that situation the means and 1he end are one and the same. But m
ac1uality, when those si1uations occur, there no longer arc
diffcre.ntiated "means" or "ends." There is simply a continually
unfolding process of change.
The mos1 prominent case in modem times is non-violent
direct action as pr.tcticed fim by Mohandas Gandhi in South Africa
and India and then later by Martin Luther King, Jr. on th is
continent. The principles of non-violent direct action have
revolu1ionized the role of social protest in the world 1oday. F.ven as
people pro1est specific instances of injustice, they also set a positive
example of how to resolve social conflicts and raise a posi1ive
spiri1ual consciousness a1 1he same time.
Today ano1her method known as "deep listening," is
curren1ly being developed even as it is being applied. It, 100, will
also be noted as one of those powerful unities of spiritual and social
practice.
Herb Walters is a founder and presently a s1aff worker with
Rural Southern Voice for Peace (RSVP), a small group of
dedicated activists promo1ing peace issues throughout the southeast
from a base in the Celo Community on the Soulh Toe River near
Burnsville, Nonh Carolina. From his experience as a counselor of
disturbed and delinquent adolescents, as a member of the Society
of Friends (Quakers), and as an insrructor in the principles of
connict resolution and non-violent direct action, Herb has come 10
realize the power of the Quaker tenet of "listening."
The basic principle of deep listening, as practiced an
"Listening Project!&gt;'' organized by the RSVP staff, is simple in the
extreme: it is listening - without opposition or judgement - to the
emotions, wishes, and fears of ordinary people living in ordinary
communities. Ye1 the simple act of listening holds great potential
for organizing political movements for social change,
Listening Projects are often held in communities which a.re
facing a crisis situation or divided by a controversial issue.
''Listening Projects are basically a process for geuing activists 01Jt
into a community," says l lcrb. On a political level there arc two
reasons for getting organizers into neighborhood~. One is tha1 an
order for a movemcn1 to expand its base, i1 must reach out to ney.
segments of the population - people who mtty fed hopeless or
powerless 10 bring about change or people \\hO may be ovenly
hostile 10 ch:inge.
Listening Project volunteers go to the homes. of people in a
target community and approach them dircclly about ll1cir concerns
on issues as 1hey are felt wilhin that community. The volumeers
often find that If they are successful in drawing people out, they are
breaking new ground in exploring feelings about issues thnt the
people themselves may never have examined before. Responses
vary from door lo door. Sometimes people fall into the standarJ
modes of thinking. But in many cases. by examining their true
feelings about maucrs they had never considered deeply before.
people find themselves identifying or accepting entirely new
uppro:iches to old problems.
The second reason for getting organizers into neighborhood~
1s the basic organizing principle, "start where people are at." Pa!it
experience has shown that if organizers go into neighborhoods with
the mtenl lo conven residents to preconceived ideas on issues.
however log1c:tll)' devastanng these arguments might be, they meet
with limited success. The Listening Projc:GIS are based on the
wisdom that if activi~ts are willing to listen to the people, the people
themselves will tell about how the larger issues directly affect their
lives.

Often people respond to the issues in a more immediate
manner than acuvists' in1ellee1ual formulations. A Lis1ening Project
in St. Mary's, Georgia found that local rc-~idents fell the presence
of an atomic submarine base as an abridgement of their fishing
rights. Another Project with the Shenandoah Peace Co:iJuion in
Virginia found that people's pnmary C-Oncem was the lack or yoULh
activities or programs, which related to problems with drug./alcohol
abuse and vandalism. By responding to this concern. the Coalition
is ov~oming the isol:ition that many peace groups feel from their
communities as well as pointing out the social effects of excessive
military spending.
But tnere 1s aJw a third and more profound rctlSOn for going
into 11 community and becoming involved with local people's
concerns· deep lis1ening is a powerful tool 10 bre:ik down
stereotypes - on both sides of 11 conversation - and to thereby
overcome polarization.
Herb states that, 'The fact 1s that a 101 of people out there in
mainstream America don't join the pe:tcc movement because they
don't trust us. They sec the peace movement in terms of
stereotypes. A part of the listening process is to overcome that
barrier by letting people's common humanity come through and
finding a common understanding. Oftcn a real truth does arise, and
we lind that people do care. They re-.iJly care; they ju~t don't know
what rodo."
But people in the cuhural mainstream arc not the only ones
who arc limited by n:mow thinking. "Acrivbt~ in the peace
mO\'emcm have a 101 or fears and sterco1ype:; of the \'cry people
the&gt;: arc trying to rench," says Herb. "At 1he same time a.~ they are
talking about 'outreach,' movemcnt people distance themselves
from the majority of the population by working in the safety of their
own liule groups and using the media to convey their rn¢ssage.
"I see listening as direct action, because through 1he
Listening Projects we go right 10 1he people. they don'! like )'OU
and what you are doing. that's all the more reason to go right to
them. That's non-violence: go right IO the people who are against
you and find out why. Find wh:u you can do to change the
pol:uiz:llion thac's happening, instead of always keeping your
disl:Illce from !hose people."

rr

In a Listening Project. organiz.ers :ire first trnined in a specittl
session with a RSVP staff person in "111.:h they draw up a survey
questionnaire. learn communication skills with which 10 approach
{con1mued on peg~ 4)

Su.mnu:r, 1989

Drawmg by Rob Mc.ssicl;

&gt;C.'1tiwf1 Journal p119e lS

�peop e, and le.am Lhe crucfal djffercnce bet ween ordin:iry and
''deer u listening.
"Normally," says Herb, "when another person 1s speaking,
we .ire thinking of ways to put our own point across. Deep
listenmg calls on us to let go of our own egos for awhile. We
suspehd judgement. We try to become that other person so that we
can really understand their fears and hopes. We listen, and we
accept the fact thut they are different, that they have different ideas.
and we concentrate our attention on their esscmial humanirv, that
p:in of us that we all share."
·
This is called "seeing the light in the other person" in the
Friends' way of speaking. II creates its own kind of magic.
Opposition dissolves without opposition to foed on, and people at
first hostile or indifferent often feel encouraged to open to deep
feelings and emotion~. A relationship of l111St is begun that can
cross the b:irriers of stereotype and polarization. Differences are
"starting points" and come to be seen as interesting pcrspecuves on
shared problems and common simations.

"lnilinlly there 1s mistrust or some retuctance," says Herb.
"but when the person realizes that the volunteer isn't there to
conven them or to judge them, they begin to say what they acrunlly
think. Wha1 often develops is a relationship of openness and trust,
:ind the person speaking often opens to change in a way that they
never have before.
"They feel safe. They might talk about their fears. They
might say, 'We need mon: nucle:ir weapons.' But instead of giving
a reaction. the volunteer ju.st says, 'Why do you feel that'?' and
really listens to them and draws them into talking about their deeper
feelings.
"Listeners often find themselves in the position of being
facilitators for an internally motivated conversion, as the person
they are talking with begins to think about questions like the nuclear
arms race or the local bomb plant on an emotional level. In the
course of one conversation real change can happen in people \.\ho
would never have gone to a peace group meeting. it's a fascinating
process."
Groups contemplating undenaking a Listening Project art
warned that they must be willing t0 make a long-term commitment
to the community they are about to enter. Experience has taught the
RSVP staff that a Listening Project evokes a mong and often
unexpected response. People are "hungry to be listened to," as
Herb says. and, although volunteers may start out expecting
rejection, interviews more often than not end up with the resident
saying, "Do you reaUy have 10 go? Can't you stay just a little
longer?"
Many people feel hopeless and powerless. They have a sense
that they are being manipulated a.nd swept along by forces far
beyond their ability to controL They often feel that wishing for
change is only causing themselves needless pain. Having someone
actually want to hear what they have to say is an empowering
experience. h is an offer of hope. It makes them feel that perhaps it
is wonhwhile to do away with the psychic numbing in which they
taken refuge. But if visitors offer that hope during a visit and then
never return again, lhe result is detrimental, and people could be left
in a position worse than their original condition.
A group muSt be prepared to offer avenues for action that fit
the concerns and abilities of the people of lhe community. It may be
~legislative network thnt contacts elected reprcsenl!ltives on specific
lSS~es. It migh~ be a church meeting or a fund-raising project. The
ob;ect of entenng a community and taking the time to listen is to
rea~h_people so they might find 1heir power and take leadership.
This 1~ a long process and requires a corresponding degree of
commument, but it offers its own rewards for activists willing to
muster the patience to see it through.

Drawing by C"'la YllOlll'll' f,f1llsaps. I /111 1rtu1~. Smi,Ley .\11.11V11a1n llltlt School
Ollr) In thL lad.son COMnI) P~~ /llttwork's /(}/Jr! · ~·1swn of Pcau" conu.rt

/J/I

In our society, contr0ver:.ies arc customarily settled by
deb:ue. One side is suppo~d to overcome the other with the weight
of logic. The format is argument, and the focu:. is on differences how "we'~" right and "they're" wrong. In deep listening the
interviewers focus tirst on the common ground. the opinions upon
which they R$fee wnh the person with whom the)' are talking. In
Lisfening Pro;cct training se_,sions it is said:
"You may disngree with ninety percent of" hat a person h
telling )OU . If so, focus on the :ucas of agreement first. Build a
relationship of rrust: then you can look a1 the differences."
.
In deep listening. disagreements have a place, but tha1 p13ce
1s way do""n the scale from the primary position they custom:uily
hold in political discourse, and lhey are never allowed to dim the
vision of "the light within."
What could be gender than the companionable acr of
listening? Yet practittoners have found it to be a technique of grear
power with far-reaching social effects. The source of that power
lies in going beyond the ego and getting down to lh:u place where
lhings change.

. O~e experience invol~ed lhe Piedmont Peace Project (PPP).
a. b1-r~c1al g_rou~ of lo~-rncome people, which undenook a
L1stemng Project Ill the mill town of Kannapolis. Nonh Carolina to
broaden community participation in their program. lmerviewers
!'Cwmed with a.wealth of infonnauon about the concerns of people
!n the communny and how to express these concerns as organizing
issues.
Members of the PPP, including a couple int.rocluc:cd to the
group thr~ugh 1hc Listening Project, attended the 1988 convcnuon
of the nauonal SANE/FREEZE organization. SANE/FREEZE was
~.ungry f~r commun~ty ~ontact and welcomed the PPP delegates.
I he low·rnco~e. mrnonty people from Kannapolis brought the
conce~s oftheirc~~unity bi.:fore the policy-making committee of
the na11onal organ_1zauon and helped influence SANE/FREEZE to
stre_ss the conn~cuon between military spending and human needs
dunng the conung year.
.. Bui _for this group the rewards were not all in the realm oi
poh11cal mnuence. The PPP hai; found that deep listening
empowers member:; of&lt; 1hc g~oup as well a:; the people of the
~ommumty. ~e L1liten10g Pro;eet offered a ~cn~c of involvement
m the ~~1unHy. that PPP member:; felt h:id been lacking.
.
.. It exc111?.g and P.&lt;&gt;wcrrut to ~ircc1ly experience ~eople's
lives, says Herb. ~s a Lllitemng Project volunteer. you will meet
people for the ~JI'St umc who will open their lives to you in a way
some of your fryends never have. Tiu:se community people will calk
ro you about things that will move you and touch you deeply."

:s

(C()lltinued on p:ige 24)

Summer, 1989

�LIFE IR I TOIIC CITY
wrirten and compiled b!J Juclith I la/le &gt;Ck
The city of Oak Ridge is located in eastern Tennessee.
near 1he regional hub of Knox\'ille. Its two primary
industries are nuclear technologies research and m(lnufacturing
components for nuclear warheads, which are carried out on the
government-owned Oak Ridge Reservation. Over 15,000 people
work on the 37,000-acre site, which is man1gcd for the Depanmen1
of Energy (DOE) by Martin Manetta Energy Systems, lnc. The
ciry's location in the heart of TV A's electrical power empire and its
proximiry Lo 1-40, a major east-west expressway, make Oak Ridge
well-suited for its role in the nationwide US nuclear weapon!&gt;
complex. An estimated 680,000 people live within a 50-mile radius
of the nuclear producuon facilities at Oak Ridge.
The Oak Ridge Reservation is located in an area of rolling
hills in the Clinch River drainage system of !he Tennessee River
basin. All the sireams in the reservation flow into the Clinch River,
which joins the Tennessee 23 miles downsiream.
Oak Ridge is an integral pan of the national nuclear weapons
complex which is controlled by the Depatunent of Energy. The
Oak Ridge Operations (ORO) office of the DOE oversees a uranium
production empire that includes the Oak Ridge Reservation and
oi.her nuclear facilities in the midwest.
There ore three primary weapons production facilities at Oak
Ridge:
The Y-12 Nuclear Weapons Component Plant fashions the
internal componems of H-bombs and plays a pan in the production
of every major nuclear weapon in the US arsenal.
The sprawling Oak Ridge N:uional Laboratory specializes in
energy research, pnnicularly with nuclear technologies, and in the
production of radioisotopes for commercial sule.
The Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plunt hjs been on
standby since 1985 because of a decreased demand for enriched
uranium. The plnm currently serves as a waste dump for Y-12 and
ORNL.

Approximately half of Y-12's 7,000 employees do
production work, processing, fabricating, and assembling
uranuium and lithium compo111mrs for t/le nation's nuclear
warheads. For example. Y-12 receives deuterium (heavy waJer)
separatedfrom river warer at DOE's Savannah River plam in South
Caroli11a, combines It with lithium and shapes the compound into
tablets thllt are sent co warhead a.{sembly facilitit!$ near Amarillo.
Texas. Y-12 also recycles e11riched uranium cnmponents from
mothballed warheads that have been 10ken apart i11 Texas And it
makes precision equipme111 and weapons-testing components for
DOE weapons labs in California aJUJ New Me:dco.
--Our Own \Vorsi EMmy • p. 111

Secrecy and Control
From us inception nnd in
large pan 10 the present, 0.1k
Ridge, the firs1 atomic city, has
been a "secret city.'' In the name
of n111ional security, its deadly l~l!'4~f;~JA;J-'tll~~:!~
workings have been kept hushed.
This is wha1 drives the "see
nothing. hear nothing, say
nothing" attitude that has allowed
the present· day problems of
nuclear we.ipons proliferation.
cnvironm1:ntal destruction, and
dcterior:iting public health 10
evolv.:.
In early 1943 the residents of
\\'hen l, a small turnu ng
communny 1n enstcm Tenne~scc..
were ~mddenl\ 11prl)otcd,
/Jarl)el! 1111.:.fc11ce and a serle.1 of
scc1mry gates .mung up around
Summc• , 1989

their land. and crude houSinl tlvown wgetlu:r for a di/ferettt ldnd
of conununity. Thllusands of construction workers - their 11umber
1Nenmalty reached 47 .500 - heaved up enormous experimemal
srructures in which tlwusan.ds of scie111i.Hs arul production workers
would make maJerialsfor the first aJomic weapon.s."
-·Old 01rn Wom Ent1rry. p.112

111e nev. community, Oak Ridge, was k.epl under strict
government control. Its citi.rens, under the jurisdiclion of the
Ma.nhauan Projec11 set into motion production of the nation'~ first
atomic bomb. On August 6, 1945, the secrecy was broken when
the "Linle Boy" bomb devastated Hiroshima nnd led to 1he end of
World War ll. The enriched ur-.inium-235 that fueled that honible
explosion was produced at Oak Ridge. 11uec days later, Nagasaki
was dei;troyed by a plutonium-produced bomb, another kind of
nuclear weapon that had been re.~carched at !he O.tk Ridge Lab.
Nearly 200,000 city 1'C$idems died in the two blasts. These bombs
changed the nature of war by changing the technology of weapons.
Humankind now had the capability to destroy the world.
"In 1948 the AEC'sfirst chairman, David Utienrhal, urged
that the atomic (ndustr)' 'enlist a widening area of our economy,•
by sending its roots deep and wide into the same soil that /uls
nourished the auionwti11e and other industrial gianlS, the soil of
competitive private ittdustry."
-OurOwn Worst Enemy. p.116
T he commercialization of the ruom in Oak Ridge came when
Union Carbide was installed as lhe sole contractor. At about the
same time, 1he AEC cook steps that seemingly decreased
governmental control or Ouk Ridge. In 1949, after seven years of
total control, the city was opened 10 the public and passes were no
longer needed to enter. In 1959, residents voled 10 incorporate and
established their own municipal government. This communi1y
autonomy was a farce, however.
In reality, "the institutional changes made Oak Ridge a town
run by two companies--Carbide and tire governme11t- eaclt
bufferi11g the other from various forms of acco1111tabiliry and
e.wctirig a deep measure of comrol "
·--Old Ow11 Wor.rt £ntmy. p.116

Worker safety and health at the Oak Ridge Reservation nlso
fell prey to the policies of secrecy and control. 'T11ey wen: almost
c-0mpletcly neglected in the interest of greater bomb production.
lnjured and exposed workers were examined and treated
exclusively by a special team of radiologists, who kept comple~
control over the employees· medicOLI record!i. Losing coun cases
were prevemed. sometimes with hush money, and only winnable
ones were brought to trial. The AEC both set nnd enforced the
rudiation standards, and kept sccrct unpublicized medical research
on the effects of radiation. In 1956, Carbide and the AEC raised
the plant's allowable limit for
radiation levels on clothing and
h:inds to eight times the
previously existing lmut. This
wus part of an aggressive
111!.:e-back \:ampaign launched
after the Oil. Ch1:micll and
Atomic \Vorkers union local had
advanced
numerous
n.:commcnd.111ons tor safety
improvements.
The fu:.t aucmpt 111 outside
regulation of the cnvironrncnl tit
Oak Ridge was m 1975 when the
l!nv1ronmcnU11 Prorection Agency
(EPA) first gr.mtcd :\ational
Pollution D1sch:ugc Ehmin3tlon
SysL pem11ts to Oak Rtdl:e
cm
facilni es The permits \\t:re
(rommllell on ~gc 6)
00 l'hoco

'Kiltunr, J ournnt pu

5

�Burial Grounds: A Legacy of Hazard

(continued rrom page 5)

diluted by exemptions, however. For example, the pcnnils did 001
monitor mercury, PCBs, and other toxics, or waterborne
radioactive wastes. Still. between 1975 and 1983, Union Carbide
monitors reported 740 violations. The EPA "canied" DOE in spite
of itS non-compliance, and in 1980 renewal pennits were drafted.
Poisoned or Protected?
After World War 11, there was a surge of activity 10 build
H-bombs. From that time to this, the US and USSR have each
produced arsenals of nuclear weapons numbering in the tens of
thousands to "murually deter" each other. Now large areas of both
the Soviet Union and the US are unlivable due to excessive
radioactive contnmination. Cancer monalities are increasing. Money
has been squandered, and local economies have become
bomb-dependent. "National security" has lost its original meaning.
And lhe bomb-1n1cks keep rolling.
The H-bomb project involved the handling and disposal of
huge q11anti1ies of toxic and radioactive materials. When lilh1um

was detected in lhe annosphere after the test explosion of an early
Soviet ;i , imic bomb, research centered around separating the
lithium isotopes. The process finally adopted used massive
amounts of mercury to make electrochemical cells. Oak Ridge's
Y-12 Plant was the site chosen for this activity. In this second
surge of activity :u Oak Ridge, most of the US markelS for mercury
were bought out.

Burial grounds at the Oak Ridge Reservation are shallow
unlined t.renches in 1he eanh holding toxic and radioactive wastes.
They contain everything from "low-level" radioactive waste
(meutls, gloves, clothes, rags, e1c,) to chemicals in drums, solvents
and depleted uranium. Incoming, off-site waste shipments have
been buried with records of their contents inaccurately kept or lost.
Most are covered with earth now, but during waste dumping, they
were left open. Of1en the crenches filled with water during periods
of heavy rainfall.
The contents of some of the burial grounds are classified as
Steret because of the kinds of radioactivity they contain, which
places chem outside of state and federal jurisdiction. All the
dumping are;is were originally sited for accessibility, and scam
attention wos paid 10 I.he geological and hydrological characteristics
of the area. Since the rainfall is 60 inches annually, there is a
shallow water table and an extensive surface water system.
Contamination, i.e. sirontium-90 and uranium, leaks into the water
table in all directions, and is carried by water runoff into streams
during times of henvy precipitation.

'7he leakage from the burial grounds has contaminated not
only nearby rocks and soils, comprising a large surface area, but
has carried a tremendous amo11111 of radionuclides, thereby
conian11naring stream beds a long distance from the si1e.
Considering the length of 1he radioactive half-lives contained in the
waste, it is doubtful 1/Jat the reserva1ion itself or its surrounding
areas can ei·er be returned to a natural s1a1e." -Deadly Dc/t nse. p. 112
"/rt low doses. radiation causes lung, bone and other kinds
of cancer, leukemia. premature aging, birth defects, sterili.Jy, blood
composition challges and caiaracts ofthe eye. Because radiation
ltas the highest impact on growing cells, yowzg children,fe111ses
and embryos are the most readily affected. Radiation can also
cause genetic mura1io11, the complete effect of which will 1101 be
known for gener.a1fons. The likelihood of developing cancer.
disease or generic effecis is related tO the OJ11ow11 received by 1he
tndivid11,a/, lhe rart ofexposure and the rype of rudiarwn. "

Oak Ridge Reservation
Wltn Nearby Towns and Strums

--Deadly 011/tnst. p. L25

Dams and SetUing Ponds: Last Line of Defense?
N

t
1

J

•

'

"' ....

"/Ji the excitement, Y-12 misplaced a huge portion of
mercury. A J9n Union Carbide audit. compiled largely from the
memories ofoperaiing perso1111el, estimated char 2 .4 million pounds
were losr between 1950 and 1972. Of 1hi.f anwunr,Jederal officials
could not accou111 for I .9 million pounds (they speculated that
much of ii lies w1dernea11t rite Y-12 buildings used for lilhiwn
separation): 475,000 pounds wound up i11 one Oak Ridge creek;
and 30,000 pounds were lost through airborne vapors."

--Our Own Worst Enemy, pp.129

Mercury contamination has been just one environmental
problem 1n Oak Ridge. After 46 years of "haste and waste"
production schemes, the extent of environmental destruction has
been shocking.

"With a col/ec1ion of unlined pits, unfiltered stacks, lifeless
streams and a willingness to use the Great Ouuioors as their
filtration system, ORO's waste managers have wagered that
dilution is the pollurum solwio11·-tluu a Jwrde of migrating wastes
will grad11a1/y dissipote their toxic quali1ies as they meatUier around
a11d ojf1he reservaJion."
However, "Former Oak Ridge health physicis1 Karl Z.
Morgan says tlwr ORNL 1estsfow1d radioactive con10mi11an1sfrom
Oak Ridge Reservation 111 river sediment as far away as the
Mississippi River."
-·Ow Own Worst £Mmy, pp. J32, 136
Xau'.ulfi Journat pa9e 6

"The restrvaiion's three major facilities were built virtually
top offour lfibutaries of the Clinch River in order 10 exploit
1hem as sewers. White Oalt. Creek carries ORNL's wasces, Poplar
Creek receives ORGDP's and £as1 Fork Poplar Creek and Bear
Cr1rek carry Y-12 's."
--Ow Own Worst Enemy. p. 133

Ofl

Two of the creeks, White Oak and East Fork Poplar Creeks,
were dammed, according 10 the DOE, 10 create a "last line of
defense to keep ORNL and Y-12 pollumnis from exiting the sites."
These and other small dams "...have a rwo-fold function

fim, the highly contaminated water in streams becomes di/wed in

the large impowzdme11ts created by the dams; second, impounding
the water allows time for radionuclid&amp; UJ bind U) particles and seu/e
otu, thus creating settling ponds. Both functions are supposed 10
serve to lower the total radia1ion co11111 in wasu! streams eman01i11g
from 1he facilities In tliis way 1hefacili1ies try 10 use tire primitive
and inexpensive method of dilulion to reduce the concemrations of
radioactive co11tami111Jtio11 to 1/te level required by lax federal
Standards. Those sra11durds do not limit the total 01n&lt;1111Jt of
polluwnt.f tlw1 could be disposed of each day.
HSe\·eral problems have resu/!edfrom rhis practice ofdil111i11g
waste. First, during heavy rainfall the system fails: the lakes
behind 1he tlams can IW longer act as set1lin11 ponds. their waters
rise a11d become turbulent, and largt amounts of radionuclides
t1W\'e over rite dam and into the Clinch Rfrer. Second. rite beds of
these se11ling ponds, over time, lrave become so filled with
radioacti-.:e sedill'.en1 1ha1 1/ie process of binditig a1ui sc11li11g om
ll'hicli is supposed to occur becomel less possible."
--DeadlyD~feJUe.

p. 107·108

SumttWT, l 989

�Air Releases

For fear of their enemies, humans have unleashed powers
have already caused great destruction and threaten co destroy all
life unless they are curbed. Governments seem blind to the fa't lhat
our greatest enemies are the weapons used to Lhrcaten our human
"enemies."
. Our paranoid fc:ar of o~er ~umans has doomed us to a path
that, 1f we connnue to follow H, will lead to the certain desuucrion
of all life - not in a grand holocaust, but as vicrim to a slow toxic
wasting disease.
'
t~at

A study done by rhe Office of Environmental Audit of the
DOE in 1986 found 1hat, at 1he Y-12 Plant alone, I.here were 233
b!-lildings with 350 s1acks thn1 rekased one or more pollu1ants to thi:
au. Only a few had filtration controls. Eighty-six of the s1acks
e!llined U-23.4, 235 or 238. "Normal operational releases'' of
airborne uranium had come to 12,870 pounds during Lhe plant's
history. Accidents and spills at the Y-12 plant have released
unknown quantities of uranium.
"EPA Sraiistics show tlUll the Oak. Ridgt Reservation and the
Fernald Peed Marerials Producrio11 Ce111er lead all DOE facilities in
rel~asiflg radioactive particles 10 the atmosphere Oak. Ridge area
resulenrs are exposed ro airborne radio11uclides measuring 50
mremfyear 10 the lungs and 8 mremslyear to the bone--jive times
gremer than a proposed EPA limit.''
-OivOwn

1Vors1E~emy,p.137-138

A new i.tlcinerator, slated to go on-line in the summer of
1_989, will increase the risk of air pollution. This incinerator,
ltcensed by the EPA. will bum radioactively contaminated PCB's.
Another incinerator in the Oak Ridge area has also been licensed to
bum low-level radioactive waste. (sec KattJalt Joivnal, Issue 23)

"Incineration releases radionuclides such as tritium,
carbon-14, and iodine inro tlte air, and can also create the potent
car~inoge11 dioxin.This radioactivity is carried by prevailing winds
wl11ch blow northeast and southwest along 1he valley without
crossing the ridges."
-Deadly Defense.pp. 115.74

For 1he r.akc of evcry1hing I.hat lives we must resist this
destructive impulse in ourselves and stop our slow slide into
oblivion by stopping the production of all nuclear weapons now.

References:
Our

01t111

Worst Enemy. The lmp()CI of Military Production 011 the

Up~r

Sow/I • wriucn by Tom Schlesinger with John Gnventa and Jullet
Merrifield and published in 1983 by The Highlllnder Research and Educnuon
Center (RL 3, Box 370: New Market, TN 37820).
D11adly Defense: Military Radioactive la!ld/llls - wnuen by Marvin
Resnikoff. Lisa FiM.ldl, 11t al.• and published by I.he Radioncuve Waste
Crunp:iign (625 Bro:idway, Scc:ond Floor: New York City, NY 10012)

IF '\'1~ J)()N''I1 S'l'() 1&gt;,
'1111l~lll~ '\'II.1I.1 JJJ~ N&lt;&gt;
ONJ~ 1 1~:.~r&lt;ltllJ~\Jlhis

6

By BriJNJINs FirUtin., Grade Jt,S"'°""JMOW!lmn JllgliSdwol An En1ry 11t w 1989

"\/LnonofPeace" &lt;:onJl!SI spcnwr~dby 1neJOl:UoltCowd1ptauNtrwort

The Oak Ridge Environmental Peace
Alliance (0REPA) and other co-sponsoring
groups are orga.ni~ing the "NEVER AGAIN:
March for Peace and the Environment" action on
Hiroshima Day, August 6. 1989 in Oak Ridge,
TN. You and other individuals and groups rrom
the region and the nation arc invired to aucnd.
This action is seen as a major event in this "Year
of Resistance." People from diverse
backgrounds and understandings will come
together to create a large, compelling turnout,
which will non-violently demonstrate that the
issues surrounding peace and the environment
can no longer be ignored.
The focus of this action is lhc Y-12
Nuclear Weapons Pinnt managed by the United
Stares Department of Energy in Oak Ridge. The
goals of the march and weekend activities arc to
make a statement for:
· the cessation of production and
deployment of nuclear weapons.
- the environmental restoration or the
weapons production facilities, and
• the use of the talents and money now
being wasted in weapons production to be used
for goods and servic.~s which meet human
needs.
March for Peace and the Environment
Hiroshima Day
August 6, 1989, Oak Ridge, Tennessee

Oalc RUJgt E11~/ronmental Ptau Alliantt

P.0, Otn llOJ. Kno1CVill6. TN 37901
(615) S7l-2322

Si.unmu, 1989

During the days between Jliroshima Day
3nd Nagasaki Day, a Peace Caravan will
proceed from Oak Ridge to the Sav:inn:ih River
Bomb Plant near Aiken, SC. to Warner Robins,
GA, ending up at the Kings Bay Submarine
Base in Sl. Marys, GA on Augusi 9.
Free camping 1s available Saturday and
Sunday at the peace camp. It is a primitive
camping situation and campers should come
prepared. The camp is 30 minutes east of
Knoxville JUSt minutes off Interstate 40. Please
pre-register for maps and information.

./~

P'

Schedule or Events
Saturday, August 5:

12:()()..6:00 pm· Check-in at Peace Camp
5:00-7:00- Check-in and Potluck Snacks,
Laurel Theater, Knox.ville
7:()().8:00 • Premiere of the ftlm 811.iltling
Bombs. Laurel Theater
8:()().12:00 - Social, music, Laurel Theater
8:30-9:30- Ecumenical cnndlelight vigil at Y-12,
Oak Ridge
10:00-12:00- ''Dan~ Against Destruction•
Sunday, August 6
12:00-3:00 pm · Regisuarion, Alvin K. Bissell
Parle Oak Rid;;e
I:00-4:00 - Non-violence trrumn~
4:00-5:00 - Aflinity groups meeung
3:00-6:00 - Music, speakers, "Uranium: Tm.ii of
Tears"
6:00-6:30 - "NEVER AOAIN: M:irch for Peace
and the Environment• 10 the Y·I 2
gates
6:30-7:00 - Rally nnd non-violent civil
diso~dience

7:00·8:00 - Jail vigil
8:00-9:00 · Community 5h:iring
Monday, August 7
Morning - Peace Caravan depans Oak Ridge

�''Do

by Patrick Clark
The Oak Ridge EnvironmenUl.l and Peace
Alliance (OREPA) began in June, 1988 for the
purpose of organizing a rally at the Y-12
Nuclear Weapons Components Plant in Oak
Ridge, Tennessee. This very successful
non-violent demonstration on Hiroshima Day,
August 6, 1988 saw 170 people march on the
plant to oppose the processes of nuclear
weapons-making. Five people were arrested in
1he first cases of civil disobedience 10 occur in
Oak Ridge, a major clement of the national
weapons production complex.
Since the 1988 Hiroshima Day event
OREPA has continued to be active as well as
producuve in its research. uncovering and
presenting before the public spotlight the
realities of the Y-12 operations and the nuclear
industry t1t Oak Ridge. OREPA participated in

emerging "Green" world vision looks at issues
not as isofaled and separnte, but as co-dependent
nnd interrel:i.1ed. The Bomb, a deadly monster in
itself. produces a trail of devastation from the
mines where the raw uranium is taken from the
ground, along the route by which it is shipped to
the plant, 10 where its by-products are buried or
released into the environmcnL
This process, supposedly vital to national
security, involves mine tailings, highway spills.
accidental releases, and radioactive waste. Is it
in 1he imeres1 of "na1ioual securily" for our
governmem to poison the environment and hllrnl
the local people? Bomb production is causing
this environmental destruction constantly,
whether the final products are detonated or noi.
Oak Ridge is a cenier of highly
concenttated nuclear activity. It is "a disgrace to
Katuah" and "a blight on the countryside," says
Smith. ''What they do at Y-12 is repugnant. The
bombs are produced to kill men, women, and
children. The whole operation is laced with
secrecy, illegitimacy, and intimidation.
Employees are threatened with loss of their jobs
if they discuss what they do. There is noihing
resembling a free exchange of ideas. This runs
counter to the values our country was
founded on and how humans should treat
each other. Thepublicdoesn'thave
access to what's going on there.
The DOE produces a noxious brew
of chemicals that is released into
the surrounding airand
water. Hidden in their
~
fog of secrecy, they
use 'national
~
security' as
justification
for all this."

engages in periodic31 tracking of
nuclear weapons shipmen is) in the
~
foll of 1988 and has testified at
scoping hearings at Oak Ridge.
The group was the guest of lhe US
Dep:mment of Energy on a tour of
the various Oak Ridge facilities. ft hns
also developed a slideshow uboul the
situation at Oak Ridge and actions taken to
correct itThe presentation has been shown
to over 50 church, school, and environmental
ln the arena of nuclear warfare, human rights,
groups.
peace, and environmental issues go hand in
The group has also joined the Miliwy
hand.
Production Network. This is a coalition of
national and local groups concerned with nuclear
OREPA was founded on direct acuon.
weapons production facilities thro1.1ghout the
"Direct action is people raking responsibility for
country. Delegates from the member groups
protection of their offspring and the planet.
meet periodically 10 generate strategies for
Direct action is not letting those in power decide
developing public opposition to the production
wbat is best for us. This involves sincerity,
of miliu'lry weapon.~
dedication, t\lld, at times, risk. Direct action is a
Because of its involvement with the
very powerful personnl sutement of one's
nuclear weapons industry at Oak Ridge, OREPA
values."
has become a fairly credible counterweight to the
Smllh says that bis experience in 1he
government operations there. The group has
Y-12 demonstration was a moving and
become known as a voice: for alternative views
empowering one. It made him realize thnt one
of Oak Ridge.
person can make a difference. "There 1:&gt; no
reason to feel helpless and like you're not being
hurd. Direct action shows you this."
Whal is lhe conne~tion that prompted
Oak Ridge is 45 years of environmental
OREPA to adopt both environmental and peace
debL Heavy me1als, PCB's, and toxic organic
issues in LO its title? According to Steve Smith, a
chcmlcnls have constantly been release-0 into the
founding member of the group. the peace and
surrounding creeks. and rndioactivity is
environmental is:;ues are inseparably linked. The
~tUafi

1ounml Ptl941 8

dispersed into the air. Deadly wastes which even
the government has no1 tabulated have been
buried around the city. P-01luted radioactive
groundwater is carried in10 the creeks during
periods of heavy rainfall .
"Many questions remain,'' says Smith.
"What is the migration of the deep-well
injections. for instance? We're not getting
answers. There are obviously lots of serious
problems there."
OREPA's immediate goal is to curb
weapons production ac Oak Ridge. Uhima1ely
the group is seeking a complete halt to the
production of nuclear weapons and a timely
clean-up of the military mess. This requites
exposing the rationale behind nuclear armament
to the general public.
"Let's stan a debate on what's fueling the
arms race," says Smith. "What are the economic
realities hidden behind the facade of national
security? The money tied up in the rums race is
phenomenal. Part of OREPA's goal involves
funding other work for the people employed
there. Suggestions include research in solar and

other
renewable
energy
alternatives.
as well as clean-up
of the exisung damage.
They are not presently fulfilling
any useful function, anyway.
"The Sovieis are ""illing 10 negotiau::
the people in Europe don't want nuclear
weapons. The US cannot continue to Justify
its arms production within this current world
situation."
The next eight months are important ones
for world peace. Vital decisions arc being made
in Washington which will set the nuclear policy
agenda for the next 50 years. The government
can go 1wo ways according to OREPA: it can
continue 10 build more nuclear weapons for the
fu1ure, or it C3II clean up what it hns done so far.
Whal will decide !his is people getting involved.
How can people get involved? There nre
three main ways:
I) by becoming informed and informing
others;
2) by taking pan in the political process.
Write letters. attend public forums, call your
representatives, demand 1hat our opinions be
hew-d and our money shifted away from nuclear
weapons bujld-up; and
3) be in Oak Ridge on August 5 and 6 for
the 1989 Hiroshima Day March for Peace and
the En\'ironment.
Dr""'"'I "1 F.dJiL l/aJJ, 9111 ~rodL Jtlltk111 a18ht&amp; Ri~ lllgh
School, Gl#nvil~. ftltXtlt Caro/111(J, an ollry '"rite 1989 • Visfo&gt;i
tJf P~~· COflldl •poN&lt;Jritd by w lad.son COIU'oly P~ocr

,,. #
,

NdWtlTt

~

Summo.;r, 1989

�PLANTING A TREE OF PEACE
by David Wheeler

In the spring of 1987, a group of parents
and peace people in White County, Georgia
went to the Superintendent of Schools to ask
thnt some pan of the school curriculum to be
devoted to peace education. They wanted to
balance the unrestricted military recruitment
activities that were being carried out on the high
school campus. l11e superintendent sent lhe idea
on to a committee, declaring that he was a
veteran of the Kore::in War and ''a patriotic
American." Needless to say, the idea was stifled
in 1he bureaucratic framework.
Months latl!r the parents returned with
another proposal. This time they sugges1ed
involvmg the students in a llaudenosaunee
(Iroquois} Indian ceremony called "Planting lhe
Tree of Peace." At the original Tree of Peace
ceremony, the Six Nations {lroquo1s)
Confedcrocy was formed; and pans of the US
Constitution were actually modeled on 1hat
confederacy. The proposed latter-day ceremony
was planned to coincide with the observances of
the bicentennial of the signing of the US
Constitution... ~ well as remind studencs of the
Indian heritage of this land.
Within this historical context, the second
suggestion was accepted, and the group
contacted Jake Swamp, peace chief of the
Iroquois Nacion, who has brought this
ceremony to many places around che world. He
Q£l'CCd tO conduc1 the event.
Weeks or publicity and preparation
preceded the ceremony. School children wrote
invitations to 1heir local and national elected
representatives asking them to auend. A local
journalist helped the children write a press
:innouncement to be released to community
newspapers.
When Jake Sw:1mp ;UTived. he fir:;t spoke
to the eigh1h grade children at their school. He
opened his Ullk by giving 1hanks 10 the spirits 01
all things 1kn live and the Grc;it Sp1ri1 over all,
and told the children that 11 was imponani tel
open C\ery gathering by recognizing the: spirits
of the '' orld.
He nlso spoke to high school soci:il
studies cla~ses and gave a presentation at an
assembly in the elementary school. At 1he
assembly fifth grnde children presented him with
gifis they had made..
When he ~poke to second-graders in their
classroom. some of !he children were frightened
of h.im at first, but Swamp calmed their fo:irs by
telling them of lhe tradition of the peace chief
among his people. He said he never fought, as
that would bctr:iy his trust to his tribe. but r.uhcr
worked to promote peace amoni; his people and
in the world.
The next day, Swamp wen1 wuh his ho~ts
to the S:lutee-Nacoochee Presby1
erian Church
and spoke to the younger children. His message
in the children's sermon was that we should
remember to give thanks for all things. and lhnt
every gathering should open with a prayer of
thanks.

Summer, t 96C}

prophecies that the day will come when the wild
strawberries will rcrnm no more, and all that
will remain for the people will be the leaves of
the plant. It will be lhat way for everythmg.
Swamp said. The day will come when most or
lhe living beings of creation will be gone 10 a
beuer place where none or this pollution and
destruction is happening. Yet, even 1hen, we
must sull give thanks for what remains to us.
Afcer Swamp's presentation, lhe group ai
Sautce placed a white pine tree donated by a
local landscaper into :i large hole, nnd the
children present covered the roots with dirt.
Then four children. representing the four
directions and the four races or the world, tied
four ribbons· red. black, white. and yello\\ - to
1he tree to mingle together in the wind. Other
children came forward and also deconued the
tree with ribbons.
Traditional lndian dancers from the
Cherokee Indian Reservation, led by Richard
Crowe, then performed craditional Cherokee
social dances. A group of women from the local
community presented Jake Swamp wnh ll
beaded bell lhnt they had m.nde depicting the
White Tree of Pence surrounded by a.II the
peoples of the world. The ceremony was
completed with a gigantic pot-luck feas1.
Tree or Pence Socic1y

That afternoon the Tree of Peace
Ceremony was held at the Sautec·Nacoochee
Community Center. Over 100 people attended
the gathering. Elected official~ who Wt.'TC present
were recognized and given a chance to speak.
Girl Scouts paraded around the site carrying the
fings of many nations. symbolic of international
uniry.
When Jake Swamp ~poke, he cold the
story of The Peacenu1ker, who first brouglu
peace. to the constlltltly warring tribes of the St.
Lm~rcncc Rivcr-ca'1em Grc:u Lakes :irc.i nnd
drew them together to form the lroqu&lt;us
Confederacy. In the \\'hite Tree of Peace
ccrcmony, lcgc:nd s:iys that the Pcncc:makcr tore
a t?reat white pine tree from the ground. Ile then
bid Adodarhoh, originally the licrcest of the
tribal W;lf chiefs, to be the fin;1 of the warriors to
thro\\ his weapon!' into the hole which opened
into an underground river and carried them
away. The tree was replaced in the holt:, and
The Peacemaker declared lh:u, "The Y.hi1e roots
of this tree will go out in nil 1hc dirc!Ctions, and
lhe children of filJ 1.hosc present will be able to
gather together under the shade of this Tree of
Pcl::icc for all time to come."
fake Swamp again emphasized the
imponance of giving thanks :ind :.aid that no
matter hov. bad things might seem 10 be, it is
imponant 10 give lh:mks for what we have. Ile
gave as an example the wild strawberry plant,
which is very sacred to th1: lribcs of the
Huudenosaunce. It 1s said among the
Haudenosaunce that thing~ migh1 indeed be bad
now, buc !hey know th;u someday things will be
worse. because it is given in the tribal

The Tree of Peace is thriving in Soulhc:m
Appalachian soil The white pine pl3nted in
Sautee was surrounded with wildflowers, set
around its base the following year. Oo New
Year's Day, 1989. bulbs were planted around
lhe rrce, which bloomed later in the spnng. The
tree is kept mulched and tended by the children
and aduhs of lhc community. It il&gt; ;i focus of
e:1ch year's New Year celebrauons and the
annUjl community fo~1ivals which :in: held at the
cen1er.
Because it wns positi\'c nod nonconfronianonal in ns nature, 1hc Tree ol Peace.:
ceremony softened 1he members of 1he school
bo!l!d They cnme to ~c-e that to 1he loc:il group,
"pence·• meant brillgb.g pc•ople :oge1/1a rnther
than splimng the rommunny apart. l11crcfon:. in
191)9, community members w.:rc allowed to
perform ti peace pl.1y at the sd1ool. T/ie Peace
C/11/d tdls the story ot nn American girl and a
Ru~siun boy who become tricnds and evcnrn:illy
bnng 1hc:1r countric&lt;&gt;' leaders 10ge1ticr to discuss
di~armament (sec: p. 15). The piny was also
presen1cd in a pubhc p¢rfonn:ince. which was
:mended by the whole school board, 1he county
commissioners, and other eh:cted officials. The
play was supponed in pan by local businesses.
It was filmed for TV by the CNN Networl.;, and
the t0\\11 enjoyed the "idesprcad nucntion it
received.
11lc :.pirit of peace has brought changes 10
a small, rur.1.l 1own in Kaniah.
(prepared v.11/i tlic 11.:tp ofJ(}{JJmt Steele)
Rc:.aun:c; r/:( Grwl law of Pc.:JU and TN! Co11.1111ui1on
0/1/11: UrnudS1aus of./tr111:nca. Tr~ ol Pc!ICCSocicty,
c/o Jake Swump. Box 188·C Cook Ro.1!1: Mohawk

Nauon: YUi Hogamburt. NY 13655

�.

Community Building and Peace:
The Vital Connection
A look oJ The Fou11datio11for
Commu11ily E11courageme111
by Richard Lowenthal
Most people, ii questioned, would say that they deeply
desire peace and a sense of community in their lives. Yet, despite
this longing, most people usually have very little idea of how to
creartt pe3Ce and community, and thus end up fceHng stymied and
hopeless about it - which le~ incvitabl y to resignation and
apathy (two of the of1-dei;eribed hallmarks of the 80's). We need
only to look at the course oflhe "peace movement" over the pasr
two dCQndes, 10 sec this discouragement and disempowcrmcnt at
work. Ccnainly, the peace mov.:ment has had an important
impact on many lives and on our social consciousness, but in
some crucial respects the movement has been remarkably
ineffective. ls our -planet really nny more peaceful now thnn it
wns ten or twenty or thiny years ago? ls meani11gful disarmament
(as opposed to the token disnnn:uneot now being righteously
touted by the superpowers) any closer to becoming a reality?
Despite all the efforts of varied peace groups and peace-minded
citizens, we are all still churning out more and more nucle:ir
weapons. every day of every year - and movement toward la..~ting
peace and improved intemationru relations has in most respects
been negligible.
Why is this? Why has lhe peace movement had such
difficulty gaining headway and achieving tangible results? And
why do many people srill dismiss the goal of peace as an
impractical, visionnry dream? For that matter, why is the peace
movement often exactly that· unrealistic and impractical? As we
prepare to enter the last decade of the second millenium, it is vital
thnt we understand these questions and seek to nnswer them - for
the answers we seek may well be crucial to our survival.
Ooc oflhe most positive and provocative approaches to
these questions is that taken by The Foundation for Community
Encouragement (FCE) in Knoxville TN, a non-profit
organiiation based largely on the seminal work of Dr. M. Sc0tt
Peck and his most recent book Tiie Different Drum: Comn11111iry
Making and Peace. The book's introduction begins with a
deceptively simple yet astonishing statemcni: "In and through
community lies the salvation of the world." It is astonishing • and
not at all simple - because the dist.resSing truth is that "most of us
have never had an experience of true community." Thus saying
that community will be our salvation is like crying "to describe the
taste of artichokes to someone who has never eaten one." Until
we can truly experience ond savor the taste. texture, and feeling
of community, there is simply no way to comprehend Dr. ~1.-ck's
opening stntemem. Then four paragraphs into th~ inu-oducuon to

·.

.

.·
.

this amnz.ing book. Dr. Peck very mildly expresses his views
about peacemaking - in the procC£S answering the questions
expressed earlier in this article. His words are wonh quoting 1n
full: "... initially. r thought this book should be entitled
'Peace-Making and Community.' But that would put the can
before the horse, for I fail to see how we Americans will be able
to communicate effectively with the Russians (or any people of
other culrures) when generally we don't even know how to
communicate with the neighbors next door. much less our
neighbor.; on the other side of the tracks. True communication.
like the charity it requires, begins :1t home. Perhaps peacemaking
should start small. I am not suggesting... that we should abandon
global peacemaking cffortS. I am dubious, however. as to how
far we can move toward global corrununity • which is the o111y
way to achieve intemntional peace- until we learn the basic
principles of community in our own individual lives and personal
spheres of influence."
The book goes oo to explore the essence of community,
and the process of community-building through sharing,
vulnerability, communication, and real relationship. Dr. Peck is
careful 10 explain the difference between "pseudo-community"
and the experience of true community, and an understanding of
this differece is crucial to understanding FCE's mission and
philosophy. While community is characterized by openness,
inclusivity, risk-taking, and genuine appreciation of the
differences of personalities and opinions, "pseud~community" is
based on rigid expectations and beliefs, exclusivity, maintaining
an appearance of community, and the squelching of confrontation
and differences. As FCE puts it, ''Through the power of genuine
community, we seek to offer opportunities for people to bridge
differences and reconcile conflicts with authenticity and
integrity.''

In practical tcnns. FCE's focus extends into several
different areas - all, of course, related to the an (or science?) of
community-building. Its primary focus is to share the experience
of community through powerful weekend programs called
Community Building Workshops. The effectiveness of these
workshops is made evident by the fact that in 1988 over 50 were
conducted throughout the United States, just three years after the
first workshop was offered • which happened to be the 011Jy one
presented in 19&amp;5! In 1986. twelve were conducted. and in 1987
lhere were thirty. These weekend workshops are exll'Cmely
cxpericmial in narure, as well as participatory - there is very Httle
intellectunl material presemed, and no lecturing at nil.
This does not mean. however, that intellectual awnrcne:;s is
discounted ·quite the contrary! In fact, one of the strengths of the
workshops is that awareness nnd community grows ouc of
evc:ryone's total experience within the group scning, and not out
of some framework or organiwrion imposed on the group (a.~idc
from some basic ground rules for the weekend). Since there is
very little to grab on LO in order to pigeon-hole or intellectualize
what's happening, and the group leaders are not teaching. or
lecturing, or giving directions (with a few exceptions),
(c:ontinuol cm Ne Z.:J

Drnwing by Rob Messick

Su.mnu:r, 191t9

�Peacemakers
for the Katuah Bioregional Province (a partial listing)

American Friends Service
Committee

Asheville Aikikai

Pc&lt;JCe Program
92 Piedmont Ave. NE
AtlllllUI, GA 30303
(404) 458-0460

939 Riverside Drive
Woodfin. NC 28804
(704) 258-1330
Dan P:ilmcr, lnwuctor

Amnesty Internntioruil

The pltilos()phy of rukido 1s much different from
that of rnt&gt;il f/llJl'tial ans; rather than mttting an Oltachr
head-on, studl:nts of aikido lrrarn first how 10 get ow of
the way. Then we are 1augl11 l10w to capture an Ollachr's
energy and redirect /J, so thr amounJ of tnugy pw fnto
the a111Jck. is returned 10 the aiiacku.
In a1kldo practice an attQ(.ktr is immobl/iud Ira
such a way lhnl, t'Vtn if ht dou11'1 know how to fall, he
is brouglll 10 the ground "'ithDUI bting hurL Tht idea is
lo immobilize him. The purpose of aikido is 10 ruolv~ a
violent conflict without harm 10 one's st.If ar to an
auacktr. Practitioners of aikido do 1101 considtr an
attacking person as an t11emy. An attacker is simply
pr&amp;rcflting us with on opporruniry 111 practice Instead of
ignoring an attadc. we learn ID embrace iJ and use 11 as an
opportunityfor personal spiritual ~w:lop~111.
Tht! most Important thing a/Jou.I nikido i.f Ml
self-defense. but self-control It is necessary IO learn to
control one's own tnergy o.!ld one's own balance before
one can control SOPU!ane. rlsc'J tnergy and balance. Once
on4 lia.r mastend st/f-conlral. con1101/ing someone else
is no1 so dlflicult.
The physi.cal practice of nikido techniqUl!s
enhances Jht: developmMt of the spirit. Bodily
txptrltndng tlu! principles of nikido 111 training, one gets
a btJlt!r feel/or 1he ~truual D$pt:CIS of ti~ practice than a
reading of tlte p/tilosophy could give. Then agam. one
canMtjust practice, &lt;1ne OIJO has 101hinJ.. l1 worlcs both
ways.
· Da11 Palmer

Soul.hem Region
730 Peaclurce (#982)
Atlllll1.3, GA 30308
ConUICt Judi Hom

Appalachian Peace Educalion Center
114 Coun Sll:'CCl
~~\.ACJf1.
Abingdon, Virginia 24210
(703) 628-4366

~~
.
~4-

...,

/.

1g:

~

(')

q:
'."
~0Nc~,~~

The Appalachian Ptact Education Cl!llttr is a
coalition of~Q(;e groups in the southwestern Vlrginin
area as wall as a membership orgallizatio11. Tht! coa/i1io11
i11clu1Us Jhe Sou1liwes1 Peace 1'111e /11 \Vise a11d Lu
counties. Pellplefor a Just Pt(l(;e in IVytltcvillt:, S1wkms
fur Pt(l(;t and Environrrwt1al Concerns 01 Emory and
lltnry College, and the Ctn1raJ America Group.

Beyond War/Peace Tree
RI. 3, Boit 30-E
Clntksvillc, GA 30523
ConW:t: JllllCl Schaller

The Center for Peace
.Re. 11. Boit 369
Scvicrvillo, TN 37862

Central America Resource Group
Box 7411
Asheville, NC 28802

Coalition for Justice
in Central America
Box299
Blacksburg, VA 24063
(703) 951-7953
ConlllCC N:111cy Qcnlhncr, Nik Jones

Cumberland Center for
Justice and Peace
Scwancc, TN 37375
(615) 598-5748
ConUICc John M. Gcssell

Ecumenical Project for Int ernational
Cooperation
734 w Locus1 Sc.
Johnson Ci1y. TN 37C)()J

Ecumenical Peacem:ikers
Bo~66

Swllllllllll03, NC 28778

Fellowship or Rt'cundli:iliun
f'. 0 Bm 2-71
Nyad, NY IO'JC.O
A Ieng t1~ peo.I' or ani:u11&lt; n 11 fuel QJ11(Jn11
0tlv acu,1t1u has pr1Jll'ded sll(lport ond drc:ft CG.w IIille
ID pc.ople conmkring (MS cr.llor::roly t1on.

s .. nunar.

1989

Foundation for Communily
EncouragemenL
7616 Gleason Rd.
Knoxville, TN 37919
(see article page IOJ

J ackson County Peace Network
P.O. Box 1872
Sylva. NC 28779
(704) 293-9230
Conmtt Cynlh13. Gnlltngcr

A VISION OF PEACE
Tht Jackson Coumy Pear:c Nt1work fJCPNJ
brings M.ar.e issues into tht Iota/ .1hcools through the
Vi.tiofl of Peace Con111s1, a y~arfy e»cnt 1ha1 awards caslr
prius for the moJt ~anmp/ul siattmenu on pcllet
1/it1~ by high ~chool 111iJcnu worJUnK in tire. wrmen or
visual arts. Tht contest is hi!ld wrth the pu11UJs1on of
the Board of Edurm1on ulUJ l 'mc-11 of Ptut"c projtCf.f art
uqu1rM rla.u&gt;&lt;-ork In some '" ' t:laJJ&lt;'S. Thi! a&gt;nlt.JJ tr a
gerttle. rwn-a&gt;n;ront•ulon:il wav 111 tnCO«T&lt;l,Ef. mulaiJS to
respQ/1d 10 t/w prewng ls1 .. c oj1hc nut;lcm tlvcut, ,,.hJch
t.t a Jiron£ uifl:.u:1m! 011 J"Wll ptoplt"s 1lunJ.mg.ye1 u a
sub;cct tluu lS f11r..:elJ taboo 111 tire /;nots or 1n an
dulfo ut i.1/hadults
In 1987 JC!'N i. f one of11&gt; IDcol orgw: • tans
w #"ft e.vt: 1he NC Go.cr11 1 " " rd for Ouuumding
\ufunr.. Ser.rec Theuwardwusli-tllte1cd1abtdur1n
large nwzsive II) ti.I! su us of w 1 uion of /&gt;ca t:
Cc.r.11'..si
• l'ar Mor.• t 11111! Cynllua G ,/11111;tr

Hand$ In Outreach
BoxOne
Pen!Md, North Carolina. 28765
Hands In Outreach is a Yancey Counry-ba..rcd
educational sponsorship progr(llll for "third world"
child.rtn Now in iu sixth ~ar, it is "'"ently
responsible for the tducatian of 68 indfrldJUJJ cllildren
undtr sponsorship and has ht!lped 10 form a rural
wo11~n.s· kniJ1i11g ctn/tr which today has frained !Mre
than 50 formally illittra/e girls. \Villi a membership of
only 140 sponsoi-s. this .rmall and very pusolllll ouirtach
has substantially con1ribu1ed not only 10 r,ons1ruc11ng
rwo uw schools, bw a/$0 rwo complete school llbraries.
Hands In Outreach is l:ome-bostd and is directed by
author Don Willcox andfiber artist Louise Todd Cope.

The Highlander Cenler ~
RL 3, Box 370

New Markel. TN 37820
{615) 933-3443
Con1ac1: John Gavcnw. R~ Din:clllr
Sinu 1932 Tht lllghlandcr Ct!ntcr has s.en'ell us
an tducatialllJl umcrfor 1h11 30uiheas1 on issues such as
civil rig/Its, labor ISS~S. tllt tnvironllft!ll/, 'll'Ol"Ur saftty
and hlalth The Ctnter i.1 noi.•l:o$ling the STP Schools
10 encourage grassroots s1ra1egits 10 counter 1ndu.strial
pollution ond programs 10 help communil)' ITU!m~rs
understand tht local and global pokier srrw:tures that
infl~ue their lives. EMange progranr.r art. being carried
on with groups i11 Indio. NicaragUJJ, Sowh Afrit:a, an.d
other countries around tht! globe.
·John Gavtnta

Ellie Kincade, M.A.
(Conffic1 Management)

21 Hillcnd31c Rd.
Asheville, NC 2880S
(704)1Sl-6St5

"We have so often liMed htroiJm wi1h warfare,
bottling, conq~st, and victl)ry. t/taJ a difftrurt notion of
huoism, OM that allows us 111 su nurturing and
sustaillin1 as ltvoic activiries, is difficult 10 develop. Yet
1his rs whal must ht! doM Wt nud ta vol~ actions Ira
"1hu:h one i~nll/its with, raihtr than opposq, another
bt!1ng or way ofbl!111g The idea of bottling or fiahlU.g is
only one of 1ht: ways of dealing with /tar. Ci!r/llct, alld
difftrtncc. Of1en that which we rtjtct and oppose is tht
w:ry ~rson or position 1l:a1 w.- 11ted lo 111c/ude in our
tn:brau. Acctptance 1s tl:t:' art of making the obstacle tht!
pa1h: thtrefore tmbrace tJ~ tncMy.
Thi~ 1s lht ltrson of thi! rivu guldt, Fact the
dangtr, mow toward 11 ThaJ's where t/r.t: currtn1 u tl:t
stro11ges1, and 111&lt;·i// CJJrry ,vou around tht obstaclr. Uu
II.

Ir: 31k1do, a Jup1mcu numt.il urr , tht tea. hu
turn from your auacJ.trs. Move
rrght in ~r.u 10 rlielfl, See tliz "'vrfdfro"' their po1111 of
M.'Ou/d sm;, '"Blend Ntlltt

ltkntih w1tli 11'.e U.l"IJ and llrqnu:lrlJll;for~d.
Oppcfl(IUS arcl1i:d), ti"nt :tar; u-.crgy A Upl W lift
Tr.at'~ are Mil p:issne. 1ilkcr. fr m ai1:1do./r m
l.t11 11 m 11'.e 11wr 1kty Ja~:nd i:n alcnnts.s an on
abuuy 1 uspond tlllJ1 u co1 :plrtt Our fir I 11ul Is lo
ht Ill' 1 lr:adu
OU( (fi.n lives the /st' t r;j ""'
"'" sto·icJ Ir. /ac.t w au )' art "'" hi:&gt; on! 10
dJsaJ~tT wla.J: tfJPl tr.;'®1
Women m 11"' W1I~ b CJ.w; Ga!l:md
{[rem EJ1k Kinca:dtJ
Xotunh Jo .. uw[

pmii:

t1

�Peacemakers

Peacemakers

Peacemakers

Peace Room

'V Madison County

The World Grune lnstituie
Uruvcrsity City Science Cemcr
3508 Market SlrCct
Phihdclphia. PA 19104
(215) 387-0220

The Peace Room is structured sa tlllll row dmo and
"inretligcnce reports" from all ovu the p/Olltt CD!l bl!
collected. proccssl!d and applkd by its rl!starch staff 10
dl!\list crtoti~ stratl!giesfor solving basic human riud
problems. The rcstarch is 1htn madt a1'Uilablt 10 world
leatkrs and tht general public through rl!SCOfch rqx&gt;rts and
cxpu1tntiJJ/ World Game Workslwps.

90 Mill Ctt.ek Rd.
M:trshall, NC 28753
(704) 656-2280
Contact: Drew Langsncr

Mnrtin Luther King, Jr. Center for
Non-violent Social Change
449 Auburn Ave.
Atlanta, GA 30312

Plowshare Peace Center
Box 1623
Roanoke, VA '24008
(703) 985·0&amp;08
ConlllCl: Pul Prat;ilJ
Plowsharl! Peace Center is on education and
rts0u.rct cemu on issu.ts relating to social ju.slice, peace,
and non·violtnce. Plowshare wa.r ts1ablished by pcoplt
of various rtligiDu.s D!ld philosophical persptctivts who
sh,art a commi1rmi111 10 nonvioltncc as a way of life.
This commitmtnl flows jrom the spiritual Olld ptrU&gt;rral
conviction tho/ active lovt is rht only power by which
evil is overcome O!ld tlu! only suflicic111 /xJs1s for human
society.

Blacksburg Adopts a Sister

Mountain Light Nelwork
RL 1Bo~229
Dillard, GA 30537
(404) 746-2454
COllUICl: M:srinn McCracken
"The Mountain Light Netw0rk. is an intuuional/y
unsuucwrtd asstmbfagt ofgroups D!ld indi&gt;'iduals i111l:e
IYNC and North Gtorgia ana who havt a dup
ct&gt;mmitmenJ to 1ndivuiuaJ and global peace ··

New Providence Peace Committee
70'3 W. BroodWQy
Maryville, TN 37&amp;01
Contacc Jean Myers

North Carolina
Educalion

Peacemakers

Center

for

Peace

214 Piusboro SL.
Chapel HiU, NC 27514
(919} 929-9821
Offering work.shops and courses on education in
w 1111Clear age ond confliCJ resaluiion.

Northeast Georgia Peace Council
Rt. I. Box 319
Baldwin, OA 30511
(404) 778-0579
Com11cc Patsy Gailey

sec

"Wt short a commitment to a peaceful world We
we IJ.lliud in aclcnowltdgmg that Peop~ Evtrywhut Arc
Crta1al Equal (PEACE)."

Peace Links:
Women Against Nuclear War ~~

!:e~~.

Blacksburg, Virginia hos become the 78th US
corntnJJ!lity to join the US.Nicaragua sistu city program.
Tiit link became official on April 11, 1989 l&lt;'licn 1ht
Bladcsbu.rg J'own Council decided (in o 4~3 ''Ole) to odop1
San Jose de Bocuy, Nicau.ragu.a as 1rs s1Jttr Cit) Tlit
srsru city program btrween the US and Nicaragu.a is an
offshoot of Sisur Cities ln1ernatlonal, a program
initiated b)' Prts1de111 Eist!llhower ur 1956 to es1ablish
greater fricndJlup (Jlld u.ndcrst011durg 1Ntwtt11 the people
of the US and other nationJ thl'ough ptrsonal conUJcl ...
Mcmbl!Ts of the Si.tttr City Co1t1111111u (SCCJ
told the Council 1ha1 they hove vizcd to avoid politici:ing
rht issue. But, givim tht current mood of the country,
thi.t 1s very difficult to accompltsh. According 10 Rev
IVoody Lta1:h. Virginia Tech Pre.sb)'ttriOll minister,
fom1er Council member, aJUJ chair of the SCC. "IVhat is
intended 1s for one human contlTlu.nity, Blacksburg. 10
a11emp1 10 build bridges offri.:ndJhip and u.nderstonding
with D!lOther humon cammu.ni1y, San Jose tk Bocay. It is
the hope of 1he Co1M1f1tu thDl the Town Council will
be able 10 htlp the town transcend po/11ical differtnccs
through this project. It is one way 1ha1 we CDfl say 10 tht
children of the town and to 01hu UJwns; We believe thal
hurrta11 beings CIUI work 0111 differtnccs when thtir
go11crT11M111S COllllOI .• '"
Al leas/ two
mambers have already visited
San Jose tk 8ocoy, and childrtn from Margaret Becks
Elementary School in Blacksburg are currently engaged
1n a ptn pal pro;cct with srudt!llJS in Bocay The
Commillte haptS these exchanges wll/ ltod ro regular
tducational and cultural exchanges bttwun the 1wo
conurnuuties~.
• by Mariann Caine
(tu.trpttdfrom the New River Free Press)

~f~·'~
I• Wf •I

NC 28802
(704)684-mo
.~
Contacc Jennie Eblen
Peace Links is a non·projit, non-partisan
orgoniumon commllltd 10 increasing awartncss of and
Cl)nctrn aboUJ the issues of world peace and IN 1hrt!a1 of
llJIClt!llrwor.

Irr Asheville, Peace Links hos1t!d three Soviet
In 1985. promottd o "Kids S~alc Thtir
Pt!DCt" program in 1he public Schools. and sponsored
"Rock 'n Rtgister, • a musical concl!r/ for voltr
rl!gistrotion Far "Peace Day 1989." tht group will
sponsor 1he childrtn's play "PtfJU Child.· (sup. 15)
• )CMit £b{e11
wa~n visitors

Peace Links
• 3509 Kcstetwood Rd.. Knoxville, TN 37918
- Box 566, Mountain Home. TN 37684
• 235 Hamburg Rd., Bake~ville, NC 28730
• 734 W. Locust St., Johnson Ci1y. TN 37604

Credo of /lie Peaceful Traveler
Gr01cfu.1 for the opportu.nily ro travel and to
uptritllct the "l&gt;'Orld and be~ ptau begins w11h
the indlvr'dual, I a/flmt my personal rtspollSlbiliry
and conunitmtlll IO:
• journey wilh Oil opui mind and gelllk heart
.at:ctpt wilh grace and gr01ilud41he diversity I

Coniacc Judy Sheclccl, Hetb W3ltcts

Rural Southern Voice for Peace (RSVP) was
fou.ndi:d 111 198/ in response 10 a m:ed on /ht part of
people w/lo /tit o call 10 worlc for peace and 1us1ict and
against raci.rm. bu.J were i.toloted in snwll. and often
coflSl!rvarive, rural comm11.1U11u scattartd 1hrougl11Jul IN
sowheast.
The group ~gan in a cold ba.s11111tnl room with a
$4f)/) donation and o oorrowtd zypewmu. It has grown
1n10 a well·known and respected regional peace
orga11ila1ion with thru paid staff people, filling an
important niJ:h4 in the spct1rum of social change work. in
the South and providing hope and insp/raJion to
volu.nttcr aciivisrs Md local citizens.
RSVP provides o monthly newsleucr 1ha1
amplifies tlit of1err small, and ~t significant, activities
that local people are organizing in their own
commu.nitics and connects these events within 1/tt
context of change that is beginning at the grassroots in
the rural Sowlt.
In 1984 RSVP began lls Rural Ntrworking a.nd
Training Program in which RSVP staff people visittd
small 1owns and solllhern cilic;r providing training O/ld
suppon for organi:crs. As a result of this program, 12
new group$ have bttn formed and 20 l!Jds1ing groups
h11Vt bun rtvitaliud and Strtnl{thtncd. This wori.
eumplifits 1ht commi1me111 ro commu.n11y organizing
and citizui empowerment tht.u has cl1aracttriud RSVP
tinl:e its inception.
A recent brtak1hrouglt in neighborhood
COmmJJnications is the Ustcning Project idea, which is
bwtg dtvl!foped in procriu by I ltrb Walters ofthe RSVP
staff. (Sec report on page J) RSVP offers training and
conStd101ion for groups who wan/ to initiate Luttning
Projects in their area.

Peace Advocacy Network
8945 Sh:illowford Drive
Knoxville, TN 37923

t/ICOll.ll/Cf

• revere and protect the flQ/uroJ tnvironnt(n/ which
sustains al/ life
• opprcclOl.e all cultures I discover
- respect and tllallk nry hosufor their welcome
• offer my hand ln/rlendslrip (() tvtryon.e I meet
- support rrovtl services 1h.o1 short these views
aJUJ act upon 1ht1r1. by my spirit, words and
actions
• encourage 01htrs to travel tht world ln pttl«.
• from The First Global Confcrcnoc on Tourism:
A Vi1al Force for Peace (October 27, 1988)

x.atl.iah Journat page 12

~ura.f Sou//, cm Uice fo,. Pea.ct
1901 Hannnh Bmnch Rd.
Burnsville, NC 28714
(704) 675-5933

Peace and J ustice Committee
3219 Kingston Pike
Knoxville, TN 37919

Peace TreeJCovenant
Box82
Snu1ec, GA 30571

Peacemaking Committee
Nacoochee PresbylCrian Church
Box 87
Sa111ee, GA 30571

S'4mm4lr, 1989

�,

Peacemakers
~t:'3s

Peacemakers

in the Nuclear A . , g e

Warren Wilson College
Swannanoa, NC 28778
(704) 298-3325
Coniact: Doug Banleu
· options in the Nuclear Age l!XistJ 10 ma/cc
wt:ll·informed uniw!rsity faculty members available OJ
spcakers (free of charge) for well·establisht!d conununlty
groups on topics pertaining to national security • the
arms race, 11urorism.1111ervenJion, t/te economy. etc.
1'he aim of Options is ({) hrlp p~ople learn the
issues and develop .rophistica11'on in analysis of the
complu questions uwolved. It is our belief 1ho1 people
ore ~st ab/t to ll!orn and arrive at their own conclusion
afttr hto.ring a range of opinions on policy choi&lt;:es. The
Options program does not take an advocacy role. The
program strives 10 provide the comprehLnsrvenns.
openMss. and integrity on which any substantive
cducatio!IJJ/ exanunation of the iss11ts depends."

Pax Christi - Virginia Tech

Peacemakers

Soviet-American Video Exchange
for Children

Vagabond Globetrotling:
State of lite Ari

(S.A. V.E. fotCh.ildtcn)
Boll 1838
Cullowbee. NC 28723
(704) 293-9534
Conmcc Howw-d lUll

by Mru'Cus Endicou. A book on conscious iouring,
tMlilnblc from lhc publisher.

S.A.V E wrll coordinate the exchange of
student-produced vidto tapes hl'twecn Russian and
American schools at tl:t! ;unror high fevel Tilt' principal
objective is. of course. 10 foster awareness • awcvencss
that Strips awoy tire fear of the unblown. A11 added bonus
wjff be the St/f·owarene.ss that comu from ezpfaining
one's own situation w others
The undulying intMt of tht pro;rer goes beyond
fX!OCl!. Peace is o gfrcnfor surviwd's sa/ce, but there ts a
more subtle and/ar·rtat:li111g aware11&lt;1ss that may also be
engendered: the consc10u.rntss ofs/:ared space, ofshored
r(J:.fponsibility for the globof tnvironment, When
friendship replaces r1ustrust, 11 is much easier to see that
tire health of the planet a/fem us all.
• /foward /fi/f

Transylvsnians for Peace
Box 451
Brevard. NC28712
(704) 884-1633
Con1$t Connie Nash

Coniacc Cale O'Hare

20/20 Vision

"Encmyof1/1e Week''
"My command!Mnt 10 you is this· love your
enemies. Pray for those who persecme )'OU.• Paz Christi
has a custom of praying for an "Enemy of the Wetk" at
l!acl1 meeting. The custom arises from our desire 10
follow Christ's command to love tvuyoM, evt'n those
who oppose us or hate us. A prayer lealkr chooses a
person. gtoup. or organization that is in some sense an
entnry. The praytr leader explains in what sense that
person. or group ls an entmy. and then leads a Sincere
prayer for tht wt/I-being of that entmy.

• RL I, Box 1037, Sau.tee, GA 30571
(404) 878-3459 Conuicc Joan King
• 20/20 NC I I th Congressional Dis1I1c;t
P.O. Box 5855, Ashevrllc, NC 28813
The 20f20 Project is a national, grassroots
lobbying organ11ation 1ha1 works thro14JJr Ct&gt;ngrtssional
districts. Any cilutn can becor1ll! pclitica/fy involved at
trucial points i1t rk political syntm by paying S20 per
year and taking only 20 minutes per month to wrrre a
letter to a Congression11/ reprtst!nralive about a cho~n
pofitical issue.
Through the 20/ZO Projea people's effortS can be
maximiud. and they can become poliucalfy involved
with very li11/e t!J!ort
· Krtty BoniSkl!

71 Woodbury Rd.
Asheville, NC28804
Contact: John Sicvens

Enchiridion lntcmation:il
Box2589
Cullowhce, NC 28T.l3

Vietnam Vets for Peace
840 Marion Ave. SE
Atlanw. GA 30312

War Resisters' League • Southenst
©l W Chapel IUll SL
Durham, NC 27701

Wnr Tax Counseling
.t15 Kmharine lane
Wood:llOCk, GA 30188
(40-l) 928-8"..52
Conl:ICc Robert R:mdall

Women's International League
ror Pence and Freedom
• 28 Queen Rd.; Cruidlcr, NC 287 I5

203 01cy SL
Blaclc.sburg, VA
(703) 95 I-0032

Peacemaking Task Force of I be
Asheville Presbytery

Peacemakers

Conlllct: Mllry K!ly uutd

• RL 5, Box 694; Franklin. NC 28734
·Rt. I. Box 486; MotglllltOn, GA 30560
Conwc Barbara Newell

Earth Quilts/ Regional Project
Norma Bradley
296 Monlford Avenue
Asheville, NC 28801
(704) 25J· 079 I
"Designed from the elements of the Earth and
crt.ated within the Earth"."Combinlng the traditional an
of quiltmakmg with lqvt of the mountain environment,
Norma Brod/ey, arusrlsculptor, assists school groups and
others in crealing their own CtJmmw11ty 11ar11t S(u/ptJVt
using nntivt materials.

Physicians for Social Responsibility
• 5 Alpine W:iy, Swnnnnnoa, NC 28778
- Box I 15, Moun.run Home, TN 37684

SANE
- Box 11274, Asheville. NC 28804
• 108 N. Blue Ridge Rd .. Black MounlaUI, NC 28711
- 108 Morchc.'ld SL, Morganton. NC 28655

Southern Dharma Retrea t Center
RL I, Box 34-H
Hot Springs, NC 28743
In Sanskrit, the c/aJsical language of l11dia.
dh31'ma is the word for wisdom. /or mtnd tSstnte or
11atural low, It is bl!lit•ed 1/mt greed. hatred, and
ignoranc:e (or our 1nab1/ity to su ourst/1-rs a.~ we really
are) art states of11Und that hinder the growth of wisdom
and undtrstanding, rJnd art the fundamt11tal caures of
hultlilfl sulfcrlnlJ It is also believtd thar through 1h.practret of llU!diwtio11, a focu.rtd a11en11011 , tltest states
may be dmoNtd und replaced with more politr~'I staks,
such as con".passton and /cJndness.
Tiit goal ojthe Southern Dlwnr.a Retu Ctn/tr
.&lt;11
is 10 pro•ide a ,·01nfortub/t 11&lt;11hmng pluct, rtmo•ed
from tht t\·cryd/JJ dwractions of lift, and to crtatt' &lt;Vt
atmospliue of quut r(flect1on where one can nurture a
stnse of~Iler and wu:o1-er till' 1tmhs w11Jiin 11'.e heart.

x.ntuurl Jo ... rnat pa9c 13

1i~ JeconJ anncw/ Peactfest, ~ponsurcd b) PO;( Christi · \'irgiflla 1'ech 011
Su.n.;fuy April 16, 1989, il!lr.ia,,d hwulrtds OJ srwknt.t and /o&lt;al r~.1idr111110 a
brr.rfit conurt cdtbraJrnf /J('a &lt;'. • photn by MariJnn Ca111&lt;'. COW1C$)' of the
.Vt" Rrvtr fru Press

�'.PEACE CWLLD
0 ne of the most familiar peace quotes IS
Gandhi's "If we wish to create a lasting peace.~. we w1U
have t0 begin with the children." This autumn, the
children of the Asheville, NC community will share !heir
own vi~ions for aunining world peace in the mus1caJ
fanwy.Peact Cliild.
The Ptacr Clrild play taltes place m the ycur
2025, when the world is already at peace. I! uses the
device of a s1ory1cllcr to cxpl:un how children helped
bring peace 10 the world. The script and music ha"e
incredible power as the children unfold their wisdom on
life, wur, and peace.
This play which has been produced iniemmion.11ly
since 1981 and is unique in that the author invites t.ach
producer 10 rewrite the ~ript to lit the community. the
ume, and especially the cast of children of their particular
selling. The members of the cast arc involved m
dlscu.~sions on peacemaking throughout all rehearsals and
ate given the chance to have their own ideas put into the
script. The priority is 10 involve community children in
the Peace C/rild process, so that •the central experience or
Peace Cliild comes when the children performing 11 feel
that they themselves are the pc3CC children of the story."
The Peace Child Foundation administers all the
Ptact Child activities. They supply communities with a
Study Gujdc and necessary production support as well as
coordinate national and intern:11ional tours. Peace Child
was the first production to use the •space Bridge"
program, a satelliic link between the US and USSR. Jn
1985 Peace Child toured the world with a special
Soviet-American Ptact Child tour in 1986. For mo.re
information,conuicc
Peace Child Foundation
39n Chain Bridge Road
Fairfax, Virginia 22030
(704) 3854494
The Peace Links' producL is scheduled for
ion
September 30, October 1 (Pence Links' "Pence Dny.
1989") as well as performances for schools. If anyone is
interested in volunteering, in buying advertising in the
production's program, or in general information, please
call Jennie Eblen at (704) 684·5530.

Ethnic Survival

The Frie11dsllip Quill
~rh.: frimdship qwlt is n tradition in this COU/llry
that camt witll 1/u: peopl~ wlio Stllll!d l11ut/rom 01hu
plaC Wt wonted 1 find d luimef or our friendship qui.ft
t!S.
0
in the Sovw Uman in a place somewhat 11/te our own
lrome It 1/V.lkl!s Tnl! glad 10 1hinfc af 1/rL long journey that
our quilt offriendship has had and thaJ 11 hasfound you
The quilt has marry/11n11y and sad and 1111eru1ing
stories. The pa11trn aroUlld 1J:e edges is a traditional oM
ca/ltd 'Flying Gttse'. 1'hey artflying around /ht world ro
brillg us 1oge1htr 111 growing UJ;l}erstanding so that we
con becomt/ri11nds/rom our distant places In this way
we can bring peace to our lands, our children, ourfriends,
and ourselvt:s...
In tht corntrs ofIlle bordl!rs where tht gttst ort
flying art tht phases of the moo11. May sht help us to
renwmber 1 change wil/mgly and gracefully, to become
0
wll/ll is ntctssary to bring our /ropes and visiollSfor
ptoCt to lift.We /rope 1his quilt of/ritmdship has brought f rom
us to you the living thoughts and patltml /ropes with
which it was made. Thalllc you/or receiv111g it and giving
it a lromt 1n your llvt:s.
·from The Book of Quiltmnkers
H

Thmy women and mui wlro are members and friends
o/ tht Ctlo Commu11i1y in 1he South Tot River Valley
crtartd 1ht quilt. ft now li\•es in a school in Klrosta by
the Black Sta. For mort lnforma1ion. con1ac1 Kori Loy
Wildrclcindt; Box 340. Rt. 5: Bur/IS\lille. NC 28714.

Ribbon Around the Earth

crc:ue, on pieces or fabric, images or personal meaning

In 1985, thous:inds of people gathered in
Wash1ng1on, D.C. to lie a RIBBON AROUND THE
PENTAGON on the 40th anniversary of the bombings of
Hiroshima tllld Nagasaki. The Ribbon was compost&lt;! of
27,000 pJCCC:&gt; of fabric on which people from every iiate
and many nauons had placed symbols of "what 1hey
could not think of to be lost forevct" in 1he event of a
nuclear Wllt. S1te1Ching 15 milcs-3/ound the Pentagon.
on to the Whiie House and around the Capitol, the
Ribbon bcc:unc a gentfo remmdet th:u the earth and all 11.s
peoples are vulnerable in this nuclear age.
Since lhc 1985 event. the Ribbon panels have
become pan of local events and have traveled worldwi~
10 be in major displays. "Making ribbons" has Dc:en
adapted as a peacemaking acuviLy in such places ;u Sri
Lanka, Israel. and South Africa to addresS conOict.s m
lhcsc regions.
Today there is a new mission--10 tie a Ribbon
Around The .Earth in 1992. Conunuing in our cffon.' of
~lf.Cll{lrc~sion , we "ill expand our original vision to

representing our concern not ju~t for nuclcar war but
other pressing global issues mcluding hunger, poveny,
human righlS, and the environment. lmagme an
abuncL1nce of colorful ribbons in simultaneous displays
around the world m nauons' cap1Ulls. across borders, 1n
political hotspots, and m ~crt.d pl;ice~
You can begin your own scgmenl showing what
you cannot think of as lost forever. A p;inel of sturdy
cloth, of any color, finished size l8"x36". including a 2·
top:.11tchcd bordct. Embro1Jery, appliquc. bauL., quilting.
knitung, needlepoin t. weaving. paanung. c1c. ~y be
u'itd. Finished scgmcn~ should h:ivc 9" ues or bias wpc
sewn mto each comer so they may be ucd together
C3$ily. On the bad; a piece of "pcllon" mterfoc1ng coultl
be used to write in pen, matkCI"S, or Lyping 11bou1 you and
your Ribbon SC&amp;Jllent

JCcituah Jou1 nu( p«IJC 14

Ribbon Around the £:.anh iti 1992
8SS tv'. ltjfrrso11 St.
M lingron. VA 22205

Elnh bas approxim:uely 5000 ethnolinguistic groups...and only 159 UN members.
M oM of these nations' boundaries were cn:ated
nnd are m:tlnt:i.ined at gunpoint Mo~t of the
world's wars are civil ww-s being waged by
ethnic groups fighting for their cultures' sur.ivitl
against hostile nation states. The prOQ:sS of
colonization has left Africa. Asia and pans of
Latin America in nearly arbiir.uy political pieces.
War is bOLh the cause and I.he result of this
siluation.
How can we revolve our Planet into a
place tha1 honors and fosters diversity?
Educating ourselves about the problem is a good
pince to sl:lrt. We need 10 put pressure on our
eleci&lt;!d representatives to end our military nid to
nations which use these weapons to abuse their
ethnic minorities who rightfully desire their
independence. We can bring our vision of One
Planet peacefully shared by many peoples into a
world m:1de more and more receptive to such
ideas by the realization of the magnitude of our
common problems and the absolute necessity of
our cooperation for survival. We are in need of
a second wave of decolonization. The first
wave saw the breakup only of the European
global empires. The second wave will see the
breakup of the smaller empires which they left
behind. There will be no real peace here until
we see our planet as a whole and end our
wasteful and violent defense of artificial
boundruies.
The Eanh's healing Chris1s is the
ecological disaster we are fast waking up to.
We will have to cooperate to survive. We are
one pl:l.Det. and this simple fact is n million times
more imponant than any demarcations we have
theorized and armjed into being. The age of
nations is ending and a new age beginning.
What good is a Kalishnnkov against I.he
pollution of the Oceans, what good are jet
fighters against the greenhouse effect. We will
cooperate or we will cease to operateentin:lyl It
is stone cold obvious thm the way out of this
mess is by learning 10 look at this world as a
unity instead of as meaningless political
frogmenLS and in pooling our resowces and
intelligence instead of using them to confound
each other. We will survive by becoming more
reasonable, and become more reasonable ns we
survive. The Earth is becoming one
community. We are building a true planetary
culture. This does not mean an end to our ethnic
differences, rather we are building a community
of communities, n culture of cultures in which
we will provide each other wilh a safe pince to
prosper. The EmplTCS have had a vested in1erest
in etimimuing differences but the emerging Earth
community will have an interest in protecting
cultuml diversity as a valuable asset.

,,

-Will Ashe Baso11

Suggcstbi Res&lt;iurcc: Cultural Sur~iviJJ Ml.ig:11jnc. 11
D1vin11y Avenue Cambridge. Ma:.
~huscts 02138

�In 1984 rhe glasnosr ("openness") policy
was as yet unheard of in the Sovic1 Union. But
during that year people from !he small mountain
town of Black Moun1ain on lhe Swannanoa
River in Buncombe County, Nonh Carolina sent
a lecter to another small town, the Sculemenr of
Krasnaya Polyana in the Caucasus Moun tams of
Black Mountain residems made the first
Russia, suggesting the two townships open
exchange visit to Russia. They were wannly
relationships wilh each other to promote peace
received and returned with gifts and good
and goodwill between their two nations.
wishes for the people of lllack Mountain from
Miriam Willey of Black Mountain said,
the people of Krasnaya Polyana. Two more
"We stancd the Pairing Project because we saw
Black Mountain residenLS journeyed to the
that the nuclear arms race depended on our fear
Soviet Union in June of 1987. They returned
of the Sovie1 Union, which was inflamed in the
with a large :,;Iver samovar and four originul
e:irly Reagan years to support the military
pain1ings as gifts for the town.
build-up in 1his country. We thought 1hat the
Then in December of 1987, while Reagan
only way 10 end 1he anns race was 10 get to the
and Gorbachev were holding meeungs in
rooi of that fear, so we began to develop direct
Washington, DC, Chairman Kulii and Elena
coninct with the Russian people. And it has
Filonova, a school-teacher, visired Black
proved successful."
Mountain for five days. The meetings were
The letter from Black Moun1ain to
warm and cordial nod the people of Black
Krasnaya Polyana was one of 1,000 sem from
Mountain had no doubts th:u Chamnan Kuli1
American cities to countcrpnn cities in the Soviet
was most sincere in his "wi,;hes that the
Union under the auspices of the Ground Zero
American and Sovier people would collaboro1e
organization. Black Mountain wac; fortunate in
in friendship."
being one of 65 towns which received a reply
"His deep dedication 10 peace mruches our
from the Soviet Union. The response was an
own, and we see this relationship continuing to
enthusiastic leuerfrom Valentin Kulii, Chauman
flower in furure yeurs," in the word.~ of Miriam
of the Executive Commiuee of the Soviet of
Willey.
Krnsn:iya Polyana, which is comparable 10 the
During the visit Chairman Kulii was
position of mayor. The relationship between the
presented wilh a mou111ain dulcimer and a peace
two towns was officially initiated in November
quilt as gifts for the people of his town. Plt1ns
of 1985 through a letter 10 Chaimmn
Kulii that was signed by tJ1e Mayor, the
Board of Aldemien, and 100 residents
I
of Black Mountain.
"When Reagan :md Gorbachev
were holding their fin.1 summit meeting
in Geneva in 1985, we fell that we were
recapitul:uing :tt the grassroots wha1
was happening there at the national
level," said Miriwn Willey.
More than 50 Black Mountain
residents began the work of exchange
by preparing a packet contajni_ng
photographs and a 22-pagc descnpuon
of their town, leuer.; from high school
slUdents, and a copy of the local
newspaper to send 10 their Russian
sister city.
Throughout 1985-86 the Black
Mountain group held educational
lectures on the life and culture of the
Soviet Union, sponsored a film festival
of Soviet films. and celebrated the
1,000th anniversary of the Russi.an
l'ltcto, top: Am~ricuflJ (left It&gt; flghl) l'otly Cod.v, D1t111t! and Claudell(!
Orthodox Church with a community
Iii/I :.hare u ml!JJJ witli R11.u1(1fl/nr.r.d.r 1n Kra.1na)'a fo/yana
worship service. In 1986 a group of 16
Above W/llu Wt:olh(tford, prts1dtnt of thl' Blad:. /lfoun1a111 l'umng
l'rojcct, (/ef/J muu Chairman \'altlllm Klllii of Kru.~naya 1'11/yana.

were also made to co-sponsor a sisrer cities
friendship calendar, featuring photographs of
Black Mountain and Karasnay:i Polyana and
notations of both Soviet and American holidays.
A 1989 Sister Town Calendar was produced,
and I, 150 copies were sold in this country. The
$3, 150 raised will be used to sponsor future
exchange delegations. A 1990 calendar is
planned, to be produced by the people of
Kmsnayu Polyana in the USSR.
ln September of 1988 n delegauon of
visitors from Black \fountain visited Kmsnaya
Polyana for 1hree days. This was the first time
foreigners had been allowed 10 siay overnight in
the town, as there arc no lntourist hotels there.
Instead they shan:d facilities used for
vacationing military people and found
thcm.o;elvcs around a night bonfire with members
of I.he Soviet Defense Department and their
families.
There are plans for more el(ch:ingc
delegations between Black Mouniain and
Krusnayil Poly:ina. Yuri Filonov, a te.1cher of
Englhh and German. will teach at Warren
Wilson College in rhe neighboring town of
Swannanoa this summ..:r. More lcctun:s
and educational progr.ims have been
held 111 the Black Mountain Libr:iry.
High SC'hool and middle school :.tudc;n~
in Black Mountain are now
&lt;."Om:sponding "'ith their counterparu in
Krasnay:i
Polyana, building
relationships that will extend into I.he
nel(t generation.
Ag:tin, Mmam Willc:y spe.1h for
the J&gt;t!Oplt: of Black Mounlllin: ~we feel
we have overcome the enemy image.
We no"' have a totally different
conception of the Russian pe~1ple 1h:1n
we did before we Marted the project.
We didn't reali7.e "'c'd have so much
fun, and we couldn't h3ve received a
bener reception from I.hem
"The Pairing Project 1s our
statement th:11 we Jive in :in
inu:rdependcnt world, :ind \\C can't
have enemies in a nuclear age. There's
100 much at si.:1kc.
"lt's slow, bur n's very
exciting, because it's working."

~

Da&gt;1dWIW'tla

Summer, 1989

�•

•

''lalua."

"H1nm?"
"Do you know why I brought ;yo1t lzere?"
"Mm-ll!Ylm. Same reason as alwa. s: you have some big, bad
y
1iews to 1ell me."
"Yeah ... Well, db )'OU know what it is, then?"
"I think so. You've been drq/1ed. haven't you?"
"... How'd you know?"
"Easy. Logic. We J1ave11't liad a fight, a11d you've not met
any girls •.J dbri't tlti11k-·so it couldn'1 have been w say that you
want to break up. Your family never figlus, so it couldn't be
domestic problems. And you just got your job, so I didn't really
t/1ink you could have lost it already Anyway, you're nineteen, and
there's a war. \Vluu else could there be?"
"I see. All riglr1. Madan/I! Fortune-Teller, so whm had I
planned to say next, if you're so smart?"
"Mmmm .. I don't know. What?"
"Just this. Laura: I'm going. I'm really going. Arid, l.Altra
... I want you to know. . it's/or you that I'm going. J'd hare
myself ifI didn't go, if I backed out, if I leJ (/()w11 my f&lt;Jmily and
my courury--..as I very easily could, you know. J'm scared of
dying. Bur because ofyou, I ca11't risk hating myself. God!
I.Aura, I'm going to war!''

•

*

sining ml)bile in rhe quiet night hush, rich leaves rustling ow
beyo11d our embrace to caJch the wind-1his is love
a liglu glows from 1/ie parlor. so/1 frosted glass with the
vague shadow ofa pail11ed rose mu1ed 011 tlie lilce curtain
no one sees
kiss me quickly
this is love
the lwing chains have ceased squeaking.
a faraway distant train swells ils terrible /Ul111U)ny--tlie
sadness of le(IVing brings us yet closer w each other, an excuse,
like 1he non-existent chill ofperfiuned sow/tern June 11igh1
to draw a tender breaJh
as one···
a11d we'll do a.u:tthingfor each oilier?

•

f shl)u/d have see11 tlte missiles. the bombs. the um:rdesola1e
co11/1tSion when i looked into those eyes ofyours.
bw i only saw the stars.

•

•

•

(Jrruneas11rable)

--Do you care?

(Doi)

--Can you see?

(Wiry (/() I brood)

·-Anytlli11g wonhwlule?

(About the world's injZLrtices)

Child Why Q1'eslion
Healthy Respect Fot: Metaphysics, Papa
Bui Do You Love Me?
Son Were/ In A BcUll)•sphere Wi1/i Bebe

•

Circu.Jaring
In The Vomit Of Armageddon
Yes
/Do

•

*

i was watching my feet, wa1clii11g the light pass over them an
su11day: the leaves like cookie-cutters split a11d nfracted the light
illlo animal images on the sidewalk aJid on my shoes.

the day was calm, perfectly.
to fall u1 love.

i /liNer imended
i should have seen

tlie ripples in tire s1uuigli1-

bur 110 alas (a lass!) i,
afool, glancing up from 1n)•feet,
tripped
over yow sJw(/()w into the glorious pools of
your eyes,
wo swift to hear your liglu "helloH
or t'Ven to liear my ow11 splash.
i came gasping to the surf as soon as
ace
l could--dripping, rivuletS coursing dbwn my back-bw yow smile sunned me automatically
dry.

•

•

•

•

•• •.• yes. but are you cluvalroLtS? Do you not recognize
your duty to your Lord God and ro llis ~oyal Jligh11£Ss your
appointed Mas1err
"Yes, yes. yes; pleose stop it, Chloe, I want to sleep. dear"
A pause. "Gaah--wai11, do yo11 /01·e mt!? I don 'r think su.
realfr. Gawain, tllere ts a war ou1side our "indow. A war.
Ga\\YJin, t/,.) yo111Uldcrsta11d what I say? Ga11ai11. Please, Gawain,
go fight Jn U! You're fW1 gelling too old, are you. dl:ar heanr
"Chloe. Chloe. Chloe, Cltloe, do I lia~e to suffer to make
you huppy? Jlave you no faith 111 me? Ridiculous woman-gojeed
your peacocks!"

•

--How much?

Wlsen 1 look irr your eyes, i seem)' own reflection.

•

•

•

*

•

•

oops. the shell ofthe earth, it's a li11le cracked, spi1mi11g,
flingi11g hurtling, off-bala11ce-.,get the/at kid off
our ml!fT)"go
·ro1u1d
A1id ill Chicago, at 2:00,
the s1111 setS i11 six mimttes and ti~ buildillgs break aftto
reveal a sub1trb neighborhood benvixt gre1mspring hills
Time lriccough.s
-my black-eyed susan, you are. my sun, my soul. m.y self-··
(tire plw1ie rings.)
111/ien i look into your eyes
(the phone rings.)
when i look--". . a singing telegram/mm a mr. martin 1111/ier kiflg,jr.
will .\'Oil acceprtlte cluuges?" wiry- "we shall 01/er come, we
shaDover
come, we shall over come .•• ~
four niliety-five p/1~ tax.
i love you. susan!
romeo and juliet lli!Ver intended JhiI..
i had a dream once, too, in teclmicolor.
The transient w1frerst•
swells and re1·olves. Stars wing by, rlie Rock of 118tS
and splrere 11msic •.•
hear ii."~ sliall! overcome.

•

•

•

UNICEF is selling cl:ancc:s r/us Christmas 011 o clwi,i:: one
peace or a milliM pieas. A wlwppcr ofan honor. Bl4t ir's lb(&gt;
bad. Thi") 're Mt making any mu11ey offit .•
aml the W1t1e11burghers a1 I! making a mint peddlfng pardnns,

�•

•

*

they are fighting for love.

*

well, my first dJlly is as citize11 of the universe. but what I
wanr to k11ow is, why i'm me and not you ... have i got a special
mission or something? it's weird to think that i'm alt there is. what
if i'm11tst imagi11iflg the whole thi11g? rw. i dbn't really believe
lhaI.. bm, you know, i could think: "i'm the whole u11iverse.'' and
chen, i'd be a citizen of myself.

•

•

it's because he's a truck driver. momma. you know that.
the only tiling i11 che world that could part /Um from that
eighteen-wheeled swee'/iean of his is Iris draft card. if uncle sam
yells for him. he's there, one mad rush to the from line where he
.na11ds,for all the world like a devoted sclwolkid saying 1/ie pledge:
perjealy composed/ace, heels together, hand to forehead in salute.
i ca11 just see Jtim. but if i_calt him. 111&gt;w, if it's ll.llt that's yelf/11g
for him to come save one of his own babies from drowning in t/11!
plastic swimming pool, he says, "you get him out casey, i'm
working 011 the tra11smission." the transmission! my God!
momma, iin tl()t really bitter oranythi11g; i'm 1w1 lotally jealous
of1ha1 gas-guzzling baby ofhis; ; jus1 /01·e him, tnQnuna •••

•

•

•

•

They really love me. They 0011'1 wa11t me to die. U11cle Sam
j11S1 don't carry no weight with me. I c011'11uulersrand why tltis
di.s1an1 relatio11, unknow11 kin, who I never seen before, should all
a s1"1de1t turn up, just when he needs me, and ask me to up and die
for him. When I got family andfrle11ds who loves me more1n him,
who cares about bein' gold-placed in God-thick glory? Thb Uncle
Sam ofmine is askin' 100 nwch. Besides, I love my cou.mry. She
don't need any more murder on her record than she's already got.

•

•

•

~mommv!"

"ah,j11si a minwe. gail.--wlzat jimmy?"
"mommy •

·)-est'

"mommy, wlw ls Godr
"God is love, jimmy. don't pull on monuny's skirt-·!
mommy's on the telepho11e: let's not talk to mommy now, okay,
jinuny? we ca11 talk about this later.-excuse me gait go ahead."
"mommy, where is God?"
"i11 htave11,ji1runy. now go play ouwde 011 your big wheel
for a while."
"mommy; how come God does11't come to the world a11d
give people hugs sometimes, mommy?"
"oh, gall! your kidding me. no! i k11ow you can't just suy
that in a resraura11t.---i don't k11ow,1inu11y. jimmy! look at
mommy wizen she's talking ro you now, i asked )'OU to go
nwside, didn't i, young man?"

•

•

•

God is Love, love is God, God is love •. .

•

•

•

the h11ge11ess of the earth
smothers them
they are caug/11
ben11ee11 the growul
and the infini1e ozone-bl~
b1a their love is deep and great mul hean-crescenooing.
they are
fighting and loving blindly, passionately
(ca11 you see it?)
look imo their love-shot eyes.
just look

•

*

•

wlllll js tlie worrh of this love? they dje like

•

•

•
mes

•

•

romeo and ju/fez never imended JhiI,

i should have
k11ow11 when i went to ba11le for you, dear,
i should ltave k11own,

•

•

*

standing 11p in too-shon sluule
eyes sweatiflg salt--the sky
U&gt;O blazing clean w cry

•

Yet oo they k1ww
how whar when where why they go?

screaming, Jitavillg blood to

rouge the barre11 dust,

•

•

so.
shall i die for you, the11?
shall i die for you?
and kill a thousand
because i love and serve one?
one God, one Belief, one Way, one Cou111ry, one
Mother, 011e Child, one Man. one Woman,
One anw11g miflio11s?
given time. i could team ro love them all.

•

•

•

i should have known, swinuning up from 1Jwse pools that
how easily I could h/1\le drowned there. had you

are your eyes,

asked me 10 pick up

a sword.
a dagger,
a bayonet,
a machine guri,
a bomb
a11d prove my love co you·-·
well. i should liave k11own,
as you knew. didn't you,
a/Id wisely showed me
that somebody's blood could prove nobody's devotion
and thlll w lo\·e t)fll!
is to love all.
is11't that what you mea111?
looking into your eyes.
i see tlU! reflection of the universe,
don't i?
oon't i?

*

•

•

one more time/or the time, J;e steps inside the frame,
Md out again.
and looks back ar d~ impressio11 he has left-·
see tire image ofa yowig soldier
, young sol·
, young

my mother lived i11 hiroslrirM.

•

• )'Oil·

•

•

rlu.• men, the lleros. the womcm. die cowards, thtt cowbays,
tiil' soldiers, a11d the priesL\, the rabbis, a11d the martyrs, the
be11ei;oh111 dictarors, till! politicians, and sumebody'l dog
and the childro1!

Photo by Rob Mc5Sltk

�Reflections On

Growing Peace in Cultures

by Mamie Muller

The universe irself can be turbulent,
tumultuous...so whatever peace is, it needs 10
acknowledge that dimension of re:ility. Binh
and death and dying...:md composting..and
change exist in the universe...so that, too. needs
t0 be included in an imaging of peace. Female
and male exist in cite uaiverse...other spt'cics
exisr...the eanh itSelf wanants our anention...so
peace, if it is possible. needs co acknowledge
and honor all those relations.
And dreams ...cx.ist in this universe ...and
memory...and our interior psychcs ....nnd
love...aml absence of love....Can peace
ace-0mmodate the ranges of all th:it? When I
stretch r.he boundaries of my mind and hean and
each time- say "that, 100"...somehow peace stnys
with me, and so I wonder as to ir.s nature and
origin.

As l d.:lve into my concep1/h1ngu:ige
reservoir, the closest thing tlr.n l can say peace
is---is "to be intcgro.1 with". Being integral with
someone, something, some element... means
that in some way I participate in a .rlwred
existence witl1 I.hem and appreciation of that
shared existence contains in it, for me, I.he
possibility of shared pence.
For peace, though, to be more than just a
personal experience or an event between two
entities, ii is essential 10 look to 1hc scale of the
sodoc11lmral. h is here that our human stories
unfold. Culture, 1 r.hink, is best thought of in its
most hteral. biological scn~--as a medium in
winch to grow something. such :lS bacteria. It
seems that th&lt;: tendency towards culture is
i11here111 in our very make-up. I !ere we are...a
spccies...h:wing grown in communily-fonns for
hundreds of thousands of year.. That occurencc:
was preceded by an even more ancient fom1ing
or single-celled organisms imo mulu-cellcd
ones. We seem to be truly crcnturcs of culture.
Thomas Berry talks nbout trc111sge11etic
mlwral coding, The passing on of "deep
mformation" is an essential aspect of the
function of any culture. Divcr.&gt;ity among
cultures can Ix: ~tounding---language, foods,
color.;, designs. sounds, songs. in~trumc:ms,
dances. ceremony, ::m:hitecture--but the:
fl'arufcrc11ci: of i11fomw1icm---is a comrm)n tr3it

Does, as Thom;1s suggesl'i, our cultural coding
pasi. on infonn:11ion ...i11 as clt:111c111al a 11ay a.r
c/1ro11u15omes do?
Doe~ our consciousness have no active
part to play in the process of evolution?'! Cm
we in fac1 nunun: or crarl imentional cultures
that cnfumcc our panicip:nion in the planct:iry
prt&gt;Cess? Thomas speaks or the universe as
having a psychic dimension...from ib very
inception. Not an ntlditivc nor an extra
ingredient, it is rather. he insi~ts. an elcmcmal
facet of our phy:.i..:al universe. So lei us say th:u
the universe, from the beginning, ha:. been
psychic 10 itself--through itself. Then, the
question becomes: can hununs pltticipatc in this
elemental dimension? Can human culture:;
consciously allow for the recognition,
utilization, and celebration of this full rcnlity?'!

It is at this level that we begin im1uiring
about thC' possibil11ies of peace. The univer:;e
constJnt!y infonns itself. Can we luunm~t be
1nfo1111Cd? h :.cem) that one of the roles of an
organic functional culture is to enhance 1hc
indi\ id11als' ability t~) he.-u· rhc "infonn.11ion" of
the univc.rse.

Our relations amongst ourselves nre
intimately interwoven in U1c fabric of the
universe. Unless we explore and 11ckno~ledgc
!he univcri-e in a// the dimensions in which 11 is
preseming itself to us, we remain isolated and
enelol&gt;ed.. .in~'ap~blc of the exuberance required
for ongoing "re!Juonship"...of any son,
whether human-co-human or human-to-earth.

Western culture's dcufness and myopia
tO\\,ird~ thi:. "inlorm;uion" scern 10 h.we
occum:J b&lt;!cause of it:. limited recognition of the
depth of 1he naturul world*.dcscribing 11 as
nll!re landscape and inanimate treasure uove.
The pos:.ibilily for communicauon... much less
for communion has thus become practically
impos:.ible. Yet ironically 1t is here whc~ a great
deal of cultural healing mus1 take placc....1n the
re:i..lm of hum:1n-eunh relations. Our p:;yches
need t0 reconnect in a one-to-one
correspondence with these deep psychic
inl1uences of the universe and renew a sense of
bondedness with the n:uuml world.

The infomu1tlon or the universe reveals

ltself 111 many \\ ay~ ... but ont of the sirnple)t,

closest ways 1s to listen to one's homcplac.e--to
1hc c:nurc ecological life community in whi~h
onc·s human community b immersed. "Bcmg
integrJl with .. suggests 1hc need to pcrcdve a
sense of the natural scale 01 things so that we
can more appr&lt;1priatcly and fully be able "to be
integrJI w11h" all the varied levels.
In 1enns or ecological sc.1lc, it seems that
human culture can bci.t relate to the natur.tl
world ar. the lc\'el of the regional scale. Going
beyond the neighborhood or covc.. beyon&lt;l the
li:&gt;cal ...one comes to the n:gionnl. It is here: lhnt
Summ1:r, 1989

�one can notice whole ecosystems at v.ork (or :11
play). Watershed, geolo~ic:il form:mon,
similarity in plant nnd unirnal spccles...all these
11.rC best comprehended nt the rcglon:tl
level...\\ hich h3s us distincl though "soft"
n:itur:tl boundaries. A region is wulknble,
know:ible -.nnd in crnfting hulll:l11S)Stems10
interface \\ith the ecological systems, this as the
sc:ile nt \\ hich 11 ts ntikcs the most sense 10 ..be
integr:ll v. ith".
Encouraging nccurntc, full pcrccpuon of
reality is cntical in developing cuhural model111g
~ystems that will funcuon ru.lcqu:ucly. 11lc m:irk
of a :.tiflmg culture, 11 seems, is one in whicl1 the
range of sh:ued perceptions of reality remains
quite restricted; one in which, for exnmplc, the
many ranges of red arc referred to only as "red",
thus ignoring the myriad hues of thlll family of
color. A restrictive culture relegates drcamtime
to the realm of the subordinate and gmnts
nonexistence to ull bUl n mengcr spectrum of
sounds and senses. An nlivc. functioning
organic culture. on the other hand, nurtures
individuals' facuhies of perception and
encourages their scn~c of rootedness in a shared
realiry--both in terms of the human :ind natural
\\Odd.

EncoUt3ging the development of :iccurate
feedback mcch:inisms within I.he infrastruclurc
of a culture is also essential. lf a culture does not
3llow for appropriate fcedb3ck, then 11 W:k of
internal vibrancy occurs...promoting
fossilization of thought P,:tttcms. activi1y, and
environs. Spedfie nurufestations of culture
such as archuecture, roodbuilding, commerce,
food producuon, communications, b:lnking.
govern~ e1c. become highly rigid and unduly
reinforce the status quo.
How can a culture allow for a sense of
fluidity as well as solidi1y? llow C3l1 we come
iogether in community-forms without
domesticating ourselvei; to death .•.ns \\ell ns the
planet? How c;in we, not just individually but in
a socio-cultural sense, a~·knowledge the whole,
rich, diverse range of the dep1hs of the naturJI
world as well :is the human psyche? It seems
the more in 1ouch we arc with our sense of
bondedness to 1he wider Lifo conununity. the
more access we have to resolving thc:.e
questions.
Exchange between humans onJ the

nalural world t.ak~ pince nt evcrv level whether

we acknowledge it or not. Our fuc:uhing in 1111d
our breathing out ••. our intake of food nnd our
rele:isc of wnstcs as \\ell ~ mnny other
fimctions clc:irly icll us 1h:l1 we live In the pl:mct
not on it and we arc a part ofthe dynnrruc
process nOl apan from it. I low c:in we nurture
the growth of cultures \\hose infrasuucturc
designs acknowledge this in1mute ongoing
exchange?
Cultures usu:illy reflect 11 com:munny's
sense of its human hentnge but u is esscnu:d thni
they rcllcc1 a sense ofthctr ecological hcniage :is
well. 11115 mtim: ey of hum:in CXISlCllCC Wlth lhc
n:itUr.J.I world needs 10 be recognized not JUSt on
the biolog1cal, chemical level bu1 on the
psychic/l&gt;pirltunl level us well Our very sense
of personal nnd cultural idemi1y needs to
incorpom1e 1he ccolog1cal l111ncnsion. Only
\\hen we begin to undcr&amp;iand and l'ncour.igc
these "conditions" fur pcncc...cun we come
closer to growin~ pe11cl! 111 c11lturcs...
Summer, 1969

Some concepts to consider for growing peace in cultures...
res~ct for dhe~ty ~UllC:llOO of SJ!CCICS llS w..11
a:s e.uemun:uJOa of ethiue peoples has become :i StVCtC
thrc:u throughout lhc pl;inct. ID add1uon to etbic:al
constderau~. bomoccnuy and d1m1msh~nt ol
m:uufcsuuaos o( hfe llIC 21so blologlc:ally un,.1se. 1be
lolth lllld ~bihty of rmy sy m wh.:tha hum;in Of
ccologd. rest m a gcnumc rcsp:c1 lllld cclclKatmn or
bhluc as u.ell cultural diverS1ty

beyond dominanrr Mmy culturtS lll\e become
c:nucn:bcd m:i • domiruon °'er" JWod J:m 11.' u C'.'ld.."ll:cd
m term, of gender, rllCC. ctlum: hcn1Jgc, species lllld/Of
cge. This dom1n1on pi)Sturc c::iuscs ph)'MC:&amp;I,
psychologlc:ll, sp1.ntu~1. cc-011omic: lllld cnvaronmcntnl
~ufflX':lllOO, A mocc babncc:ll. cqu1ubli: dyn:umC' mo.tel a
n:qu1n:J 1n which mu1uality is 1hc b:is1~ r~1hcr than fol\'e
Of co.:rccmcnL

tuvp,rntion No longer does rul\lieJ 111d1v1du:ihsm or
Da.rw11w111 compc11t1on pro-.Jc tm ulllm:UC mo.let fOI'

suN1val. Cooper:.11on 1111d symbio11~ nrc now being
recognized as csttr4i:il nspccts or our biologknl hcntasc.
Coopc:3lion. CQ-C1.1si.cncc. and conlUcMcsoluuon need w
be 01 the bc3r1 or :a "'br.uu culture. Vclucs iUCh u
cmp:ithy and imporuncc ol ie:im"ork !so need w be

rccbimcd.
11ppropri:ue 'cale Dimensions or sale occur
l!uougbout lbe Jl:l1.Ur.ll 11.-orld Crom die microscopic to die
lllXtOSIX&gt;pic. Sak ~ :also 1111pon;u11 in terms ol hummJ
11ttavity. In f:ict. ii is an csscnlbl dcmcnt tn dcsl,nmg

for qu:il1l)' ol we-.11;hc1bc.r an tmns or technology.
c:cooomks, archi1cc1urc Of 1111y odlct l1lU Emplmlzing
appropri.ale sc::ilc CDCOU1'3btl the shlfl rrom D bi&amp;flly
c:crunhzcd and bicrnrcluail mode IO one lh3.t IUPJIOIU
clivcrsificntioo mid dccenlr.l.liution It also nud,cs us to
rc-cv:Wi:uc the b:lsic :ugumcms ol ccntr.1h1.:111on such o~
ns110113l sccuri1y, cconom1e &amp;t:ibahty tluoush
coloni:llism, homogcncny anJ eullur:il supcr10111y. We
begin to recognize the l!eW to oplorc hum:in 'c:ilc,
\•illage·JJ:llk 1llld rcgion·sc:ile modcls.
ao••crnancc All mhnb11:rn1~ &lt;&gt;f M
communny h:ive nghL~ 11m.J nrc cnu1lc&lt;l 1&lt;1 panlc1p:11c 1n

appropriule

dccision·making lh31 concerns their \HI! lleint
Governance. in particular, is directly uffctlCJ by sct1lc.
We arc n:llcctcd by nruJ reflect our $WTOumhntt. II lhc
boundario:.s 11re defined 1n IOO large 11 l!Qlc, 1hcn It Is
d1ffirult for 1nh:lbi1.'.lll1S to ~nsc: thr.mselvo n.s a p:ut of
and p:uucip:uang an 11 self.governing process
lktcrnlm~ ~ scale: the level 111 v. h1ch dce1S10nS
shooW be rn:Uk (commumty-lmcd. rcgton:ll), and the
type ol pnxcss to be ~ {m:ipuy rule. conSCISLIS. etc:..)
11rc all pan of a culture's re trcttunng towtirds
sclf-go~

=

opportunlly for rlgbr lhelaaood All uihab UlnU
entitled to the oppanumty for i«Unng food, $hella.
jCqXl1diung thclt owa 11;'Cll being.
clothing. et:.

"''llioul

ol thl:ir fellow mhab1lllllH Or that or l~
en• arorunem. Ernplmis oa co:nmun11y ~ cconomu::s
c:m c:tlCQ&lt;lilll!C this kind ol rcspocmblc dcsJin and
~lsion-nul:u...- Dc\'CloplRgllll CCOllOm) \tr4 I
gJIJUS
1u dependence on the "anh cc&lt;momy" allows fur
pcn:cptlOll or rc:al cOStS. 11Us llllJUSU llJC l&lt;b of progrc.u
and dc•clcprmnl to encompass •be 11;cll being nr lhc
CIUICC Life rommunuy.
lhlll

1uillllnability The ccologial life 5)5tcms vmhill a
region lltC p31t of lh: 11.-t:ict sclf·susuitihlg pbncWy
system It as auc1Jl th:u ow hum:m sysums begm to
rcf1a:t and support tbiJ sitstmmb•luy principle. \\c need
to develop "'11)'S to ev;iluatc our hum3tl ICliVIUCS
(qnculturc, forestry. ~th eve. tr.111q&gt;0rl:lt1on.
banhng. u.'21Cf use.. Clelgy use. cu:) an lh3t ~ We. In
la=t. need to k:lm how 10 "rcillh:lbil" the boal!&gt;CCgiOn m
wludl we h\C, to accumcly lllldusund JtS ccol0£ical
c:irr) 111g apxuy. and to design l01ro"lltds rcgion:il

suffi 11.!llCy.
inlrrdcpt"ndrncc Acknowledgement ot 1ntcrdcpcndcnt'C
entoulllges the bioccntnc dc5ign of hum:m sysians. nus
1ccoJ:nh1on nl~o allows for a creative :iwro:ich 10
n.:s1hcuc nnd £unc1101JJI uspccis a.&gt; wcll. i;uch ns opumurn
cap~c11y for rc.~ancc and cnh:lncc:mcn101 st1troundinv,
mcorporauon oC 11. md, w.:itcr, .sunlight 1n de~tgn:
CORS11.kn.H10R of gcogtaphfcal/Sp;IU:ll rtxcmcnt: Dlld
llcs1gning with illtcr.spccics communion In mmd.
lmpOrllnCf

uf

rccdbotklre~poos" circuits A
10 receive infonnauon lllld

cullure needs 10 be :ible

respond to 11_.through reflccuon, cvllluauoa. 11nd
pou:ruill! lld;ipt3U00 or ch:mgc. CIC. Prcscnlly. u o~s
lh:ll COlllempallt)' cultures do not 113\'C lldcqu:i:e response
CtrCUllS bw1t m. Far ~. cuhur:ll dqlcndencc Oil the
DUtomOblle JCSUllS in anordinalc consmnptJoo or bumm
ll me and fossil Cuc.I. Yet. bccmlsc of 1111 cntrtllChtd
u:insporution industry th:u is rcinforctd by p"Cl'lllncn1
m 11;'Cfl 11S pnvau: indastry. crcah-e options ror eulwnl

rcconstclbuon arc

not lldcqu:ucly supponed...sucb 11J

cL'Slgnlng urban vilbges wt= u.ukpbce ll1ld bolncpbcc
tile nc:ucr to cXh other, prodllciog cnvironmcnta:lly
Slb12lll;lble \'Cllicles. etc.

meaM ror transrcrcoc" or illfonaatlon All culwrts
have ways for the passing oa ol infonn:uion and wisdom
rrom gtOC1111J011 IO gcnc:rauon. The xcumulatcd opericncc
or o eullUIC am be siurcd Uirough suirytelling. an,
llC'lldemics, child-rearing, education, ~. It is impllfWll 11&gt;
OJ1Jll'C:Cl3LC and parUclp:iLC in the craf'ung of this orpnlc
ronn Of "i.torl1l:C lilld rctncval".
:!»lCrtdntY or ur~ The Dddrcss or 1he tbu De No Snu
Nee N:111on 111 the UN Conference of Non-g1wcllllllCnul
Orgunlrntions m Geneva 111 1977 voices ttus concept
n~ eloquently: '"The origmal 1nstJUaaon1 dilCCt lh3l \\C
.i.ho ,.1111: 11bou1 on the E:ulh arc IO apn:.ss a grC3t

respect. rm nfk.cuon. ll!ld a grauiudc toward all lhc spmts
v.1rich Crute 11114 support life-Our roocs 11n: d«p Ill I.he
btidJ 11;'hae 'll'C hYC.-The soil 1s rich from Che bono of
thousmJs ot our gcncn1lQnS. E:i::h or 11S 'll'CfC crated 111
1hoic l:uu1s and ii u our dU1y to u1.c grm c.c ol
them We wtik nbou1 11.ilb a pCl1l respect. for the f.:rth
Is 1 '":tY SXtCd plxe." Eadl cuhurc can help 1his srnsc
ol the~ of W'c 11ourisb bolh Oii lhc ~ _,
,.'Cll as euliunl level.
crlrbrali!ltl Dnd renectioD Culnuc Hau lijJCCttS'
medium
sh.lrcd ~ ~wen llS shmd actlcr:lncc.
I
tlOCll. n:ltural cckbr.1lioD as v.-cll as c:ultwal mod:s
of rdlcaion cnh:m:c our cupxtl)'
commU!UOll v.1111
the rcsa of the unhcrse-aot jtlS1 on lhc pcrsoo;il ~I
bul on t.'ic mnmumty-widc level. Comcaous rct ruuon
n::d llrprccllllion of llll1113t!/caltur:ll as \llCll lll coolotial
hc11mgc."both "3SarW and h1Uor~I .JS II rorm Of
ckmentnl nourishment Ulllt c:m only come m 1 Slwcd

ror

ror

form.

-Mamie Muller

�The Chalice and the Blade
Tht wor.t of Muri1a GimbUJas (The Gods and Goddtssts of
Old Europt, 1000 to 3500 BC: Myths, Ltgtnds and Cult

/mag1t), Mt:rlin Stone (AnciMI Mirrors of 1Yomanh11od) and others
haw! pionurtd tk uplora1ion ofour species' trut: cultural origw. Now with
tk publicalion of The Clullce anti lhe Blntlc ( 1988), t~ tvitk11ct of this
research along with Eisfcr's f4peful inttrprttmions Is[Ultllly r'ttzeliing brQOder
rtaduship such that Ashley Montagu calls it "the IMSt impottant book sinct
Darwin's Origin of Specit.r". llrre are two rtsf)OllSts to its t:iJllltlll.

Emoft.e B'r&lt;lCZ:
Tlte Chalice a11d rite Blade confirms my long-held belief
that ''once-upon-a-time" there were peaceful societies
(partnerships) in existence on this planet. This gives me hope that
we can muddle our way into a personal and global peaceful
coexistence. After two readings of the book, the following
points su&gt;0d out:
•Tue scientific and 1eehnologicnl advanccmcn[S of this century
have allowed us IO ~amine nnd re.evalU11te e.arlia a.rchcotogical
findings. The initrdisciplin:uy upprooch or t.ntcrprctlng "finds". lhe

bte:ikthlO\lgh in es.rbon-14 d:ltlng, and \he dendrochronological
dating method yield a diffetCtJl body or work and data on out
histOry.
••conqu~1· of noturc h:is no1 always been the prime mover of
Out species.
• PoJytheislic religious life does not equal anti-christinn ccvility.
•Art is a form of symbolu; communkmlon, and much depend.~
on who is interpreting the symbols.
•The "might mllkes right" philosaphy is 1111 abbenu.ion. ..not the

nonn.
• tntultivc knowledge ls a part or the sciences.
• "That's hisiory..•
1nd lluu's a fac1· is nn unncccpiable answer to
quesliOllS asked.

"The domuwor (JX!triltehal) mode or socw order is 111opproprinle
nnd dangerous tO our further e11olvcmcnL. edSICOcc and fulW'C,

Riane Eisler believes that we are presently al a crossroads.
We can continue as we are...and it is inevilable that we will
destroy ourselves...or we can try to emulate and rebuild the
peaceful societies which did exist. After reading Tile CIUJ/ice and
the Blade. I was convinced that peace is possible. The number
of role models for us to identify with has been widened
immeasurably by this book, There can be a choice for pence and
equality even within the confines of our civiliuition. History
goes in cycles, und unlike what we've learned in school, it is
never a fiJCcd point. It is forever changing, evolving. It is our
responsibility and challenge to investigate, to question, and to
look at presented ''facts" with an unquenchable thirst nnd
unending enthusiasm.
I would like to share with you some of the books. in
addition to The Gita/ice and rite Blade that have made me yearn
for and ponder the idea of peace:
General Readers hi p: Think on These Things by J. Krlshnamurti:
Too of Ltodarslup by J Header; Grt!ui Politics by C. Sprcm:ik; Grun
Alternative by 8. Tab:: Going Out of Our M111ds by S. Johnson: IOOth
Monhy by K. Keyes; Johnny Got lfis (iun by D. Trumbo: Da1:u of
Angtr by H. Lance: Peace Pilgrim by A. Pilgrim: St:t!1fs of Pt:ou II)' J.
L:irson; Gandhi on Ptaet by M. Gn111lh1; Jlov.· Can Ont Sell th( Air.
Edit.:d: Chop Wood. Corry \\'attr by R. F'aclds.

Chi ldren 's Books: W.tlwm Wants A Dolf by C. Zolo1011:
Friend.r by H.Hcmc; Quarter-Note Cow Pou byJ. Poucr. Mrnou by H.
Bmgham: Chu:ktn Stew by K. Kasla: Kuper.I oft~ Earth by M.
Cuduto; Tru II Niu by J. Urdy; lJ-.&lt; B.imb and tht General by U. Eco:
BuJll!T Boule Dool. by Dr. Seuss.
Emou B'rar:. an a'td reada t1nd sr.J10lar. 1s the ot&lt;na

of frf.Jfuprop'.J

Boo*stor~ and Cofi ill AJMvillt. NC. Si:t 011gina1td tlu! suhutft "A11othtT

STt111/I Bus111t.fS for Pcau# tmd uwitl!s otkr smafl b1131nes1: ow11as to 11•1n
kr 1111tS111g iI on clttir logos and ad•·~rflSt'mtlllS.

tt.Uo Clu thr i.e:
The Chali ce and The Blade was given to me by a
woman-friend juSt after this past Winter Solstice, and it has llad a
profound effect on me. Scrangely enough, it had b&lt;:cn shown to
me several months before, but I was not aurncted to it. l think
when I saw it the first time I thought it was another
mytho-psychological analysis of "feminine" versus "masculine"
values. I was in a spa.cc of trying to explore my own sense of a
ne\li masculine ethos and I didn't want to read what I thought
would be a book on women's archetypes or psychological
explorations. I needed a more grounded sense of what 11 means
to be human n.t this time in history.
When I finally opened up the book, and actWllly began to
rc~d it, I couldn't put it down. Instead of being t.he psychological
or mystical volume I expected, I found a remarkable CJCploration
or "our history, our future." as ii says on the cover. Riane Eisler
has taken a look at the entire sweep of human cuhurnJ evolution
from a new perspective. that of t.he pannersbip, or "gylanuc"
viewpoinL Her central thesis is that all the bases of human
culture, arts. and civilizntion were developed at a time in which
women and men were both respected, in which sexuality was
free, and where the technology was of nurturance, not
destruction. This is, in shon, the lost "golden age" of myth and
legend. It really happened! I Our dr~ms of 1he future have their
firm b:isis in a past which has been denied to us because of
:indrocratic m1sinterpre1ation of both human nature and the
archaeologicfil record. For example, we carry with us the image
of early "man" holding a club with which to hit something over
the head and kill it; in actuality the fin;t technological invention
was probably ll vessel of some kind, either for ga1henni
vegel!lble foodstuffs or for cradling children. These were. of
course, invented by early women.
The implication!&gt; of tJ1is viewpoint are ~taggcnng: this book
is justly receiving gre:u acclaim from a wide range of ~ources.
The concept of n lost · m:m1archal golden age" is central to 1he
more spiritual trends in feminist thought, and i!&gt; a heartfelt belief
Summ..:r, 1989

�or wish of modem 01anic neo-p:igans. In fact, Feminist
Spirituality is frequently criticized by more materUlist viewpoints
for not being grounded in an historical rcal11y. Tltt! Chaliu ar.d
tht! B~adt! J?UlS t~e lie to these doubt~ about the vnlidity or
Feminist Spintu:ihty by scrupulously an:ilyzing the historic:ll and
an:h:ieolog1cal record to suppon its premise
A lot of emphasis is placed 1n the book on the imponance
or Cretan or Minoan Civilization to the development or Western
culture, This highly technologically advanced civilization, which
":is at its height about a thousand years before Class1c:ll Greece
(ca. 1400 B.C.E.), honored both women and men equally. was
nol3bly non-warlike. and "orsh1pped the Great Goddess. Who
has not marvelled at pictures of the bull·leapers, the
Snake·Goddess statues, or the dclic:ue painung or lilies and
dolphins which adorned the walls of the grc:it J13lace at Knossos'?
And let\ not forget the Labrys. or double-axe which is today a
prominent iron of Lesbian/Amazon cuhure. 'fbe origin of this
symbol b m the Goddess· religion of Crete,
The Clzaltee and tlit! Blade ts an inell.pcnsive volume,
published by Harper nnd Row. It h llVilllable in your local,
regular bookstore (if it's not sold out), or m the library. Since
it's inexpensive, it doesn't have glossy color photos of the
Minoan art treasures mentioned in the text. I found it useful to
have a couple of an or nn.:hacological books by my ~idc 10 be able:
to :.1~e lhe wonderful scenes of young Mino:in men with flowers
in 1heir h:mds, of priestesses performing the rites of the Gre~ll
GodJess. My dreams have not been the sanu: since!!
Another imporum1 fe:11urc of I he Chaliu and the Blade is
its e:\plorntion of the ":.tuntcd morality" (&gt;f b1bhcal law in reg:ird
to \\'Omen. Quoung Eisler: ~we have been taught ttul the
Judeo·Christian trndnion is the greatest mornl ndvnnce of our
species. The Bible is indeo.I primarily concerned .,.. ith what is
right and \\tong. But what is right and wrong in a dommator
society is not the same as what 1s right and wrong in a
pannership society. There nre...many teachings in both Judaism
and Christinnity suitable for a panner!&gt;hip sy:.tem of human
relations. But to the extent that 11 reflec1s a dominator society.
biblical morality is at best stunted. At worst, it is a
pseudo-morality in which the will of God is a device for covering
up cruelty and barb.1ri1y."
When I learned ancient hhtory in gmde school. the
assumption was that law and moraJ11y began with the code or
Hammlll1lbi or the Mosaic Laws. ln reality, these dominator law
codes were set up after the overthrow of legal and moral systems
which valued all human life, female and male. and which
governed peaceful, not warlile, wcieties. ln addition, the
classical Greek ideas of libcny and democracy (for free men
only) were but watered·down versions of the earlier tr.1ditions
which had their origins in pre-androcrauc societies such as
Minoan Crete. In fact, Pythngonis and Socrnte~ were pupils of
women Thcmistoclcn and Diotema, respectively.
Much of myth, classical, Biblical, and othcrwi~. rccounis
how the Goddess was ovenhrown, r.ipcd and murdered. These
myths developed as justifications for the continued
dominator/;indrocratic rule following the dcsll\ICtion of the earlier
pea~ful, agricultural societies by wnrhke. pastor.ii peoples from
the more margmal area:; or Eurasia. Riane Easler also recounls
how the partnership or gylanic mode of society has periodically
resurfaced, only to be suppressed again. Some or the teachings
of Jcsu~ reflect a loving vision of peace and hannony; the later
church fathers supplanted this with 3 warlike and hierarchical
"Christianity." 1·hc very word "hierarchy" W3S coined to
describe the organiution or the c:irly church.
The word "gylany" or "gylanic" has been formed by Riane
Eisler to describe the type of society which flourished in ancient
times and toward \\hich v.e must move today if our species is to
survive; it is a combination of "gy." denvcd from the Greek root
word gyne, meaning woman, and "an." from andros, or lll3II.
The letter ·1· between the l\\O is for linkin&amp;. and is derived from
the Greek lytln or Iyo. This verb has a double meaning: to
resolve (as in analysis) or to dissolve or set free (as in cul3.lysis).
This word and its origin sum:. up the m:un thesis of the
book: that how a society organizes the relation~ between the two
hnlves of humaniry (men and women) hn~ a profound effect upon
all its ins1i1utions and vnlues; and the direction of its cultural
evolution, pllrticulnrly whether it will be peaceful or warlike.
tmmer, 1989

Needless to say, in a technological era where the "bl:ide" is a
thennonuclcar bomb or a nerve gas canister instead of a S\\iord or
slingshot, this is a matter of the very survival of our species.
While The Chalice and rite Blade focuses m:iinly on the
w3ys rcl:uions between \\Omen and men are constructed a~ a
gauge of how totalitarian or warhke a society is. there are
abundant references to way:. in which men, particularly
"sensiuve" or "effeminate" men arc oppressed by androcr:lcy. As
we know. and as Eisler points out, these warlike and t0tali1arian
wcietie~ (H111c:r's Germany, Khomeini's lran, etc.) arc the most
opprc:.sive 10 women and to peaceful tendencies in men or 10
:&gt;pintual m1nori1i~ (Jew , B:iha'is. etc.).

• Iow a society organizes the relations
bcl\\CCn the two halves of humanity (men and
women) has a profound effect upon all its
ins1i1u1ions and values, and the direction of its
cultural evolution, particularly whether i1 will
be peaceful or warlike.
ln regard to the issue of maleness and warlike values, nerc
1s Easler· viewpoint: "For 1mllcnia men have fought wars and
lhe 8l:1de has been a male symbol Bul this does not mc:in men
arc inevnably violent Md w:irhkc. Throughout rcconlcd hif.tory
then: have bcc:n peaceful and non-violent men. Moreover,
obviously there were both men and women in !he prehisiorico.1
societies v.herc the po\\ er to give and nunurc, v.hich the Olnlicc
symbolh:C! , was supreme. The underlying problem is not men
o.s a sex. The root of the problem lies 1n a social system in v.hich
the power of the Blade 1s idealized - in \\hich men nnd women
D.1'C taught to equate true lll3sculinity with violence and dominance
and to see men who do not confonn to this ideal as 'too soft' or
'effeminate'."
It IS apparent thllt the vision or I gyJanic SOCU:ty is thal of
crcauvc dynamic interpersonal relations \\rit large: the vision of
gentle loving \\Omen and men living in harmony \l.ith nature 1s
\\hat \\e offer for the reemergence of the future partnership
society which must be the p:ith of humanuy's future. The basis
of any society and culture h the way one person relates to
another. This is true for woman to woman, man to man or
mlln/~oman relationship:.. Now i~ the time for us co carry our
vision forth mto the new world which is being crcrued by all the
human vi:oionarie!&gt; nnd poets who sense the turning of the cosmic
wheel.
The human species is obviously facing a crucial period in
history: either we will full b:ick into a kind of androcratic
tcchnofascism in which women will be slaves. free sexuality will
be suppressed, and the organisms of the planet will choke on
human filth or be incinerated/radiated in a nuclear holocaust; or
v;e will somehow develop :a new culture which values
nunurance, h:is respect for life and hum!lnlly in all its variety :md
sc:icual flowenng, and rinds ways to meet its material needs
without ciitinguishing other species and tenninaJly fouhng it
nest. Khomeini and the Morul Majority understand how
Feminism. civil rights. free SCltunlity. ecology. and peace nrc
linkcJ, and they oppose them all with a vengc.ncc; we who reali7.C
how these values are pan of our vbion and hold the key to our
~urvival must continue co become \\hat we want in the world and
create the myths in our laves which will be the stories for our
people to live by.
The Cho.lice and rlie Blade has given me hope. In this time
of rc-&lt;lcdic1uion to the principles wh1ch l have cherished in my
heart for years. this book has mengthcned my "·ision and
nllowed me co feel pan of a past and a future or joyous. loving,
harmonious women and men, liv1ng in deep commimion \\ith the
Ennh and iis creatures. Wbo could ask for more'?'?
M1hJ Gwlvu: u a co-/oWllkr of 11il ClllnNrl.JNi Grtt11 ColAl!Cil aJlJ a/rt~111
con111bMtor to its publicat1on g1«nhgh1 Prcst111ly. lw spuids hls 111r11 both
in DMrham NC and NOJhv1//t, JN whtft /ormaliz1n1 his 1ra1111ng 111

bctanical stiul1es. This revi~ 1.f rtpr111ttdfrom grccnlighL

�Lhcm: conscrva1.1on: improving and rtp:tirmg Lhe
city/cowuy d4uibution system; and coop:nwng with the
towns oi Woodfin and WcavcrvtlJc 111 developing the Big
Ivy River v.'aler supply.

ALAR • A • LA MODE'

poUutanis. These regubtlons wtll be dlscusscd 8l public
hearillgs on August 4 m Rllle1gh Md Augu.st 9 in
Owlott.c.

Chemical mduStrics were the l:lrgcst &amp;OW'CC of
polluwus. Olhcr lasge cooLObutors we.re furniture,
tcllule. pbsucs and rubber, p1per. nnd prmlln&amp; and

N..unl World Ne•1 ~ace

publishing industries.
C:.,111wba and fors)th counties were the wont

Even as Federal health officials tty to calm
growing concerns about aJar sprayed :apples, Ilic
En · lronmcmlll ProlCCl.ion Agency d«idcd to Ill lcw
t.empomnly remove Abt from 1 h$t or acccpublc
chcmk:al sprays.; During a sub&lt;ommauce hearutg on the
Al:ir-m. Scru!tor John Wamcr of Vqmia Wied Prwdens
Bush, • to cxcrc:asc some cri~iJ control" to PfOLCcl lhc
apple indusuy dependent on Abt spraying. while other
sen310ts suu.ed thcu ()\\.Tl hes11.ancy IO fccJ their children

Haywood C:OWU) wu next, and was the only westertn
county to cxccod 2 million pounds, th3nks mostly to the
Champion Paper mill ""hicb reported rclC4Sing 3.S
million pounds of tolic air pollution, mcludmg 810,000
lbs of the carcinogen chloroform, 660.000 lbs or
hydrochloric acid, ll!ld 66.000 lbs of sulfuric acid whach
conttibut.cs 10 :.cid rain. D:iyco reponcd 1.7 million tons.
Figures for other Western counties ase:
Ru1bctfonl - I IO 2 milljoo lbs.. Primary so~ - Reeves
Brothers, l.S million lbs. and Broylull Furniture
lnd~Lties. Transylv111u.11 • 500,000 to I million lbs.
Primary source - Ecusta divisiron of P.H. Gl3dfcltcr.
Buncombe - S00.000 to I million lbs. Primary sources •
Chnsc Packaging, 270.000 lbs; Chcnuronic~ (Jct
Research Center), 263,000 lb$: Andre11 lndus111es.
110,000 lbs or tcLtacbloroethylcnc, a carcinogen.
Mitchell " S00.000 t0 I million lbs. Primary sourccHcnredon Furniture lnduSl!ies, 600,000 lbs. Burke S00,000 IO I million. Hcndc™&gt;n - 250.000 10

apple products.

CHAINSAW BANDIT
STILL AT LARGE
Nat.uni Wockl Newt Servico

As of lhLS rcporung, Beech Mounuin Town
Police and the Avery County Sherirrs Oc:p:inmcnt still
have no wspccis in tl1c ~11uct1on or lhrc:c b1llboan1s.
TOO signs we.re allegedly toppled by a chain-saw on
Wcdllcsday, r.tiy 17. Appal\:lltly, lllCIC was some public
SUpporl ror thl~ 3Cltion.... l~e pa.id odvcrtise~nt,
llunking Ille Wlkoown pcrpcuntor. appeared an a local
pgpc:t soon a!W. ll tC1Cmr as if 111311)' n:sidenls were llJl1ICl
wilh the "•sual pollution c:cale4 by the b1llboords. and
I.bey wished to COQ&gt;lil'QllC people to frequent only those
rnctCh:inis who do noc use b1llbootd.s. IL is believed th.1t
the absen.:e or 111mcit:m legal tcguWion concarung
billhollnb drove lhlS 1nd1..idual IO tcek ~ oulSidc of
thc law ro lddreiS a c:ammunuy concem.

FORCES OF NATURE
Naunl WOl'ld Ncwa Scnlu

On April 6 we were all rcrn1nalcd or the inoltOtllblc

atnCtion or gravity. This point was espcclllly brought
home 10 three ttookcrs on l_.O near the Tcnnc.ssce SIALC
line v.llo r«ea"ed l'lllhct lur11c bouldct applicauon~ 10 the
side or their llllCtOMrnJIClli u huge rock slabs ri]!pCd o/T
from the su:cp wall of rock Fonunrucly, no one was
h1111. A retaining wall mode a vnln attcmpt to Slop lhc
slide, but was~ crushed. The rock~idc clO!iCd lhe two

westbound lallC$ roe su ~as an cstim111Cd IS,000 to
20,000 cubic yanls or d111 and rock had io be movod;
dyn.wit.e c:hlllgC$ were 5Ct to dislodge uruubk! 11111LCriol;
and steel mc..'h nets were wung on cables between rock
bolts set m the chff r11ec..
Every lime U'\IC.k 11ec1dcn11 hliic 1'11~ h;.ippen. 11
~minds us: 11 c:ouJJ ha•e been nukes!

SEWAGE WITH YOuR SUPPER?
Nall.nl Worll N

Sa&gt;ioc.

In Alhcvalfe. No1tl1 Carohllll •octn dttc.iued by 1
1..m-to-onc m:irgm a bcm1' muc lh;it v.ould ll3•e h:ld
them drinkma 11".c w:iiu of the French Broad Raver.

Supporters of the bond ruuc Cb!llltd WI the French
Bro:id 11o :ii.ct 11 .ufo, but opponcn11 ll01Cd ih:n the rc;tl
l&gt;S:la WllS that n:ssd.:nts "''CfC nol ready ID dnn\; poll~
hvtf"'1lla IO lh:u bus 11CD proplc !Ind dc'-elQpcri coul'1
CXINI\
I profi OP Wllllll cd llfOV. II
U~m from A
vii looau th
pbn , II pos.s
5
fund

hclp

"'"'""--""•ill.~
Thea ... dlC othct ~able
meet ~ 11tc;1 • w11 r n

~tu1~1

Journ"L pC•(I 22.

rTll1I \
\1lltiblc IJ)
Ill lbc fuwrc among

School disuicu from New Yori.: lo Los Angeles
LO Miami ha"e sioppcd serving AIAMaintcd apples in
their cafeteri:ls. Alar h:is fOI' )'C4rS bcc:n linked to aincc.r in
11nillllll LCSLS, but recently when o report by the Nuturul
Resources Defense Council recc1"cd n lot or :itll:mion,
public opinion pushed tbc EPA mto nct1on. The
company which mtlkes Alar cont111ues IO msbt the
product is snfe and has plans to shin their market to
owside the us.

500,000 lbs.

CONSERVATION COUNCIL OF
NORTH CAROLINA PROMOTES
PESTICIDE LEGISLATION
NaNRI World Ne"'• S..lYk:e

Myo11c 1111ereswJ can ob1a111acopyof1hl' rtpc
&gt;rtfor $20
from t~ North Caro/ilia Envirollh:tlllal Dtftnst Fwul

clo StepMn L(llitus: 128 llargtll St . Raleigh. NC
27(J()J.

NEW RIVER SCENIC
DESIGNATION IN JEOPARDY

The Conservation Council or Noni! Carolin:a has
joined forces with Lhe Agrac:ultur3J Ra:soun:es
Cenier/PESTcd to publish I pcsttctdc -ic:nda for 19S9.
Some of the bills they arc promoting in the NC
Legislature are HB-389 ""hach would increase the atri:il
application buffer which 1s cum:ntly only one hundred

Uodu the state-federal pLln of 1976 which
declared 26.S atilcs of the New River a Scenic:

foci (1'11111111 OCC'41•ed bwk11ng, and S8·274 whk.h wuulJ
require all pcs1icidc applicators to J&gt;O$l notice of thcu

Waa.crw11y, Nonh CAtolina wiu to 11cqui1c; i&gt;C&lt;lnn;
e:tsemenis «land along Ille nvcr. Howcvct. since 1976

activities. For furlhcr information conL:lct Nonc:y
Barnhardt, Legisbuve Agent, Pcsllc1dc Project of lhc
COll3ervatJon Council or NC, Ch~pcl Ifill. (919)
942-8991.

"STATE OF THE AIR" REPORT
Natuml Wotld New' Sa-vice
Last year. ror the first time. more than 800 North
Carolina 1ndus111cs were required to file with tho s1111e
rcpons on releases of the 328 cbcnucah mdiC41cd m the
1986 fcdcml "right-«&gt;~know" SWtUIC:;.
The NC Envi.ronmentlll Dclcn~ Fund ( NCEDF),
compiled Lhcsc: reports and found th~t. &lt;tatcwadc.
indusUlcs emutcd nearly 100 ma Ilion pounds of lhclit air
polluunts. 12.7 million or which arc Cllrt1nogcll$.
According lo the NCEDF, these cm1WO&lt;U arc cnurcly
legal, and therein hes a probkm. "Touc au polluuon an
l'onh Carolina is aJrncm tolollly unrc11ul.'l1Cd." according
IO NCEOF dltl!ClOr S~vcn J. U..1ta,, 1andl unlcs§ we
dose the skic.s io polJw.c:l'l, lilt cnu-;.siODJ wdl n:rnui the
e:isiest way for Noctl1 Ouolma 1nduwic:s 10 get rad or
ll:at.:irOOus w.wc."

Nawn! World News Sez\.icc

only 33 acres or scenic cascmenLS have been ~wrcd by
lhc s:wc. In the s:imc umc period the number of priYDte
lwldowncrs on the river h3.s jumped 300%. anJ iowns of
Jcrterson and Wcs1 Jefferson, NC are currently
considering opening a one million gallon per day v.ucr
Lreattncnt plant which would utilize lhc river LO dispose
of IJ'elUOd discharge.
Nllkcd Creclc. a Lribur.:uy of the New River and a
disch!lrge sllc for treated water, "wns named :is n •toxic:
hot spot' an 1111 EPA repon just rele:i.~ by lhc Oivi~ion
or Environmcn1.11I Manngc.mcnt,• according lo Jonct
Hoyle or the Blue Ridge Envaronmcn111I Defense l..caauc
(BREDL). Ms. Hoyle fears that, though the move
unprecedented. Congl'CSS could revolcc lhc design;won ot
S&lt;:cnic Rivet. •sCC3U111 lhe \ollu.:s for which (Lhe nvcrl
wa.~ protected arc not being prcserved,. .. wc fear
WICOntrollcd dcvdopmcru tluc:liens the dcsilJl.ltion".
In resJ!Qnsc to this threat. Rep. Judy Hunt
(0-Walilugl) has mt.roduccd legisl:ation IO speed 11p Ilic
aqumuon of c~scments ami began in ~nest lhc
tmplcmcnwtJun of the scc11.1c nvcr pbn drawn up for die

l,

New )'l:O.ll'S a.go. The measure~ nx:c.-cd house approval,
and a·.. 1uu 11e11on 1n the Senate Envuonmenul
Comnuuce.
In :a pMSibly re.bled m31tct, SCllOl.IC Bill 119!\ lhc
N:nural Hm~ Wll!Ct bill 1nll0dllffil by Scn:uor
MIUC Blilllghl 11ofll 1ncn::isc the e.\CISC Slllmll l:l\ from
Sl.()()/1000.00 tO $2.00 pct $1000 00 Under lhe new
bill, COU lleS would rceei•-c S0.50 of a:h doll:ir of Ul
me.om- SO.ZS WO'Jld go tO 11.':llU nnd .rcwcr do\'dapmcnt
wh ' 11noL'r.:r SO 25 would go io tic: Rec~uon lllld
Nat I He
c Tr Fund to buy !And for g.un.bnJ
f
and
p.uks. 1111 b II
tn rt Cl
lCtl S2.S mubun doll.in per )C 10 l1C
d lor land aqui uum Flori , S .:!h CarollnA

Summer, 1989

�Tennessee :ind Maryland :uc altcody succcsi.fully using
1l11s 1cchn1quc for preserving 1hcir nalurJI an:a.~.

IfNC rtsllitllJS urr 1nltrts1td in wntawng their Stnat(Jrl
rtgarding this bill, the addresJ ts: Lrgtslu11~t Building,
Raf~1gh 2761 I Phone; 733-11 JI Fot r1wri! tnforfniltiOll
call Jim Stt•ens (9191782-2686 or Btll Jlof""m·
(919)7.Sj.J)Zi}
Tt:

TRANSPORTATJON
I MPROVEMENT PLAN?

maHers

PUBLIC SERVANTS
IGNORE PUBLIC
Nirural Wotld Newt Scrvic11

Residcnis or Buncombe County were ou11agcd 10
discover that a suue highwoy improvement., p;ickagc
included a plan for a four lane loop to run through
SwannanO.'.I, lhrough Recms Creek and Ox Creek
Valleys, to lhe Enka-Candler aren. Trnnsporiauon
Secre13ry James Harrington said in a leuer 1.ha1 a loop
around Asheville would be needed IO lmndle the mcrenscd
1n1mc from nn upgraded US 19-23. John Hill.11 resident
of Ox Creek Vlllley. voiced lhcdcepconccm or oVCT 100
people who attended a planning meeting about the issue:
No one asked [u:;J, or 1he people in Mudison County,
wbclhcr we wnnlCd lhcir lives changed forever, or hcuvy
lrucking brough1 in from the Ohio Valley, or 1f we
w.inlCd rapid dcvclQpment as in lhc urblln 31'.cas.•
The public feeling is that sUJtc officials could
~vc trouble and cmbanassmenl if lhcy would consult
wilh locnJ rcsidcnLS befotc uying 1 force 1hrough new
0
1~ for developmea1.

Natunl World News Scrvacc

On April 3rd lhc state Utilities Commissmn ruled
thar Duke Power Co. cnn go ahead wu.h plans for a
transmission line through lhc bc:lutiful Pru11hert0wn
Vnllcy in Jackson County. lhus dissolving a Scpicmbcr
1988 reslr.lining order, and ending a hard-foughl balllc by
lhe Jocasee Watershed Coalition. lhc WNC Allinnce, ond
the Conscrvnuon Council of North Carollnn. Thc~c
groups fonnnUy prolcsltd lhe roulC lilSt year, s:iymg thal
Dulc hnd not eumincd altcmativcs LO their planned route
lhrough die "Yosem11e of the E.c.1", und Lhnt a proposed
offer from the Tenncsse Valley Au1homy might be
the:ipcr nod elunina1e lhe need for lhc tin~
Hun1cr Lovin~. co·foundcr or Ilic Rocky

Sununer. 1989

own llands

BeflCll Mountain We co no• wea~ l:i&lt;
1t11ery resioen1 uomeowrl!!• or 111s1tor 10
Beech Mouniaon. however a grOWtng numoer
01 ~ .vould l1•e to 111ank you tor aoklg ,•,hal we
llavP .van1eo 10 co ro1 some time bul door t ha~ 1110
nel"e
You have macie our moun1a1n a more 1Jeau111u1 r.1 .. ~" '£&gt; u.. t.
vL1•1 HQO&lt;lh;lly oaver:•sers will nave lll(lre 1cmkc' I - u oeau!ilul
mo..in1ain" 11 t" .. lulure &amp; \\ II 001 POLI.DTE th~ " 1" btl'tlOlilOS

DELP STOP BILLBOARD BLIGHT
Frequent only merchants who DO NOT use billboards

Mounuin Institute with her husbnnd Amory, ~'Uggestcd
a conference held lllst fall al Warren Wilson College
t.h:i1 lhere was no need for adJitional energy cnpacily lllld
lhn1 all encrllY n«Wi could be met by practicing least-cost
planning and cfhc1cncy improvements which would
acwally increase the profiis of the power comp:uues
without incurring lhC S36 m1lhon pnce Lag of lhc line,
wltich will surely be passed on to consumers.
The Commission disngrc.:d wilh this :1SSC5Slllcn1.
saying ·11tc evidcoce clearly ~hows that Duke c:ucfully
and diligenlly planned !his projccl by examining a wi\lc
:irea of Western North Carolinn, n:irrowing the poi;s1blc
route nli.cmati\'CS, lllld sclccung J rou1c which m1rum1ud
1hc impact on the en11ironmen1 and cus1ing
dcvelopmcni". The Commilision decreed lha1 allcm:ile
roulCS suggesltd by lhe cnvironmenw.I groups were too
long and 100 c.itpcnsivc. They nlso d1smi!iscd the TV A
proposal, elaammg lha1 lhc TV A did not prcscn1 a
pe.rsua.'ilvc :irgumen1 that its proposed rotes for Naniahala
customers would be lower fl13n Duke's.
A bill has been introduced 1n10 lhc NC Ocnet:ll
Assembly by Rep. ~1arie Colton (D-Buncombe) which
would give lhc Commission authority to review power
line siung plnns.
01

SAYING "NO! " TO THE DUMP
Niawrat World Ne'Nj Sav"'~

0

CUTIING A LINE

you for t~~ ino

arid e 1rnma:an9 tl".e I&gt;• !boards on

Natunl World News Scrvk&lt;

Thci SS.6 billion Transporboon Improvement
Plan (TIP) being heavily pushed by Govenor Jim Manin
iOIS II leystone of bis "good rQ.ad$ for progress• Slll!C
1m11gc, passed 1he House of Rcpresenuuvcs. and is
upec1ed 10 p:iss lbrough lhe Scruue wi1hout effcclivc
oppos1lllln. The Bill culls for a massive road-building
progr.lm Wilh the CVl!lltlUll goal Of bringing 0 rruuor four
l:ine road "within ten miles of llny North Carohn:i
n:sidcnl.• nod paving many or ttic din roads.
A fow represcnt111ivcs hnvc e.xpr~d concern
bccuuSj: 1he bill IGClcs lln)' mention of mnss 1rw1Sil ns n
means of ll'!illsportauon unprovemcm, and lhc lawmakers
may :111cmp1 t.0 block p:issage unul su!:h wording can be
included Proponcois of TIP sny 11 is 100 ln1c for an~
StK:h coosidcruuon :llld l'1osc concerned should have r.uscd
their objcc:tilons long ago, allCmplJng IO change lhc bill
now could posslbly kill iL
The bill would Ix\ fonded by a five ccn1 gas lll!I.
Millly rcsidcnis. especially m Ille Kaulah region.
rear lhe bill is :i prune cxrunple of ovcr-dcvclopmcru..
The ncw 1ra~-port.alion scheme would strongly mcrcnse
access 10 nnd lhrough lhc mouniains and have a profOtJnd
environmcnw.I and soeiul impacL

l•

iu~ You!

Trees 1,000 feet awny from a WllStc dump :u Oak
Ridge, Tenncsscc were cut down and c:imed away.
because I.hey were emiuing to~ic amounts of rad1odon.
Under prc.~t rcgulntions, !heir hobiull would no1 be
C:OO.\idcred ll.~ ~
A1 a pubhc hearing in Madison Count)', a
woman loll! lhJS sw~ and lhcn posed some simple
questions 10 lhe panel of four pale men in dark suiis and
one dnrk-sktnned woman repre~ung lhe North Cwobnt1
Low Level Rodio;icti~e Wasic M411agc:men1 Aulhomy.
"Would you drink wai.cr from a ~pnng 1000 feet
from d1t Oak Ridge nuclC3t dwnp? Would you offer this
water 10 your child?" Every head on Ille panel nodded
affinmllively.
TI1e woman gestured IO 1hc panel and faced lhe
crowd, •1 give you the cxpens on low level rndiu.'ICtive
wnu: dumps!"
Over 600 people, many of them obviously cld\!rly
fanning couples, showed up for the forum on u
Wednesday evenang, ll'lldiuonnlly church naght in Ibis
predomuuntly Baptist c:ounl)'.
G1'11SS roolS politics mov~ like o pr.ime lire when
3 hot ~p.irlo; wikc.s. In this- caie lhe networl 1h111 fonned
lhc Cbme of public 0111.n1gc wus lhc local min1stty,
Voluni.ccrs from 1.lie Mud1.;on Em·ironmcn111l Allfonce

contacted muusu:r.1 who cnllcd other preacher; nnd urged
ll1c1r congregaLions to exercise I.heir duty of E3flh
stewardship, one of lllC precepts of lhe soulh.un Baptist
cn:cd.

Earlier 1n April :ing.:r flared in Jl.lacoo and Polk
Coun1.ics as The Aulhomy's 1rnvcling road show,
designed IA.'I soothe fcars.lllld cool u:mpcr~. found i1SClf in
an equally unplc:a.'l:lni hill S.:lll. The meeung in Polk
Counly dlcw more than 1,000 ouendec.s..
Local residcnis no1cd Lhe impact of lhcse
meeung.s - never before had lhcy seen so ITlilllY people of
hke mind a1 one l~lion. Said Polk County $hCriffs
deputy Chris Abul, "I guess everybody just WDnl'I to say
'no' to lhc dump."
J11nc1 Hoyle, director of Blue Ridge
EnvironlllC1ll.al Defense l..cque, calls North Carolina "I.he
chump of lhc SE" for staying m lhe SE Comp:icl. lhc
c1gh1 SL:ltt organWiuon lhal picked Nonh Carolinn to be
the recipient or lhc rcgt0n's radioactive WllSIC for lhc next
20 yC81'$.
Jonci reminds us 1h.:11 some or lhe w11S1C will
remain toxic for 117 million years, EnvironmCllllll1sis
lhink lha1 wch state $hould h3tldle us own waste.
lnsu:&lt;ld or conuunmrumg a new aren, lhe siate's low-level
mdiooctive was1es should be stored nbovc ground al
nuclear puwer plnrus. which produce ~ of lhcm. nu~
way they could be monil(Jl'Cd until a va:iblc long-u:nn
waslc disposal technology is developed. To dll1e, all
existing dumps in lhe rnin-ricll east have lc!lked, even lhe
ones drat meet r;um:nt regullltions.
The Aul.horily 1s 10 come up with at least two
cundid:ue locauons in Nonh Cnrolinn lau:r lhis year and
to have picked a "preferred siie" by Nov, 15, 1990.
Hopefully tbe loud "No• from Katuah wlll no1 only
JcOec1 the dump. bu1 will also prod the ·cxpcns· to
rcthinlc their nuclear policy.

SOUTH CAROLINA BANS
NORT H CAROLINA WASTE
Natural World Ne"'s SG\'lc:c

By cucutiveorder of Gov. Carroll CampbeU. as
or Morch I, 1989. the •U!IC of South Carolin" has
prol1ibitcd 1hc di.~~1 or was1e from :my Sllltc &amp;hat
refused ID di!i:p()S(l of the WtilC 11.scl[ The b:in elfoc:ICd 32
~Ulles and Puc:t10 Rico. Hans1ll Truesdale, heud of the
SOUlh Carolina Dcpanmeo1 of Hcallh lllld E.nvi.ronmenml
Controls H:uardoUJ Wasic Division say~. "WG hope our
ac;IJoos will encoUl3gc other sutcs IO move toward
developing their own h:u.ardous was1e managcmen1
pro~·. In 1987. Nonh CAroht13 gcnerultd 2.8 billion
pounds of l=dous wute, most or which w11S sent to
ou1-0f-Slal.C disposal Cac1litles.
JCotu~\

Jo1.1rna( PIMJlll 23

�(~ fmlll P11C4l

Wh:it is then: 10 keep someone from •1ctung go• nnd
•becoming the olh11r person~ so successfully tl\31 !hey come away
from a Lls1ening Projec1 full of rc:icrionary nnhudes? Again. m
Herb's mind the answer goes back to thn1 shared essence of
humrurity, which is deeper than any dogma or se1 of idc:is, but i~
expressed rnther in 1em1s of vnlues.
'111c antidote 10 polariz;uion :ind separation," he say~, "i\ to
recognize 1he oneness or all life and oi all hum:inity. We in soc111I
chMge work need to recognize that all of us, even those people
1iliho are racist or militanst or $eem like they are ou1 to desuoy the
l!ruth. are a pan of the great ltfe, and within us au is !he potcnual 10
ch:inge :ind 10 let go ot old iJcas that are destr0ying life. There h
definitely that potential.

The source of lhat power lies
in going beyond the ego and
getting down to that place where

things change.
'The way I en\ 1sion 11, 1s to look 111 11 person :ind 1111.a.gine
them just coming out as 11 new born inf.int, That h3by isn't a r.1ciM.
th:11 baby 1sn 1 n milu:inst, that b:iby doesn't w11111 to destroy the
\l.Orld. Tb:11 new baby is allvc. lbnt's the essence of hum:mny
Thst's in every p;:rsoo in society,
-nu11's what we: arc listening for, b:i~iC31Jy. We: ;ue probing
through all the cr.iziness. all the accumul:11ed ideas. th:it may h:ivc
made a person into a m1l11ans1, or a r&lt;1cis1 or an environment·
destroyer, 10 find 1he essence 01 who that person is. f'or 1hc
essence is good."
The idcolog1cal content 1s pare, but only a pan, of .1
convers:uion. In deep listening the: process of communication 1!&gt; the
major emphasis. If a listener 1111d a resident cnn reach a poin1 where
they arc each staring right into I.he other's bare and unadorned "'1111,
then together they arc atl3ckm&amp; racism, mil11arism. and 1he other
1te1J,:1tive aspects or our i:oaety for the r11C1Gm, the: nulit11nsm, iuid

the rest an: the mdv.clhng fear m people's bean~ raised to a
pcrm311ent place m the mstituuons of society.
Hezb ~ys that, "Underlying all the problems is fear. Our
b:lsic fear IS one of rejection. We \I.ant 10 be loved and rc~pcctcd. If
we don't gc1 llu11 in !lie wuy we need 11, \l.C use power to get it.
That's why it gets back to spiriwa.I values. h gets back to people's
need to experience love, communny. caring. nnd connection. Those
:ire the fundmnental needs of :ill hum:inity, lllld if we can find w:iys
to make that possible for 311 people, I think all the problem~ we: ~cc:
would stan d1ssolving.w
"Love, community. canng. and connecuon." Herb defines
his peace work in tenns of the~ values... When be speaks of
·peace; he spc:ik. of the concept in the broadest po)siblc: \Cose.
He decries the divisions tha1 sometimes arise bc1ween people
involved in promoting non-violence:, doing soci:ll justice work, or
helping IO prc::.crvc the c:nvirunmem He fet'ls that :ictiv1sts would
help their cause by ~tressing the connec1cdness o[ 1hesc 1s~uc' lie
considers the penod he wotl:cd ns a youth counselor as being part
of his "peacework" an.I whhes :ill people involved In 1h:u kind of
healing worl.: would realm: 1hc conncction lhc:y share v.1th the pence
niovcmcn1. He .s.iy!( he 1~ ''~)rkmi: for peace v.h.n he is weeding
hb garden.

or

Poliucs is usuully perceived 3\ II sc:nes c:intpaigns 10 be
c:uncd on unul the foe is vanquished and ,;dory is ~chievcd l·or
llcrb, polincs 1s process .und the process 1~ nevcr-endmi;,
whelhcr 11 is tor empowerment or tor he:iling.
In an mfomul moment he slid, "Yeah, you know, hstening
ts an incredible procc)s. I'm still trying to 1ncorpora1e 11 rr.ore
d~ly in my person:il lire. 11·~ easier IO v.ork it on the political
level in some ways.
"What was it someone said? 'Listening is the rim let or
love.'
"In a sense the Listening Project actually says. 'I love: you.
No mauer who you nn:, no mauer what you're doin~, l love the
essence of who you nrc.' You may hate wha1 a person 1s doing, but
wha1 you !lfe basically ~11y111g is 'I love yo11.' That's where
listening is non-violence, too."
~

{tontillued rrocn page 10)

p:1rnc1panii; m1m n:ly on 1iicinsd• ~ • thc1t own mner n:sourccs
nnd ability to share llnd 'Communicate. In a very~ ~. the
~etpant... create the "orklihop ·and isn"1 this \\h:!t community
1s about anyway? Lc:anung to t;1p IOlCI our iruhv1Ju:il and group
r ·sources, and to be co-crc:uors rnthcr th:m ·koocrs" nnd
followcn; "?
As a group rntwcs out of "pseudo-c\'lmmunny and IO\l.ard
real community. it tends to pas~ through scverul d1\1Jnct phases,
which Dr. Peck and I·CI.! ro:fer 10 ns "i:haos" :ind "cmpuncss"
After the supcrf1Ci:1h1y nnd f.:ilsern:ss of pscudo-communny
begins to \H::U- thin, conflicts begin 10 emerge, nnd pe&lt;.&gt;ple usU11lly
lil:ln irymg w fa, convert. or ch3.0gc each Other. The rc:sulltn!l
rcscnnnent llild nngcr. nobody likes being "faro"· des1ro&gt;s nny
feeltngs of group harmony (illusory as 1hcy may h;i\ e bet'n). nnd
the group descend~ into confusion nnd "cha()&gt;'".
Then llfter a period of turmoil and soul·sean:hmg. group
members gradually lc:im ·"uh the tacditntors cxcnsion31
guidance • 10 let go or lhcir prcconcc1vcd 1de:i~. expccunons, IUld
pcrsonal agendas. They begin 10 emp1y themselves of these
b.'lrriers and blocks, which have kept them lt:cling ~p!lr.lte :ind
un:lble 10 Just be tlrere with the others. Thh cmpcying process cnn
be d1fl icult and painful . but on the other side of this "valley ot
the: shadow of death" lies the cxpc;ncncc or Peace. ot JUSt Being.
,1nd listening, and sharing m co11unun11y ·an CKpenence that
seems to eocomp3Ss all oppo~itcs and embraces joy and sorro''.
nll kind) of religious ei1pn:ss1on anJ 11thtism. activity and
rcccpu-.ity, love and feat. Although a panicubr group m3Y noc
rellCh a sustained c~pericncc of genuine community (qwic ~!ten.
groups tend to re' en b3clc 10 cha()) 11ntl/or pseudo-community
~incc these modes ol rc:bung 11re more familiar and, in a sense.
~fer· though not really), every group goe.1. throug~ an emptying
process and at least touches on, or Wp!&gt; into, the Bemgncss of
commum1y. ( Having auended one of thei.c v.eckcnd worhbops,
thi' "ritcr can auesl 10 the :iccur:icy of 1he abc)\'e dcscripuon I
Xa1uiU1 Journn! pCUJC 2·1

"Through 1he power of gewune
commzmity, "e 1ccl to offer opportumries
for peopfo 10 brufgc tliffcrc11ces mid
reco11cilc c·miflzcts u uh a11thr11ucit) anc/
111tegrity "

ln :idd111on to 1has pnnury fe&gt;..--us, FCE 1s alw m the
process of elp:uuimg its focus on comm11nily 11etworbng nnJ
refcrra.I servu:c:s. The gwl 1s to pre.wide n~sht11Kc and d1ra
"t1on
for people v. ho an: seeking to lmk up wtth other; for a ~ctlic
purpose, or arc 1C:UChing for community organiz.iuons or groups
that c:in asSJSI 1hem m their hc:lling, le:1ming. grov.th, nnd/or
sharing. The unllcrlymg recog11lt1on here IS thM rcr~ "1s not 311
1sol:11ed phenomenon, but nithcr a pan of what might be called
the community movement" • 11 movement initiated by such group~
as Alchoholics Anonymous nnd ib t\\lelve siep program, the
growth of social :tc1ion groups, and the women's movement.
l'CE i~ thu~ engaged 1n su:ad1ly bu1ld1ng new links· and
sm:nglhcnlng e)tl,Ung ones· in the hv1ng mterconncctcd chllin of
community "·hic.h may prove to be.-, m truth, our s;ilvauon.
For funhcr mform.1uon about FCE
and its umnnunuy Building Wort..~hops, cont.1ct:
The Fouo&lt;hltion for Community
Encuun1gemenl, Inc:.
7616 Glc:iwn Road
KnO%\ille, T~ 379l9
-~
(615) 690-43~

p ·

Summtr. t 989

�We had some visitors from
the Soviet Union. They wanted to make
friends with us. We wanted
to understand them... Crystal

Peace means that
I am loved ...Alyson

from a drawing by Alyson and Crystal

Peace is love
peace is caring
peace is sharing.
If I didn't have any
peace,
it wouldn't
be any peace in my
heart .......... Beth

1

I

Peace means to be
a friend to me
Peace means to be
kind to others
Peace means to be
nice to others
Peace means
harmony to me ....Virg1
nia

Peace is like
Flying in
The sky ........Justin

Peace means not
hurting animals.... Sefton

Peace
is loveing
and harmony and
careing for others
and animals.
I love cats........Star

These are some respo11ses w the l.lhat. ls Pce1ce?

Coruest held ar Aslievil/e Altemarive School, an
experimental public school in Asheville, Nc&gt;rtlr Carolina.
Organized Olld compiled by Abby Bird. age 11
Kstuah's Cliildre11's Page Editor

l&lt;.At1.1uf1 )01.lT!'lUt p!UJ~ 25

from a drawing by Virginia

Summc.r. 1Q89

j

�TIP/ F.ROS
Your womb wraps around me,
encloses II.lid holds and keeps me,
nnJ lets me come
nnd co. in and out.

DRUMMING

Gomg out, away from your bcanh,.)our embrace
I JOumcy 1n ecstasy, and I live in p;im.

lETIE RS TO Kt\ TUi\H

I am Earth walking on Earth, worlds I am

or micro :ind rtl3CTO cosmos. wali.ing through.
I glimpse the dn:3m - enthralled. in awe. 1n rapture •
then lose 11.~aod wander about. .. lost

in Isolauon - desolation - despair.

Dear Katuah,

L011JS OF Tiil! HEART:

Coming soon to a mounuun valley near
you - 8.6 billion dollars worth of road
consuuc1ion. Thats right, Nonh Carolina
Governor Jim M.utin wants all of his c11iunry co
be within 10 mile$ of a four·hnc wpcrh1ghw:1y,
and. 1f by chance you're hindered by a du!&gt;ty ol'
travel road - don't worry - he want) to pave
those, 100. Access 1s but a n1ckel·a·gallon
g:u-tu increase away, so h11 saving North
Carolina's reputation as a ·good roads for
progre~ sta1e• is a freebie.
Say you're not sure about all th1\'&gt;?
Ughtcn up. Those who ~tanJ 10 profit the most
politically and financs:illy (our mayors, our
county comnuu1oncrs, and the independent
Chambers of Commerce) have been lobbying
your state legisl310~ to push h:ud for the
passage of the new slllle •Transponauon
Improvement Plan (TIP)."
Why, shoot, 11's already p:issed the
Uouse and with :ill the hand shakm' and back
~lappin' between this country club governor and
the aforc·mcnuoncd 5pccial 1111en:,ts. the Senate
will surely figure that the: whole \Hile i~ bclund
TIP,

Slow down? Come oft 1t. Secretary of
Tran5portation Jim llumngton and h1' \hop arc
alrc;idy two Mcp:. ahtlld. Not only dOC$ he kno~
the governor personally. but he's had m:ips
pn:pmd that will prevent confusion 1 the lcx:il
dcclston-m:lling level. :o;o need to worry about
\\'ho's gomg where \\ith this TIP!
So, \\Ith this much 1ns1ght into )Our
future. don t lose another nlght s sleep Raleigh
lus once again grasped the moment and fulffiled
our needs: our need for a hl&amp;h gas w; our need
for greater DCCeSS for more and mon: outlandCIS;
our need for mon: highway traft11c, Including
hazMdous waste b~ed ea.~t. and our need for
increased development prenurcs along sull
unpubllcir.cd hii;hway comdors.
Why, r.hoot, there's no need 10 fuss' r.;o
need 10 look ror a bus' C1vthwion rn all ih
urb:ln glory v.ill soon be as close as the nc:1:1
ex11. Your Valley, KAtlWI Province, Southcm
Appalachb. USA.
01' Rl1Stus

Kutw1h )ourn"t p119e 211

To go naked on thh ~.
To m3kc a soft bed
In the fragrance of pmc needles
To open an eye
To the d.uk cool of night
And the brilliance of ~13.J"5
To "'-:ilk m the sun's cares:.
On bare ~houldcr.t.
To cat wild strawberries
And golden com.
To drink
Of pure, cold mounun stre~.
And bathe tn tumbling occ:ms.
To wau:h and wonder.
To be a pan of this hvmg E:i.nh.
So v.hy
Do I measure out my hfc
Jn shOpPmg malls anJ ban~
Jn hosp11..tls and cars
And air-conditioning,
Jn the v1olcncc ol ciucs '!

The wisdom or 1hc uboriginc,
The Pcn:in, the Kuna, the llopr.
• ,\fury d~ /,a \'ulet1t:

Government
lsnnold nun
Onhts knee,:,
With dry, shn~ cited bps

Then I enter you again:
I come in.•.seeking... nccding
your c:mbrncc,
renewal-rcdi:.covcry-rebinh.
Your womb encloses me, holds me tight,
indulges me in bliss. in sleep, in
cirummg I awake still within you,
lounge !&gt;wec1 moments in between,
then slip OUI of you i;emly, bravely then 10 face·
perhaps cmbnce - the new light
- ktnr

Dear Ka11Wl.
Ple:ise include my name on your m3iling
hst for the • Biorcgional Journal of lite Southern
Appalachians." I am a firm ?el1~ver 1n
bioregionnli:.m and hope that by JOmrng your
cnu~e that I can help deliver a message that so
urgently needs to be heard.
I um n graduate from Texas A&amp;M
Un1vem1y with a degree in Forc~try and I am
currcntly a member of the Green Party. I would
hkc 10 sum a correspondence with other
concerned pcnons living in the Asheville area,
and tf 1 can be of any assistance to your
orgnm1.:111on please let me know.
Sincerely,
, W. Eric Becker

7408 LunilllS Lane (1132)
Pcrry~rg. OH 43SS1

Rcce~scd

To R:\'e.tl thc roots of h1~ teeth.
He kneels
At the hc:Jld 01 some SU!Jl'S
Which lc:id up to a place or sancwary
And sells wind up sold1cn
To a young boy
Bothcm:I by the old nun's
Gummy smile.
• 11111

llouser

C/984

Dear Kaulah,
Sure have missed getting the Kau'i:lh.
Thank you so much ror your enlightened onJ
rn1clhgcnt coverage of our region. Such a
blessed rehcf lrom the nightly news,
newspapers and such. Lo1.-e the idea of cictcndal
wildemcs~ areas. and .,.ouldn"l 11 be neat and
umcly 10 have bicycle and toot paths 10
crisscross all the mt~ ("'here po~blc ?)
Love,
Kalinda Wycoff
Sumrtlct, 19811

�HELLO? HELLOl

Poems
offering
seldom
have I lhought
about
this

by Charles Rampp

begins with M e -

everything
seems
gift
for Me.
enjoyment

but
it
also ends

here
unless We
make
it

rules.

real

I

by
touching
ever so gently
its
opposites.
harmless
sparks

matches

fingers'

air grip and l'rn
dancing
light ,
joyous.

to see that we nre doing an issue on Peace what it means and w~t ii can mean. 1
would like to add a note of tl1anks to all the
people who have resisted the contagious call
to wnr most dirc4ldy by not becoming
soldiers. Either by doing an Alternative
Service to military "service". by deciding to
dissociate from military "service" while in
it, or.refusing 10 panicipate with it in any
way 10 the first pince, Conscientious
Objectors deserve a song of gratitude wbich
springs from some of the deep, moving
pools of integrity that can flow from the
human psyche.
If an individual hears from an inner
voice that "militarism is wrong" or that it
"denies the sacredness of life" or "the
enemy is us" or "violence begets violence"
and acts on this voice by doing nothing, or
not participating in the further disruption of
life, or by doing something to try, beyond
violence, to change the medium of forces
that createS the disruption - perhaps, we are
permitting oun;elves to accept responsiblity
for tlte horrors we have made for each other
and allow conflict resolution to happen. Too
often we have let the chaos of wnr, or
suspected war, determine the rest of the
pauem for human and non-human being.
There is also a sea of great sorrow to
be recognized for the many people who
have died in the ebb of violent authority and
its many manifestations. Those who hnve
protested or objec1ed to brutality ll!'ld
discrimination and come to futal blows with
ils way, the innocem who have been killed,
and the unconscionable wru.te of human life
to attempt to prove group or individual
power all have something to teach us: we
are coming to a climax ns a species. from
which we must find decisive ways of social
order that acknowledge diversity.
symbiosis, ond the human shadow as
panners within the biosphe~ and ii:;
1en11city.
- Rob Messick of Peace First!

•

Oy,

cold
,whisking
light's
compassionate malh
like
a matador"s
cloak
across
a turtle's
nose

It is a joy ...

Summu, 1989

IN o. WC&gt;l"k:I \~v.£.-lo QJT LAW
u.&gt;o.r,-t.o rv'\QM. pto..cd'

peace

lntely.

suddenly My
hand
finds
emptyness in pockets

\

If +hut. 1$ Q.""i ONt. LE.ft A LIV£'
ID LtKE tc u.ntu wt*.h ~

To Lhe &amp;iitors:

.In reac~ion to Exxon's role in the recent
oil spill, I d~cadcd to return my credit cards and
to. boycott JtS products. J run hoping that this
might become a mass tactic if enough consumers
~ill ~~ow ,th.c~r rejection of corporate
111sens1uv11y by JOming.
Enclosed is my letter 10 the president of
Exxon.
For ecological snn11y,
rreside111.
Daniel Gruham
Ex.xnn Company
Chapel Hill, NC

M.Qma 's SoNiJ

.

P.O. 80:1: I 322
llou.sron. TX 77251

Cl!orl..es of Zacfu:.rlJ movi."'} f o nvard. lnto raln ,
stn9ln9 cta.morol.ls marches of oCcf. hu0\1S,
a nc! thunder i;rl.es 0 1.lL n&amp;r tra9tca£ name
wni!~ lM drops p ta.IJ a j anci.f uC LUM ,
a nd fuird. they com e down to JaU. upon u s aCC w asps anc! mop~s .
c!andcli.ons , d.ai.s i4:S,
tetri.ers , t4b&amp;i.es, &amp;ws, co1vs, f;eans ,
otd. roof s, odd. st.ones, a ncl you!
Get w e&amp;., my son,

I had bun looking forward 10 rtuiving my
E:uon credit cord, l&gt;ur ofter rhe slwmrfu/ way :f(&gt;Uf
company ucred in tltt u cenr oil spill. I co11 M longer
acctpr ii . It lws becomr: r/cal' from \larlous m:wJ uport.,
1/uu
company was not rtady for o spill thr.f JIU, an.I
/uu cut bad on vuaf emergency plans, This 1111111
disregard fur l&gt;/J/' comuwn licrirwgt is poor c111rr:nship
and 1/are111e1u rlre frog1lt lltl.tJSl&lt;:m iLwlf.
I am returning my cudir curds aJ11.l 1&lt;ilt urge 1lll
my ftithds and organua110MI t ontcurs to do till' same
1U11il your comp1111y realius that 1hr comnwn gtiod of tht
planet i.s much more 1mponan1 1l:m1 the rlror1-1crm
prr.'fits t{ your l.QtporUJwn

)'&lt;I'"

f i.nd JOY i.n the downpo ur I
tkaven s:ends iL, ca.rt.Si n:cc~ves U.,
so w a c!r Lnfl. LL, w ash uur &amp;ocCLe$,
quench our s plrHs, and. &amp;y the 9L 9, tt.ve.
vi.n
GeL Lir~. m y d.or(lnCJ. a nd keep LL wLth
you Ln l.M dri.u wtUU:rm:ss of C19e.
a rcmcm&amp;ue.c! surnm u·s 1£ci11 w hen you were
Le•~ ancL w l th you r rtothu and she saM!, "Yi.sl"
llo ouL and. pta.y W\ a.he r a\.n, ln a spouL
of Ci£luld. 9Cor 1J thaL f or9Lv"5 our sl u&amp;&amp;ornesio.
Say "Ycsl- . ~r Zac:fmr 11,
us you S~"'J yo'4r warn.or 's SOnlJ•
sa11 ··yes!" a nd "Yi:sl ~ C19uin.

M1gh1y smuuly,
(.flgn~)

- 1'Lcf.anl• Bridl)~

Drawing on tins page by MIOILina Herring, drawmg on prcc;cdtn&amp; poac by Chll&lt;ld

Hugey. Both for ·v,.,ons of Pc.ooio" con'"'- Jackson County p......, Nc1..,01k.

Kutuah )ou.rna.t pa9.; 27

�eveors
JUNE
18

FRANKLIN, NC
Oury Bonnelle specking on •The
Ascension Principle.• Mounuun l.igbl Network. 2 pm Dl
M:icoo Community Ccnlet. Hwy. 441. For more info.
call: (40l) 746-2454

llOT SPRJNGS, NC
'Wind Swirls lhc Low.~ l...cuvcs: 1':u Chi
lnterptay• with J11y Dunbar and K3Lhlecn Cu!rick.
Exercises for mdividuals nod partn¢rs m r11i Chi Ch'Ullll,
a Chlne:ic mn11inl Ml end moving mcduallon. No
experience, no pnnncr needed Prc-regisicr. SOO. Soullicm
Dharmo Rcll'Clll Ccn1a, see 6(.30.7(1.
21·23

HIGHLANDS, NC
Workshop, •Techniques for Nature
Phoiograophcrs" with Gil Leebrick. Bm Len. wildlife
photographer, and bomnist Sill Wylde. S250 includes
accommodations. Appalachian Environmenl!ll Ans
Center. Box S80: Highlands. NC 28741 (704) .526-4303.

26-30

GOODE, VA
Chllnnnel Mel&amp;Y at vortexes 1111d sacred
sites in the northern Blue R1dic w11h Rev. Daniel
Chesbro, Tom Williams. Pilot MounLllin, Peaks ol
OllCr, New River, Fairy Stone Parl.. "lmportnnl work
ioward cxp:inding lhc Light." Confon:n.::e, lodging S225.
Pre-register. Rt. I, Box 310·A: Goode. VA 24556

'30-7n

26-30

21·25

HOT SPRINGS, NC
·seven Day Zen Soul Recharge• with
Sandy Oentai Stewurt. abbot of Squifrel M1'n. Zcndo,
Piusboro, NC. Prc·regrsu:r: S 160. S1;&gt;u1hern Dbarma
Retre111 Cenicr: RL 1. B()lt 34-H: HOt Springs, NC
28743.

HI G ll l.AN DS, NC
"Landscape Pho1ogrnphy m 1hc Blue
Ridge." large f01tOa1 camera workshop with 0111.c.ebrick
:md Sllln Tomi la. S2SO. See 6'21-25.

28-30

HOT SPRl NGS , NC
Vipass:ano Mcditntion with Cirol Wilson
Pre.register: S70. Southern Dhnrma Rc1rt:at CcnLCr, see

6/30..7fl.

JULY
ASli EVlLLE, NC
"Mounlllin Sweet Talk; a 1wo-ac1 play
fe:uuring The Folktellcrs, Barbara Freeman am.I Connie
Rcg:lln·Bhuce. The play feriturcs stories and music of
Appalachia presented by two very accomphshcd
pcrfom1ers. 8 pm ThUl'Sll:iys through S:uurdays. 3 pm
Sundays a1 lhc Folk An Center Theatre, caM of
A!ihevillc. milepost 382 on lhe Blue Ridge Parkway.
Ticket\ SlO, S8 in advance at MalJprop's.
l-8/13

6-8

LINVILLE, NC
J41h Annual Grundfother Mountain
Highhmd Games. Piping and drumming, lhghland
dancing. S~ottish alhlctic$. harp, fiddle. tr:lCk and field,
ttilidh For more info, wrilC Grnndfa1hcr Mounw.in; Bo"
128; Linville. NC 28646
7-9

NEW MARKF.'r, 1 N
STP (Slop the Poisoning) School uL the

H1ghland.:t CcnlA:f. Tactics. strJlcgy, 1111d nc:twurkini; for
lh05e wocking LO stop industrial polluoon. Prc-rcg1su:r.
C:!ll Highlandu 01 C6JS) 933·3443.
12-16

lll Ci ll l.Al'\OS, 'llC
"Edible V1s1ons· worksho11 un food
pl101ogniphy. Wild foods lor:ig1ng. Mllrlha Strawn. Head
of Phologr.1phy. UNC·ChJrluuc. S250 Sec 6/21-~5.

19.23

lllGHLANDS, !\C
"l.lllld 3nd l'cuplo: A Dcs1g" AppnXll:h•
pho1ogm11h&gt; worl.slmp wi1h Jay Dus:ird S2!i0. See

W.Zl-25.

~•Luuh

)ounmt

JHlfJC

28

AUGUST
llOT SPR INGS. NC
Vipassano McdiLJtion with John OrT.
Prc·registcr: S60. Soulihlm Dhnrmn Rcttc:it Center, s.:c
6/30-?n.

4-6

LAUR INUURG, NC
The Summer lnsu1u1c on ·Tc:iching
ConOict Resolution. sponsored by Ptofcssional
D&lt;l"clopmcnl Team. "Conflict i.s fXl" of living /1 can /Nd
IQ ~10/mu and ck11ruc11on Or, 1hrougl1 rraming and
pracuu, -..·~can /tarn IQ wtluc conf/ir1 as an opportumty
for clwngt and i:ro-..ith." S:J.10 1ncludcs room and
tioard.Wrnc to: NCCPE/NC-ESR. 214 Piiuboro St..
Ch:lpcl Htll, NC 27516.

Dr:iwing by Rob Messick

WAYNESVI LLE, NC
·Techniques
for
P-crso"nl
Sclf·Transfonnntion" with Bing Esaudoro. S1il-l.igh1
Rcucnt Ccn1cr; RL l. Box 32~: Waynesville, NC 28786
(704) 452-4569.
23·27

25-27

NEW MARKET, TN
STP (Stop lbc Pois0ning) School 3t the
Highlander Center. Tactics. str:11cgy. and nc1worklng for
those wor¥ing lO stop mdusltial pollution. .Prc·cegistcr.
Call Highlnndern1 (61S) 933-3443.
HlGHLANDS, NC
•women's Adventure Weekend" •
bnck.·packing, visuati1.0tion. relPation wllh Nnncy
Shaw Discussion; lier Mo1hu·~ Daughter For info,
write The Mount.1in; 841 Hwy 106; H1~hla11ds, NC
28741.

25-27

f&gt;.11

9-13

lllGUl.Al\OS, NC
"Ahcmattvc Londscapc· • pho1egn1phy
wo1kshop with M;anlyn Bridges. author/photogr.apbct of
Morlm1gs: AeTlal t'ic11 $ oj Sar.red lAndscupa.
Tran~cending the u~u:il w;iy of pcri:civing the
environment IO :irrwe aJ new way$ UJ whicli 10 view the
Earth. S250. See 6121-2S.
18·20

uo·r

SPRl ... GS. NC
Three I.ilks on "Zen and Western
Philosophy" by l..ou f'ior.h1rom. PhD. ord;uncd Ztn
monk formerly wi1h the Ztn C"111m11n1I) ol NY
l'rc·rcgutcr: S.7.5. S ;u1hc:1n l&gt;hQrll\ll Rc1rca1 Ccnttr. $&lt;.'C
fi/30-7(1.

SEPTEMBER
1-4

ll OT SPRINGS, NC
Mindfulnc~s Mcdiution and Everyday
Life: Rclntionships and SeAualily wilh Sui;an
AugcMtcin. "MinJ/Mfncs, m~diturion endbl~s u..• to src
life IJJ II (ICllUJl/y is Ill ,,, IOtality • Ptc-rcgi~ti:r: 590.
Southern OharmJ Rcirc.a1 Center, sec 6/30-7n.

1.5·17

WAYM-.SVI LLE. "C
Thc Pr.ii;11cc of ·n1Ct:1pcutic Touch" with SuL1
Ccrmak1~. S11l-Ught Rc11ca1 Center: Rt. I. Box 326:
Wa)111:svillc. NC 28786 (70-IJ .!52-4569.
0

1'1·'22

,\Slll,VILl.1~,

NC
tn1crn11tu&gt;n,1t C1111fu, nu en l'mlcways,
Gr(tntH1J1. or.ii R1vcr..c1ys l lit 11'.-v \fort Btriu11jul
llihon Inn f're·regmrauon r~q111rcJ fill more mfo, Cllll
t\pp::il;1,h1an Con~nau1n ('7Qel) 2C.2·2CJ6.$.

Su1111nc1, 191}9

�~Water Sys1em1
WATER PURIFICATION EQUIPMENT
SOLAR PRODUCTS
Mamber NC Waler Ouallly As50C1a11on
HWY 107
RANDAL!. C LANIER
RT 68 BOX 125
704·293-5912
CULLOWHEE, NC 28723

(704) 26+-7242

31 S E. King Street, Boone NC 28607

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~-'-~~~~

Clti11ue "''11p1111ct11re

DESIGNS
b~

"'

n t:D'LC'LN'.E A.LL'L'.ES

Jlerllgiglll Cli11it

Rob :'.. l~s~ic k

lllustmlion &amp; Dt&gt;~1~n
in Pen &amp; Ink and color«&lt; l Pc·n•il

Mil llARY
RADIOACI IVE
LANDFILLS

This c1l11&lt;•n g111dt• I~ 1h1 htst compl"l'hcrwve
wn cy ol tht rud1&lt;&gt;il(Cb\·c (ontaminallon •••used b&gt;
th' pn&gt;du&lt;l1&lt;&gt;n .,1 m1dl'1r ''"~P•ln'

Vr1111/y Urfrnst nplJms h&lt;Jw nu&lt;l.:Jr weapoM
4t&lt; madl' hl1W rddh»lrh\'&lt;.' "'~''" '' gt·1wra11-d, Jnd
whl'rc lhl' ronlJm1nJtl1111 I• &gt;prc,1d1ng; the 16

pnnMn nudcar \\ ,)..trcm-.. JJi.,litic,. •re ,•x.01m1rh..J tn
•

d1•t.11I
In dddlunn tu ttu murt· than bO mdP", di.,gr.im'
phoh._, and 1o1bl1» In th1~ li't}.p.1gcbt1&lt;.1lo., t&gt;Mh 11r.:kr
".l«ompan11"ll "' a dr.1ma11c ~-«ulur II" 22 m.tp
shl1wtni; lran•p.. r1,111t111 mu It's u&lt;t.J in lh•• m.111Ufo(·

tu r, u1 nucl"·.u \\ .:apon'
To ordt•r, &gt;•.'0•1 :&gt;I~ lo L•lt•r.ilurt· Pepi , K.1d10.I•

W,,_t, ( ollllj'.llJlll,
N'"' Y&lt;or~ , ='' IXll2

Ill,.

!&gt;~5

llJ'UJd\\'d\ , 2nd floor

"''-=....
.=..,~
'I
I~
~~ BARE.ESSENTIALS :J

....

Natural Foods

....

Organic Produce
Biodegradable Diapers
•: Bulk Herbs, Spices, &amp; Grains :.
Vitamins &amp; Supplements
Wheat, Salt,
&amp; Yeast-Free Foods
Dairy Substitutes
•: H air &amp; Skin Care Products :.
lu 200 West Kini! Street. Boone NC 28607 Ill
~ \....

~~"="

704-264-5220

~·

In 1bc 11adiuonal Cherokee Indian belief, the
cremurcs in the world 1odny an: only diminuiuvc fonns of
the mythic beings who once inhabilcd the world. but
who now re$idc in Galuna'li, the spirit world, the hlghCSl
hca~cn. Bui a few of the original powers broke lhrough
lhe spirilU31 bamcr and .:itlSI yet ln lhe world as we know
•L These beings 111e c:lllcd wilh revcn:nce "grundfathc.rs"
And of 1hcm. the suongcst 111c KQl\Qti. the lighllling, the
power of the sky; Uis:i'na1i, I.he raulesnake. who
personifies the power or the earth plane; and Yunwi Usdi,
"the liule mnn", as ginseng is culled in the sncnd
ceremonies. whodr.iws up power from lhc underworld.
Each LS the sllongest power m its own domwn.
Togclhcr they arc :iUics: their cncrg.ies complement each
other to ronn an even grca1tr power. As medicine allies,
they repl'\!SCnt the healing pQwcrs or the Appalnehian
Mount:iios.
The medicine powers of K!!ltiilh have bctn
depicted m 11 striking T-shirt design by Ibby Kenna.
Printed in 4-color silkscreen by Ridgcrunner Naturals on
top quality. all-couon shins, they~ &amp;\·ailnble now in
311 odu.11 si1.cs through the Kalanu bio.regioWll mall-order
supplier.
Onler shirlS from: KRL RNU
Box 282: Sylv;:i, NC
Ka1Uah Province 28779

Plc:ise specify ~1.e: Sm., Med., lg., X-Lg.

_J~

Cost: S9.50. 111Cludcs ~ge
(NC raidcna plo:ae .xi S~ ulC$ LU.)

-~~~

'PJ~e,, 'JWJ\!WI 'Naty.r~
KRLANU

T·SHIRTS. SWEATSHIRTS
For ADULTS and CHILDREN

BIOREGIONRL BOOKS
ANO TOOLS FOR LI UING
IN APPALACHIA

ORIGINAL HAND·PRINTED
NAT URE DESIGNS
CALL or WAITE IOI'
FREE COLOR CATALOG

Natural Food Store
&amp; Dell

TI11: bc$t ICJlt on 0.:Cp Ecolo y.

Saacd Land Sncred Sex.
Rapture

160 Bl'OIM1Wsy
Ashevllle, NC 28801

Whef'9 ~ tNeta
t.llrrlmon Ave &amp; J..2«&gt;

or Lbe Deep

by o,iton:s l:lOrnpcllc
wt' ~lror:.Jd bf! glad 1/wrw&lt;' l'.a•cJ uuchcrJ.Judi as
Dolum iAG/iapellt • • Kli!Ual1 J0111ll3112J

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
Monday-s.tulday: llam·Spnt
Soodsy; lpm-Spm
P. Q

S\4rn rner, 1989

S23.00 (l'ricco lncludcsJIOlb£&lt;!)
r.:a
OrJu[rom: KflLRNU
Bo~ 182, s,l•a, NC, KDI~ Pr"'·'nt:"
~'C ,~,,/Lille ..,t,f j~ .~Ja

28189

�DRUMS· Custom handcrafted ctramic dumbccks &amp;;
wooden medicine drums. Call Joe Roberts al (704}
258-1038 or write to: n8 Town Mountain Rd.;
Asheville, NC ~-

ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY on beautiful land
nc:lf Cherokee, NC scclr.ing families dc.&lt;;iring gr;:41cr
cooperauon and sclf-wfficiency. Based on Spiriwal
and ccolog1cal values. Propcny now av:iilablc. Call
(404) 778-8754 ror info.
Tht

NatiqnQ/

Dlrtclor;y of Hollmc

Practi1ion.tr1. llt!oltrs, Schools. Centers, and
Rttrc.its is looking for listings. Make your skills
nv:ulablc. Prices and more info on re11uc~t: MichJcl
Rosenblum: The Notional Directory.... ; P.O. BoA
I'.!733; GaincsviUe, FL 32604

FOREST BIOLOGIST • PhD. to teach
corw:rv:ulon, pllllll i.:u&lt;onomy, gcncrlll biology,
wpcrvisc work crew (studenlS) m mo.nugemcn1 of
600 acres of college foco:i;L Rescarclt with undergrads
encouraged Send resumt io: V. Collins: W11rren
Wilson College: 701 W11min Wilson Rd.:
Swannanoo. NC 28n8

THE VITAL CONNECTION

WANTED. LANO in We$tem NC. Family seeks 5
or more acres. preferably ni:ar Cullowhcc, m
preserve :uid eventually inhabit If you have or know
of al!ord:iblc lmld, con1ac1 Bob wid Mary 0Jvis; 213
Wcsunoreland Ct.; Ccorgetown, KY 40324 (502)
863-4267

Long Bn1nch
Center needs
~olurucctS{mtcrns 10 help w1111 orc:h:1rds. gllrdens,
farmwock, rainbow trou1, cncrgy-cfficienl bwlding,
cnvironmenuiVwiJdlifc/pcrmacuhure issues nnd
orgamring. Room and board negoti3ble. Paul
Gallimore: LBEEC; Rt. 2. Box 132; Lcic;c:;ter, NC
28748

rituals, roles, :ind relationships from I.he on:hctypul
memory of the pnst., present, and future. S3 to
Colleen Redman: One Song Scribe; l;loic 634;
Floyd, VA 2A091.

M. TREE DESIGNS:

lllustrauo11~

and

Dc~ign

•

Beyond the p:ige&gt; of I.his JOU!nill, J worJ. m pencil,
colored pencil. ink, cul p3pcr, uml batik. Fine and
graphic :ut IO express and enhance nur lives. Logcx,

brochures, book.,, portraiture, window :md wall
h:ingings. Contact Manha Tree (70-1) 754-«&gt;97.
SUMMER CAMP· June 19·30, ages 6-10; Jul)'
1(}.22. ngus 11+ in th~ mounwms o{ MaJ1"°n Co..
NC. Raising the ccolog1Clll consc1ousncss or ruiurc
gcncr:mons. For info, wnlC: John or Dory Brown;
RL I, Boir. 84·B: HOI Springs, NC 28743.
ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY m lhe Smoky
Mt'nt. of east TN. 10 acres wi1h creek. springs,
views, good nc1ghbor$. Be 11 p-.irt for S8500. Dill
Leslie (615) 4S3· IS38.

STIL·LICHT THEOSOPHICAL RETREAT
CENTER • a quic1 space for Jll!tSonnl mcdi1111ion,
group inu:rocuon lhrough study, and communit)·
work. and ~-pirituul semlll!ln&gt;. Contacl l..eQn Fcankcl;
RL I, Box 326: W11&gt; oesvillc, NC 28786.

ECO-HELP NEEDED
Environmental Educa11on

Tl/£ PEOPLE OF Tl/£ ONE SONG • booklet or
SlOrieS and poems that tell or the people's dreams,

EUSTACE CONWAY· Guide and teacher or
primiuve E:uth Skills with emph:isis on fire
building, ludo tanning. ~helter, nnd foraging. He
lenchcs at 11ubhc schools, park~. c:nv1ronmcnwl
centers. and classes or ntl kinds. For more
1nfom13ll0l'I contact him ill: 602 Deerwood Drive,
G:i."lonia, NC 280114 or c:n1I Allcin St:llllcy :it (704)
872-7972

ADVENTURE FOODS • dehydrated foods for
people who work or play 1n 1he groat ouldoors.
Entree&gt; and Jide dtsli~. Send for menu and prices.
Jemi's O:irden Greats: tu. 2, Box 276; WhittiC!l", NC
28789 (7CV.) 497..4113.

MOTHER'S BREATH HERBAL PRODUCTS high quali1y herbal cxll'tlcis. ointments, and oils,
lovingly created. Send for free brochure 10 Rt. 2,
Box 251: Vila.~. NC 28692

JOURNEY INTO THE SUCK.ROCK Wilderness
Arca. Boy~. fo1.her-son, rau1cr-&lt;bughiu ellpcditions.
Learn obscJValJOll and woodcraft in the deep woods.
Burt Kornegay, C&gt;&lt;pcricnced guide. Slickrock
Expeditions; Box 1214; Cullowhcc, NC 28723.

MOON DANCE PARM HERBALS· herbal salve.~.
tincture~ . .t oils for birthing &amp;; family health. Rlr
brochure, plea~ write: Moon Dance F31m; Rt I,
Box 726: H.lmpt0n, TN 37658

FEEL EARTH beneath yoor feet - wear moccasins.
Custom, r.mdilion:ll Plains lndlan style of ellcskin.
S50 adull: S35 chlldtcn; SIS baby. Send foet tracing
to: P&lt;1tricl Clark.: 47 Panol:i: Asheville.. NC 28801
or co.II 2S t !!250.

ADOPT-A· TREE. Trees are the gte:lt consc.rY!ltors
of the pllntL The Adopt-A·Tree program will bc:lp
mnkc the viUll connection ~wC(ll individual people
and mdividwl ttccs. Don:itioru acccpied. For more
mfo, wnte to Box 144. Sugar Grove, NC 28679

SKINFOODS • fresh. hund-mado herbal skin
prcp;u-:uions a1 to:01$0nable prlc~ Send for price lbt:
106 E. Main St.: John~ City TN 37601
LEAD TESTS • h yuur plumbtng leaching
IClld into )"Our dnnlingwal.C'r? Find out
for sure • lcad·testing Int from the non-profit Clean
W::ucr F~nd or NC. All you nc.;J for 512. Send a
check w/ nJmc and address to CWF; 138 E.
Chcstnul SL: Asheville, NC 28801
poisonou~

HAND-CARVED WOODSPIRITS, mystical
hilung staffs, ;ind w:tll hangings by St.eve DullClln.
For br«hurt, plca.-;c write Wb1ppoorw11l Studio;
Rt 4, Box 981; Marion, NC 28752.
FOUR WINOS VILLAGE • health and sp1t11ual
rctre11t: home for chd.Jren m need. For VlSiting mfo..
write· Box 112; Tiger~ CA 30S76.
ORGANIC FERTILIZERS. herbs, and
organiClllly-gruwn. IDC:il produce 31 the WNC
Farmc~· ~1.id:ct! Look for the Fairgkn Farms sun,
uniL~ F and C 1n the wholc-&lt;ak area ol lhc Farmrrs'
M;irket: 570 Brevard Rd.~ A~hcvillc, NC (70.l)
252-4414

NEEDED: CHILO-LOVING PERSON who loves
lO cook to be a nanny and housekeeper for my four
children. Hows, wages neg01iable. Rm. t1nd bd.
available. Asheville are&lt;1. Cnll Morgan (704)
689-5382.

RM DESIGNS · I use the media or pencils. colored
gou::iche. pen and ink, and photography m
cre:itmg unique line :md grnphic nn I cnn make
di11gr:1111~. logo!&lt;, fini~hcd prints, nnd dei;igns ror
brochures, &lt;:alcndcrs. cards, book.$. eic. Mandal!ll nnd
symbuls nre my tendency among OLhcr s1ylcs.
Contacl Rob Mess1rlc (704) 7&gt;1-6097.
pencil~.

ARTS CAMP • nn intcgrutcd ;in c~p¢ricncc for
cluldrcn 4-14 at Marshall Primary School monungs.
Chiltlrcn's Ans tn lhc MounuuJl.'I. For schcdul~ mro.
call BclSCy StllQChaJ ut {70-1) 689-4699 or El11..:ibcUI
Roberts :u (70l) 2S!l-8647.
EARTH REACH EDUCATION ASSOCIA TIOI'
ltJching prin1111ve skills to c.bildNn and adulLS.
Robert Marun, Jr. 11nd Jeanne Moore: Rt. I, Box
178-A: Fcrrum, VA 24088.

GREENS BIBLIOGRAPHY over 800 entries on
tho: intcmimonol Green pntt.ies 11nd movcmcru. SS
{domcst", include! postage) w J;iy Michael Ochs:
443 Mnrkc1 SL: Williamspon. PA 17701.
WE.BWORKING 1~ tree. Sent.I submissions Ul:
Kotc&lt;ah Journal
P.O. Boll 638
Lc1cc.~1cr, NC
Katuah Province 28748

Si.unmt:r. 1989

�The KatUtih Journal wants 10 communica1c your thoughts and
feelings 10 the other people in the bioregional province. Send them
10 us as letters, poems, stories, anicles. drawings, or pho1ographs,
etc. Please send your contributions to us at: KatUah Journal; P. 0.
Box 638: Leicester, NC: Katuah Province 28748.

ISSUE THREE- SPRING 1984
Siutainabl4 Agricul1111c. Sunnowcts • Human
lmp•cl on th1t Forc!l'.I - Childrcns' Edue&amp;1lon
Veronica Nicholu:Wonum in Politics • Uulc
People-Medicine Allies

Wild habitat is disappearing. The wild creatures are
disappearing and wilJ be gone unless brave humans Ulke note and
act. The imponance of habitat to biodiversity and the effect of
human beings on the natuml systems in Southern Appalachia will
be the topic of the foll issue of the KatUah Journal. For aUthings
wild!

Topics for funher issues include Children; Wellness; and
Crealing Nurturing Cultures. Please send ideas, suggestions,
anwork, and possible anicles on these and other subjects.

BACK ISSUES OF KATUAH AVAILABLE

ISSUE SIXTEEN· Swnmcr 1987
Helen Wal10 • Poem: Vls1ons in a Oudcn •
Virion Qucn • Fini Flow • lnilutlon Lctmina in !he Wilderness • Chciolcec
Challcngi: - -Valuing Tn:ca"

~LJAH JOURNAL

ISSUE FOUR SUMMER 1984

ISSUE El&lt;lHTESN - Winier 1987-88

Water Dnlm Water Quality • Kudzu . Sow
Ech!'S¢ . Cl411'CU1ting Trout - Ooing to Wallu
Ram Pwnps • MictQhydro · Poems: Bcnrut
lee Sinclair. Jim Wayne Millet

Vc:mamJlu Aichiiecllll1' DrCfnU m Wood and
Stone - Mouniam Home Earth Energies
EanJt.Shcllered Llving • Membrane Houses

Brush Sheller • Poems: Octoll£r Ou•k • Oood
Mcdlcinc: "Shella"

lSSUE FIVE FALL 1984
IUNefl . OW Ways in Chctolcec - Oinscng 'luclcill' Waste • Our Celtic Heritage •
Biorcgionalism: Past, Prcunt, and Futuro •
John Wilnoty • Hc31ing Dllllcncss - Politiei of

ISSUE NINETEEN · Spring. 1988
Pcrlcaodra C.nlen • Spring Toma Blucbcrrics
WiWOowcr Gardens - Cranny Hi:rbalin •
Flower Es~ -rbc Origin of 11¥: Animols·
Stary Oood Mcdlcme. "Po,,.ct" Be ATn:e

ParucipnllOn

ISSUE SIX· WINTER 19114-SS
Winier Solstice Eanh C=rnony • Ho11Cp3S1111c
R1vcT Coming ol the Ught - Lo11 c.hin
Rooca - Mountain Agra.:ul1urc: The Righi Crop
WiUiAm Taylor The Fuwr" of the F~

ISSUE TWENTY - Summer, 1988
l'racrvc Appa!Khian WI.~ • Hlghbnds
of Roan • ~lo Communuy - Land Trust •
Arthur Morpn School Zonma Luue - '1'bc
Ridge• • Farmers and the Farm Bill . Ooocl
Mi:dicmc: "Land" • Mid Rain Dukc'J Pov.er
PIAy • ChclOk.ec Microhydro Projoct

lSSVE SEVEN · SPRING 1985
Sus1Jlinabl4 Economic$ · Hot Spring$ • Worker
Owncnhip - The Cn:al Eeunomy - S~lf Help
Credit Union • Wild Turby · Responsible
lnvcsung · WQtbng"' tho Web of l..ifo
lSSUE EIGHT · SUMMER 1985
Cclcbnuion: A W~y of Ufc • Kiuuah 18.000
Ycan Ago . SIK"Rd Siles Folk Ans "' the
Schools Sun Cycle/Moon Cycle PO&lt;lllls:
Hilda Downe: - Chcralccc Heri1J1gc Cenlto:f •
Who Owns Appaladua?
ISSUE NINE- FALL 1985
The Waldcc l'orC1t The Trus Spuk Migrating Porests • Horu Logging Swting a
Tree Crop· Urban TYCCS - Acom Bread - .Mylh

ISSUE TWENTY.ONE · FAil. 198ll
Ch4Stnu1.1: A 1'111Ural Histmy • Rt11or1t1g the
Chulnut ·Poem of Prcsctva&amp;IQO and Prai""•
Continuing !he QuCSI • Forests and Wildlife
Cllcsmuu in Reaional Diet
Chu1nut
Re.sources Hotb Note. • Oood Medicine:
•Changes 10 Cmnc" - Review: W/lu41 uimdl
Li~

8IOREGIONAl.J0oRNAl OF ™E SOUTMERll APPA~IAN$

ISSUE ELEVEN SPRINO 1986
Community Planning • Cities and Ille
Bi.mgional Vision • Recycling . Community
Oindenlna· Flo)'d Counly. VA. Oasohol Two Biorcaional Views Nuclear Supplement
Foar11c 011111C$ - Oood Medicine: Visions

ISSUE FOURTEEN- W1111er 1986-&amp;7
Uoyd Carl Owlc Boogcrs and Mununas - AD
Species Day - Cabin Fever Un1vcrsil)' Homclcu in Ka1uah • HumCl!Ulde Ho1 War.c
Siovcmatcr"1 N11tTa11ve • Cood Mcd1cmc:
lnicnpcc= Communicallon

ISSUETWENTY-'IWO-Wintcr. '88.S9
OlobaJ Wamnng • Fire Thi. Tune Thomu
Bcny on ·sioreaio#J" - Eu1h Ellmi.sc • Kon:
Loy McWhinu An Abundlnceof£mp1incss
L£TS • Chton1clas of Floyd • Dany Wood

lSSUETIURTEEN. Fall 1986
Ccn1er For Awakening- E11Wicth c.Jlm - A
Ocn11., Du.th • Hospice - Emc.11 \foraan •
Dcalin1 Crc•tively with Death • Home Burial
Bo~ • The Wake - The Raven Mocker Wooclslorc and WIWwoods Wi&lt;dcm - Good
Medicine: Thai Sweat Uxfl:"

ISSUE FIFTEEN -Spring 1987
Covcrlets • Wonu.n l'or-CSlct -Susie McMalwl
Midw1(c • Ahemalivc Contraccpuon Bioscxualil}' • Biorcgional1SJJ1 and Women
Ooocl Modicme: MJllriachuial Cultuni • ~

ISSUE TWENTY-TIIR.E.E ·Spring. 1989
Pisgah VUlaac · Plmcl At! - Orccn City Poplar Appeal "Clcu Sky" • "A N"w E.vtl1"
Bbc:lr. Swan - Wild Lovdy Ou-µ • Rov1c:w1:
Soucd Land. Sacud Sa, Ir• "'" - Poem:

truavtes . The a-Chin

T111111
ISSUE TEN - WINTER 1985°86
Kate Roac:s - Circlet of S101111 • ln1cmal
Mythmaltilt&amp; • Hoh•lic Hco.ling on Trial Poems: Sieve Knaulh • MylhiQ PlacC$ • ~
Uk1ena·s Talc - Crysial Magic: •
"On:.mspcaltina-

~U AH JOURNAL

P.O. Box 638 Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748

For more info: call Mamie MuJler (704) 683-1414
Regular Membership........ SlO/yr.
Sponsor.........................$20/yr.
Conmoucor.....................S50/yr.

Name
Address

City
Area Code
Summer, 1989

Enclosed is S
ro give
this ejf an extra bOost
on
State
Phone Number

"Sudden Tmirils"

Zip

l can be a local contact
person for my area

Back Issues
Tssue it __@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue 4# _ @ $2.50 = $_ _
rssue # _@ $2.50 = s__
Issue#_@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue#_@ $2.50 = $ _ _
Complete Se1 (3-1 J , 13-16,
18-23)
@ S35.00 = $_ _

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                <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, Issue 24, Summer 1989</text>
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                <text>The twenty-fourth issue of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; focuses on peace in the mountains: settling controversies; a look at the Oak Ridge Reservation; and promoting peace through community building. Authors and artists in this issue include: David Wheeler, Judith Hallock, Patrick Clark, Richard Lowenthal, Heather Pittillo, Marnie Muller, Rob Messick, Will Ashe Bason, Marnie Muller, Milo Guthrie, Mary de La Valette, "kent," Jim Houser, Charles Rampp, and Melanie Bridges. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, 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.</text>
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ISSUE 25 FALL 1989

.

for all things wild
I

,..

�October 27, 1989

"Restoring Biodiversity in the Southern Appalachians:
A Strategy for Survival"
Owen Conference Center, University of ~orth Carolina Asheville
A major conference bringing together scientists, educators, government land managers,
and conservationists to speak about the condition of the Southern Appalachian habitat and
the necessity to
initiate new programs for habitat
preservation
and restoration to
maintain the
the southern
diversity of life in
mountains.
For more
information
call (704)
251-6441

Registration: $20.00.

October 28

October 28

"Wild
in the Streets:
The Feral Ball "

"For All
Things Wild"
Warren Wilson College
Swannanoa, NC
Issues and strategy
discussion among activists
directed to arrive at means of restoring
biological diversity in the Southern
Appalachian region.
Speakers: Reed Noss, Laura
Jackson, Robert Zahner, Peter Kirby,
Jamie Sayen, David Wheeler. Open
discussion period.
Registration: $5.00. For more info:,
call (704) 298-3325 (Ext. 250).

rock to the music of

Grandmother
and

One Straw
We call upon the spirits of the wild!
Come costumed as one of our native
mountain species - or to express your
own wildest self!

8:00 pm. Location to be announced.

Postage Paid
Bulk Mail
Permit #18
Leicester, NC

28748

P.O. Box 638 Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

�The Great Forcst ........................... 3
by Sam Gray

Restoring the Old-Growth Forest........5
by Robert 'Zahner

Regional Planning
for Habitat Intcgrity................... 8
by Laura Jackson

A Question o f Value ...................... 10
hy Dm·id Wheeler

Closing the Gate
on Forest Devastation ................ 12
by Anna Muir

Poem: "Sparrow Hawk" ................. 13
by Julia NUlllllJJ/y Duncan

A Place for Bears ......................... 15
An Interview with Dr. Michael Pelton

Poem: "There Fell the Rain Healing" .. 16
by Annelinde Metzner

Eastern Panther, Where Are You?...... 17
by Patrick Clarlr.

Oak Decline ................................ 19
by Hetllher Blair

People and Habitat ........................ 2 1
by Chip Smith and Lee Kinnaird Fawart

Perpetual Wild Sanctuaries ..............23
Natural World News..................... 24
Drumming ................................. 26
Living Green .............................. 29
Baner Fair................................. 30
(Natural) Resources ...................... 31
Events Calendar........................... 32
Webworking ............................... 34
1'"iirt. t 989

To sense what ls happening In the
mountains, we begin by perceiving
the Southern Appalachian region as
an ongoing. functioning. organic
euent. ..within the greater biosphere.
We can then tdenUfy ourselves and
our species In relation to It and sense
our place within Its evolutionary
history and cycles of renewal.
From the perspective of the whole
we are one species among many each \vith its own contribullon to
make. each wilh its own demands for
habitat. When there is a disturbance
in the pattern of the whole. the
effects even tu ally reach every
inhabitant.
Human beings have been here for
very few of the millions of years the
forest has been patiently growing
within a dynamic balance. In recent
times. our perception of these forests
has often lacked wisdom and
humility. resulting In actions
destructive to our home.
We can sense our relationship to
the whole, but we will never be able
to encompass It with our Intellect
alone. We are in it and of it. This Is

the Great Mystery of existence.
Intuitively we can perceive this
Mystery.
We can revere It and
celebrate lt. And by acting tn concert
with the Life cycles, we can come to
know It more fully. This knowing
then leads us to respond.
In thls issue of Katuah. we look at
biodiversity and habitat ln the
Southern Appalachian region and
how they are being disrupted.
Finding out about the current
situation In Katuah prompts us to
acuon--to speak out. protect. restore.
Throughout the articles. it becomes
apparent that to truly understand this
region. we need to experience.
acknowledge, and serve the region as
a whole.
-The Editors
Biodiversity is defined by ecologist Recd Noss llS "a
full complement of the native plant and animal species in
their natural or normal patterns of abundance."
Biodiversity is the foundation of evolution in any
biorcgion.

Habi tat is defined as an interdependent community of
life that supports the various species that live within iL
Habitat is the foundation of biodiversity.

�STAFF THIS ISSUE:
R.ichacd Lowenthal
Christina Morrison
James Rhea
Manha Tree

Rob Messick
Mamie Muller
Chip Smith
David Wheeler

EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:
Scott Bird
Jack Chaney
David Red
Kim Sandland

Heather Blair
Sam Gray
Marsha Ring
Morgan Swann

Thanks as well to Joe and Rhea and the Mountain Garden.
We offer special thanks for the influence of
Grandfather Mountain.

COVER by James Rhea
PUBLISHED BY; Ka11"1h Journal
PRINTED BY; The Waynesville Mountaineer Press
EDITORIAL OFFICE IBJS ISSUE: Globe Valley
W&amp;ITEUS AT:

TELEPHONE;
(704) 683-1414

Katt1ah Journal
Box 638

Leicester, NC
Katuah Province 28748
Diversity is an imponant clement of bioregional ecology, both

nmwaJ and social. In line with this principle. the KatU/Jh Journal lrics
to serve as a forum for the discussion of regional issues. Signed articles
express only the opinion of the authors and are not necessarily the
opinions of lhe Ka1Uah Journal editors or staff.
The Internal Revenue Service has declared KatU/Jh a non-profit
organization under section 501 (c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. All
contributions to KatU/Jh arc deductible from personal income tax.

'LNVOCA.TWN
Do you think you can take over the universe
and improve it?
I do not believe it can be done.

The universe is sacred. You cannot improve it.
If you try to change it, you will ruin it.
If you try to hold it, you will lose it.
-from imsage 29. Tao Te Ching
attributed to Lao Tzu

™E SOUTHERN APPALACillAN BIOREGION
AND MAJOR EASTERN RIVER SYSTEMS

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Here in the southern-most heartland of the
Appalachian mountains, the oldest mountain range on
our continent, Turrie Island; a small bur growing
group has begun to take on a sense of responsibility
for the implications of rhar geographical and cultural
heritage. This sense of responsibility centers on the
concept of living within the natural scale and balance
of 1miversal systems and principles.
Within this circle we begin by invoking the
Cherokee name "Kaufoh" as the old/new name for
this area of the mountains and for its journal as well.
The province is indicated by its natural boundaries: the
Roanoke River Valley to the nonh; thefoorhills of the
piedmont area to the east; Yona Mountain and the
Georgia hills to the south; and the Tennessee River
Valley ro the west.
The editorial priorities for us are to co/leer and
disseminate information and energy which pertains
specifically to this region, and to foster the awareness
rhar the land is a living being deserving of our love
and respect. Living in this manner is a way ro insure
the sustainability of the biosphere and a lasting place
for ourselves in its continuing evolutionary process.
We seem to have reached the fulcrum point of a
" do or die " situation in terms ofa quality standard of
life/or all living beings on this planet. As a voice/or
the caretakers ofthis sacred land, Kac-Uah, we advocate
a centered approach to rhe concept ofdecentralization.
It is our hope to become a support system/or those
accepting the challenge of sustainability and the
creation ofharmony and balance in a total sense, here
in this place.
We welcome all correspondence, criticism,
pertinent information, articles, artwork, etc. with
hopes that Kac-Uah will grow to serve the best interests
of this region and all its living, breathing members.
-The Editors

f"~U..

1989

�It may be that
s.ome little rcx:::&gt;t
of the sacred tree still
lives.
"-lou-ish it then,
that it may leof and
bloom and fill
with singing birds.

- Q,lock Elk

Until recent time a great inland forest overlay the eastern
ponion of Nonh America-a continuous biologic fabric extending
from Nova Scotia to Alabama, west along the tributaries of the
Mississippi, and boundaried in the east by the pine barrens and
lowland marshes of the coastal plain.
This forest had its origins in an ancient circumpolar forest
system that dominated the temperate zones of Asia, Europe and
Nonh America in the Eocene epoch of the Teniary Period (50
million years B.P. [Before Present]) when the continents were
closer together. In spite of the intervening continental drift,
successive ice ages and vast chasms of time, there remain, to this
day, striking botanical linkages in the existing forest remnants of
these continents. This is panicularly evident in genera such as Acer
(maples), Panax (ginseng), Cory/us (hazels}, Populus (poplars),
Cornus (dogwoods), and Rhododendron.

(continued on ncxl page)

f'ca!t. t 989

Ji:.ati&amp;ah Jo\lrnQL p1i9e 3

�(continued &amp;om page 3)

The vast inland forest of Eastern America was geophysically
dominated by the long spine of the Appalachian Mountains which
determined the Forest's biological stTucture and diversity.
Contemporary references to what remains of this forest employ
terms such as "mixed mesophytic", "eastern hardwood" or
"temperate deciduous" to describe it. For purposes of this essay,
acknowledging its extent, its ancient origins, its astounding
diversity and resilience, its immense productive capacity, and its
profound effect on various human populations over the past 10,000
years, it will be telllled "The Great Forest".
When ecologists first began attempting to describe temperate
forest ecosystems, they developed the model of succession and
climax growth. This model, describes a developing forest that is
undergoing a series of stages in which pioneer plant communities
and their associated fauna colonize the area and are then replaced by
successor communities of larger trees until a forest of dominant
trees, known as the "climax forest" establishes a stable equilibrium.
This climax old gTOwth would cominue until some "disturbance"
such as fire, disease, climate change or human impact takes out the
climax community and the succession cycle begins again.
The succession-climax model is a useful one for
understanding the ecology of the Great Forest. It helps us to
recognize the importance and relative stability of old growth forests
and it describes how biotic communities in a forest maintain and
transform themselves over time as they respond to discontinuities
and disturbances, panicularly those caused by humans.
The first humans in the Great Forest were nomadic
gatherer/hunter groups who arrived after the last glaciation some
10,000 years B.P. These groups ranged over many thousands of
acres of oak-chestnut climax growth as well as other forest biomes
and while their impact on the forest was small by contemporary
standards, it was nonetheless important. Fire was the principal
instrument of ecologic change and was to remain so even into
recent rimes.

By 1900, the only remaining large boundary
of the original Great Forest lay in Katuah - the
Southern Appalachian highlands. Within two
decades that too was gone.

Seventeenth century Europeans observed and commented on
the burnings. "The savages," wrote Thomas Morton, "are
accustomed to set fire of the country in all places where they come
and to burne it twize a year, viz: at the spring and the fall of the
leafe." The purpose of the burnings was no less than ecosystem
management: facilitation of travel, augmentation of browse area for
game, encouragement of desirable herbage such as blackberry.
raspberry, and cenain grasses. the increase of mast-producing trees
Uke oak and chesmut on the drier, warmer soils of a burn area, and
the destruction of vermin and pests such as fleas. Selective burning
by the lndfans promoted a mosaic quality in the forest ecosystem
and created areas in many different stages of succession wilh
extensive boundary areas and a greater variety of game and plant
habitats - a phenornonen ecologists refer to as the "edge effect".
Thus the Indians practiced their own subtle kind of forest
management and husbandry. So subtle in fact, as to be undetected
in early European descriptions of the Great Forest. When 17th and
l 8rh century promoters of North American real estate extolled the
"natural" abundance of the land, they were unaware that they were
describing an ecosystem that the natives had been shaping for
thousands of years.

Other imponant aspects of the complex relationship between
the Great Forest and its native inhabitants escaped the notice of the
Europeans. As William Cronon points out in his masterful
ecological history of New England, Changes in the Land, a central
fact of temperate forest ecosystems is their periodicity. The
overlapping cycles of light, dark, long days, short days,
waxing/waning of the moon, the flow of sap, the rurting of deer,
spawning of fish, the matings of turkey, bear and frog, the fruiting
of plants and the migration of birds... these and myriad other
contrapuntal rhythms of the Great Forest's energy cycles were
understood and celebrated by the natives. Their own life rhythms of
seasonal nomadism, work, ritual and play were evolved from the
greater cycles of the forest . The European immigrants' experience
of natural cycles, on the other hand, had been filtered for over a
millenium through a culture offixed abodes and a social hierarchy
that discouraged nomadism as well as wilderness.
It is in the context of the periodic cycles of the forest that
Native American spirituality can best be understood. The Indians
did not attempt to manipulate, through magic and ritual, these
cycles to their own ends and were often confounded or amused by
the imprecatory prayers of the whites seeking the blessings of good
harvest and fortune from an awesome and distant god. Rather, their
own spiritual practices were designed to attune and inform
themselves to the subtleties of the forest's cycles. The
anthropologist Bronislow Malinowski recognized this when he
wrote in Myth and Primitive Psychology, "Magic never originated;
it never was created or invented. All magic simply was from the
beginning, as an essential adjunct to all those things and processes
which virally interested man (sic)." The natives inhabited an
animated forest world that was alive unto its fanhest recesses with
seen and unseen powers. Their task - the task of mind - was to so
organize themselves as to develop understanding of and
consonance with these powers.
When Europeans began to arrive at the Great Forest of North
America in sufficient numbers by the mid-17th century, they were
not disposed to recognize the animated universe that sustained the
natives. They could not or would not see the forest that the natives
knew, nor could they recognize the subtlety and intelligence behind
the Indians usage of the forest as habitat, susraining process, and
sacred ground. The European immigrants faced the Great Forest
with a conflicting array of perceptions and attitudes. The forest was
at once a threat and an opportunity.
The dominant sentiment in regard to the forest was that it was
an enormous commodity. Coming from lands long divested of
forests held in common, the right to extract and expon timber
almost at will was an overwhelming prospect 10 early
entrepreneurs. Wood was the main raw material for residential and
commercial building on both sides of the Atlantic, but it was even
more in demand as an energy source. Seventeenth and eighteenth
century industries in metallurgy, glass making and ceramics
required enormous amounts of wood for firing furnaces and for
charcoal. Individual household consumption was also extraordinary
by european standards. Peter Kalm, a Swedish naturalist visiting
colonial eastern America in 1749 wrote," an incredible amount of
wood is really squandered in this country for fuel..." As early as
1640, Boston was experiencing wood fuel shortages and most
major New England and mid-Atlantic settlements were soon to
follow.

foll, 1989

�The principal commodity that the Great Forest represented to
the E.uropeans was the land itself. Their original concepts of real
propeny were derived from the manorial system of feudal Europe
and can be ascenained by reviewing the terms or the Royal Charter
to the Massachusetts Bay Company:
"To have to houlde possess and enjoy the aforesaid
continent, lands, territories, islands, hereditaments and
precincts, seas, waters, fishings, with all and all manner their
commodities, royalties, libenies, prehemynences, and
profitts that should thenceforth arise from chcncc, with all
and singular their appunances and every pane and parccll
thereof unto the said councell and their successors and
assigns for ever."
The comprehensive, medieval, abstract quality of these early claims
underwent an evolution as they passed through the lexicon of 17th
and 18th century New World institutions, but the focus on
"commodities, royalties, liberues and profitts" never changed.
What also wen1 unchanged, leading to countless
misunderstandings and much bloodshed, was the European
assumption of the sovereignty of propeny rights granted through
'legal' title 10 Land. To the natives, the notion that parcels of land
could be considered commodities, bought and sold like cattle,
boundaried, possessed, 'improved', divided and sold again or
transferred to heirs was absurd. For them, land tenure was a
function of usage and usage was linked 10 the mobility that was a
central part of the strategy of resource management based on
periodicity. The Indian villages moved from habitat to habitat to
find maximum abundance with minimal work and reduced impact
on the land while the Europeans, in fixed abodes on their titled
propeny, worked long hard days 10 intensively farm or 'improve'
land with the eventual result being ecological degradation. It was
the concept of 'improvements' - replacing forest with fields and
pasture and the building of sheds, barns and homes - that soon
became the colonial justification for dispossessing the natives. A
people who moved around on the land and worked it so lillle could
have no justifiable claim to possess it. There were plenty of
references in the bible and in Calvinist theology to back up such a
sentimenL The unimproved forest with its native inhabitants was
eventually seen as an affront to progress, and Christian community.

r"u, t 989

With God's backing the righteous began to exterminate or conven
the savages and 'improve' the Great Forest out of existence.
The decimation of the Great Forest proceeded in two fairly
distinct historical phases - the first, occurring in the colonial period
and lasting until about 1850, can be termed pre-capitalist. It was
characterized by the deforestation patterns of an agricultural
economy. The best land was cleared for field crops and pasture.
Commercial extrnction of timber for energy or wood products was
confined to terrain accessible by human/animaJ power. The second
phase was indusoial/capitalist and it continues to the present day.
Utilizing machinery, organized capital, and cheap local labor, the
forest was harvested to satisfy national and international timber
demands. As habitat for the incredible diversity of wild plants and
creawres was impoverished, fonunes were amassed by men far
away who were never required to look upon the devastation. By
1900, the only remaining large boundary of the original Great
Forest lay in Katuah - 1he Southern Appalachian highlands. Within
two decades 1ha1 too was gone.
As humans, we have known the forest in many ways - as
home, as sustenance, as sacred ground, as repose, as commodity,
as teacher, as refuge. Our species is only now realizing the extent
of its power 10 diminish the radiance of the Great Forest. We are
beginning to understand a glimmer of what was... for we were once
forest-dwellers. Today there is an archetype becoming known in
the human spirit ...of regeneration. There is an embryonic
recognition of what we have lost and of what we must restore. We
cannot continue as we have done. The forest calls 10 us to come
back, for our own sake and for the sake of all our relations
dwelling therein.
The quotation from Black Elk that begins this essay captures
this hope for us when he speaks of the roots of the Sacred Tree the Tree of Life. The Sacred Tree, a universal symbol of
regeneration of both the human spirit and of the Earth, nourishes
our memory to recall that though the Great Forest has been felled, it
cannot and will not ever leave us.

wriuen by Sam Gray
plU&gt;co ofJoyce Kilmer Memorial Forest on page 3 by
larry Tucker
x.at.Uah JounuiL p!UJ•

s

�Restoring the Old-Growth Forest
by Robert Zahner
A thing is right when it rends to preserve
the inregriry, stabi/iry, and beauty of rlze biotic
community. Ir is wrong when it tends
otherwise.
- AldD Leopold (I 949)
We stand at the threshold of a great
decision. We are on the verge of re-defining the
importance of our mountain landscape, its
natural habitats, and the Life forms they support.
Science has shown tha1 such habitats are vi1al to
planetary life support systems where natural
communities of interdependent plants and
animals can maintain reservoirs of biological
diversity.
When extensive logging destroyed the
primeval fores1s of the Southern Appalachian
Mountains, a critical factor for biodiversity,
habitat continuity over large areas, was
eradicated. During the century between 1830
and 1930 forest clearing and burning ravaged
native bio1ic communities and terminated
unknown numbers of plant and animal species.
Habitats were fragmented, and many surviving
endemic species were left in smaU, isolated
communities.
ln the first quaner of the twentieth century
the Southern Appalachian National Forests were
established as watershed preserves. Federal
conservation policies permined many forest
habitats to begin the natural process of restoring
themselves. This regrowth ecosystem, or
second generation forest, was similar to the
original primeval forest only in that it still
contained most of the original plant and animal
species. Today, after 60 to 80 years of recovery,
the new forest is still maturing, still unfolding its
species composition as new niches are created in
the complex progression toward what modem
ecologists term an "old-growth forest." But it
still has a long way to go to reach biological
maturity.
There is now the potential to restore a
diversity of species that would resemble the old
primeval forest. There is also the danger,
because of present National Forest management
plans, of losing much of the restoration already
gained. The United States Forest Service
(USFS), administered by foresters who are
highly competent timber managers, interprets the
Congressional Multiple Use-Sustained Yield Act
of 1960 with a strong bias toward harvesting
commercially mature timber. The Act states
implicitly, however, that al/ resources of the
Notional Forests ore to be managed for sustained
yield. Other acts of Congress go on to define
natural diversity as a vital resource of 1he public
lands, and mandate that this resource shall be
maintained through habitat preservation. This
paper is written with the intent of furthering
public knowledge of this important
environmental issue.
Three Levels of Diversity

lo the despoilment and fragmentation of
the original forest, three levels of diversity were
either destroyed or placed in jeopardy: ( l)
genetic diversity within species, (2) species
diversity within habitats, and (3) habitat
Xatium Jo~rrmt P"9e 6

diversity within landscapes. We have no record
of how many species were irretrievably lost, but
1oday we are beginning co count the numbers
that are presently endangered and threatened
with extinction. Let us consider how lhese three
types of diversity are essential for a healthy
bioregion, and how all three can be restored as
the new forest grows toward biological
maturity.

Genetic Diversity: A great many
species counted as rare today could again
become more abundant if we allow natural biotic
processes to evolve unmolested.
For example, in the forest of today the
mountain gentian plant (Gentiana decora
Pollard)_grows singly or in small colonies in

damp, rich wooded habitats, generally isolated
from other members of the species by unsuitable
habitats. Gentians are pollinated by several rypes
of inseclS who are able to cross-fertilize separate
colonies of the plant. Thus, if undisturbed by
human activity, pollen exchange will increase
genetic diversity within the gentian species over
an ever-increasing area of 1he mountain
landscape. This renewed generic vitality is
critical to the future well-being of the species, as
human-caused environmental changes continue
to force all forms of life to adapt to such stresses
as aunospheric pollution and accelerated climatic
warming.
The same situation is true for literally
thousands of species of plants and animals
throughout the mountains. Each example
f"~U.. t989

�requires its own special sening, but the common
theme is natural balance. An endemic terresual
mole salamander, Ple1ho&lt;k&gt;n1ordani, is a highly
significant insectivore in the world beneath the
leaf litter of a mature hardwood forest. This
salamander requires large areas of ~ontinuous
forest cover to afford geneuc n11gra11on among
populations. Thus. when the cwopy overhead is
fragmented or removed. breeding populat!ons of
this animal disappear to reco.,,er only w11h the
re-establishment or the mature hardwood fores t.
Many species of reptiles. amphibians, and
anhropods w11h limited mobi:ity have similar
requirements for genetic exchange.
Conditions that promote generic diversity
arc essential so each species can adapt and
evolve, panicularly in light of the accelerating
environmental changes expected in the next
century.
Species Diversity: The next scale of
diversity is that of species within habitats. This
is often misinterpreted by federal land managers
to mean "the greatest number of differe nt
species for each given unit of land."
It is well kno wn that the na tural
succe ssio n of weed y species occupying
disturbed sites provides a wealth of diversity in
te rms of to tal numbe rs. The Southern
Appalachian Mountains today abound w ith
disturbed sites, the result of Jar.d clearings, road
bui lding, comme rc ial and reside ntial
development, forest c learcuuing, agricultural
activity, and wildfires. Therefore. the weedy
plants and small animal species that characterize
early succession habitats are most commo n
throughout lhe region.
But what about species diversity in other
habitats once prevalent in the primeval forest?
Two hundred years ago a north-facing site at
3,SOO feet elevation in the Blue Ridge
Mountains would likely have supported a mature
oversrory of 20 or more tree species, with many
large trees over 200 years old. The midstory
would have been composed of perhaps 20 or
more species of smaller trees of all ages, from
reproduction saplings fillin1 canopy pps to
very old species adapted to live out their lives in
the shade.
Many tree species, such as basswood
(TUia ~rerophylla VcnL), yellow birch (Betula
alleghaniensis Britt.), buncmut (J1111lans cinera
L.), mountain maple (Acer spicatum Lam.),
mountain winterbcny (Ila mofllana T . and G.),
ycllowwood (Cladrastis kentulcea Rudd), and,
of course, American chestnut (Castanea delllQta
Borich.). were more common in this ancient
foresr lhan they are today.
Shrub spec ies were numerous, and
carpeting !he ground in many places were large
colonies of painted trillium (Trillum undulatum
Willd.), baneberry (Actaea pachypoda Ell.),
do g-tooth violet (Eryrhronium americum Ker.),
um brella-leaf (Diphylleia cymosa Michaux).
jack-in-the-pulpit (Arisema triphyllum Schott.),
and many fem species.
Rotting logs provided substrate and
micro-habitats for many S1&gt;ecies of fungi.
mosses. splecnwons. and all the attendant
invertebrate and small vertebrate animals that
were essential to the health of the entire larger
community. The large trees. living and dead.
provided food, shelter, and breeding situations
for many birds and other venebrate animals that
require a biologically mature. undisturbed.
mixed hardwood forest habitat. The mature
forest was a dynamic biotic community that
f'Q{L, t989

supported a large array of
interdependent species.
!'\one of the plants or
animals mentioned above is
exceptionally rare today. although
a number of today's threatened or
endangered species. such as the
small whorled pogonia (lsotria
medeoloides Rafinesque), could
well have been present in such a
habitat. The particular
corn/Jination of these species.
however, taken together as a
functionmg ecosystem. is today a
rare occurrence.
What species m ight be
present on such a site today'!
Following the indiscriminate
logging and burning at the the
tum of the century, conditions
were so severely altered that the
second-grow t h forest now
consists typically of a mixture of
60 to 80 year o ld oaks and
hickones, with perhaps fewer than 10 other tree
species. More prominent today are the
m1d-successional species: yellow poplar
(liriendendron tulip/era L.), eastern white pine
(Pinus strobw L .), black locust (Robinia
pseudoacacia L .). sourwood (Oxydendron
a rboreum L.), sassafras (Sassafras albidum
Nee s.), and stump sprouts o f Americ an
chestnut. Scauercd individuals of most of the
original species are also present, but the species
composition is so drastically altered that the
highland forest is typically c lassified as
~oalc-hiclcory" ralher than "mixed hardwoods."
Large cavity trees arc rare. The large
decomposing logs that typify biologically mature
habitat are largely absent from today's regrowth
forests.The number of undcrstory and ground
cover species are now reduced, retaining those
that thrive on disturbance, such as species of
berries (Vaccinium and Gaylussacia) and
rhododendron.
Early succession habitat caused by human
disturbance is the only habitat type that is
well-represented on the second level of
biodiversity, the diversity of species within
habitats. But the forest communities are slowly
maturing, and species enric hment is occurring
gradually in those habitat s that arc left
undisturbed. Biologically mature habitats, or
old-growth mixed hardwood forests, are again a
possibility within the next century.
Just as genetic diversity within a species
is e ssential for adaptation for survival in a
changing enviro nme nt, so spec ies d iversity
with in a habitat is essent ial for the whole
community of interdependent plants and animals
to meet the demands of evolution. The future of
those species combinations best adapted to old,
mature hardwood forest communities depends
on the integrity of the entire habitat.
Habitat Divers ity: Differentiation on
the third level of biological d iversity, that of
habitat diversity in the regional landscape, has
also been gradually emerging in the Southern
Appalachian Mountains throughout the second
half of this century. The national forest-; provide
large, contiguous blocks of forest area. which,
if they continue to be left und1stur_bed. ha~e the
potential to mature into a mosaic of diverse
forest habitats, each accommodating its own

composition of species, and all together making
provision for the genetic diversity essential for
species evolution. The key requirement for this
regional diversity lies in maintaining a continuity
of undisturbed habitats across the landscape.
Disconnected habitats that are left to
mature as isolated fragments cannot serve as
more than small rcfugia for generic material.
Such limitation confines ecnetic variation within
the boundaries of each of these tiny habi1a1 areas
and restricts the potential for evolution to
respond to future changes in the cnvironmenL
The current policy of national forest
management is to accommodate landscape
diversity by pwcscrving fragments of old growth
stands dispersed throughout a landscape that is
predominantly even-aged
st~nds .of
commercially valuable tree species wnh
provisions for a few important species of game
animals. This concept of diversity is analogous
to the preservation of species in arboretu ms.
bota nical gardens, and zoos. Cen ainl y a
bead-lily (Clinronia borealis Raf.) in a cultivated
garden has lost most of its wild "lily-ness,"
because a wildflower removed from its natural
habitat is no longer serving its role as a strand in
the web of life. In like manner, a fragment of
old-growth forest preserved in a landscape of
managed young forests has lost its essential
nature, as it is no longer a pan of the web of
biological e volution in the region its generic
material serves.
At the level of habitat diversity. just as at
the two lower levels. the ability or an entire
bioregion to adapt and survive environmental
change depends on the diversity of its natural
habitats. The greater the number of mature

�REGIONAL PLANNING FOR HABITAT
INTEGRITY
by Laura E. Jackson

Laura Jackson is the author of the study
Mountain Treasures at Risk: The Future of the
Southern Appalachian National Forests, a

comprehensive overview and critique of the US
Forest Service's Land and Resource Managemem
Plans for the six national forest areas of the
Southern Appalachians.
Laura is completing graduate work at the
School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at
Duke University. She wrote the sllldy in
cooperation with Peter Kirby, regional director,
and other staff members of the Southeast
Regional Office of the Wilderness Society under a
Stanley Fellowship grant The book is published
and made available by the Wilderness Society.
Mountain Treasures at Risk is an excellent
resource for anyone who is concerned about
habitat i11 the Sowhem Appalachians. The text is
clear a11d to the point. The graphs and tables are
pleasing to the eye and revealing in their content.
Forest issues are de-mystified in a way that only
someone with a clear comprehension of the
dynamics involved could articula1e. 8111, most of
all, Laura Jackso11's suuiy is invaluable because it
is wriuen by someone with no ves1ed economic or
poli1ical in1eres1 in 1he Appalachian public lands b111 rather by someone with 011ly the interests of
1hefores1 01 liean.
The book talks in a straigluforward way
about tlie effects 011 the forest of below-cost timber
sales, over-roading, and the i11equities i11 budget
and emphasis show11 i11 Forest Service
management programs. The swdy co11clt1des with
guidelines/or managing the Sowhern Appalachian
11a1ional fores ts 10 protect wild la11ds a11d the
biological diversity they harbor, meet recreatio11al
and aesthetic demands, and restore the forest
1wilo1.

011 page one of Mountain Treasures at Risk
the report states that the two major flaws i11 the
Forest Service ma11ageme111 approach is the
agency's emphasis 011 commodity ex1ractio11from
the mow11ai11forests Olld their failure to recog11ize
the Somhern Appalachia11s as a regional habitat
system (in other words, a bioregio11).
/1 says, 'This report is the only ctunulative
analysis to dote to examine the Forest Service's
plaru for thil unique nwumuin environment." This
is true. Many t/1a11ks.
In the following article Laura Jackso11
explains further the differences in understanding
that result from viewing the Ka11'iah provi11ce a11d
its disti11ctive habitats as a whole, rather than
breaking it into administrative pieces....
·DW
Mountain Treasures at Risk is available at M
charge by writing to tht Wilderness Society Southeast
Regional Office at 1819 Peachtru St. NE; Atlanta, GA
30309. (Jlowevtr, consider making a volU11tary donation.
Tht reference is wt// worth It.)
&gt;C.at i'.&amp;ah Journat paqe 8

T he fragmentation of Souther n
Appalachian habitat is the familiar result of a
utilitarian value system that prizes goods
production and consumption over a healthy
relationship with our land. Forest managers ask
how their stands can fulfill national timber
quotas. State governments ask if thei r
wilderness fragments arc sufficient to satisfy
recreational demand. But their questions are
framed within self-imposed limits of vision that
reach only to the orderly edges of administrative
boundaries. Consequently, they are too narrow
in scope to address what arc now the most
critical issues. In this age of dwindling native
populations, dying mountaintops, and other
large-scale ecological catastrophes, we must
adopt a broad regional perspective in order to
evaluate and implement essential environmental
solutions.
The regional framework provides a logical
context by which to approach land management
decisions. The natural expanse of an ecosystem
(like a prairie, desert, or mountain range) with
its local resources, indigenous populations. and
traditional activities, can suggest
environmentally appropriate patterns of growth
and development. Requiring collaboration
among public agencies and private owners, the
regional perspective is gaining support around
the world as the solution to maintain ecological
systems and the integrity of the
human/environment relationship.

As the dominant land manager in the
Southern Appalachians, the US Forest Service
is in a position to best exemplify the philosophy
of regional stewardship. Currently, however,
the agency is under extensive criticism for its
unimaginative, homocentric planning and
management techniques. The Forest Service
conuols approx:imatcly three million acres in six
Southern Appalachian national forests. Despite
the contiguity of these lands, each national forest
is administered as a separate unit. Staff vision
and authority stop at the legal boundaries. As a
result, individual forest planners have set
inconsistent standards for managing shared
animal populations, lost opportunities to protect
roadlcss areas that straddle state lines, and
purposefully altered rare habitat in order to
incroduce elements already common on adjacent
private lands.
In the Katuah province, towns and private
inholdings comprise about half of the acreage
within official national forest boundaries. These
lands support agriculture, industrial forests,
developed and roaded recreation, and other
human-altered environments. Consequently they
have attracted hardy, invasive wildlife that
thrives in modified senings and displaces native
mountain species. A crucial role of federal
stewardship, therefore, is to promote natural
habitat continuity as a public investment in
biological diversity, clean air and water, and the
Southern Appalachian wild native heritage.

A satellite's-eye view of the Southern
Appalachian Mountains shows the Appalachian
public lands as a green island standing alone
above lowlands crowded with human beings
and the products of their ac1ivi1ies. This
mountainous ecosystem of tremendous natural
beauty and scientific importance is also in
increasing demand as a source for consumptive
supplies. A closer look would show public
forests fragmented by private inholdings,
development spreading across newly-cleared
hillsides, and wildlands straining under
increased resource use. Yet, to date, the core of
the Southern Appalachian habitat survives
relatively intact.
Invisible from overhead, yet just as real in
its effects on the highland forests, is the
administrative fragmentation that further stresses
the region's habitats. Southern Appalachian
forests fall under the jurisdictions of five state
governments, as many federal agencies, and
dozens of counties with differing objectives for
the use of their mountain commodities.
Countless private corporations also make
decisions based on their own perceived interests
in the resources of the Ka1uah province. The
accumulated effects of numerous land-use
decisions made in the isolation of corporate
boardrooms, federal office buildings, and the
offices of county or state agencies threaten 10
mortally fragment Katuah's natural systems and
desuoy their ecologi.cal functions.

If the administering agencies could view
the mountain region from the viewpoint of our
imaginary satellite hovering above, their
perspective and consequently their management
priorities might be changed:
• From overhead, it is clear that the
Southern Appalachians are a biological island,
the last remaining large block of forest habitat in
the southeast. Many areas can contribute to the
regional and national timber supply, most of
them better than these steep mountain forests.
But where better can we look for wilderness,
and the shady, moist storehouses of
undiscovered ecological value?
• The region's remote ridgelines and
pristine streams constitute rare wildland linkage
opponunities for migration, genetic exchange,
and the daily roamiogs of wide-ranging
mammals. These travelways could also extend
to wildlands in the Central Appalachians to the
north, and perhaps south into the Florida
peninsula as well, to ensure strong, adaptable
populations of black bear, mountain lion, and
other large predators. Broad corridors
connecting natural habitat areas along the length
of 1hc Appalachian range would serve as
ecological escape routes in cases of severe
environmental stress, whether of human or
natural origin.

rau.

19e9

�•The Appalachians are the headwaters of
all the great rivers east of the Mississippi. If
streams and rivers are not pure at their origins,
they can never be clean anywhere along their
length.
The expanses of forest that cover the
green mountains are also a fountainhead of
valuable oxygen in an increasingly polluted
armospherc.
• A regional perspective would correct the
misconception that each national forest should
provide the public with equivalent proportions
of all resources. The southeast supports an
abundance of cleared fields, thickets or young
"pioneer" trees, and the understory plants and
animals associated with early successional
habitats. However, areas of contiguous, remote
forest and old-growth comrrunities are precious
and rare. Species plentiful in one nationaJ forest
might be uncommon everywhere else; therefore
these should be preserved at the expense of
more ordinary forest uses.
• Research priorities and resource
inventories also attain broader significance when
framed in a regional perspective. State wildlife
officials and federal land managers currently
repon environmental characteristics in terms of
acres, head counts, and dollars. Such data arc
easily tabulated and readily available by state and
ownership category. Yet these quantitative
measures fail to capture the more comprehensive
information that is critical 10 effective habitat
management

Ta!L, 1989

• To ensure that resource u1ili7.ation docs
not deplete an ecosystem's natural variety,
managers must monitor across the landscape.
They must mitigate the encroachment or
common edge habitat into the diminishing forest
interior. They must delineate and protect
multi-state blocks of continuous forest and
migration pathways. Responsible stewardship
also requires improved biodiversity
measurements, the promotion of ecologically
rich old-growth stands, and the restoration of
degraded lands. These and other research
objectives necessitate inter-agency cooperation.
working relationships with private landowners,
and a more holistic view of the natural
environment and our relationship to it.
The responsibility for regional planning
docs not lie solely with public agencies.
Farmers, industrial foresters. university
administrators, even individual homeowners
must ask how their lands contribute to the
environmental landscape. Particularly those who
profit financially from Katuah's natural features
- the outfitters, resort managers. and members
of the entertainment and service sectors that
surround public lands - should suive to maintain
the integrity of the regional environment both as
a business investment and as a means to
compensate the land for its free use. Private
landowners can do a great deal to strengthen the
vitality of the region by managing their land to
help reconnect the broken pieces.
The time has come for landowners and
managers to acknowledge their shared

responsibility for environmental stewardship.
We can no longer afford to view properties as
discrete units unto themselves. to be modified,
unadvised, by their current legal authorities.
Businesses, families, and public agencies arc
but temporary guardians of many tiny pieces of
the Eanh. Yet the natural processes that permit
our physical survival, as well as foster creative
imagery and inspiration, besr operate
unconstrained by anificaJ divisions. In order to
maintain for the future the fundamental
life-support systems of humans and other
species, we must begin to counter the legacy of
fragmentation with a commitment to
environmental unity.
We must explore land uses that do not
deplete the Eanh's suitability for the other life
forms with whom we exist. We must instill a
deep appreciation for nature and natural
processes in our schoolchildren. We must not
insist on using. viewing, or populating every
available surface, so that truly wild expanses
may sustain the large animals who suffer in our
presence. Much to their credit, federal agencies
in the Southern Appalachians arc now
experimenting with cooperative management
programs. These require our encouragment and
participation. Ccnainly sacrifices of power,
pride, and privacy will be necessary to restore
our suffering environment Yet their significance
wanes beside the tangible and spiritual rewards
of a cooperative survival mission never before
attempted and never more important.

x.atfulh Journm pCUJe 9

�A Question of Value
by David Wheeler
The decades between 1880 and 1920
were the years of the timber barons in the
Southern Appalachian Mountains. This was the
great "logging boom," in which virtually all the
first-growth, "virgin" forest was cut off the
Appalachian slopes.
Fortunes were made during those years,
but the money did not stay in the mountains.
The wealth went to the corporate magnates and
investors in the eastern cities and in Europe.
When the ravishing of the Appalachian forests
was completed, the big companies headed for
greener forests to the west, and the local people
were left with a strong dependency on the
wage-earning system and without the means to
support it.
Today the old-growth forest, the first
forest, is gone, but the view that the forest is a
collection of resources, there for the use and
benefit of human beings still underpins our basic
attitudes and policies toward the Appalachian
woodlands.
The US Forest Service exemplifies that
attitude. Their policies and priorities suue plainly
that they consider the growing of hardwood
timber to be the fir.a purpose of the Southern
Appalachian national forest land.
In the Jefferson National Forest in
Virginia, two-thirds of the Forest Service budget
goes into timber-cutting and road-building,
which is directly tied to logging operations. In
the Nantahala-Pisgah National Forest, 40% of
the budget is allocated to timber and roads.
Beyond that, a good portion of the
adminis1rative budget (which comprises 25% of
the overall budget and is tallied separately) also
goes to overseeing timbering and road-building
operations. Only 3.4% of the NantahalaPisgah's annual budget goes to monitoring and
providing for the needs of wildlife.
The road-building that logging operations
demand is the most expensive and damaging of
all the activities carried on by the Forest Service.
This is particularly true in the southern
mountains where the slopes are steep and highly
erosive (see page 12).
The justification for this continued
environmental destruction and human intrusion
into remote habitat areas is the familiar "jobs and
money" refrain. Much ado is made of the timber
shortage that would result if unconstrained
logging in the national forests were to be
stopped. Timber industry lobbyists declare 1ha1
old-growth forest is wasteful, that there is
already more than enough land set aside for
habitat, and argue against evidence that shows a
forest diminishing in native diversity and
threatened in its ability to provide the clean water
and air that help to nourish life on the planet.
Unhappy over the timber quotas set in the
Forest Service's Land and Resource
Management Plans for the National Forests in
the Southern Appalachians, the timber interests
demanded, and won, an agreement from the
Forest Service to sponsor a timber demand
study, thinking that would give them leverage to
XQt\mh Journc:i! pa9e 10

Phoro by Roo Musick/Profea Ligltthawt

further increase the Forest Service's emphasis
on timber cutting.
The result was the "Southern Appalachian
Timber St udy" prepared by a team of
researchers headed by J. Edward de Steiguer of
the Forest Service's Southeastern Experiment
Station. The repon exploded like a bombshell
onto the environmental scene.
First, rather than verifying a strong
demand for hardwood lumber from the National
Forests, che repon found that the prices offered
had actually been decreasing over the last
decade!
. And, rather 1han showing that the
Nauonal Forests were making an important
contributi?n co the region's timber output, che
report pointed out that che National Forests
contribute only 10 percem of the regional timber
supply. And this 10 percent is largely wood of
poor quality, used mostly for making pallets and
boxes, but also for railroad ties, mine props
plywood, chipboard, and finally paper pulp. A
portion of the better-quality hardwoods are used
as veneer woods and in the manufacturing of
furniture, decorative trim, and hardwood
floorin~, but the study mentioned in passing that
a growing percentage of best hardwoods were
being exported out of che country 10 buyers
overseas!
The Forest Supervisor's office in
Asheville, NC stated that only 700 jobs
throughout the North Carolina mountains were
directly relating to timber harvesting in the
national forests. In rhe Ka111ah province only
rwo counties, Graham and Swain, are dependent
on logging in the national forest as an important
pan of their overal I economies.
But the forest, like anything that lives, is
much greater than the sum of its parts. The cash
price of the standing timber is a paltry amount
compared to the true worth of the forest. How
could one appraise the rich diversity of life in
Karuah, unequalled in the temperate zones of the
world? We can on.ly be grateful for the priceless
blessings of dark soil, pure water, and clean air.
We cannot calculate the inestimable value of the

fragile quality of wholeness.
There has been much controversy lately
about clearcutting and the methods by which
timber is cut in the National Forests. However,
as biologist Glenda Zahner has said, in the face
of the perceived dangers to the survival of the
whole Appalachian habitat it appears that the
question is not how timber is taken, but whether
timber should be cut at all in the Southern
Appalachian narional forests.
Well-known are the infamous national
forest "below-cost timber sales" that have come
to light in the past few years. These are sales in
which the expense of the wood, site access and
preparation, and the administrative management
of rhe sale are not covered by the price received
in the sale con1rac1. Thus, the Forest Service has
actually lost money selling timber in many pans
of the country, including the Southern
Appalachians.
Figures collected for 1987 from the six
National Forests in the Southern Appalachians
(including the Pickens Ranger District of the
Sumter National Forest in South Carolina) show
that the Forest Service lost $5.5 million dollars
in that one year alone from their disastrous
timber policies.
Below-cost timber sales constitute an
unauthorized hand-out 10 the lumber interests
from the agency • and thus from the US
taxpayers. The $5.5 million deficit from one
year of clearcutting the forest could pay 275 of
those 800 working timber-related jobs in the
North Carolina national forests one year's salary
of $20,000 to leave the forests uncut and to
protect them as viable and living habicats.
The succeeding generation of trees that
replaced those carried away during the great
Appalachian lumber rush are now reaching 60 to
80 years of age. The trees are approaching
sawlog girth and soon their growth rate will
begin to slow. This is the age of economic
maturity (not to be confused with biological
YaU.1989

�•

maturity, which is anywhere between 200 and
500 years of age). This is a critical decision
point in our policy-making: is the forest to be set
back to the staning point again, or is it to be
allowed to continue on toward the old-~wth
stage to provide optimal habitat for the native
foresr species?
The Forest Service has made its position
clear. On page 33, de Steiguer's "Southern
Appalachian Timber Study" said, "From 1977 to
1986, the National Forests progressively
increased the harvest volume of all stumpage
products except softwood pulpwood. Real
prices fell during the same period. In fact, the

price lines are pracrically a mirror image of the
volw11e lines." The report showed that the rate

of timber cutting in the Southern Appalachian
National Forests doubled from 63 million board
feet in 1977 to 126 million board feet in 1986,
even as prices were declining.
Wise business practice would suggest
witholding supplies when t.he price is low. The
Forest Service has done e1tactly the opposite
during the last decade, selling more and more
timber for less and less money. Because timber
quotas have been determined on the basis of
political considerations rather than a response to
the real market, taxpayers have been paying for
the privilege of having the National Forests
clearcut by the timber industry.
At the time of this writing, the Forest
Service is planning to again double timber
cutting levels in the Southern Appalachians
between 1986 and 1996. If timber sales continue
10 lose money at the same rate that they are now,
then the money lost on below-cost timber sales
wiU also double during that time.
Under the current versions of the Forest
Service's Land and Resource Management
Plans for the Southern Appalachian national
forests, almost 2/3 of the national forests are
deemed suitable for logging, and all of that area
is scheduled 10 be cut within the next 50 years.
The narural cycle of succession leading to an
old-growth, climax forest habitat will be cut
short throughout two million acres of the
national forest lands. Oak trees, many of which
will be just beginning to produce the acorn mast
so important to black bears and many other
forest inhabitants, will be toppled in clearcuts,
and a portion of the cut-over areas will be
burned or sprayed with poisonous herbicides
and planted in straight lines of white pine trees,
which create inferior habitat for most forest
species. The large, open clearcut areas left to
regenerate naturaUy wiU invite yellow poplar
trees to invade and take over land that may have
been dominated by oaks and other tree species
that prefer some degree of shade. Clearcuts do
encourage diversity - a diversity of weedy plant
and animal species at the expense of increasingly
rare old-growth habitats.
Today the old pattern of lumber
extraction is being renewed as "the international
timber commodities market." Once again,
Appalachia is being relegated to the position of a
t:olonized economy from which raw materials
leave the region for processing elsewhere, along
with the power and the profits.
The United States is vinually the only
country in the world with the capability to
produce temperate hardwoods for expon. Most
of the American hardwoods, particularly the oak
lumber that is most in demand, come from the

ratt.

1989

Appalachian Range. Canada is supplied almost
enurely from the nearby Nonhem Appalachians.
Because they are of higher quality, the northern
hardwoods are also preferred in the
discriminating European market. Buyers in the
Far East, however, are more price-conscious,
and increasing amounts of Southern
Appalachian wood has been sold in Asia.
It is difficult to determine how dependent
on foreign sales the mountain timber industry
has become, because lumber to be shipped
overseas is shunted from logger to wholesaler
and perhaps to several brokers before it finally
reaches its port of embarkation. The US
Depanmenr of Commerce conveniently requires
no records of the point of origin of exported
lumber.
Industry representatives and Forest
Service analysts say that of the total amount of
hardwood cut each year, only 40-50% is large
enough and of a quality that could be considered
for export. They estimate that approximately
20-25% of that export-grade wood is sent
overseas. However, because this is the
highest-quality material of the wood species that
are most in demand, the economic value of the
exponed hardwoods is much greater than their
percentage in volume and is very important to
the hardwood market as a whole.

Distribution of Annual Timber Removals
in the Southern Appalachians. 1980-1986

Fnrms
25.5%

Miscclb ncous
Owner.&gt;

l1riV"J tC

52.8%

Nauona I Forests
10.0%

Oz hcr l'uhlic Aboencics
1.9%

S~ Moun1ain Treasun.sOI Rislc

Much of the expon trade in hardwood is
in kiln-dried, rough-sawn lumber. which is
processed in foreign plants and used for
cabinetry and furniture manufacturing. The
country of Taiwan is among the largest buyers
today. UnHke Japan and West Germany, which
produce furniture largely for their own internal
consumer markets, Taiwan manufactures
furniture for export, mostly to the United States.
The Taiwanese furniture industry is modern and
efficient, and labor in that coumry is so cheap
that they can pay to import lumber from the
United States and then ship finished products
back 10 sell at competitive prices in this country.
John Syme, forest economist at Clemson
University says, "Quite a lot of the furniture
manufacmrers, panicularly in North Carolina,

Tennessee, and Virginia, are buying fumimre or
components produced in Taiwan and other
Pacific Rim countries and then selling them
along with what they manufacture domestically.
This is typical of chairs in particular, and other
items that have a high labor content."
It is possible that consumers in the town
of Sylva, Nonh Carolina could buy furniture
that was made in Taiwan of wood that was cut
within 25 miles of their own home. While they
might notice that a piece is stamped "Made in
Taiwan," they probably would not notice that
the price tag includes fees for shipping the
materials halfway around the world and then
shipping the finished product aU the way back
again.
To stimulate a market that is not
fast-paced enough for their liking, timber
industry profiteers are supplying materials to
keep alive wood-based industries in countries
that, due to misuse and overpopulation, have
already displaced their native forests. On paper,
the hardwood timber industry generates great
profits at the export game, but little of the money
made ever returns to the region where the wood
was originally grown. The materials are sold
from the mountains with a minimum of
processing - jobs are being shipped away along
with the wood. II is the brokers and traders in
the large eastern cities who benefit from timber
exporting. They are few, bur they benefit
greatly.
Sending raw materials to have value
added elsewhere is not advantageous for the
regional economy, but ultimately it is the forest
that pays the greatest price. Ir is the Southern
Appalachian lwbicat that is being cut and shipped
away overseas. It is the black bear's food
supply, the shady canopy protecting the ginseng
plant and the delicate ladyslipper. It is the cover
that hides the thrush, rhe tall guardians who
draw down and measure out the pure running
water. It is the integrity of the biological system,
that subtle sense of balance that is intangible, yet
so important.
Here again is that persistent question of
value: for what we are losing, what do we gain?
The approach that sees the forest trees as
materials for human use requires chat the trees be
cut down and carried away - extracted - before
they are of value.
But the other approach that sees value in
the wholeness of living communities requires
that humans keep their hands (feet, and wheels)
off large areas of the foresL The Southern
Appalachian national forests are a significant
land area in the Southeast. They could be a
magnificent habitat area. Timber cutting, which
supposedly is providing the greatest economic
benefits, is proving to be a public liability
instead. The national forests in the Kan1ah
province are providing very litcle timber, very
few jobs, and very litlle money to the local
people. Yet for those scanty benefits the
mountain forestlands are suffering inestimable
damage to the natural habitat chat will take
centuries to repair where it is reparable at all.
It is time 10 bring our forest policies back
into balance with the forest.
The "Southern Appalachian Timber Study" by de
Steiguer. ct al., is available from tlze USDA Forest
Service; Box 2750: Asheville, NC: Katuah Province
28802. This anicle also drew heavily on the excellent
resource Moumain Treasures at Risk by Laura E.
Jackson (see page 8).

�Let's Close The Gate To Forest Devastation
by Anna Muir

"Our forests are national rreasures nor national rreefanns."
- St1u11or Wye/le Fowler, Jr. (D-GA)

As far as land use is concerned, the key to
protecting the Southern Appalachian forest
habitat is to deny human access. Access means
roads.

"In 1985, narionalforesrs in the sowliern
Appalachians contained 4 ,95 J miles of
permanent Forest Service roads. The agency
plans ro add 3,263 miles of new road ro this
transportation sysrem by the year 2030 in order
to meet increased timber sale levels. The
resulting 8,2 14 miles will surpass rlie distance
from Denver, Colorado, to New Zealand. In
less than 50 years, these national forests will
support alrrwsr two miles of road per square
mile of land, nor including state, county, or
private roads."

budgeted $13,600 per mile c road gentle slopes
o
and $22,700 per mile/or sreep slopes."
- Laura E. Jackson, Mountain Treasures at Risk

Timber sales add up to a net liability for
the Forest Service and thus for the US
taxpayers. In the Southern Appalachians alone
logging cost taxpayers $5.5 million in 1987. It
is a vicious paradox, because preliminary road
building doom;; any chance that a timber sale
might clear a profit before cu1ting even starts.
Present policy states that the only viable
method of timber cutting is clearcutting. Under
repeated clcarcuning the original forest is never
given a chance to grow back, thus clearcuuing
represents forest fragmentation and species
discontinuity on the grossest scale. But loggmg
depends on the expensive permanent roads
installed at the taXpaycr's expense. No roads, no
clearcuts.

- Laura£. Jackson. Moumain T~ at Risk

R oad const ruc ti on c reates severe
disruption throughou t many square miles of
national forest habitat. The soil erosion and
stream siltation associated with logging
operattons arc predominately the result of the
roading necessary to remove the timber. Great
amounts of topsoil, D"CCS, and native herbaceous
plants arc displaced all along the many miles of
roads pushed into the forest habitat. Roading in
steep areas undercuts soil and rock structures,
maximizing erosion, often res ultin g in
rockslides and soil slumping.

"Access is rhe demise of bear habirar, and
anybody with comrrwn sense will tell you that.
The bear in the Piedmont has been wiped out
and replaced wirh people. For every mile of
road you punch imo these rrwuntains and leave
open, you're jusr pulling anorher nail in the
bear's coffin." - John Collins, wildlife blologw and
big gamt program coordinawr, NC Wildlife Resources
Commission. quoted 111 Wildlife in Nonh Carolina
rrrJg&lt;UIJIL

In an inter-depanmental memo released to
the public, US ForeSt Service Regional Forester
Jnck Alcock stated that, "Approximately 98
percent of all recreation (in the national forests)
takes place within three-fourths mile of a road."
Oisregardfog the obvious question of where is
one to find a patch of national forest that 1s nor
three-fourths mile from a road, the regional
forester's statement gives some idea of the
tremendous negative impact of forest roads on
the natural habitat and how tremendously helpful
closing roads would be to the rejuvenation of
that habitat.

'This is a wasteful program that continues
a Jcind offar red calf existence even in these days
of tremendous budget dejicirs ....ln the last si.:c
[!Seal years alone the Forest Service constructed
3,725 more miles of road than needed, by its
own projec1ions, for rimber harves1ing. Such
unnecessary roadbuilding was1es the taxpayers'
money, while valuable fish and wildlife habirar
is destroyed."
- Sen. Wyche Fowler. Jr (D-CA) on the floor of
the US Stnate. July 29. 1989

The primary purpose of the forest roads
in the Southern Appalachian national forests is
to bring in logging trucks. The Forest Service
has claimed that the mosaic of roads interlacing
the national forests is necessary to support the
jobs and money generated by timber cutting.
However, this claim has been proven false.
Timber sales on the national forests have
actually been losing money in recent years (sec
p. 10 ), and a primary reason is the cost of road
building in the steep mountain terrain.

"Across rhe nation, approximately
one-half of all Forest service rimber expenses
are artribwable to road costs. Road construction
is expensive, particularly in mountainous
regions where many national fores rs are located.
Planners for 1Jie Jefferson (Na1ional Foresr)
Jc:.citUah Journm

p ~ 12

197S

11l6S

19115

2030

T OTAL REGION.
• Past, Current, and Projected Forest Service
Permanent Road Milage on the Southern
Appalachian National Forests, 1974-2030.
Soun:..

flfowitam Trtasuru ill Risk

"The excessive logging scheduled for
remore and sreep terrain requires a degree of
roading that will severely degrade rhe moumain
environment. Within 50 years. 3,263 miles of
new, permanent roads are pro;ecred for rhe
Sowhern Appalachian national foreslS. Road
consrrucrion is rhe most damaging activity
conducted in norional fores1 management. Even
miligalion ml!asures cannor prevent erosion, soil
compaction, and habiratfragmentarion - ongoing
results of road consrruction and subsequent
use." - Laura E. Jackson. Mounu11n Treasures at Risk

The greatest damage by forest roads 1s to
habitat values as they occur in remote areas of
the national forests. And the most damaging
aspects of the forest roads are those caused by
"cumulative cffectS" - those incremental changes
that considered together add up to debilitating
qualitative changes in the overall environment.
Here is an example of "cumulat ive
effects:' A road was bulldozed to a clearcut site.
The logging trucks and heavy equipment went
in, did their job and, after some months, came
out, leaving a treeless forest area compacted and
criss-crossed by caterpillar tracks.
Some of the loggers were bear hu nters,
and they noticed bear sign while they were
doing their work. So, that fall, trucks with
kennel boxes mounted on the back raised dust
up and dow n the road, until the bear s were
hunted out, and the hunters moved elsewhere to
finish off the season.
Now familiar with the area, some of the
hunters brought a picnicking party to a pleasant
pool they found in the creek flowing beyond the
logged-over area. The following year some of
the families rerurned to the clearcut to pick
blackberries. And o ne of the teenagers
remembered the picnicking party when he and
his friends needed an isolated place to park and
drink beer, so four-wheel-drive vehicles
careened up into the forest several weekends in
succession.
The Forest Service, noticing all the use
their small, rough forest road was attracting,
upgraded the road to "meet the traffic demand"
with the result that tourists in their large cars
could ride all the way to the top of the ridge to
enjoy the view .... And so it goes.
Each of these uses is not significant in
itself. Each is legitimate in its own way. But.
compounded together, the overall effect is
devastating to the natural habitat that once
existed on that ridgetop, protected by several
square miles of impenetrable forest. Cumulative
effects all too often add up to a habitat
destroyed.
f"l:ltt, t 989

�"Anyone who can't see that open roads
hurt bear habitat has got to be blind."- John
Collins, wildlife biologist and big game program
coordilliltor, NC Wildlife ReS(Jurces Commission

Besides the direct monality due to road
kills and increased hunter ingress, roads are a
primary cause of the forest fragmentation that is
one of the greatest threats to habitat in the
Karuah Province. Roads mean people, and black
bears and other large forest-dwelling animals
shy away from traffic-bearing roads, so that
large areas of previously umouched habitat, far
wider than the actual area of the roadbed itself,
are eliminated with the construction and
subsequent use of new roads. Thus, the
creatures native to the old forest are pushed into
smaller and smaller range areas that are less and
less desirable as living spaces as roads are
constructed in areas that were once prime
habitat.
New roads also mean wide strips of
cleared land and carry "edge effects,'' one of
which is rapid invasion by early-succession
("weed") species of plants and animals, deep
into the once-unbroken foresL

Multiple Use M o dule
(MUM)

Rud NDM ill NaJural Areas JoMrnol

"Mr. President, we already have an
excess of Forest Service roads through our
national forests ...."
- Sen. Wyche Fowler. Jr.
(D-GA) on the floor of the US Senate.July 29, 1989

In the interest of habitat preservation, not
only should the US Forest Service halt its
road-building program in Katuah completely,
but in key habitat areas existing roads should be
closed, erased, and planted with fast-growing,
hardwood, pioneer tree species to restore the
natural character of the once-roaded areas as
quickly as possible.
Closing forest roads completely and
permanently would open large expanses of
forest in which the black bear and other
old-growth dependent species could roam
freely, strengthening the gene pool, and
rejuvenating and expanding the present
populations. Closing roads is a necessary
prerequisite for any programs to reintroduce
large carnivorous animals, such as the mountain
lion, to restore proper predator/prey balances in
the forest. Closing roads is a key pan of any
program to restore old-growth habitat in the
,
Southern Appalachian Mountains.

SparrowHawk
The sparrow hawk became his friend,
though distrusting him at first,
not seeing that when the man found it
entangled in fishing line at the junkyard,
he meant anything but harm.
But it softened as he sat in the
dark room beside it
silent, his eyes averted,
letting it discover that he held it captive
only because he cared
and would offer freedom when the May hills were green
and the air sweetened and warm.
Trust came when he fed it chicken
and trained it to fly from his fist
at field mice and grasshoppers,
nurturing its strength and confidence
to face the world again.
Yet he was reluctant to give it back
to the endless sky and distant Blue Ridge,
saddened not to hear its chirp
or feel the light talons as it lit on his head
or see the solemn brown gaze;
but his time with the hawk was borrowed,
and as it flew beyond the pines vanished with the stirring breeze he was glad to have known 1t at all.
- Julia Nunnally Duncan
T11Ct, 1989

D1awU1g by RobM~sick.

�TA

by Heather Blair

fg[(,

1989

�A PLACE FOR BEARS
An Interview with Dr. Michael Pelton
(This 1nttr11itw 1s a continuation of a
conlll!rsation btg"" ill issut 17 of the Ka!Uah Journal.)

Katuah Journal: What are the basic
clements for good bear habitat?
Pt/ton: In 1970 we questioned
southeastern state fish and wildlife agencies
about bear habitat Respondents indicated across
the board that black bears need good food
sources (acorns and berries) and thick
understory cover of some type There seemed to
be common agrccmcnt that these were necessary
clements for good bear habitat.
1bc third element is privacy - some degree
of seclusion and remoteness. Of these three
clements there is no doubt that the
privacy/protection element is the most irnponant.
Black bears are omnivores and have a broad
food habit. Throughout their range in North
America nuts and berries are always present.
Where these arc present the species will survive,
but only if there is some degree of privacy.
Kattlah Journal: Then how about the
effect of roads?

Ptll()n: Road density and rramc volume
arc the two factors that interact to determine the
degree to which a bear will avoid crossing or
even coming close to a road.
The animals can be affected in two major
ways. First, the road may make the habitat less
desirable. Therefore they shift their home range,
usually to a less desirable habitation. Thus they
would be more vulnerable to monality, as they
would have to move around more to find
adequate food, denning sites, or cover.
Secondly, a road may result in direct
monality. Besides obvious factors like road
kills, the mere presence of a rood invites people
to use ii. The more it is used, the greater the
possibility that hunting will be one of those
uses.
Katuah Journal:

Are there other

cumulative effects of roads?

Pelton: Certainly. Once a road is in place
and opened, it attracts all kinds of human
intrusion, whether it's logging or hunting.
The Twelve Mile Strip (an area between
the east border of the Great Smoky Mountains
National Parle and the Pisgah 1"ational Forest) is
an imponant dispersal area from the Park. It is
also a major hunting area. However, the Twelve
Mile Strip is essentially devoid of a resident bear
population. There is a high degree of road
access, which means heavy hunting pressure,
and the 1-40 freeway separates the Twelve Mile
Strip from the national forest, which is ccnainly
a barrier to bear migration.
A recent ttaffic surve)' we did on l-40
found that during the daytime a vehicle passed
the counting point every three seconds. At night
the traffic slowed to one vehicle every seven
seconds. The only real land bridge is the steep
ridge that runs over one tunnel. We also know
that there arc 13 or 14 culvcrtS in that area which
could be used to cross under 1-40, but we don't
f'11U, t 989

~ "11-Rltea

know if they arc being used. From road kills
we've found, we do know that bears do
occasionally tty to cross the highway.
When traveling the coastal area of Europe
last year, l found it very interesting to see their
road construction techniques. At locations where
we would "cut and fill" in this mountainous
countty, they "bridge and tunnel." It struck me
immediately that the "bridge and tunnel"
concept, for whatever reason they used it, is
ideal for animals in that it leaves large corridors
for dispersal movements, in contrast to the "cut
and fill" method that we use at present

The availability of acorns
drives the dynamics of the black
bear population in the Southern
Appalachians.
Katuah Journal: That's interesting,
especially since another major freeway is being
proposed up the 1-26 corridor into Tennessee. It
seems like it would be time to bring up
something like that.
You have also talked about acorns and
their imponance to the black bear population.
Pelton: The availability of acorns drives
the dynamics of the black bear population in the
Southern Appalachians.
Black bears react to this concentrated
energy source in amazing ways. Ecologically,
physiologically, and behaviorally they go
through a ttemendous change each fall.
Bears tty to incorporate prime acorn sites
into their home ranges. But acorns produce
sporadically, and in any given year black bears
will leave their traditional home range areas and
travel for miles to congregate at oak stands that
have abundant acorns.
During this "feeding frenzy," as we call it,
they sometimes seem to ignore a human
presence in situations in which at any other time
they would have jumped into the bushes and run

away. They also show much more tolerance for
one another at these focal eating areas. There
seems to be larger numbers of animals in smaller
areas than at any other rime of the year.
It also appears that bears can shift their
ability to digest various foods, particularly to
assimilate the fall mast more efficiently. Acorns
account for their ttemcndous fall weight gains,
which arc all put on as fat
Considered together, all these changes
point to the importance of acorns as a source of
food for the black bear. During the fall months
they put on their most significant weight gains.
This fat accumulation must carry them through
the winter denning and into the cub-bearing
season. We have been able to correlate the
availability of white oak mast and the percentage
of females lactating, and we found a direct and
significant relation to acorn production. More
dramatically, in the event of a failure of the
acorn crop, there is an almost complete faillll'C of
black bear reproduction. If alternative mast
c rops fail as well, it could mean w inter
starvation for the animal
The size of the acorn crop also directly
affects black bear mortality. A scarcity of mast
necessitates greater movements on the part of the
bear population. This makes them much more
vulnerable to all the factors of monality. It
affects them coming and going: natality
(reproduction) and mortality.
For example, in Tennessee this year the
state fish and wildlife agency is having to deal
with a lot of three year old male bears moving
out of the Great Smoky Mountains Narional
Park and ending up in Gatlinburg and
Sevierville. There is a dominance hierarchy
among black bears, and the subadult males of
two or three years of age tend to be the ones
who get kicked out and have to disperse to new
ranges.
This example fits in with events that
happened in 1984 when there was a tremendous
mast faillll'C. No cubs were born that year in the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park. That
meant that all the females were available to be
bred in 1985. Therefore, they all had cubs in
1986. These are the young bears that are now
(conlinuod on peg~ 16)

XAtUAh Journot Pll98 t 5

�bein&amp; forced to look for new homes. It's
interesting how this situation today was
precipitated by the events of five years ago.
Katllah Journal: How docs clcarcuuing

affect black bears?
Pelton: My main concern is that
clearcutting may be subtracting from the
"principal," 10 put it in economic terms, of mast
producuon. There is a trade-off between the
summer mast that is produced for a few years
and the years of hard mast production that are
lost when oaks arc cut down. But my main
concern is that it appears that foresters still don't
have a full understanding of how 10 carry out a
clearcut and have predictable results in terms of
good, strong oak regeneration. We have made
numerous observations on the Pisgah National
Forest. In those instances it seemed that they
were not getting the regeneration they should
have. Thus this becomes a major concern. Once
a srand is cut, it may be lost to acorn production
for many, many years.
Another concern is denning. Bears do
sometimes den in the areas of thick undergrowth
created by a clearcut, and that's fine, but where
dogs are used for hunting, there is greatly
increased hunting pressure. The bears seem to
sense their vulnerability. The more exposed they
are, the more apt they arc 10 leave and abandon
their cubs. Female bears in particular need
secwe sites, such as large cavities in old, hollow
trees or rock crevices, in which to den. The
more secure the denning site, the more likely
they are to stay put.
Twenty-five or 30 years ago clearcuts
were hundreds of acres in size. Over the years
they have been shrunken in size until now they

are down to less than 40 acres in the Southern
Appalachians. These are beuer for most forest
species. It means more unbroken. contiguous
areas. Smaller cuts spaced apart seem 10 be a
more logical cuuing regime. Adjacent stands
should be allowed 10 mature to mast-producing
age.
Katllah Journal· What specifically could
we do to help improve habi1a1 for 1he black
bears?

Pelton: I think we need longer timber
rotations. I still contend that we need 10 examine
rotation times in light of the importance of
acorns 10 bears and other species. I have a
feeling that the rotation times need 10 be
lengthened to give the forest as a whole a chance
to be as it productive as it can be 10 produce the
food that is necessary. That production time
varies a lot from one variety of oak 10 another,
but I think that the rotations are probably still too
short
The other need is, as I mentioned before,
that foresters pay a 101 more attention to oak
regeneration when they cut. They need 10 make
ha1
sure that regeneration is advanced enough, 1
there are enough young oak seedlings and
saplings on the ground, so that maple or tulip
poplar or any other species don't overwhelm the
oaks and take over the site. Clcarcuts should
also be spaced so that acorn-producing stands
are adjacent.

roads. We have had a history of roads being
opened and closed, opened and closed,
re-opened and closed again in response 10
various political pressures.There needs 10 be a
consistent and Slandard policy throughout lhe
region regarding roads. Without it, there's no
doubt that roads are going to be quite detrimental
to black bears. Even gated roads arc being used
for illegal hunting. Total closwe may have to be
undenakcn.
The state agencies in North Carolina and
Tennessee are bolh putting a lot of thought into
their bear sanctuaries. It migh1 be timely 10
examine the sanctuary boundaries in relation to
where timber management activities and roads
will or won't be, so that lhe efficiency of the
system can be enhanced. They could make sure
I.hat the boundaries of a sanctuary take advantage
of a cenain prime white oak stand, for instance.
I think we need to learn more about designing
sanctuaries, but with a liule bit of thought and
planning, perhaps the system could be improved
considerably.
Dr. Michael Pelton has studied the
black bears in the Sowhern Appalachians/or the
last twenty years. He is recognized world-wide
for his knowledge and experience with bears
and has advised bear research and restoration
projectS in Norrh America and Europe.
Rtcortkd by David Whukr
Transcribtd by Marsha R111g
Edictd by Kim Sandland and Dovid \Vhttltr

About roads .. .ln a report I presented in
1985, I said that under present conditions black
bears needed 10 have wilderness or
quasi-wilderness, because of the indeterminate
policies of the Forest Service about closing

'Jfu:rc fell tl1e min liealin9
forty rlays
am! w e were fwatl ng, we w ere spfushi"'J
am! Caugfi£119
boos wUh our rwses in f wwers
aml throu9h tlui trus, nug9ets of s unlU)ht
and •v•rywhcr• 9run reachL"'] to fwld us
bark to touch am! 9run sprou ts, forgotten
in corners wfu:r• 9run had com. rw more.

C£u

7Mr• /eJ1. tlu&amp; rain fu:ali"'],
mil£"'] am! f a!l£119,
remLmli"'J us of paths. rivulet.s /or9otten,
paths unilwtujit of, ways too new to Lrn&lt;UJi.ne,
the joy of clesctmt unforesun, abandoned
to tlu&amp; twists of mud am! stone, un.ltwwn,
new, quid.Ly. abrupt, steep.
rai,n remlndL"'J to fall w'tlwui ceasi"'],
fall 9Uully, /all gratefully,
fafl, lo119Cr and try f or tlu&amp; bottom,
Ln mud, Ln stornJ, Ln green, Ln greetJ$St
magnif£ceru;e of rain,
the rain that falls ~lL119.

f"aCL, 1989

�ArlWOl'.I: l¥y JamM Rhea

If you ever talk to an old-timer, and you mention the word
"panther," be prepared for some emotion-laden and perhaps
superstitious stories. Human fear of the unknown has influenced
and shaped the Eastern panther's destiny. Because of this fear the
Eastern panther has been almost completely wiped out in eastern
Nonh America.
This article is an.anempt to decipher myth from reality and
to present evidence for or against the existence of the Eastern
panther today.
TI1e following is an example of the typical panther story
told to an old-timer of today by his or her parents:
'The night was dark and still. Daddy put a log in the
fireplace and then tricked us liule'uns in bed. The only sounds
were the hoot of a screech owl and inseccs serenading. And then,
all of a sudden - a clt1unp, on the roof!
Wha1's that, daddy?'we asked in fright.
They got us children down and we gathered around the
fire. We could hear the creature pacing back andforch above our
heads. It was rryinR ro claw up some shinRles!
'Don't be afraid,' Mommy cold us, 'it'll be alright.'
Daddy grabbed his gun from the wall. We knew it wasn't
a/rig Ju. Then there was a loud, piercing scream! We knew it was
the call of the painter."
Is this scenario accurate - or is it just exaggerated mountain
folklore? Was the Eastern cougar, or "painter," as it was called
by the mountaineers, so bold as to come up to a human home and
threaten to attack and kill humans? Do panthers still exist in the
Southern Appalachians? What were, or are, they really like?
Cougars were almost completely eliminated in eastern
Nonh America soon after it was seuled by European immigrants.
The attitude toward the great cat was the same auitude which
caused the "taming" and destrucrion of the wilderness. The
settlers anacked the animal, fearing it would prey on livestock
and humans. Also, the destruction of the deer population through
over-hunting and land-clearing, and direct hunting of the Eastern
cougar saw this subspecies to its demise.

1"aCC.. l989

According to Robert Downing, former Forest Service
officer in Clemson, South Carolina, the Eastern cougar (a
subspecies which differs from the Florida panther, western
panther, and twenty-seven other subspecies of Nonh American
panthers), is as elusive as the answer to the questions asked
about it. Many factors complicate the picture. First we must
understand the habits and peculiarities of the panther.
A cougar (Fe/is concolor) will live almost anywhere there
are deer, or enough of the other animals of its prey base, such as
racoon, opossum, rabbit, skunk, and fox. Deer, however, are by
far the preferred prey of the cougar. All predators are best
adapted for a specific prey animal. The deer is the right size and
speed for the cougar and has come to be almost the cougar's only
food source. ln Mexico where deer are few or non-existent,
panthers prey on smaller rodents solely. This means that the
panthers must spend more time and energy to kill more animals,
but also shows their exrreme adapuibility. Unlike bears. panthers
will not eat the meat of an animal they have not killed themselves.
Occasionally an individual panther will acquire the habit of
preying on livestock, although that occurrence is rare. Cougar
are not and have never been a real threat to livestock. Wild boar,
however, are definitely a possible prey animal for the cougar
(which has implications for restoring balanced ecosystems in the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park). Panthers feed only once
every week or two. They kill only when hungry, usually eating
pan of the deer and caching or hiding the rest to finish later.
Robert Downing is called at least once, and sometimes
several times, a month to investigate reponed sightings of the
Eastern panther. He is presently rraining other Fish and Wildlife
officials how to identify and verify rracks and scats. Only a
rrained expen can tell the difference between a panther track and
that of a large dog. Cats walk with their nails retracted (to keep
them sharp). except on rare occasions when they are in a hurry.
Panther scats average one and onequaner inches in diameter, and
are smooth like those of a bobcaL Another panther habit is to kick
up a pile of din and leaves on the edge of its territory and urinate
on it. This habit is also shared by bobcats and foxes, so it takes a
trained eye to determine the difference. Tracks are difficult 10 find
in the mountains because the ground is either hard clay or the
(continued on p:ige t8)
JC.at ®h Jo1mmC. pa9e t 7

�FRONT

COUGAR

"'"~

(continued from page 17)

constant rain washes the tracks away. Snowfall helps to locate
tracks, but high mountain winds, subsequent snow storms, and
melting make tracking in winter as challenging as any of the
seasons.
With so many sightings reported, Robert Downing finds it
hard to believe they can all be wrong. But it is also hard to
understand why there has never been an Eastern panther hit on
the highways, when 5-15% of the Florida panthers (another
subspecies) arc killed each year on the road. Perhaps the Florida
panthers find roads more desirable to navigate than low, rugged
wetlands. a problem the Eastern cougar would not have.
Cougars were formerly common throughout North and
South America. where they existed mostly on deer, bison, and
elk. Today only small pocket populations survive, mostly in the
western United States. Panthers are loners, rarely traveling in
groups or packs. An individual cougar in the west occupies a
10-20 square mile territory. In Florida each panther uses 50-60
square miles because the population pressure 1s not as great
There is no regular mating season for panthers. They will
breed any time of the year once they come to maturity at three
years of age. However, breeding for any one panther occurs only
once every two tO three years. The two or three kittens in each
litter are raised by the female. After weaning at two to three
months of age, they accompany the mother on hunts.
The panther ranges in length from five to eight feet,
including the tail, and weighs from eighty to two hundred
pounds. Their call varies. It can be soft like the cooing of a dove,
a rattling growl, or an eerie shriek -- sometimes described as
resembling the scream of an old woman. The panther does not
scream when it is about to attack, as myth would lead us to
believe. The bark of the grey fox is sometimes mistaken for a
cougar call, although there is no resemblance. Some owl calls
have even been mistaken for panther howls.
In Florida, and many eastern states, panthers are protected
as an endangered species. In western states cougar are managed
by state fish and wildlife departments as a game animal. In
Texas, there i s no protective legislation for the cougar
whatsoever.
A known population of panthers exists in Manitoba which
has spread west into Ontario, and south into the Upper Peninsula
of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota Maine is an ideal habitat
for the panther, as there are large areas with no public roads and
large deer populations. But so far no panthers have been
officially sighted there.
Before there can be any action taken to protect the Eastern
cougar and its habitat, the presence of the Eastern cougar must be
confirmed. Roben Downing has written a report fol' the USDI
Fish and Wildlife Service entitled: "The Current Starus of the
Cougar in the Southern Appalachians." In it he describes recent
reports, historical aspects, searches for sign, and research needs.
The Forest Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service pooled their
resources and sponsored Roben Downing's study when the
controversy came to a head in 1977. At that time several groups
threatened to bring suit against the Forest Service unless it hailed
timber harvests in an area where several cougars had reportedly
been seen. If you think you have seen a cougar or its sign, this
repon may help you to determine a true sighting.
The conclusion of Robert Downing's study is basically that
there is yet no conclusion as to the status of the Eastern cougar.
Although it seems fitting and right for panthers to be inhabiting
the southern mountains, not one official sighting has been made.

Until then, panther advocates have no basis for demandfog
protection for cougar habitat
The best thing one can do at this point is to get a copy of
"The Current Status of the Cougar in the Southern
Appalachians," learn all one can about tracks and panther habits,
and keep one's eyes and ears open when roaming the hills. The
true spirit of native Appalachia will shine forth when species such
as the panther (along with the American chestnut, gray wolf, and
black bear) are existing together in stable and self-sustaining
populations.

Roberr Downing's reporr, "The Current Sratus of the
Cougar in the Southern Appalachians," is available from rhe
Denver Wildlife Research Center; Department of Forestry;
Clemson Universiry; Clemson, SC 29631.

The Earth First! Biodiversity Project is collecting data for
an Eastern Cougar Study. Your help is needed to document
cougar sightings and habitat use in the eastern states.

If you see a cougar, remember as accurately as
possible the location; a description of the animal including height,
length, approximate weight, length of the tail, and distinguishing
marks; a description of the terrain; and an account of the event
Send information to: Eanh First! Biodiversity Project
2365 Willard Road
Parkersburg, WV 26101
Cougar tracks have four toe pad marks in a
semi-circle ahead of the larger metacarpal pad. There are usually
three lobes on the back of the metacarpal pad. The tracks of adult
cougars measure 2 3/4 inches or more in width. Cougars have a
central lead toe on each foot, and the two middle toes are not
symmetrical, but one is normally farther forward than the other.
Dog tracks appear similar to cougar tracks, but the toes arc
almost directly opposite each other, and claw marks arc always
visible ahead of the toe marks. Bobcat tracks are similar in
appearance to cougar tracks, but smaller. The tracks of a young
cougar will appear the same as those of a bobcat.
If you see a cougar track, make a plaster cast.
Here is how:
I) Prepare the ground surrounding the track by removing
any debris. Carefully remove any loose objects in the track itself.

2) Take a strip of light cardboard or plastic long enough to
surround the track, fold it into a circle and fasten lhe ends
togelher. Set it around lhe track.

3) Mix Plaster of Paris according to directions on package.
Once mixed, plaster sets quickly, so be prepared to pour
immediately.
4) Pour the plaster slowly over the track, taking care to fill
all the recesses, especially the toe marks, to avoid air bubbles.
Pouring too quickly will disturb the track. Pour plaster one inch
over the track.
5) Allow the plaster to harden. Then lift the cast and
carefully wipe away excess din and debris.
/

raet,1989

�Last fall, when the mornings turned c
turned to gathering firewood, we didn't hav
south-facing slope behind rhe cabin was doned
oaks. We discovered enough snags just along
the wood stove stoked all winter, and without I
summer I've found enough dead and dying oak
house next wioter, too.
Oaks are treasured trees -- valuabl~ fo~~r. !f!l~per
provide, valuable for their shady canopy and
wood and their sturdy beauty. But something is
oak forests of sourbcrn Appalachia. Since the
ll980's,
we've seen an increase in the mortality of oaks la
~land
h3nlwood fcxests throughout the eastern United ~ This
phenomenon, called• decline, has been o b s e r v e - y
since the early 1900's, bat foresucs~.ud 1
are just beginning to tmensi.v~ it! Ciiiil'di
k
is having on the forest ecosystem.
Oak decline is not caused by a single discaa odDlilllPa. bot
a series of interactions between environmenw strelles,
diseases, and insectS. A healthy oak ~ will begin to dec:Uae
when it is subjected to unusual stress, such u drought; fiosl
iniury or spring defoliation by insects. This causes physiological
changes in the tree and its root n~omes vllJn~ IO
lltlCk by the annillaria root'l'Offungus (Ari1tiJJaria metled), wllil:b
aormally lives on roOlS of dead trees. This runaus killS put oflhe
mot sySl!Cm, further weakening the tree and making it sa~
above ground auaclc by other diseases and iosects. The
two-lined chestnut borer (Argilus bilineatus) is often fond in
uees at this stage, its larvae making meandering galleries dna&amp;b
the inner bark and eventually girdling the tree. As the aee
declines, ns growth slows down and the crown dies bact. Tbe
dead branches exposed as the leaves die are the most obvious
signs that a tree is being seriously stressed. If good condieiom
return, a young, vigorous tree may be able 10 recover, bat an
older tree will continue to decline and eveniually die, UiUll1y iwo
to five years after the stress first occured.
The U.S. Forest Service has been conducting surveys
throughout Karuah to determine how widespread oak decline ~
and which areas arc affected most severely. By combining aerial
surveys and data collec1ed on 1hc ground, resarchcn have
de1crmincd that oaks are declining in all southern upland
hardwood forests, but the damage varies greatly in different
areas. Oak species in the red oak group (including bhd. scarlet
and nonhcrn red oaks) are much more likely to decline lhan !hose
in the white oak group (white and chestnut oaks). Oak decline
1ends 10 be grca1cs1 in areas where trees naturally grow most
slowly -- on ridgc1ops, on shallow, rocky soils and on southand wes1-facing slopes.
Age is a fac1or, too. "Declines arc, by and large, diseases
of ma1ure trees." according to Sieve Oak, forest pathologist with
the Forest Service. "However, chronological age may not f&gt;e the
best measure of tree maturity. On a high quali1y site, an
80-year-old black oak might be considered middle-aged, but on a
poor site the same ttcc would be a senior citizen, and probably
more prone to decline".
Oak seedlings arc relatively intolerant of shade so they

••id

br

'°

have a hard time establishing themselves under a forest caoopy.
Once a dominant tree dies and more fight reaches the g10lllld.
1hey tend 10 be out-competed by fas1cr growing seedling -yellow poplar, maple, sourwood, black locust In order 10 be
sure !hat oaks will be present in the next stand, it's generally
agreed tha1 there must be a substantial number of oak seedlings
and saplings already growing in tbc undcrstory before lhe
dominant trees die.
"If it doesn't maucr what kind of trees replace declined
oaks, then decline is of no consequence because some
regeneration will happen", Sieve Oak says. "But given the
problems of oak regeneration, it's not at all clear !hat oaks wilt
replace themselves after decline".
Understanding the biological causes of oak decline and
where it tends to occur gives some clues as to why we are seeing
ao increasing number of dead oaks in the green mountains of our
bioregion. Kan1ah forests were almost decimated by the "cut ou1
and get otlt" logging practices which prevailed around the tum of
!he century. As a result, the majority of these next-generation
forats are now in the 60 10 90 year range -- the age al which
oaks become more vulnerable to the stresses that cause decline.
1llc long-1erm drough1 we arc experiencing is surely a
contributing fac1or. Overall, the raie of global wanning since
1970 is higher than a1 any earlier recorded rime. If our heedless
consumption of fossil fuels continues to blanket the earth with
increasingly heavier layers of carbon dioxide, the drought stress
caused by higher tcmpcra1ures will have dire consequences for
the whole ccosys1em, and oaks may be among the firs! obvious
casualties.
Oak decline is also predicted 10 increase with the steady
advent of the leaf-hungry gypsy moth as It chews its way south
into these foresis. The gypsy moth, an insect pcs1 introduced 10
Nonh America in the ninc1eenth cen1ury, is expected 10 cause
significant amounts of defoliation in the near future.
One of the major current concerns about oak decline is the
impact it has on wildlife. As their crowns die back, declining
oaks produce less hard mast (acorns) and the nutritional value of
the mast may not be as high. In one declining stand surveyed, the
acorn yield was predicted to be 58% lower over five years than
would be cxpcacd in a hcahhy stand.
"Acorns arc very high in fa1 and carbohydrates", explains
Lauren Hi1hmn. Forest Service wildlife biologist. "They arc one
of 1he highest energy foods in !he forest".
This shortage creates a grave situation for all animals
which depend on acorns for fall and winter food -- black bear,
deer, eastern wild turkey, racoon, squirrel and other small
mammals. The populations of preda1ors such as bobca1, cougar
and raptors a.re also adversely affec1cd by decline, since much of
their prey consists of small mammals dependant on acorns.
According 10 Hillman, decline also decreases the diversity
of acorn species. Having a variety of mast in the forest, she says,
"cushions failure in one crop which may have a poor production
year. Given periodic hard mas(shonages, this could be a critical
fac1or for wildlife survival".
And !he impact of oak decline on wildJife wilJ be even
grca1er in the future because many dying oaks will be replaced by
(continued oo page 20)

foU, 1989

JC.atimn Journa! p1i9e 19

�olher species of trees which won't produce any hard mast.
"Black bear reproduction is directly dependent on. hard
mast availability", continues Hillman, and she asscns that 1f oa1c
decline continues to jcapardizc this food source, "the black bear
.
.
might not stnive".
If we consider long term trends m climate, the s1e~dy
advance of the gypsy moth and the current age of our .f?"=sts, 1.t is
reasonably safe to predict that oak decline is.a cond1uon wh~ch
will not be disappearing in the near future. Is 11 a problem which
needs to be addressed by forest management practices. or should
oa1c decline be viewed as one factor among many in the evolution
of a continuously changing ccosyst~m 7
.
The oak-dominated forests m the mountains of southern
Appalachia arc a result of land use history ov~r the last 200 years.
Past agricultural use of the land, woods _grazing, fire control and
the chestnut blight have all contributed to the present
predominance of oaks. But given ~hat we know a.bout ~ak
regeneration, it's a fair bet that there will
fewer oaks an K~u3!1
forests in the future if some oak decline management 1s!11
undenaken. If the resultant changes in wildlife habitat, species
diversity, wood supply and aesthetic valu~s are acceptable, t~en
there isn't any reason to try 10 reduce the impact of oak decline.
In areas where there is liule or no interference by humans, such
as in designated wilderness areas, oak decline and other n~tural
events are allowed 10 run their course. Then the ?Utc.ome 1s not
influenced by the imposition of management ObJecuves which
determine which resources to promote, oflen a1 the expense of
other resources.
However oak decline is increasingly being perceived as a
problem of fo~st health in forests which are being managed to
maximize one or more of these resources. The recently released
Draft Environmental Impact Statement co".ering the Grassy Gap
and Wesser timber sales in Nantahala Nauonal Forest. is one of
1he first public documents to address oak decline as a
consideration in the action alternatives.
The environmental and topographic factors which inc~
the incidence of decline cannot be altered by forestry pracuccs.
However there arc silvicultural treatments which can reduce the
effects of decline if the objective is to maintain a vigorous oalc
forest.

be

One such treatment is thinning. Reducing the density of
trees by thinning, especially when the trees arc ~l~tivcly young,
should help alleviate water stress. However, 1h1~mg can cause
an increase in armillaria root rot fungus, and u may actually
increase moisture stress if decline is already in progress by
exposing more of the soil surface to the drying effects of the sun.
Another management strategy involves encouraging oa1c
seedlings and saplings to grow in the understory of o~ stands
which arc declining, or which arc at high risk for dechne. As
noted earlier, oa1c seedlings under the shade of mature trees tend
to be out-competed by more shade tolerant species. If the growth
of these competing seedlings, saplings and shrubs is controlled,
the young oalcs will be in a position to talce advantage of
increased light when the mature trees arc gone.
The method chosen to control competing understory
vegetation is likely to cause some. controversy, si.nce .using
herbicides appears 10 be more effecuve and economical m the
shon tenn than cutting down the competing plants by hand.
Hopefully, this decision will be carefully considered in view of
its potential long term costs.. Much more needs t~ be ~nown
about the complex interacuons of these che1D1cals rn the
ecosystem before herbicides arc given a seal of appi:oval.
.
Some silviculturists advocate a second phase m the crcanon
of a vigorous stand: cuning down the declining mature trees.
From a silvicullural point of view, harvesting the big trees allows
enough strong light to reach the ground for the oak seedlings to
begin growing rapidly. Forest manag~rs "!BY .also .choose to
harvest declining trees based on economic obJCCUves, 1f the trees
can be sold as timber.
Harvest methods have been at the center of a great deal of
debate recently, with clearcutting generating most of the
opposition. And the controversy is likel&gt;: to become eycn ~ore
intense with this issue, because clearcutung has been identified
by many silviculturalists as the most effective way to manage.oalc
decline. They affirm that if ~equate numbers of oak Sec&lt;!lmgs
and saplings arc present rn the understory, clearcumng a
declining oalc stand is the most reliable way to ensure that ~e
following stand will be less susceptible to the stresses which
initiate decline.
The major harvest alternative to clcarcutting is managing an
uneven-aged forest by selectively cutting small groups of trees.
This harvesting is done periodically, usually every 10-20 .Y~·
and the trees arc selected in such a way that at least three d1sunc1
age classes will remain in the forest Uneven-aged stands are
valued for containing a diversity of ages and species of trees and
for their basically intact forest canopy.
However, oak decline is more likely to increase in stands
which arc managed this way than they arc in clearcut stands,
because uneven-aged harvest requires more logging road
construction, as well as more entries into the stand. This means
there is increased potcmial for soil compaction, i:oot system
damage and mechanical damage to the trees which arc not
harvested. These injuries decrease a tree 's resistance to the
stresses which cause decHne.
Skillful horse logging would subs1amially decrease lh~se
risks and would make uneven-aged management a beuer option
for declining stands. Unfonunatcly, neither the timber industry
nor the Forest Service consider logging with horses an
economically viable practice. Small woodland owners, without
the market pressures of big business, may find that using horses
to log decline-prone areas, thereby creating space_ for youn.g
vigorous trtts 10 grow, is a good way 10 m:in11ge de.chn .. on 1he1r
land and encourage biodiversity.
.
Oak decline is a biological fact in the forests of Katuah.
Watching robust, bountiful oak trees slowly lo.se th~1r stren~th
and die is an emotional experience. Oak decline is an issue which
gives us a chance 10 discuss what we value most about our
.
forests, and how we want 10 influence future forests by the
decisions we make now.

Photo abow, armillaria root rot fungus, courtrsy c{Strp~tt W. Oak

f"llU,1989

�PEOPLE &amp; HABITAT
While many view the pastoral scenes and
remote majesty of the Southern Appalachians as
all-enduring, trends in human population
l migration and unrelenting resource extraction
have had monumental effects upon wildlife and
the diverse flora of their native habitat. Today
litlle remains unaltered by the effects of human
activity. The landscape we view today is a
threatened glimmer of what was once, but it still
exists as one of the most diverse ecosystems on
the North American continent.
A universal tenet that holds true for every
form of life is the ecological principle of
carrying capacity: a given habitat can only
suppon so many individuals of any given
species. Beyond that threshold the numbers of
the given species begin to decline or that species
begins to impinge on the ability of the habitat to
function and support other forms of life.
The principle of carrying capacity holds as
true for human beings as for any other life form.
The difference is that we are so insulated from
the greater environment by the barriers of
civilization, that we often do not realize the
impact we are having on local, to say nothing of
distant, habitats. In the case of homo sapiens the
situation is funher complicated by the effects of
a highly-developed technology, which adds an
additional element to the equation by magnifying
the impact of a given number of individual
humans.
Bioregional awareness leads us to become
as regionally self-sufficient as possible, so that
we restrict the impact of our presence to our
own bioregion. We also realize our
responsibility to accurately determine the
region's carrying capacity for human beings and
to limit our numbers accordingly.
A historical perspective of human
manipulation of the Katt.lab province will help
raise the question of the proper carrying capacity
for human beings in our bioregion - the level
that allows for the preservation of wild habitat.

land already subject to conditions of dire
overpopulation. The Old World represented a
virtually inexhaustible well of humanity that
flooded over the new frontier. After the
mountain highlands were first penetrated by
DeSoto in 1540, the question of access was of
paramoum importance in the development of the
Southern Appalachians.
The Indian culture tied to the land and her
offerings was rapidly overrun by the streams of
white-skinned settlers that moved in along the
major Indian trails 'through the Shenandoah
Valley and from the Atlantic Tidewater area,
widening the trails into roads as they went so
that others could more easily follow.
The first small communities sprang up
along the river valleys and larger coves of the
Watauga, French Broad, Little Tennessee, and
Hiwassee watersheds. Although few and far
between, their presence was marked by the
agrarian need for cleared land. The bottomlands
and wellands were cleared or drained firs1, and
!hen trees were felled on the side slopes to make
room for more fields and pastures. As the first
sertlemen1s became towns, the clearings spread
deeper into the mountains following small and
muddy roads that wound along the river and
stream tributaries.

Early In habitants and First Immigrants
The Cherokee Indians and the indigenous
people before lived in balance with their world,
utilizing the offerings of their Eden. Sources
estimate the native population co be about
22,000 individuals throughout the entire region
in the early 17th century. This number is
somewhat lower than pre-Columbian levels
because of war and disease brought by white
settlers. (Today, that number would be
considered only mediocre actendance at Fulton
County Stadium in Atlanta.)
The native people manipulated their
environment with a technology based on fire and
scone tools. Even though they had developed a
sophisticated system of agriculture before the
arrival of the first white people, it is clear they
never exceeded the ability of the region to
support them. They did not interfere with the
capability of the habitat to provide for other
forms of life; quite to the contrary, the native
people relied on that capability for their
continued existence.
The arrival of the first Europeans,
however, changed conditions drastically. The
first immigrants represented the overflow from a
1'a!L, 1989

Plwlo by Rob MusidJProject Ug/llhawlc

These first settlers lived largely off the
land, much in the manner of their native
predecessors. Like the Indians before them, the
white settlers annually burned off the forest
floor. However, because of their greater
numbers, this had a much greater effect on the
forest than it ever had before. Even so, until the
end of the 19th century most of the mountain
highlands remained an impenetrable wilderness.
Daunted by the richness of the New

by CHIP SMITH and
LEEK. FAWCETT

World, the Europeans regarded the productive
capacity of the land as limilless, leading them to
farm and hunt carelessly and without regard for
the future. Because they were completely
ignorant of ecological balances, they
exterminated game species of animals and birds
and slaughtered the native predators so that their
domestic livestock could free-range in the
woodlands. Hogs and turkeys were particularly
well-adapted to the forest environment and
thrived on 1he fall mas1 provided each year.
Once fattened, these were gathered into large
"droves" and walked along the "drovers' roads"
to markets in the piedmont
Mountaineers also traditionally foraged
for medicinal roots in the forest. As commercial
demand for these natural remedies began to
grow, medicinal roots became a prime baner
item in town and at the crossroad country stores.
As wagonloads of ginseng and other potent
roots and herbs began to roll down the twisting
mountain roads to the eastern cities, the rate of
trade began to threaten the survival of ginseng
and other herbaceous forest plants.
The Industrial Era
Grinding mills and small saw mills were
the height of industrial production in the
highlands until the mid-I 800's. The barter
system was the usual means of exchange. The
US Census estimated the population in the 18
western counties of North Carolina ac 200,000
in 1890. The lifestyle was still based primarily
o n subsistence agriculture, hunting, and
foraging.
However, in 1880. the first train into the
mountains pulled inco Asheville, and the
Southern Appalachians were changed forever.
The railroads represented a new degree of
access, and they brought exponential population
growth, absentee land ownership, and industrial
commerce.
The population of the city of Asheville
(which today is only somewhat greater than
65,000 people) mushroomed from 2,000 in
1880 to more than 10,000 by 1890. Tourism
also arrived on the rails, and sanitariums and
luxury hotels offered all the comfons a tired and
ailing flatlander could desire.
Commerce was the primary reason for
pushing through the railroads, and in the
Southern Appalachian region, commerce meant
timber. Large traces of land, often
30,000-200,000 acres in size, were opened up
to exploitation and soon surrendered their
bounty. Temporary company towns were built
at the base of major watersheds and railroad
lines extended into the highest coves.
The early timber barons were
industrialists, not foresters, and they neither
knew nor cared about the ideals of sustained
timber )'ields and forest regeneration. Their
mastery of the new steam technology gave them
access to the most remote reaches of the
mountain forest, and the destruction they
wrought there was unprecedented. The damage
to the species composition of the forest was
irrevocable, as was the damage to the soil. By
the early 1930's 80 percent of the mountain
(continued on page 22)

JC.awc:ih Jo'4rnat plMJe 21

�(continued from pqc 2 1)

landscape had been burned over. Little was left
to shield the soil from the area's high levels of
rainfall , and severe flooding occurred in 1896,
1901, and 1909, and periodically into the
1940's.
A mountain native, the Reverend A.E.
Brown provided first-hand insight in an
interview in the Manufacturer's Record ip 1910:
" ... these mountains were full of sparkling
brooks and creeks which required a two or three
week rain to make them muddy; today a few
hours of rain will muddy them .... Many of the
mountain streams are dry throughout the
summer and fall, while in winter, the waters
descend in torrents and do vast damage
rendering wonhless the bouom lands... The
sides of mountains have been denuded of their
topsoil and bouom lands have been overflowed
and swept away... "
Shortly after the end of World War I most
of the timber barons had tom up their tracks and
moved on to the Pacific Northwest. By 1930
only a few companies, such as Champion
Corporation, were left In the wake of the timber
rush, and at the onset of the nation's worst
drought and the chestnut blight, little was left for
human or beast.
The Present-day Forest
(or Wha t You See Is What Is Lefi)
Between the I 940's and the I 960's the
population of the Ka1uah province remained
static or even dropped The mountai n binhrate
remained high, as it had in the past, but many
young folks left the mountains to find wage
work in the cities of the east and the midwes1.
The bumpy roads offered a way out of the
mountains tO seek the American Dream.
During the 1960's and the I 970's,
however, a change took place. The isolation of
the "backward" Appalachians began 10 look
appealing to flatlanders sick of noise, crowds,
and pollution, and perhaps sick at heart at the
manner in which they earned their wealth. The
very isolation that had protected the mountains
from industrialization for so long now proved
their strongest attraccion. City-dwellers realized
that they could "have" that isolation - all they
lacked was a way 10 get there. Thus began the
era of the four-lane. The Appalachian Regional
Council brought in federal money 10 help state
governments upgrade old roads and build
modem expressways.
During this same period agriculture
declined sharply in the mountains - and with it
declined the traditionally high binhrate that had
always characterized Appalachia in the minds of
outsiders. With the construction of new roads,
in-migration became the driving force in the
population growth of the Ka1uah province.
Today the rate of biological growth (che ratio of
the binh rate 10 the death rate) remains at flat
zero or in fractions of a percentage point (0.07
percent in 1984), while the rate of in-migration
continues 10 rise dramatically, putting the overall
population growth of the Southern Appalachians
well above the national average. The number of
retirees translcx:ating to the mountains raises the
percentage of monality, but a look at the figures
shows the dominant influence of migration on
the regional population.
Lack of access has always been the
limiting factor on growth • the growth of human
populations, economic development, and
Xat®h Journal pa9e 22

industrialization - in Appalachia. Lack of access
protected the wild nature o f the mountain
habitat. Now the cork is out of the bottle. The
sporadic stream of in-migration has turned into a
flood. As over-populated Europe once offered
an inexhaustible supply of humanity to fill up
the New World, the large eastern cities now do
the same for the mountains, as the in1ersu1te
highway system offers an easy means of travel.
Along with the increaSe in new residents,
there has been a tremendous increase in demand
for recreational opponunities in the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park and the
national forests. Today, human management and
human use penetrates 10 the deepest reaches of
the forest on 4,900 miles of forest roads and
touches every aspect of life on virtually every
acre of the mountain forest habitat.
Meanwhile, wildlife has been pushed
back to the most remote areas of the forest in
search of food and safety due 10 the clearing
necessary for roads and development and the
associated noise.

Environment Committee assures us that al l this
developmen t can proceed with no impact
whatsoever on the "beautiful mountain scenery
that is so imponant to all of us" - in fact, it'll be
even beuer, because there will be more people
here to enjoy it wilh us.
Typical of this approach is the l-26
Corridor Association, a coalition of Western
Nonh Carolina industrialists, developers, and
their followers, who believe it is imperative 10
immediately upgrade the present Route 23 to
interstate proportions through Madison County
10 the Tennessee state line providing a d1rec1
connection between Asheville, Johnson City,
TN, and the large industrial cities of the
mid west.
Jerry Grant, the biggest developer in the
Katuah mountains, provides the following
insight via the /-26 Corridor Association
Newsletter: "We would be on the way to
somewhere - not the end of the line. We think
Asheville and this region are extremely fortunate
10 have an excellent liveability factor. We are
able to attract the right kinds of industry."
Those who still espouse this approach
have not yet realized that whenever we perceive
something as a resource, then it is automatically
for sale. And once sold, it is no longer ours. It
is gone.
In another public relations publication of
the l-26 Association, WNC at the Crossroads:
Crisis or Opportunity?, this theme of
development continues:
"Improving the US 23 gateway to
interstate standards opens the entire Ohio Valley
and Nonheastem US to the WNC mountain
expenence....Imagine how many more travelers
would discover WN~ if traffic now using I-77
and 1-75 could re-route via 1-26 through the
scenic Southern Highlands.... An interstate
would produce many business opportunities
away from its interchanges. Well-designed and

The North Carolina Highway Bill
(or Come One, Come All!)
This summer in Nonh Carolina the state
legislature passed a $9.1 billion Highway Bill.
Governor Ji m Manin's plan is 10 place "every
resident in the state within 10 miles o f a
four-lane road," build by-passes around seven
urban centers (includi ng Asheville), pave
10,000 miles of secondary gravel roads by
1999, and the remaining gravel roads in the state
by 2006 (see page 25).
To hear the road boosters talk, the new
roads are going 10 bring in all the good aspects
of industrial culture and none of the bad.
There's big bucks in it for everyone, we are
told, and, because we live in the mountains,
things will be as nice as they always were. The

;

N
PR(S(NT 4 LA~ES

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f'aU:, 1989

�perpetual wild sanctuaries
It ts both a form of reverence
and a human need that we learn
at this time to intentionally leave
some wild places alone forever.
At this lime In Earth history. our
human species Is severely and Irreversibly
tmpacttng the ecosystems of the planet. As an
acknowledgement of our reverence for Life and
for the sake of our planet's biological heritage.
ll Is Important that we lntenllonally leave
perpetual wild sanctuaries where humans do
not enter....places where the non· human life
fonns tnd1genous to a pan.tcular area arc able
lo proceed lndeflnltely. undisturbed by human
presence. judgement. or Intentions.
This Idea Is not wtlhout precrdrnt. In
New Guinea there arc small areas of natural
vegetation left amid lands that have been
ovcr·grazed and ovcr·cut for cooking fuel.
These small fragments of natural diversity are
the burial grounds. rabu areas. sacred to the
spirits of the ancestors. where It Is blaspht&gt;my
to tread.
In old English estates. amid the
Impeccably kept lawns and gardens. there Is

one comer kept wild "for the fairies • that Is
never entered These are probably areas that
would difficult lo matntaln anyway. and these
days the tradition Is most likely kept with
tongue tn cheek. but ll Is slill kept, as ll has
been for generations.
In the small country of Costa Rica the
newly-established tropical dryland forest
national park Is divided Into three pans: one
pan ts open to appropriate commercial use.
one pan Is only open to tradltlonal native use.
and the remainder Is not open to human use at
all.

Here In Katuah. there have always been
energy centers and sacred sites endowed with
spiritual power that were never entered except
by lndlvlduals or small groups of people who
felt compelled to venture there to fulfill a
specific spiritual mission.
ThJs idea could be easily translated lnlo
our own lime. lf people took ll to heart. Small
areas could be set aside on small tracts of land.
but setting aside a mountain range or large
areas of the forest to be forever undisturbed by
human presence would make a significant
difference tn the conditions of habitat and. no
less Importantly. would transform our
relationship to the land.

It Is both a form of reverence and a
human need that we learn at this lime to
Intentionally leave some wild places alone
forever. All who feel so tncllned are Invited to
set off an area of land - however large an area
for whJch the tndlvldual or group feels ll can
accept responsibility - as a perpetual wild
sanctuary. This could be done by purchase.
decree. or by personal witness. The areas could
be regarded as sacred shrines. devlc
dwclllng-places. burial grounds. or liberated
1.ones. In whatever manner It Is undertaken.
this commitment tnvolvcs a responstbtllty lo
respect the boundaries and lo urge others who
might come tn contact with the area to do the
same. It also Involves educallfllt the young
about the nature of this area and the purpose
for selllfllt ll aside. that they might be willing
to continue the practice.
ll Is time lhts Is brought forward as a
serious suggestion.
May all beings live wUd and free!

Plca.\C !lend any commcnis expressing your
rcacuons, dreams, or visions about a perpetual wild
sanctuary lO KatiUih Journal: Box 638: Leicester, NC
28748.

(conlJnUOd from Pl&amp;C 22)

developed interchanges therefore not only
enhance the corridor's immediate environs, but
also seive as gateways which entice additional
development into surrounding counties.
"Regionally, the 1-26 gateway will
increase traffic throughout WNC. Thus,
thousands of businesses - both established and
yet-to-be stand to benefit...The US Chamber of
Commerce has determined that each additional
100 manufacturing jobs have the following
positive (sic) benefits on a given locale:
Non-manufacturing jobs .. ...............&amp;!
Population increase...................... 202
Family units .............................. I 02
Increased school enrollments............ 61
(t ndguote)

The effects would certainly be positive for
the developers and real estate speculators who
stand to make a lot of money selling off the
mountain habitat. For current residents,
however, land booms do not necessarily mean
more jobs. They do mean higher taxes as the
local people absorb the costs of expanded water
supply and waste disposal services to provide an
infrastructure for the new industries. They do
without fail mean over-crowded schools, higher
crime rates, increased noise. congestion,
sedimentation. air and water pollution.
Richard Stiles. an economist for the
Western Nonh Carolina Tomorrow group, a
primary motivator behind the push for an 1-26
corridor, actually maintains that an
interstate- level highway would be less
ecologically damaging than expansion of the
present Rt. 23. He says that this is because an
interstate would have only limited access, rather
than being lined with development.
Such an analysis shows a complete
ignorance or disregard for the idea that there is
any limit to the regional canying capacity for
human beings.

T11U, 1989

Ptn:cmage Change in !&gt;()pulation Size. Ra1c of Na1ural lncrcase.
and Net Mignuion Rate for lhc Average of !he Eighteen
Wt"stcm Counlle• of We.tern Nonh Carolina, 1940-1980

LEGEND:
- - Rate of PopulallOD Change
-""" ··· · Net Migrabon Rate:
· • • - - Ra1e of Natural ln~ase

25
20 -

15 10 5-

0-5 ·IO·

. :?Q -

1940-50

1950-60

1960-70

1970-80
(1971 l'"'JOC- )

Source: S«io-£c()namlc OverviLW of W~s1u11 Vorrli. Carol1NJ
fo r ti!, Vtu11aMla PusaJi VaiwNd Fou compilttl by the
.•t
Sou1hnn Appalachian Ccnlef, Man Hall College, Mars Halt,
NC

Direct displacement by the interstate
construction and resulting commercial
development will remove thousands of acres of
relatively undeveloped habitat. Migration routes
and range areas of different animals will be
disrupted by the cut-out, paved-over, and
fenced-in interstate route.
A new interstate route will greatly increase
fragmentation of habitaL The forest north of
Asheville will be severed by a route comparable
in size and volume to the 1-40 interstate. Instead
of one habitat area • however patchy and ragged
it is at present - there will be 1wo smaller areas.
The local gene pool, already in disucss, will be
divided in half once again.
However. the most damaging effect will
be the ucmcndously increased volume of traffic
that will pass over the new highway. A new
superhighway will mean more use. more
commerce, more in-migration, more human
demands on the already over-stressed
habitat. We long ago overshot the capacity of this
region to suppon the weight of our population.
As access opened the mountains to the ravages
of unrestrained technology at the turn of the
century, so now is it bringing in unrestrained
numbers of human beings. We arc the greatest
threat to habitat in the Southern Appalachians.
Rather than manage the forest to meet our
unending demands, we need to manage
ourselves. our numbers and our way of life. that
the forest may continue. In the long run, this
would be the best for all the inhabitants of the
mountain forestlands. ourselves included.
This process requires values that are at
once new and at the same time very, very old.
These values arc the substance of the biorcgional
vision. We need to learn/remember them and
pass them on. Only then will we be able to
approach a reasonable carrying capacity of
human beings in the Katuah province of the
Appalachian biorcgion.
~
Xot.Uah Journot p119e 23

�J

CAPTIVE BEARS FREED!

"ROAD MANIA" SLOWED
NabJral World News Service

Senator Wyche Fowler, Jr. (D-GA) led the US
Senate lo adopt an amendment to the interior
appropriations bill that cut the road-building budget of
the US Forest Service by $65 million.
Vowing lO curb "road-building mania" in the
Forest Service, Fowler called on his Senate colleagues to
pass the amendmenL They responded 55-44 in favor of
the measure. Twenty-rive million of the recovered money
would be returned to the federal treasury. The balance
would be used for stewardship programs, habitat
improvement, and land acquisition.
In calling for support of the amendment, Fowler
cited a Congressional Research Service study that found
that road construction was the most environmentally
damaging aspect of the Forest Service timber program.

OTTERS MAKE A COMEBACK
... AND A GETAWAY
Natunil World News Service

CARNIVOROUS PLANT LISTED

Norural Wbrld News Service

NllUnl) World News Service

Recent events in Cherokee drew attention to the
plight of caged and exploited black bears. One evening
this summer, several bears were "liberated" from
Saunooke's Bear Den show by unknown individual(s). A
large hole was cut in the outer wall of the enclosure,
through which the bears escaped along the creek into the
surrounding woods, and hopefully into the Great Smoky
Mountains National Parle.
The outcome for the escapees is unknown:
Saunooke has made no comment as to whether or not the
bears were quickly recaptured or escaped into the wild. In
any case, this evem effectively brought the bear's
situation to the attention of local media.
People for the Ethical TreaUTient of Animals
have annouoced plans to protest in Cherokee on
September 9, 1989. They have been warned off by the
Chief of the Eastern Band of the Cherokee Nation,
Jonathan L. Taylor. A clear message appeared on August
15, 1989 in the Asheville Ci1iz11n-Times that any animal
rights protesters would be arrested and prosecuted for
"interfering• with the reservati.on practice of exploiting
bears. lo a pointed way. it is clear that on the
reservation, as in many areas or Katuab. the rights or
humans to exploit the bears supercedes any rights of the
animal species.

Loss of freshwater wetland habitat has
eliminated or threatened many plant and animal species
throughout the country. The US Fish and Wildlife
Service has recently proposed to add to the Endangered
Species List the mountain sweet pitcher plant (Sorrounio
rubro ssp. jonesii). Native only to a few motmtaln bogs
and streamsides in southwestern North Carolina and
northwestern South Csrolina along the Blue Ridge
Divide, the mounuiin sweet pitcher plant has been
reduced from 26 known historical populations to only
10. The pitcher plant has been the victim of drainage of
bogs. flooding. convctsion or the land for agriculture and
grazing, various other forms of land development, and
collection. Eight of the remaining 10 populations
survive on private land where they may be subject to
habitat alteration and collection by fanciers or
carnivorous plants; the other two are situaicd on State or
South Carolina lands. but are also vulnerable to
recreation and illegal collection.
The mountain sweet pitcher plant, like other
carnivorous plants, traps and digests insects for food. 11
grows up to 29 inches in height, producing showy.
typically maroon flowers gracefully suspended on single
tall stems, each covered with a hood. Insects. attracted to
the mouth of the pitcher by sweet secreted nectar, crawl
or fall into the pitcher. Their escape is prevented by a
smooth slippery surface just inside the mouth of the
pitcher. and by stiff hairs lining the interior or the pi!Cher
tubes, pointing downward. The insects are digested in the
enzyme.filled fluid secreted int the pitchers.
The mountain sweet pitcher plant and its related
species have long inspired curiosity and wonder. Unless
they are protected and s:ived they will soon inspire only
memories. Your comments can be addressed to the
Asheville Field Office: US Fish and Wildlife Service;
100 Otis Street (Room 224); Asheville, NC 28801.

ACID RAIN A PROVEN KILLER
NabJral World News Service

A link between acid precipitation and a wsease
which bas killed thousands of dogwood trees may have
been proven by US Forest Service plant pathologist
Robert Anderson and colleagues. Dogwood anthracnose,
or dogwood blight, caused by Disculo fungus species,
was first found to be infecting trees in the Northeast and
the Pacific Northwest about 10 years ago (see Kotuoli
Journal #21). Since then, it has spread lO many of the
Southeastern states and caused high mortality among
both woodland and ornamental dogwoods. More than one
quarter million acres in Kllttiah have been affected by the
disease.

Otters, absent from the Smoky Mountains
following excessive trapping and logging activities
during the 1930's, are making a comeback. Not only are
they successfully surviving in several reintroduction
sites, they arc claiming ierritoric:; across mountain ronges
from their points of rcintr0duction. Nine nvcr otters
were rclea.~ into thc Little River on the Tennessee side
of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and at
least two have crossed into Nonh Carolina drainages.
The ouers arc eluding the tracking efforts of
researchers. even though fitted with surgically-implanted
radio transmitters. Kim Dcl..o'1ier, wildlife biologist for
the Park. says, "Most of them have moved extensive
disuinces from the release site to other drainages. We
really don't know why they are moving so much."
Recently, biologists have been able to track the otters
only by air. A few oucrs from a 1986 release project an
the Cades Cove area of the Parle also were sighted later in
Nonh Carolina waters.
FtShermcn have expressed concern that ottcrs will
destroy game fish, but analysis or oner scat from river
banks bv University of Tennessee researchers revealed
that scat piles contain no trout bones.
"Trout are fast and much harder to catch," says
DeLozier. Instead. the otters prefer slow-moving fish like
white suckers. daces, sculpins, and hogsuckers, says
DeLo1Jer. For the ouers, •...these slow-moving fish ate
like picking sweets from a candy store."
The next proposed release of river ouers will Ulke
place as early as this winter in a watershed on the Nonh
Carolina side of the Park...but don't expect them to stay
there for long.

Xai.imh Journal pmJe 24

The disease is chanictcrized by putple-rimmcd leaf
spots. followed by twig, brunch. and stem cankers. Trees
ID the forest • parucularly trees growing ID moist
environments at high elevations - suffer more from
anthracnose than omrunental dogwoods located where the
disease can be controlled by cultural practices. Among
wild dogwoods, the disease is expected to continue 10
spread throughout the South.
In the past researchers had not been successful m
producing anthracnose symptoms on trees which had
been inoculated with lhe Disculo fungus in the
laboratory. In the recently reported experiments. one year
old dogwood seedlings were exposed to various levels of
simulated acid rain at a Forest Service lab. The seedlings
were then exposed to Disculo inoculum and the
subscquem rate of infection was noted. Exposed to the
fungus alone, the trees showed no sign or the blight. but
as the rain acidity levels were increased there appeared a
corresponding increase in infection. Research is
continuing to determine if the acid rain/anthracnose
connectio~an be observed in dogwoods growing under
field cond111ons.
Anderson's work will be helpful in effons to s:ive
the tree that bears the North Carolina state nowcr.
Perhaps more importantly. however, his experiments
have proven a link bclwecn acid rain and plant disease and
decline. It is commonly accepted that airborne pollution
is contributing 10 the deaths or red spruce and Fraser fir
treeS at high altitudes in the mountruns, but Anderson's
experiments offer the first scientifically accepted proof
that acid min is a major culprit in any instance or forcs1
degradation.

The logo above symbolizes the commitment of
the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League to protect
the integrity of the New River. The group is demanding
that the State of North Carolina carry ou1 its
rc.~nsibility to protect the river as a fcder:illy-dc.~ign:ncd
Wild and Scenic River area. The New is presently
designated a Wild and Scenic River for 26.5 miles or its
length, but this designation is threatened by an alarming
rate of de,•clopmcnt along its banks and a proposed water
treaUTient plan! upstream of the fcderally-pro1cc1cd zone
(sec Ka1t1aliJourna/ If 24).
Join the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense
League's efforts on behalf of the New River. Contact
BREDL: Box 1308; W. Jefferson, NC 28694.

raC!., 1989

�.
SAHC TO REVISE PROPOSAL
Nmural World News Strnce

The Southern Appalachian Highlands
Conservancy (SAHC) has announced !hot il will drop o
proposed National Scenic Area Proposal thllt the group
hnd drafted as potential leg1slauon 10 define m:inagemcnt
policy for the 24,000 acres of spcc18Cular landscape
known as the Highl:inds of R0311.
The ongin:ll propos:&gt;I met w11h protest from local
l:indowncrs and building conl13Ctors who felt thllt lhcii
propcny rights would be violated by the plan.
The SAHC sud m a prepared sl3tcmcm, "Since u
has been our hope from the beginning !hot a proposal
could be drafted which met with the approval of all
part1e~ •... SAHC has withdrawn 1ts proposal for lhe
present and 1ntcods IO revise the same &lt;;&lt;&gt;as IO hopefully
'™=Ct the conocms of local l'CSldcnts md landowners.•
The conservauon group pbns to hold both formal
and informal mceungs with all CO'ICcmcd to come up
wilh a new and belier proposal for keeping inl.3Cl the
beauty of the Roon Highlllnds.

NC ROAD BINGE
Nonnl World News Service

The North Carolina state legislature
overwhelmingly passed a bill o~ July 26 that will
contnbute greatly to mushrooming development in the
Klllliall province. By a House vote of 95-19 and a Senate
vote of 39-11, lhe legislature raufied a highway package
rood bill calling for S9. I billion for road construction
throughout the Slate.
In campaigning for the bill carher, Republican
GovClllOI" J1m Martin vowed IO bnng every resident of
the state within 10 miles of a fow--lanc highway. The
bill would fund major road-building and road-widening
projects and pave thousands of miles of ara,-cl roads.
Pnrndox1cally, the governor turned against his
own bill when Senate Democrats added a provision to use
incrca~ vehicle sales taxes for 11110 years to fund pay
raises for 1eaehcrs and swc employc:cs. But legislators did
not respond to the governor's last-minute call to tum
down lhe revised bill.
Among the projects IO be funded by the massive
highway constrUCtion act are widening of US 23 in
Madison County 10 cn::ue a four-lane roadway between
Asheville, NC and Johnson City. TN: widening of US
19-19E between Mars Hill and Ingalls m Avery County:
expansion of US 19 between Bryson City and Andrews:
widening of US 441 soulh of Franklin: and construction
of a loop IO circle west of Asheville between 1-26 and US
23.

1"c:i[(, I 989

FRIENDS OF GRANDFATHER

temperawrc in the river, which would cause populations
of fish and olha- life to decline.
Geologically, the Grandfather Mountain Window,
where some of the oldest rock exposed on earth juus out
of the gl'OWld, provides a unique glimpse into the past. 11
is estimated lhat Grandflllher Mountain is between 625 to
680 million years old, placing its formation during the
Precambrian era, a time when life still existed primarily
in the seti. and microorganisms were prom111CnL
Fncnd~ of Grandfather is c , rently securing
501(c)3 non-profit status with the Elisha Mitchell
Audubon Soc1c1y. It has also received suppon from the
Blue Ridge Group of the Sierra Club and is worlcing with
the Trust for Public Lands. To become involved or 10
send a donation to the Friends of Grandfather Mountain
Fund please write to them at: P.O. Box 239: Sugar
Grove, NC 28679.

Nonnl World Ne"°' Service

On !he northwest slope of Grandfather Mountain
hes 1,200 acres for sale. 900 acres of lhis is owned by
lhc Wilmore Corporation, headed by John Williams and
Hugh Monon. A master pion has been drawn up which
any developer interested in buying the property must
agn:c to. Tiie sellers see this master plan. which includes
a ski slope, shopping mall. convention center, golf
course, and 200 or more homesiteS as being earned out m
an envll"Ol\mentally conscious way.
Friends of Grandfather Mountain is a group of
concerned local citir.ens working to keep these
envuonmentally sensiuve areas mtact by initiaung a
media cnmpaign and an effort to purchase the land. By
purchasing the land and placing it in the care of a
conservation organi1.auon, perhaps future generations can
enJOY at least one moun1:1m whose i.rrcplacable beauty
lives unscathed.
In protceting the land, douns of species of plants
and animals would also be protccted. Many vnriwes of
irces, and several rare nnd threatened plants and animals
eiust on and near the 900 acre tract up for sale. Of pnme
botanical concern are the Blue Ridge goldenrod and the
Hclleri bla7jng star, both growing on the Profile Cliffs
directly above the endangered land. These species are
listed as critically globally imperiled by the Natural
Heritage Program. The Blue Ridge goldenrod is also
CODSJdered endangered by the State of North Carolina.
DU"CClly off the Shanty Springs Trail arc bent avcns and
lnuhng wolfsbane. These bcauuful plants arc also
globally imperiled. Their ap(&gt;C3rllllce is considered rare
nnd highly localized.
The proposed development would also displace
hundreds of animal species mcludmg: deer. racoon,
opposum. red and grey fox, bobcats and an occasional
bear. Newly discovered is the presence of the northern
Oying sqwrrcl, a "Jlt'CiCS endangered in the Sl&amp;IC of North
Carolina, just above the glade on the Shanty Springs
trail. These small, nocturnal creatures seem 10 be
declirung because of changes in vegetation and habitat
disturbance. The population of these rare squirrels at
Grandfather Mountain is the farthest north the species has
been discovered in the state. Also, disturbing the territory
below the hacking site for young endangered pe.rigrine
falcons may reduce the chance of the mature birds
renuning lO breed in lhal area.
From the westtm slope of Calloway Peak, the
highest peak in the Blue Ridge Range, spring three
pristme streams which form the headwaters of the
Linville and Watauga Rivers. Both rivers are currently
being proposed for designation as Outstanding Resource
Waters. The Watauga River may be unable to support
additional treated wastewat.Ct, awaillng further LCSts by the
NC Division of Environmental Management. Wastewater
treallllent standards for the nver have already been made
motC Stringent, and in some 111.S1allCC$ new pcnmts have
been denied. Any silt or 1dditional emuent into lhcsc
headwaters may ruin the nver"s quality. Of critical
imponance is the potentinl increase of average water

ACID VEINS
Narunl World Ne"°' Sen-a

The final mslallment of a ten year study on acid
rain for the Kau1ah biorcgion has recently been released
by Lhe Environmental Prolec:tion Agency. The final
rcpon states th:11. 1f current sulfur emissions continue et
the present rate, 129 streams in the region will become
acidic within SO )'ClltS, and 203 additional sueams will be
occasionally acidic.
Researchers also projected the possibility of
increases in sulfur emission during the same 50 year
period. Starling with a steady inc= of 20% in the first
10 years and continuing for 15 years, then leveling offin
the next 2S years. At lhis level 159 streams would
become acidic:, and 340 would be potcntJally vulnerable
IO periodic acidification.
Presently there are no S11C811lS in KatWlh that are
considered aciC:ic, and jUSt lhree are eswnated IO have an
ac1d-ncutrali21ng capacity or lower than 50
m1cro-equ1valcnts per liter • the estimated vulnerability
threshold or streams becoming temporarily acidic during
heavy snow melts and rainstorms.
Sulfur dioxide, wh.icb is convened in the
atmosphere into acid, 1s primarily produced by
C031-buming power plants and other industries.
Oxides or n11.rogcn arc released in approxim3tely
similar amounts by automobiles and industry. Even
though the CIU"Tcm presidential admlnlscraUon has
proposed a 10 million ton reduction in sulfur diollidc
emissions and a two million ton reduction in nitrogen
oxide releases over the next decade. one of lhe best means
to reduce poisonous emissions is energy conservation,
which lessens lhc need for both existing and proposed
power plants.
Here are some organizations that offer catalogs
contammg energy-effiCIClll products: Tiie Renew America
Prop:t: 1001 Connecticut Avenue NW (Sutte 63&amp;):
Washington, DC 20036 (&amp;02) 862-2999 and The Rocky
Mountain Institute: 1739 Snowmass Creek Road: Old
Snowmass. CO 81654.

�Gathering
I dream the spirits gather,
Gather in a space outside my
Room. They call my name over

DRUMMING

And over, I stand
Before them and their voices are
The howling of wolves, lhe cooing of doves,

LETIERS TO KATUAH

We are in another place,
They are touching me,
I feel like a candle
With a tall flame,
They give me messages,
When I wake I can only remember

The voices of doves,
Of Wolves, and the way
We wavered over this world,

Dear KatUah.
I'm writing to thank you for sending the
Katilah Journal all the way over to Swil.l.erlandl h's
very important lhat people sian to think and care more
and more about our environmental problems ALL
OVER the world!
I'm looking forward to your next issue!

The seem of sandalwood.

- Palricia Claire Peters

YourS sincerely.
Christine Moser

~t:.~S·
p$.

o-t$S

~ ri..~ \)~ tjl{C\;1!1
~G·s~~s

.~'.tS ....o~

,.c9v~st:.•S v
J\}t&gt;G1!i :iS ~~
Dear Friends at Katrlal1 Journ(l/:,

Dear Katilah Journal People,
Your summer '89 issue on Ptau in the
Mowttains was a moment of serendipity for me as well
as good energy and inspiration. It connected with my
moment of comple{ing a silk screened print inspired by
and incorporating the Cherokee words for Water and

S~

7~(~:t;;)are:\JA 0' (pUJL'-)
Phone~ally pronounced:

~

-

q Ma.

Justice prevails - this time - in S.E. Georgia. If
here, anywhere! Your publication is excellent, keep it
running. Can we do an exchange with you?
At this time, it's a little out of balance, but the
best we can do. h's all part of the same problem greed and power.
Pax,
Martina. John and Donna
St. Mary's, GA

~

L/A1.,;1

-tho 1t1 :JU..

Several Cherokee people (Laura King, Pheasant
Driver, Mary and G.B. (Going Back) Chiltosky) helped
me with this identification and pronunciation.

~ 1hi1 G: spoken with urgency because water is
critically essential to life.

yours, delighted and connected,
Margaret Gregg
Jonesborough. TN

love Story
! lie wirh the Eanlt
Ukea lover.
Embracing Her
Enfolded in Her fragrance
In the heat of Her body
Through langucrous swooning afternoons
And rhythmic pulsing nights.
She is
With me

Dear KatW!h folks.
A new book is out. that all serious gardeners
and fanncrs should have. h's called Secrets of the Soil
by Peter Tomkins and Christopher Bird (Harper &amp;
Row, 1989). Please try to get a copy!
- from Knotts Island, NC

Arowuim£
Inside me.
Oneness.
Greenness.
Wilderness.
Wildness.
Swirling in the spiral
Lost in Mystery.
Knowing the Unknowable.
-Mary dt La Va/ttte

Xatiulh Jou.rnal p1i9e 26

f'aU., 1989

�Dear Friends.
Greiuly enjoyed your spring issue. ns usual.
need to call your attention, however, to what I consider
the Planet Art article's wholely uncritical appr~~al of the
current 'crystal craf.e'. So I thought I would send along
Earth F1rster. Karen DcBraaJ's brillnnt linlc piece on
crystals as an 31ltcdote. from 'Live Wild or Die', n recent
Eanh First! dcnvauve. Please consider pnnting 1L
Sincerely.
Bill McCormick
Crozet. VA

Enclosed anic:lc {b) Karen OcBf.131):

Crystals. Their shimmering beauty vibrates
deep into your being, helping your being, helping you
setf-actuahzc wuh healing powers und guided
imageries. Cool and hip, right? New age and stylin',
yes? But at what price? Well. hell, can a price be put
on spirituality? Can a price be put on how the earth
feels when her powerful energy trnnsm1uers and hc:llers
arc ripped from her bowels for a profit, be u monetary
orspmtual?
The ripping (np off) of crysuils from the earth
is causing her to ulcerate. Great eroding &lt;;ear; rc,ult
from the hungry hordes scouring the U.S.N:uional
Forcsts (mainly in Arkansas) and areas in other
counties, such as Mexico and Brazil. Armed to the
teeth wuh screwdrivers, shovels and bulldozers,
new-age hucksters and spiritual profiteers.
well-meaning heaters and seelcers of the sacred arc
mining and tearing at the earth with no thought of the
cost to her. The environmental impact of our
spiritually starved, buclc-hungry droves is not a
consideration.
Think about it. The next time you stroll by
Toots for Fools (no kidding) or any other nashy
crystal store in Santa Crut or elsewhere, and sec those
t.v. si1~ cryslJlls glimmering in the display window,
think about the hole it left when it was wrenched out
by its roots. like a bloody wisdom t00th from a gum.
And all those smaller oncs... thcy aren't laying around
the forest noor like pine cones.
"It resembles Gold Rush Days." said
Montgomery County Sheriff James Carmack in
Spectrum (Dee. 23, 1987). when asked about crysllll
seekers in the Oucitn National Forest and surrounding
areas in Arkansas. According to Carmack, people
vandalve the area by stealing crystals from legal mines
and digging illegal muics. These all cause erosion. The
Forest Service liberally grants crystal mining permit,,
3Ccording to Spectrum. but the fees generated don't
begin to cover the cost of m:&gt;nitoring the mines or
contr0lhng 1llcgnl hunters.
Sure. crystals are poweiful. But maybe they are
where they are for a reason. Leave them there, where
the earth c11n use them as she sees fiL It is mter.:sung
thnt newagc folks, who profess to care for the earth are
so blinded by the crystal light that they are dcstr0ymg
whnt they profess LO love. Their cryswls are bloody.
Docs our endlessly raped earth need more of this?
The NFS and the crystal-hungry massc.~ need to
hear from environmentalists: crystal mining 1s yet
another massive wounding that our earth doesn't need.
We need to heal ourselves by healing the earth.
Boycou crystals! If you own them, don't O:iunt them,
which encourages others to get them. Let the NFS
know th3t you don't want them to grant any more
crystal mining permits. Let people know that crysrols
belong to the earth!

''

• J

'·

I

.'
Draw111g by Sw Adams

Dear KatUah,
I picked up the wonderful winter issue of your excellent and much needed publication at the Tremont Center in
the Smokies. This issue has changed my perception and my life. I hope to live in the area some day. although I mny
Opl to have a cabin in the woods of Kentucky or Indiana. It has been a dream LO live m the forest for a long time • by
a stream. I wish to support and join the struggle for unity with the planet we inhabit. for stopping heedless
exploiUltion and destruction, for nurturing life. I am in the process of nunuring my own life (much damaged in
childhood). This nunurmg is most harmonious with the healing of the planet.
Thanks for your work,
Starfire

Forest Voices
I

Sleeping on the wall of the world
arching over the sun with the c11n•e
off est trees
or
wlwse tips are rwe11ry leagues high
i11 the morni11g light
casting golde11 leaf shadows
in this green place.
The high wind
orchestrates irs wisdom
with the forest:
Be at peace with the fly
and pain of bursitis
Let the heali11g ofthe pla11et
be pan ofyou.
Be one with me

2.
Hush, the gods of the forest
are speaking.
They toss the sun with their fingers.
The liale gods rising
from the growui
are staffs oftruth,
each blade ofgrass
a word of wisdom.

3.

listen,
the voice ofthe wmer sings,
the naiad ofthe stream
whispers
10 the silent one
who rests by her way.
The butterflies above
are mating
and the weefolk
are white water rafting
dow11 her tiny rapids
in small spherical crafts.
She says thar happiness
is here with the jwnpingjish
alld the drops of rain
quietly sampling
the edge of1he storm.
Here hidden and safe
I would wish to stay.

4.
W01erfa/ls
in nLrlung laugluer
as white fire ascends
in balance
ofcoll/I/er energies
providing
one another's needs
in mandala
of reality,
body alld spirit.
-S111rfire Soledad

f'p(t, 1989

�(conlinucd from page 7)

habitat types represented in the landscape, the
belier the possibilities for rhc survival of rhc
whole. Older, more mature forests musr extend
over many contiguous sites, not just on ridges
and in coves, for successful migration of
species. For life to adapt 10 changing conditions,
reproduction of all but the most highly .inobile,
weedy species must occur on adjacent sites.
Following the mosr recent ice age, forest
communities migrated at a rare of only a few
miles per century as the climate v.'nmled over rhe
course of thou,ands of years In the coming
century, species tha• cnmnnsc marurc fore t
communities musr migrate ar a rate perhaps I0
times faster, an impossible feat from isolated.
fragmented habiratS.
Optimum regional biodiversity, therefore,
requires a continuity of habitats across the
landscape in a mosaic of mature communities
that includes all topographic conditions: ridges,
nonh and south slopes, coves, streams and
gorges, balds, and bogs. FederaJ protection has
recently been extended 10 many of rhc latter
communities (at least those thar are not
commercially imponant) as Congressionally
designated Wilderness Areas. But nearly all of
the remainder - the large areas of contiguous
second-growth forests that arc now
cconomicaJly mature - is destined for violent
disturbance before the tum of rhc cenmry.
Defining Old-Growth Forests
Forests managed for commercial timber
and wild game species provide a great diver:;ity
of plant and animal species through logging and
other planned disturbances. Therefore, it is the
conclusion of Forest Service policy makers that
timber and game management activities meet the
legal requirement for biodiversity. The one
condition that managed forests do not meet is
that of providing for the types of natural
diversity in critically short supply: those
associated with mature old-growth forests. The
condition "old-growth" is defined by the
Southern Region of the US Forest Service as
any forest stand over 100 years of age. This
completely arbitrary definition fails to meet the
biological requisites for a mature forest, because
it simply means that any forest stand older than
an economic rotation for commercial timber
harvest is classed as "old-growth."
From the biological standpoint, an
old-growth forest contains trees in all age
classes, including dying, standing dead, and
fallen dead trees. Because most of the trce
species that comprise old-growth stands in the
Southern Appalachian forests do not reach
biological maturity for 200-400 years (and
pcrhnps longer 10 be wcll-rcpresenied in t11e
dying and dead tree categories), the present-day
second-growth hardwood forests must be left
free of disturbance for at least another 150
years. Even then, many micro-habitat niches
provided by old windthrown trees, standing
dead snags, and rotting logs will not become
available until yet another century has passed.
More imponantly, most of the plants and
animals of our second-growth forests represent
mid-successional species, which are not those
that will eventually be present in the climax
communities. The maturing forests of today will
undergo dynamic changes in species
composition when left undisturbed until they
reach a condition of biological old-growrh.
JCGtwm )o"rnaL paq~ 28

Artwork by Joma RN!a

Herc we should dispel several common
misconceptions regarding old-growth forests.
First, old-growth srands arc not decadent.
On the contrary, they arc dynamic and teeming
with life. As old crees fall. many new niches are
created for other plants and animals, both in the
canopy overhead and in the rotting wood on the
forest floor. Many microhabitats undergo
constant micro-successions of plants and
animals, as new niches arc created and old ones
disappear.
A second myth is that "old-growth" is
synonymous with "wilderness." This is
cenainly not true in eastern Nonh America,
where we have very liulc true old-growth in
areas that have been Congressionally designated
as "Wilderness." There is one important
difference between the two. Legal Wilderness is
by definition for hwnon beings. a commodity
for people to enjoy as a recreational experience,
and it is managed as such by the public
agencies. Old-growth forest is for bioro,
preserved for the intrinsic value of all the
various forms of biological diversity therein.
Managing for old-growth, however, does not
exclude use by people. rn fact, old-growth
forests enhance benefits such as recreation,
wildlife habitat, visual quality, and stream
quality, as well as providing for essential
biological diversity.
Restoring Old-Growth Diversity
We return full circle to the opening
paragraph of this paper. "Today we stand at the
threshold of a great decision" - one of the most
imponant for public land use since the creation
of the national forests.
Current management plans for the
Southern Appalachian national forests call for
widespread timber harvest, largely by
clearcurting, for most of the 60 to 80 year old
second-growth stands that have reached
economic maturity. There arc provisions in
some forest management plans to temporarily
preserve five percent of each harvested
component (approximately 50 acres for each
1000 acres harvested) for old-growth .
However, these temporary reserves are only
fragments surrounded by young managed
stands, and even these may also be harvested in
the future. Tree species in the young stands
created by harvesting will be heavily biased

toward those with known commercial value,
such as eastern white pine, yellow poplar, and
the red and white oaks. This would reduce
natural diversity ai.d would also reduce the
potential for genetically stable communities in
the future. An orientation toward timber
management is not going to maintain regional
biological diversity in its broadest sense.
The United States IOOth Congress stated,
"The Eanh's biological diversiry is being rapidly
depleted at a rate without precedent in human
history....Mosr losses of biological diversity are
largely avoidable consequences of human
activity ....Mointoining biological diversity
through habitat preserv01ion is often less costly
and more effective than ejforrs ro save species
once tltey become endangered." (Quoted from
H.R. 4335. 1988, emphasis added).
We frequently hear reports of
distinguished biological scientists warning that
human-caused destruction of naturaJ habnats is
the single most serious threat to survival of life
as we know it on our planet. The loss of genetic
diversity and the loss of entire ecosystems arc
occurring at an accelerating pace around the
world. The Southern Appalachian Mountains arc
a pan of this grim picture. But the existing
public lands have the potential to restore the
natural diversity provided by the old-growth
forests currently missing from the Appalachian
biorcgion. Unbroken, naturally-functioning
habitats must be restored here to provide the
basic life suppon systems necessary to carry all
forms of life through rhe unfolding ecological
catastrophe of our times.
We can overcome rhc mental blindness
that would have us believe that providing
commodities for people is the uhimote use for
the Appalachian national forests. We can expand
our vision to keep in mind the value of habitat,
the foundation for all life. Whole and healthy
habitats provide the necessary elements for the
continued survival of the entire global
ecosystem.

Robert Zollner was a professor of
forestry at Clemson Universiry specializing in
the ecology of Sowhern Appalachian hardwoods
until lus retirement in 1988.

f'~U.. 1989

�LIVING GREEN
&lt;O Christoph and Mary-Clayton Endcrlein

The Oreen Movement is more than 1 political ideology because Green vallltS also involv~ how we live every
day. This list is for thl&gt;se who have lhe "Green Spirit" and would like IO i~rponlle II further tnlO _daily
living...Only by activating the ilel1IS on lhis list, can our grea1-grea1-grea1 gra~c~1ldren have an opponunuy.
interacl directly wilh lhe grea1 whales, lhe elephanlS. the ravens, lhe wolves. This hs1 was created by Interspecies
Communication board member ChrisU&gt;ph Enderlein and his wife Mary-ClaylOll. Feel free IO copy. bul do llOl change
i1 wilhoul permission.

'°

Recycle paper, glass, and metals
.
Recycle motor oil, dispose of hazardous waste responsibly
Use cloth diapers
Reuse egg cartons and paper bags
Avoid using styrofoam
.
Avoid disposable plates, cups, utensils
Use rags instead of paper towels
.
Use paper bags, not pa~r towels to drain ~se
Give away rather than dispose of unneeded nems
IO. Use the back of discardable paper for scratch paper
11. Be responsible and creative with leftover food
12. Use the water from cooking vegetables to make soup
13. Mend and repair rather than discard !llld replace
14. Invest in well-made functional clothing
15. Buy bulk and unpackaged rather than packaged ~oods
16. Purchase goods in reusable and recyclable containers
17. Buy organic, pesticide-free foods
18. Avoid highly processed foods
19. Eat foods from low on the food chain
20. Compost your food scraps
21. Grow your own food (even small kitchen gardens)
22. Volunteer to start or help with a community garden
23. Suppon your local food co-ops
24. Discover where the foods and goods you buy come from
25. Buy locally grown produce and other foods .
26. Use glass and steel cookware rather~ alu1TU11um
27. Volunteer to maintain local parlts and wilderness
28. Buy living Christmas trees
29. Plant trees in your community
30. Learn about the plants and animals in your re~on
31. Discover your watershed and work to protect II
32. Oppose the use of roadside defoliants in your area
33. Use non-toxic, biodegradable soaps and cleansers
34. Use non-toxic pest control
35. Don't buy products tested on animals
36. Keep hazardous chemicals in spillproof containers
37. Put m a water conserving shower head
38. Take shoner showers
39. Tum off the water while you brush your te~th
40. Put a water conservation device on your toilet
41. Learn where your waste and sewage goes
42. Learn where the energy for your home comes from
43. Suppon your local utility's conservation programs
44. Hang your clothes out to dry
45. Be sure your home is appropriately insulated
46. Weather-seal your home thoroughly
47. Heat your home responsibly, with renewable energy
48. Don't bum green wood
49. Choose the longterm investment of solar energy
50. Tum off lights when not in use

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Ta!!.1989

Drawing by Rob Messi&lt;:lr.

51. Tum down your hot water heater
52. Lower your thcnnostat and wear warmer clothes
53. Buy energy efficient elccuical appliances
54. Keep your car engine well tuned
55. Drive a fuel-efficient car that uses unleaded gas
56. Walk, bicycle, carpool, and use public transponation
57. Shop by phone first, then pick up your purchases
58. Use rechargable batteries
59. Research socially-responsible investments
60. Suppon local credit unions
.
61. Suppon local shops and restaurants. not chruns
62. "Adopt a grandparent" from the local senior center
63. Volunteer to cook for senior citizens
64. Provide for children in need
65. Hold a community potluck to meet your neighbors
66. Pick up liner along highways and near your home
67. Sponsor a clothes swap
68. Become involved with community projects and events
69. Organize or panicipate in community spons
70. Be responsible for the values you express
71. Educate yourself on global and "Third World" issues
72. Participate in sister city and cultural exchanges
73. Learn about the cultural diversity in your region
74. Work for global peace
75. Learn how your legislators vote, let them know your views
76. Be an active voter and anend town meetings
77. Vote for candidates who support green values
78. Become involved with your child's school
79. Encourage your child's natural talents and interests
80. Organize or join a toy co-op
81. Put toxic substances out of reach of children
82. Teach your children ecological wisdom
83. Listen to your children's needs and suppon their dreams
84. Discourage the use of violent toys in your household
85. Communicate openly with your co-workers and friends
86. Acknowledge someone who provides quality service
87. Work to understand people with different values
88. Be conscious of the struggles of oppressed people
89. Unlearn cultural sexism and racism
90. Acknowledge individual spirituality in yourself and others
91. Donate blood if your health permits
92. Explore ways to reduce the stress in your life
93. Practice preventive health care
94. Exercise regularly and eat wisely
95. Bring music and laughterinto your life
96. Learn about the medications you put in your body
97. Practice responsible family planning
98. Learn First Aid and emergency procedures
99. Take time to play, relax and go into nature
JOO.Decrease TV watching and increase creative learning
IOI.Have fun and be joyful!
JC.atiuah JournGt p!MJB 29

�Whether you are a New Age prosperity
afti m1a11onist or an idealistic pauper avoiding
guilt by association with money, either way you
look at it, inflation has deemed our dollars paper
symobls of wealth that does not exist. A
practical person cannot help but wonder how
long before the big balloon pops and blows all
our preny greenbacks away.
There is a low-level anxiety present
concerning our inflated economy which has
prompted many people 10 s1ockpile food. move
back to the land, and in many other ways be as
self-sufficient as possible.
This awareness is helpful in keepi ng us
on our 1oes and ready for change, which is
inevitable, even if it is unpredictable. However,
survivalist consciousness can be devastating if
you spend all your energy preparing for the fall
of the existing order and deny yourself the
bounty of the present, which is all we have
really got.
It seems important to balance respect for
the preseni solu1ion of problems within 1
he
world in which we live, however imperfect,
with a vision and steps LOward an economics
rooted in life.
Barter Fairs offer a deeply satisfyin g
eicperience for those who long to participate in a
tangible, life-oriented exchange system, where
true value is considered.
As an example, here is a trade I witnessed
at a Saner Fair in Idaho a few years ago:
George had an anvil that Dennis wanted,
but all Dennis had brought to trade were
moccasins, which George did not need. Dennis
kept coming back to George longing for that
anvil, which George could not find anybody
else to take. Meanwhile, George had found
some gorgeous jewelry he could not live
without, and in talking to the crafter he
discovered that she was looking for some
footwear. George told her about Dennis. They
did a threesome, and the goods shifted hands.
All three lightened !heir loads and left richer.
Ideally the three people involved in the
trade did not translate their goods into money
value and compare their worth that way. They
each il~d a.a abundance of something of which

they no longer had a need and convened it into
something they preferred to carry around with
them. The anvil may have been worth $150
new, but to George it was just unused heavy
baggage. Those jewels might have carried a
hefty price tag at a craft fair. but since George
had such a yearning gaze and such an open
smile, the artist easily chose to exchange them
for Dennis' moccasins, which could never have
been sold for so much money, but fit her feet
like her own skin, to her infinite comfort and
delight.

BARTER
FAIR
All judgement on money ethics aside,
bartering goods and services without the value
translation of money is a stimulating,
heart-warming, and enlightening activity. The
true value of things is discovered to be
subjective. The shifting of a fair full of items to
their most valuing recipients is wondrous in its
unfoldment; the grounds for transfer are
infinitely variable.
The phenomenon of the modem American
Bane. Fair originated in the Pacific Northwest, a
r
region with a well-developed bioregional

awareness and a strong emphasis on
self-sufficiency . The fairs are held
semi-annually. The autumn fairs, coinciding
with harvest season, are heavier on agricultural
produce. In the spring, people bring more
handmade items produced during the long
winter. Both fairs are rich in reunions of
friends, music-malting. sitting around campfires
late into the night, and all the peripheral activitiCl&gt;
of the time and place.
Barter Fairs are different than flea
markets, although many people do bring used
clothes, tools, and other goods to trade. They
are more akin to the county fairs in the country.
There is a spirit of festivity and pride in personal
accomplishment and a sense of the bounty that
comes of humanity working with nature. They
are a celebration of the fruits of this union within
a region of Earth.
There is no reason I can see that Saner
Fairs need to remain unique to the Northwest.
Our southern highlands, historically short on
money and high on resourcefulness, seem
naturally suited to generate and support this kjnd
of community celebration and self-sufficiency.
Barter Fairs carry on a spirit with ancient
roots in prehistoric times, when wandering
tribes periodically gathered together in great
council circles to define and experience their
cultural autonomy. During later agric ultural
periods fairs continued to stir human souls.
Now in the age of K-Mart when you can hardly
find a service station for your car, and pliers fall
apart after one use, it is especially good to come
together to celebrate our connectedness and
support each other in our skills. Barter Fairs in
Katuah will breed a healthy blend of personal
pride and community empowennent.

(Anyone with ideas on a good location to
hold a Baner Fair in Kat1'ui11, please contact me.
The main considerations are a flat place large
enough to accommodate camping, parking, and
trading for l ()() or so barterers and some daytime
visitors; a good water source; and reasonable
access by larger vehicles.)
- Morgan Swann
wrire clo KatUahJournal,
orcaU (704)298-1770

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�The dates are set. The location is chosen.
The Fourth Norch American Bioregional
Congress (NABC IV) will be held August
19-26, 1990 in the Gulf of Maine Bioregion on
the shores of Lake Cobboosseecontee ("where
the sturgeon leap" in the Penobscot language)
just west of Augusta, Maine and the Kennebec
River.
This Congress finds the bioregional
movement at a critical juncture. The burgeoning
ecological crisis is going to test the depth of the
movement's commilment. The stakes are high,
and while Third World countries are currently
taking the brunt of the ecologicar impact, we 100

feel the

pressur~

here in North America

a.~

the

fortes maintaining industrial society struggle 10
keep their power.
But times of crisis are also times of
change. What we are witnessing could possibly
be the last days of induscriaJ civilization. A great
deal depends on what we do in the decade
ahead. The bioregional movement could be at
the pivot point of a great change, or it could end
up as just another bit of flotsam sucked down
the tubes. The values we hold to and the actions
we take are what will decide. At NABC IV we
will have an opportunity to clearly state those
values and decide how we will put those values
into action.

Excerpt from World Charter for Nature

NABC IV
The Eanh is calling to us. Are we ready to
listen?
A delegation of bioregional folks from ·the
Kaulah province will crave! to the Gulf of Maine
for the NABC IV. We would like to see the
Southern Appalachians well-represented at the
Congress. Make plans now if you are interested

in attending.
For information on the forming Katuah
delegation, contact:
K011"1h Journlll
Box 638
Leicester, NC
Kanlah Province 28748
(704) 683-1414
For information on the Congress, contact:
Gulf of Maine Biorcgional Network
61 Maine St.
Brunswick, ME
Gulf of Maine Bioregion 04011

• Leopold, Aldo; A Sund Country Almanac; Oxford;
Oxford University Press, 1949
• Lovelock, J.E.; Goio: A New look at Life on
Earth; Oxford; Oxford University Press, 1979

A Shon List of Sources and References on
Biodiversity and Habirat Relevant to the
Southern Appalachian Forest

• Margolin, Malcolm; The Earth Manual: I/ow to
Work on Wild Land Wi1hou1 Taming /1, Berkeley:
Heyday Books, 1985

• Berger, John J.: Restoring the Earth: /low
Americans An Working to Renew our Damaged
Environment; New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1986

• Maser, Chris; Tht Redesigned Forest: San
Pedro, CA; R. &amp; E. Miles, 1988

• Berry, Thomas. Tile Dream of 1h11 Ear1h; San
Francisco; Sierra Club Books, 1988
• lfuxton, Barry and Melinda Crutchfield, eds.:
Tiie Great Fores/: An Appalachian Story: Boone, NC;
Appalachian Consortium Press, 1985
• Cooley, James L, and Jane H. Cooley, eds.;
Natural Divtrsi1y in Fores/ Ecosystems: Proceedings of
tht Workshop: Alhens; Institute of Ecology, University
of GA. 1984
• Frome, Michael: Strangers in lligh Places;
Knoxville, TN: University or Tennessee Press, 1966
• Gordon. Lorimer C.: S1and flis1ory and
Dynamics of a Southern Appalachian Virgin Forts/; Ph.
D. dissenation, Duke University DepL of Forestry and
Environmental Studies, 1977

• Harris, Larry D.; Tht Frogmenltd Forest: Island
Biogeogrophy Theory and 1he Prtstrvo1ion of Bio1ic
Diversi1y; Chicago, IL: University or Chicago Press,
1984
• Jackson, Laura; Moun1oin Treasures al Risk;
Washingion, DC; The Wilderness Society, 1989
• Kulhavy, D. L., and R. N. Conner,
eds.;Wi/derntss and Natural Artas in Eas1ern United
States: A Monogtmenl Chai/tinge; Nacogdoches, TX;
Stephen F. Austin State University, 1986
1"titL, I 989

• Ma.stran, Shelley Smith and Nan Lowerre;
Mountaineers and Rangers: A flis1ory of Federal Fores1
Monagemenl in 1he Sowhern Appalachians. 1900-1981:
Washingion, DC; US Dcpan.mcnt of Agriculture, 1983
• Michaux, F.A.; Travels 10 tht Westward of 1he
Alleghany Moun1oins in the States of Oliio. Kentucky,
and Tennessee in 1he Year 1802; London; Barnard and
Sulizer, 1805
• Myers, Normnn Or., gen. ed.; Goia: An Atlas of
PIOlll!tory Monagtmem: New York; Anchor Books, 1984
• Nash, Roderick F.; The Righ1s of Nature: A
History of Environmental E11iics: Madison; University of
Wisconsin Press, 1989
• Norse, Elliot A.; Conserving Biological
Diversiry in Our National Fortsis; Washington. DC; The
Wilderness Society, 1986
• Norton, Bryon G., ed.; Tht Preservation of
Species: Tht Value of Biological Diversity; Princeton,
NJ; Princeion University Press. 1986
• Pringle, Laurence and Jan Adkins; Chains,
Webs, &amp; Pyramids: Tht Flow of Energy in Na1ure; New
York; Thomas Y. Crowell, 1975
• Raven, Pete.r H.; The Global Ecosys1em in
Crisis; Olicago:The MacAnhur Foundation, 1987

Adopted by the United Nations
General Assembly
(9 Nov 1982)
".... I. Nature shaU be respected and iis essential processes
shall not be impaired.
2. The genetic vinbility on the earth shnll not be
compromised; lhe population levels or all life forms, wild
and domesticated, must be at least sufficient for their
survival, and to this end necessary habitaL~ shall be
safcguan:lcd.
3. All areas or the canh. both land and sen, shall be
subject to these principles of conservation; special protection
shall be given to unique areaS, to representative samples of
nil the different types or ecosystems and to lhe habitats or
rare or endangered species.
4. Ecosystems and organisms, as well as the land,
marine and atmospheric resources that are utilized by
humans. shall be managed to achieve and maintain optimum
sustainable productivity, but not in such a way as to
endanger the integrity of those other ecosystems or species
wilh which they coexist.
5. Nature shall be secure.&lt;! against degradation caused by
warfare or other hostile activities.
6. In lhe decision-making process it shall be recognized
lhat humans' needs can be met only by ensuring the proper
functioning or natural systems and by respecting the
principles set forth in the present Chnner...."

This UN Charter can serve as a starting point for
local areas and regions to draft their own Charter for
Nature. Legally recognizing the rights of other
species is a critical step in bringing our species' syslem
more in balance with the Life systems in which we
pa rt id pate.
If you would like a copy of the entire UN
Charter, send a SASE to: Mamie Muller, Katuah
Journal, P.O. Box 638, Leicester, NC 28748 Katuah
Province.
Please keep us in touch with your efforts. Ho!
• Seed. John, Joanna Macy, et al.; Thinking Wee
A Moun1oin: Towards A Council Of All Beings:
Philadelphia; New Society Publishers, 1988.
• Shands. William E. and Robert G. Healy; Thti
Lands Nobody Won1ed: Washington, DC; The
Conservation Foundation, 1977
• Shands, William E., and John S. Hoffmnn, eds.:
The Greenhouse Ef!u1. Climate Change, and U.S.
Fores1s; Washington, DC; The Conservation
Foundation, 1987
• Spurr, Stephen H., and Bunon V. Barnes; Forts/
Ecology {3rd edition); New York; Wiley and Sons,
1980
• United States Congress: Technologies to
Main1ain Biological Diversity; Washingum, DC; Office
ofTechnology Assessment, 1988
• United States Department of Agricult.ure, Forest
Service, Southern Region; Atlanta, GA; Land and
Resource Monagtmenl Plans and Final Environmenlal
Impact S101emen1s:
C!Jauaboochee-Oconec National Forests
(Georgia), 1985
Cherokee National Forests (Tennessee), 1986
Nantahala-Pisgah National Forests (North .
Carolina), 1987
• Wharton, Charles H., and Harvey L. Ragsdale;
The Values of Unmanaged Notional Fores1s in 1he
Sou1hern Appalachians; Atlanta, GA; The Georgia
Conservancy. 1983

�evenrs

SEPTEMBER
19-22

ASHEVILLE, NC
"Parkways, Greenways, Riverways: The Way
More Beautiful" linear parks conference. lnt.crdisciplinary
discussion of al1ematives to preserve the scenic landscape
againsl development, pollution, billboards, and
commercialism. Sponsored by the Appalachian
Consonium. Great Smokies Hilton. Regis1rotion: $~25.
For more info., call (704) 262-2064.
,,

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HOT SPRINGS, NC
"Walking Gently on the EartW' ~
with John and Penelope Youngb L

J

ynam1cs o evo UJ1on a t. e I ig so~ 't,.;p "
psych_ology ...a new evolutionary mysn.~sm.
Reading: The Dream of the Ewth b~ Tf":mas
Berry. SI 10. Sou~ern Dharma RylrQal C\\J'te~ RL ).

°·

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(

OCTOBER ,

~

·

C,f{EROKEE, NC
Cherpkee Indian Fall Festival. Crafts, dance,_
stickball, archery, blowguns. exhibi~. midway. o..ilyadm~n: $3. A,! lhe Indian Ccremon,il\l Grounps.
3_7

Box 34-H; Hol Spnngs, NC 28743

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ASHEVILE NC
P
Child ~musical fantaS al&gt;oul children
.
•
. .
eace th •
\, Y1
bnngmg peace to c world. Thomas ,vohe Audiionum.
Advance: S6 aaulls, $4 children and sr. citizens. Door: $7
d SS ~ . (704)
_
684 5530
an
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n

"I~ ~his r_etreat we will explore togetJ1er n
spmtual1ty of the Earth 1n harmony_w1
· if
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nd h ·nS· hff ,, ~th
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22-24

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MORGANTON, WV
"
John Henry Blues feStiv#. ~usic,
workshops, theaLCr, more. Greer P•vill~. W~ver (
Park. Contact: Ed Cabbell; John HeorWl
SQl\iety;
Box 1172; Morgantown, WV 26507. 0fl4)~9 60?.

ASHEVILLE, NC

'11ie 'Dream of the 'Eartli.
'I1iomas 'Berry, autlwr of '11U '1&gt;rtam
'Eart/i, 'flli{! sfum with us his concerns a6out mu
pfanet anti What fu means 6y "reinventin9 tk
fuiman at tk species kveC. 9:00 AM Iii Noon. Al
the Jubilee! Community Ccmer, 46 Wall StrccL For
more info, caJJ Mamie Muller (704) 683-1414.

23

ASHEVILLE, NC
African Drumming Workshop with Darrell
Rose. Noon 'ti! 3 pm. S20. At Troy Set7.ler's For
directions and info.: (704) 683·3405.
Evening African Drum performance with
Darrell Rose and Michael Saleen. Al Stone Soup, 9 pm.

FINCASTLE, VA

Firsl Annual Southeastern Men's Conference,
"Male Initiation and Isolation· wilh poet Rohen Bly,
James Hillman, Michale Meade (storyteller and musician
in the Ccllic tradition). and John Stokes, tracker.

Jn the post the "emotional bodies" of men were directly
ae1iva1ed by the interaction with elders, grand/others, and
mentors...What happens when the grandfathers are
aistant? ...How to hold to the duryofa father and not lose
the passion of a son? ...How to explore the rage, grief.
s'lro.me, anger, and joy inherent in the male psyche?
Registration: $450. For more info, wriie Fred Stephens;
'Box ~2; Raleigh, NC. or call Doug Lcaster(919)
782-2900.
·FILLED·
Write to bll put on mailing Ii.st for next year.

1
5-JS

MADISON, VA
"Wilddmcss Leaming Quest" - exploring lhe
viild, exploring ~e self. Sl60. Sevenoaks Pathwork
Center; Rt. I, BOX'~; Madison, VA 22n1.
17-20

'°6-8

JONESJWROUGl:f, TN

NAP~S Na~al Sl~rytelling Pe$,tival
fcaturirig mllJly famous nam~ in story·tellirjg. S5°'adull
»&lt;&gt;j·membets, S2S chi\dtt.n, $125 f~milie$. For ~re
inp&gt;.• write f4ation3J AssQciailon for th~ Pn:se._rvalion &amp;l\d
pcrpc1uati6o of Storytelll{lg: Box.__309; Joni;s,boroug~ .
37659foc call
~l~ 75~·2171.
- )

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23

14-19

!p'tOXVl,LLE, TN
~nnual mecling of the Natural Areas
Assoc!lidon, \lllldentlal land conservation and restoration
organization. The fust day of the meeting will be devOLCd
1o th~lJibila.t of'lhe Soulhem Appalachian Mountains.
PulilcffiiViteb.. Hrau Regency Hotel. Contact J. Ralph
JordaJ;\TV ~; Norris, TN 37S2S (615) 494-9800.

.,_)

I

20.22
BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC
The Black Mountain Fall Festival wilh
,.s
lRASSTow ll, NC
~
/ ,.....
Vassar Clements, Allen Fontenot and the Country
Fall Festival al the JobD C. Campbj)ll Folk
dljuns. Roy Bookbinder, Rhythm in Shoes (step dance),
SchooL-'Mus)c. craftS, country danci1,1g. · )ohn._C.
• and more. Grey Eagle and Friends; Box 216; Black
Campbell Follc Sch09l; Brasstown, ~c· 28906,
Mountafo, NC 28711.
11·15
H.IGHLANDS, NC
20-22
HOT SPRINGS, NC
"Visual EnvironmentaHsm· photography
"The Song of Creation al Harvest Time•
workshop in the field and in lhe dnrkroom wilh Robert
harvest celebration in the Jewish tradition with Lynn
Glenn Kelchum and Michael Wilder. $250 includes
Goulieb, storyteller and rabbi of the Nahalat Shalom
lodging. Appalachian Environmental Ans Center: Box
Community, Albuquerque, NM. SI LS. Sou.them Dharmn
5SO; Highlands, NC 28741. (704) 526-4303.
Relreal Center. See 9/22·24.
12
BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC
WomnnSong at McDibbs. "Socilll concern
through harmony." S3. 119 Cherry St. (704) 669-24S6.

27

ASHEVILLE, NC
Thomas Berry will give the sermon at the
Equinox service of the Jubilee! Community. Service
begins at llAM 46 Wall S1rcc1. {704) 252-5335

ASHEVILLE, NC
"Mountain Sweet Talk" - a lwo-acl play with
the Folktellcrs, Barbara Freeman and Connie
Rcgan-B lake. The Folk Art Center Theater. Thursdays
lhru Saturdays - S pm: Sundays - 3 pm. TickctS: SS
advance from Malaprop's; SIO dooc. Reservations, cnll
(704) 25S-l l 13.

29- LO/I

ASHEVILLE, NC

"Restoring Biodiversity in the
Southern Appalachians: A Strategy for
Survival" conference on mountain habitat

13-19

24

NEW MARKET, TN
STP (Slop the Poisoning) School al the
Highlander Center. Tactics, strategy, and networking for
those working to stop industrial pollulion. Pre-register.
Call Highlander at (615) 933-3443.

30

CULLOWREE, NC
Moumain Heritage Day at WCU campus.
Clogging, shape-note singing, exhibils, crafts, food,
musical events, kids' shows. For more info, call (704)
227-72ll.
30-10/l

SWANNANOA, NC
Women's class on Jamaican culwral ceremony
with Rev. Queen Mother Azula. For more info, call:
(704) 29S-3935. The Eanh Center; 302 Old Fellowship
Rd.; Swannanoa, NC 28776

12-29

HI GHLANDS, NC
"Praying Feel and Dirty Hands"
Intergenerational Peace Conference led by Stepanie
Nichols. Carol Powers (The Peace Network) and Bob
Alpern. Programs on US/USSR cooperation, connict
resolution and non-violence, overcoming slrCeotypcs,
more - "leading people into action." SSS includes meals
and lodging. The Mountain Camp and Conference
CenLCr; 841 Highway 106; Highlands. NC 2S741. (704)
526-5S3S.
14

AS HEVILLE, NC
"Danger Down Under" groundwnter pro1CCli011
workshop. Health risks, citizen action, simulations.
Keynote: Larry and Sheila Wilson of Highlander Center.
S:30-4:00. Owen Conference Center, UNCA.
Pre-register: S15 to Clean Water Fund of North Carolina:
l lS Person St.; Raleigh, NC 27602. For more info, call:
(704)251-0518.

(Sec ad on back cover.) Pre-registration: S20 to
"Resloring Biodiversity..." c/o Box 233; Hot Springs,
NC 28743. For more info, call: (704) 251-6441.

27

ASHEVILLE, NC
Earth First! Road Show with Dakou Sid nnd
Roger Featherstone. Music and rabble-rousing. Stone
Soup, Broadway and Walnut. al S:OO pm. $4.

28

ASHEVILLE, NC

"For All Things Wild" Forest
Rescue Action Workshop. Strategy meeting
for activists wishing to help defend and restore
Appalachian habitat. (See ad on back cover.)
Pre-regiStration: SS to "For All Things Wild" c/o Elmer
Hall; Box 233: Hot Springs, NC 28743. For more info..
call: (704) 29S-3325 (ExL 250).
Drawing by Rob Messick

f"aCC., l 989

�10-12

28

4

ASHEVILLE, NC
·wt1d In the Str••h: The Feral

Q.all· Do.-..:• with Grondmother o"d
Strow

Com•

c::o&amp;-tutT\ed

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your

Q,...

BLACK MOUNTAIN , NC
David Wilcox, vinuoso local songwriter, at
McDibbs. S4. See 10/12.

fovortt•

~"·"'• onlmal or bird ... or .som•tN""S

10-12

MADISON, VA
"Living the Sacred Round: Lessons from the
Medicine Wheel.• Sevenoaks Pa!hwork Center, see
1W15-18.

wlldl

B 00 """" Loccrtlon to be c:&gt;l'V'C&gt;unc:.ed

10-12

CAMP NEW HOPE, NC

Celebrating the Dream ofthe Eanh
Earth, isn't this whaJ you want
28-29

WA YNESVlLLE, NC
"Chi Kung: An Ancient Taoist Mysiery" with
Ellen Hines of the Chinese Acupuncture and Herbology
Clinic, Asheville, NC. S50 includes room and board.
Contact S1il-Light Retreat Center; Rt. I, Box 326;
Waynesville, NC 28786 (704) 452-4569

NOVEMBER
4

FLETCHER, NC
"Improving and Maintaining Soil Fertility," a
conference sponsored by the Carolina Farm Stewardship
Assocuiuon. $15 includes lunch. For more info., call
Fairglen Farms (704)252-4414.

invisibly to arise in us?

11

(Rilke)

Reflecting the key Lhemes of Thomas
Berry. the conference will focus on the cerebral
as well as ki11esthetic interpretations of the
Dream of the Earth. With Miriam Therese
MacGillis, Amy Hannon, Marnie Muller, and
others. Workshops include: "Evolutionary
Remembering," "Exploring the Dream through
Movement and Sound." Annual Conference of
the Center for Reflection on the Second Law.
Info: CFRSL; 8420 Camellia Dr.; Raleigh, NC
27612

Cost: $9.50, includes postage
(NC residents please add S~ sales tax.)

raU,1989

CELlNA, TN
TN Alternative Growers Assoc. Fall
Conference. Includes soil improvement and backyard fruit
production. At Sta.nding Stone State Park. info: (615)
232-7777.

DECEMBER

BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC
Mike Cross at McDibbs. Shows at 8 and 10
pm Tickets SIO in advance. See 10/12.

..

...

Please specify size: Sm.. Med., Lg., X-Lg.

11·19

BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC
Livingston Taylor at McDibbs. Shows at 8
an 10 pm. Tickets SS in advance. Sec 10/12.

15-17

Beer &amp; Wine Making
Supplies
•: Bulk Herbs, Spices, &amp; Grains :.

In the traditional Cherokee Indian belier. the
creatures in the world LOday are only diminuitive forms of
the mythic beings who once inhabited lhe world, but
who now reside in Galuna'li, the spirit world, lhe 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 arc called with reverence "grandfathers".
And of !hem, the sirongest are Kanali, the lightning, lhe
power or the sky; Utsa'nati, the rattlesnake, who
personifies the power of the eanh plane; and Yunwi Usdi,
"lhe little man•, as ginseng is called in the sacred
ceremonies, who draws up power from lhe underworld.
Each is lhe sirongest power in its own domain.
Together !hey arc aJJies: tJ1cir energies complement each
other 10 form an even grcatct power. As medicine allies,
they represent the healing powers of the Appalachian
Mountains.
The medicine powers of Katuah have been
depicted in a striking T-shin design by Ibby Kenna.
Printed in 4-color silkscreen by Ridgerunncr Naturals on
top quality, aU-couon shins, they are available now in
all adult sizes tllrough the Kal:mu bioregional mail-order
supplier.
Order shirts from: KRLANU
Box 282; Sylva, NC
KatW!h Province 28779

SWANNANOA, NC
Marketing Alternative Crops seminar at
Warren Wilson College. Call Fairglen Farms (704)
252-44 14 for more info.

2

Natural Foods

rt'.ED'LC'LN'.E A.LL'L'.ES

WAYNESVILLE, NC
Weekend Meditation Retreat with Dorothy
Abbenhouse, president of the Theosophical Society in
America. $60. Stil-Light Retreat Center. See 10/28-29.

Vitamins &amp; Supplements
Wheat, Salt,
&amp; Yeast-Free Foods
Dairy Substitutes
•: Hair &amp; Skin Care Products

111

200 West Kina Street. Boone NC 28607

\.•

'\..,_

704-264-5220

~~':"'

WAYNESVILLE, NC
Discussion and practice of "The Yoga Sutras
of Patanjali" wilh Leon Frankel. $60. Stil-Light Retreat
Center. See 10/28-29.

224'. broadway
ashcvi.lle. n.c
288o1

704-252-8404

=•

Ill

..

carolina costume
compaey

_J~ .._________________,
1

=-~

MOON
Gilts of Celebration
(EARTHWAY BOOKSTORE)

Books • New Age Music
Wildcrafted Herbal Producu
Gemstones • Unique Cards
Magazines • &amp; More

WATER PURIFICATION EQUIPMENT
SOLAR PRODUCTS
Member NC Water Ouallly Assoeiallon

RANDALL C. LANIER

704-293-5912

HWY. 107
RT . 68 BOX 125
CULLOWHEE, NC 28723

(704) 264-7242

315 E. King Street, Boone NC 28607

e1ti11ese .,4(11p1111(/11re

DESIGNS

111tli

Jler/Jp/gl/I e/iHi(

by Rob Messick
lllustralion &amp; Design
in Pen &amp; Ink and Colored Pencil
P O Box 2601 • soone. NC 28607 • 1704)754-0097

78 EMT CMESTNUT STREET
AS&gt;il:VIU.E. NC 28801
704 2S8-llOl6

M.C. M.VEBE. M.S., Ao.0.

UC. ACUPl.INCT\JRIST

EU.£H Hll&lt;ES M.Ac.. ¥ M.
UC. ACUPUNCTIJRIST

�LEAD TESTS • Is your plumbing leaching
poi.~onous lead into your drinkingwatcr? Find out
for sure • lead-testing kit from the non-profit Clean
Water Fund of NC. All you need for Sl2. Send a
check w/ name and address to CWF: 138 E.
Chestnut St.; Asheville, NC 28801
MOCCASINS, handcrafted of elkhide in the
traditional Plains Indian style. Water-resistant,
rcsolable, and rugged - great for hiking! Children's
and infant sizes available. Write: Blue Feather
Moccasins; Box 931; Asheville. NC 28802. or caU
Patrick Clark at (704) 253-5047.
BLIGHT RESISTANT CHESTNUT - hybrid
American/Chinese Dunstan chestnut lJ'CCS - blight
resistant, limber growth form, productive orchard
crop with large, sweet easily-peeled nuts. Chestnut
Hill Nursery: Rt. I, Box 341-K; Alachua, FL
32615 (904) 462-2820
APPLE TREES - old-timey and popular
contemporary varieties on standard, semi-, or dwarf
stock. Send SASE for prices: Jeff Poppen: Long
Hungry Creek Nursery; Red Boiling Springs. TN
37150.
UNION ACRES, an alternative community for 20
families based on principles of stewardship,
equality, consensus, and simplicity. Spaces
available. Apply to Caroline Grant: Rt. I, Box
61-J; Whittier, NC 28789 or call (704) 497-4964.

ADOPT-A-TREE. Trees are the great conservators
of the planeL The Adopt-A-'Ire.e program will help
malce the vital connection between individual people
and individual trees. Donations accepted. For more
info. write to Box 144, Sugnr Grove, NC 28679
CHRISTIAN MA TCH-A-FRlEND seeks to bring
together Christian men &amp; women. Interested
persons, advenisc free. We arc non-profit. For
information please send a self-addressed envelope io:
Gospel Ministry. P.O. Box 654, Clinton, TN
37717.
RENEWAL PROGRAMS- I provide individual and
corporate renewal programs for businesses &amp;
organizations interested in healing themselves and
providing empowerment 10 others. Write: Kathie
Pieper c/o Pieper Associates, Rt. I, Box 238
Waynesville, NC 28786.

NEEDED: CHJLD-LOVING PERSON who loves
Lo be a nanny and housekeeper for my four
children. Hours, wages negotiable. Rm. and bd.
available. Asheville area. Call Morgan (704)
689-5382.

NEW AGE - group forming. All interested in
shnring about spirit to spirit communication,
channeling, visualization, healing, chakras, tarot,
etc. Emphasis on spiril and our connecLion lo
Mother Earth, visualizing positive growth and
nunuring. ConUICt Theresa C&amp;rlson, 7501 Ruic Rd.,
Knoxville, TN 37920.

PEPPERLAND offers a variety of outdoor education
programs for church, school, or civic groups
year-round. We will help you design a program for
your group. Send for information packet to:
Pepperland Farm camp: Star Route; Farner, TN
37333.

"THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT' - a complete
rcpon on our changing environment for the next 60
years. $17.00 poslpaid, or write for more
information. Lorien House, POB 1112, Black
Mountain, NC 28711-1112.

APPALACHJAN GINSENG CO. ·stratified seeds,
seedlings, roots. Send for price list to: P.O. Box
547; Dillsboro, NC 28725.

DRUMS ·Custom handcrafted ceramic dumbecks &amp;
wooden medicine drums. Call Joe Roberts at (704)
258-1038 or write 10: 738 Town Mountain Rd.:
Asheville, NC 28804.
THE PEOPLE OF THE ONE SONG - booklet of
stories and poems that tell of the people's dreams,
rituals, roles, and relationships from the arthetypal
memory of the past, present, and future. S3 to
Colleen Redman: One Song Scribe; Box 634;
Floyd. VA 24091.
MOON DANCE FARM HERBALS - herbal salves,
tinctures, &amp; oils for birthing &amp; family health. For
brochure, please write: Moon Dance Farm; RL I,
Box 726: Hampton, TN 37658
WOMANSONG - ongoing choral group forming.
Songs of beauty, meaning spirit, fun, peace,
cooperation, sisterhood. Come and sing! Mon.
evenings, 7:30-9, Asheville, NC. (704) 254-7068.
X-citUah Jo1mmL pci9e 34

SEA KAY AKlNG - Come enjoy peace and
solitude traveling with the rhythms of the sea.
Classes. day trips, overnight tours, custom charters.
Kayak/Sail boat tours to the Bahamas. Kayak tours
to Costa Rica. For more information contact:
Chnrlie Reeves, Sea Level Inc. POB 478 Tybee
Island, GA 31328 (912)786-5853
ORGANIC HONEY - Tulip Poplnr, Sourwood
and WildOowcr. From Patrick County, Virginia. No
chemicals. no white sugar, no heat, ever Strained
through cheesecloth and packed in heavy glass
canning jars. For a 4-oz. sample of our premium
sourwood and our catalog, send $4 to: Wade
Buckholts &amp; Megan Phillips; Route 2. Box 248:
Stuart, VA 24171. (703) 694-4571

LO cook

NAMASTE FAMILY needs brothers and sisters to
join us in Lovi~g. Giving, Growing. Send Sl2
donation for writings and videotape to Namast~
Family; RR2, Box 578: Barnstead, NH 03225.

THE WATAUGA LAND AND WATER
CONSERVANCY • is a not-for-profit charitable
trust set up to protect the values and ecological
settings which sustain us both spiritually and
economically. If you are concerned about the purity
of the headwaters and watercourses, and the
preservation of wild and agricultural lands GET
INVOLVED. Write to Quality Living Publications,
POB I, Valle Crucis, NC 28691

"MAGIC AFTERNOONS" - for children at the
Unitarian Church of Asheville. An an program with
Linda Metzner in music, Norma Bradly in visual
arts, and Barrie Barton in creative movemenL It
begins Sept.ember 18th. Call 254-7068 for details.
NATURE LOVERS' COMMUNITY· Christians
only. SIOOO gives you life time ownership rights
on .5 acres. Whole prope.n y consists of 45 acres of
wooded calm and privacy. Write: Gospel Ministry,
P.O. Box 654, Clinton, TN 37717.
ITS THE ACHOO! SERVICE - Patch the clown
brings laughter and fun to the hospital. Join him
and the Gesundheit Institute at 2630 Roben Walwer
Place, Arlington, VA 22207 or (703) 525-8169.

PURE SORGHUM - and sorghum based desserts
toppings and chocolates. Handmade in the
Appalachian foothills. Free sorghum recipe brochure
send SASE. Candy sampler (2-KY Buckeyes &amp;
2-Bourbon Balls) $2.00 postpaid. Golden Kentucky
Products, POB 246, Livingston, KY. 40445. (606)
453-9800.
MOUNTAIN DULCIMERS • made of black
walnut, red cherry, or maple. Tops available in
wormy chestnut, butlernut, sweetgum, sassafras,
western cedar and other woods. Contact: Mize
Dulcimer Company Rt. 2, Box 288, Bloumville,
TN. 37617 (615) 323-8489.

WEBWORKING is free. Send submissions to:
RHYTHM ALIVE • Handcrafted African- Style
Drums, workshops, learning tapes. drumbags. and
accessories. Please send SASE to Rhythm Alive! 85
Phenix Cove Rd. Weaverville, NC 28787 (704)
645-3911.

Drawing by Rob Messick

Kat1'ah Journal

P.O. Box 638
Leicester, NC
Katuah Province 28748

:r~u;.1999

�The Karuah Journal wants to communicate your thoughts and
feelings to the other people in the bioregional province. Send them
to us as letters, poems, stories, anicles, drawings, or photographs,
etc. Please send your contributions to us at: Kattiah Journal; P. 0.
Box 638; Leicester, NC; Kan1ah Province 28748.
The Winter 1989-90 issue of the Katuall Journal will be
concerned with the challenges and opponunities involved in
"Raising Children into a New Consciousness." We are interested in
hearing first-person stories, alternative schooling information,
children's resources (books, places to go. etc.), and any other
creative or pertinant ideas. Don't forget the canoons (kids love
canoons!).

BACK ISSUES OF KATUA H JOURNAL AVAILABLE

' ,!,!';;..,

~

~-

-

The Spring 1990 issue of the K atuah Journal will be
focusing o n "Wellness in the Mountains." We are looking for
information and articles on those who contribute to the healthful
quality of life in our southern mountains; especially through
accivities which promote self-responsibilicy and a high level of
wellness as the nonnal living state. A broad look at wellness might
include topics like stress management, spirirualfry, retreats and
adventures, service to others, Earth stewardship, having fun,
education, family and other relationships, fitness and nutrition, or
other areas of a satisfying lifestyle.
lncluded in the "Wellness" issue will be a directory of goods
and services related to wellness. There is no cost for a listing in this
directory. Please send in your name, practice, and a shon
explanation of your work or product, if you wish to be listed.

ISSUE EIGHT · SUMMER 198S
Celebration: A Way of Life · K.uuah 18,000
Ycan Ago • Sacred Sites - Folk Ans in lhe
Schools Sun Cycle/Moon Cycle - Poems:
Hilda Downer - Cherokee Heritage Cenaer Who Owns Appalachia?

.

ISSUETHREE SPRING 1984
SUSllllJUlble Agricuhure - Sunflowcn - Human
lmpac1 on lhe ForcSI - Childtcns' Education
Veronica Nicholu:Woman in Polilics - Uule
People - Medicine Allies
ISSUE FOUR ·SUMMER 1984
Water Drum Water Quality • Kudzu • Solu
"i Eclipse · Clurcu1ung · Trout • Ooing IO Weier
~I Ram Pllmps . Microhydto - Poems: Bennie
Lee Sincl&amp;ir, J1m Wayne Miller
ISSUE FIVE · FALL 1984
Harves1 • Old Ways m Chcrolt~ • Ginseng •
Nuclear Waste - Our Cehic Heritage Bioregionahsm: Put, Prucnt. and Future John Wilnoty Healing Oatkness • Politics of
Partlcipation
ISSUESIX - Wl.NTER 1984.SS
Winter SolsticG EAl'lh Ceremony - Horsepasturr
River - Coming of lhe Ligh1 - Log Cabin
Root• • Mountain Agriculture: The Right Crop
- Williun Taylor . The Future of lhe Forw
ISSUE SEVEN • SPRING 1985
Sust1111able &amp;:onomM:s • Hot Springs • Wortcr
Owncnhip - The Gru1 Economy • Seit Help
Credit Union • Wild Turltcy - Responsible
lnvCS1m1 • Working in lhc Web of Life

ISSUE NINE - FALL 1985
The Waldce Fo re11 - The Trees Speak Migrating Forats - Horse Logging - S1ar11ng a
Tree Crop · Urban Trees • Acom Bread • Mylh

ISSUE FIFTEEN - Spring 1987
Coverlets • Woman Forester • Susie McMahan
Midwife - Ahcmativc Contraception •
Bioscxuolity - Biorcgionalism and Women Oood Medicine: Mairi.=hal Culture . P1t1Jrl
LSSUE SIXTEEN - Summer 1987
Helen Waiae • Poem: Visions m a Garden Vi11on Ques1 • First Flow • ln1llllllon
Learning in lhc Wilderness • Cherokee
Olallcngc - "Valuing Trees"

Time
ISSUE TEN · WINTER 1985-86
Kate Rogers • Circles of Stone - lntemal
Mylhmalting • Holistic Healing on Trial •
Poems: Steve Knaulh - Mythic Places - The
Ulttcna's Tale - Crystal Magic •

ISSUE EIGHTEEN · Winier 1987-88
Vernacular Archiaecrure . Drcanu in Wood and
Stone • Mountain Home • Earth Energies •
Earth-Shchcied Living - Membrane Houses •
Brush Sheller • Poems: October DMsk. • Oood
Mcdic111C: "Shclaer"

~g·

ISSUE ELEVEN SPRING 1986
Community Planning • Cities and the
Bioregional Vision • Recycling · Community
GIJdenin&amp;. Floyd CoWll}', VA - Guohol Two Bt0rcgional Views - Nuclear Supplement
Foxfire Gatnes • Oood Medicine: Visions
ISSUE THlRTEEN · Fall 1986
Cenaer For Awakening · Eliu.bclh Callari · A
Gentle Death • Hospice - Ernest Morgan Dealing Creatively wilh Oealh • Home Burial
Box • The Wake • The Raven Mocker •
Woodslore and Wildwoods Wisdom · Oood
Medicine: The Sweat Lodge
LSSUE FOURTEEN . Winier 1986-87
Uoyd Carl Owle • Boogcn and Mummers - All
Species Day • Cabin Fever University •
Homclca in Katuah - Homemade Hot Watu
Saovernalter's Narrative • Good Medicine:
lnaerspccics Communication

~UAt;)OURNAL

ISSUE NINETEEN - Spring, 1988
Perlcandra Gorden - Spring Tonics • Bluebarics
Wildnower Gardens - Granny Herbalist •
Flower Essences • '"The Origin of lhe Arumals ·
Saory • Oood Medicine: "Power" • Be A Tree
ISSUE TWEJIITY - Summer, 1988
Preserve Appalachian Wilderness - Hig)ilands
of Roan - Celo Community - Land Trust •
Arlhur Morgan School - Zoning hsuc • "The
Ridge" • Farmers l1ld lhe Farm Bill - Oood
Medicine: "Land" - Acid Rain - Duke's PowcT
Play • Cherok~ Microhydro Project

uve

Regular Membership........ $10/yr.
Sponsor.........................$20/yr.
Contributor .....................$50/yr.

Address

Enclosed is $

10 give

this ejforr an extra bOost
Zip
I can be a local contact
person for my area

Area Code
"'"'· 1989

Phone Number

ISSUE TWENTY-FOUR · Summer, '89
Deep Listening • Life in Atomic City - Di.reel
Action! · Tree of Peace - Community Building
Peacemakers • Ethnic Survival • Pairing
Projcc1 - "Baulesong· • Growing Peace in
Cultures - Review: The Chalice and the B/Dde

P.O. Box 638 Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748

Name

State

ISSUE TWENTY-THREE - Spring, t 989
Pisgah Village - Planet An • Green City •
Poplar Appeal - "Cl- Sky" • "A New Eanh"
Black Swan - Wild Lovely Days • Reviews:
Sacr('Jf land Sacred Sa, / cc A1e • Poem:
"Sudden TaOils"

lSSUETWENTY-ONE - FaU, 1988
Chestnuts: A Natunl History - Restoring lhc
Chestnut - "Poem of Preservation and PnUc"
Continuing lhe Quest - Forests and Wildlife
Chestnuts in Regional Diet • Chestnut
Resources • Herb Noie • Oood Medicine:
"Changes to Came" - Review: Wliue u1ends

For more info: call Mamie Muller (704) 683-1414

City

-·-

ISSUE TWENTY-TWO - Wintu, •gg.g9
Global Wanning - Fire This Time • Thomu
Berry on "Biorcgions" • Eanh Exercise • Kor~
Loy McWhirtcr - An Abundance of Emp1iness
LETS - Chronicles of Floyd • Derry Wood
The Bear Clan

Back Issues
Issue#_@ $2.50 $_ _
Issue# _ _ @ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue# _ _@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue# _ _@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue#_@ $2.50 $_ _
Complete Set (3-11, 13-16,
18-23)
@ $35.00 = $_ _

=
=

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                    <text>ISSUE 26 WINTER1989-90

CHILDREN

$1.50

�~LJAt-t JOURNAL
P.O. Box 638 Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

Postage Pa1d l
Bulk Mail

Permit #18
Leicester, NC
28748

�Coming of Age in the Ecozoic Em .............. l
by Tlwma.1 Berry
Kids Saving Ratnforest................................4
b) Sama/a l/ir.H
Kids' Treccyding Company............ .......... 5
ConOirt Resolution and the Family............ 6
by Ellie Ki,,cade
Developing the Creative Spirit. ...................!i
h\· /.i1uia J1c1mer
The Balloon is a Unicom ............................9
b) Art.1p1ri1 Swdio
Birth Power.................................. ............ 10
b) luc111da Flodin amt .Wanlru Pnk111s
Birth Bonding........................................... 11
b\ Jan \'erJiaexhe

Coming of Age in the Ecozoic Era

The Magic or Puppetry:
An Interview with Bonnie Blue................ 12

by 111omas Berry

by Chriltinll \.forri.w11 uiul Karc11 n mk1m

Horne Schooling..................................... 15
II) 001111 Wnmiward and Trilli Scver111

Ceremony................................................ 16
Trailin/llud

Mother Earth:
The i\atur;1l Classroom.......... ..... .. ... . •IX
111 Sma11 Grie.mwicr
Bmdegradable Diapers............................ 1R
lw Al'l\'a .Ill/ Romm
Resources............ .................................. 19
Gardening Tips tor Children ............ ..... 19
by T&lt;&gt;m )'n1111gblood-Pe1er.e11
\
i\atural World News............................... 20
"From the
Diary of a ~1odem Child".......... .. 24
by Roh Messi&lt; k
Pocket Culture::.......................................24
by \Viii A.1/ie Basm1
Drumming......................................... ..•. 26
Fon:st Rescue:
An Ecological Manifesto.............. 29
Webworking.......................................... .30

We are now at the end of the Cenozoic
Era of the planet Eanh's 4.5 billion year history.
During the Cenozoic time which has been
occuring for the last 65 million years. most all of
the lire fom1s with which we are familiar came
to their foll development. The Cenozoic is nlso
when we humans came into being. I lowever.
this era is rapidly being tcm1inated.
Not only the human, but even more so.
1he functioning or the entire planet is being
altered. The climate, the chemistry of the
atmosphere. 1he wa1er and the soil, our relation
to the sun, all the bio~ystem' of the planet, e\en
the geological structure of the planet: all 1he'e
are being altered in the most extensive
transformation that has ta.ken place on the planet
Eanh in the last 65 millicm years. So extensive
is the d1ssolu11on of the life systems of the Earth
during the past century that the viability of the
human cannot be taken for gr-Jnted.
T he long-term survival of our children
depends on understanding the depth of what is
happening to the planet at present--it is essential
to admit that what b occuring 1s nothing less
than biocide. It also depends on rekindling a
relationship between the human and the natural
world that is far beyond the exploitive
relauonshi ps of the industrial mode. A different
kind of prosperity and progress needs to be
understood which embraces the wlwle Life
community. All our human institutions,
professions, all our programs and acti vities need
to funcuon now m this wider Life community
context.

It is time to evoke the emergence of a new
E.'Uth period which can be identified as the
Ernzoic era. Even now the shift is beginning to
1;ike place in which a relationship or mutual
enhancement between humans and the naturnl
world is being regarded no1 only as possible but
essential to planeiary survival. I low do our
chtldrcn fit in wilh 1his change . .
Hea/1hy £111"irm1me111

Our children need a healthy Eanh in
which to live. A sickened planet is not
conducive to healthy children physically, or to
their emotional or psychic security. Continued
conu1mination of water, soil, air and other life
syMems by unnecessary and unsound
production practices is jeopardizing their future
existence ao; well as that of the planet.
Children need pure air and water and
sunligh1 and fruitfu l soil and all those living
fonns that provide the context in which human
existence can be properly nunured. Only if this
context is kept intact and an appreciation of it is
passed on will we fulfill our obligations to our
children and to the planet.
Membership in the l ife Community
Our children need 10 be able 10 see that
they are members or the whole Life communiiy
of the natural world about them, not just
members of a local or even global human
community. Human society as such is an
abscraction. The only real community is the
entire community of the natural world. No pan
of this integral community has either existence

Dra1&lt; tng by Rub Mo.nick

t 98S

c:ontu1ucd an p. 3

�J&lt;eLlAHJOURNAL
~STAFF THIS ISSUE:
Andy Half-baker
Rob Messick
Marnie Muller
Rodney Webb
Chip Smith

Richard Lowenthal
Christina Morrison
James Rhea
David Wheeler
Heather Blair

EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:

Stephen Bartlett

Will Ashe Bason
Susan Griesmaier
Michael Havclin

Scott Bird

Jack Chancy

COVER by Zack Brick, age 6, of Floyd Community.
Reprinted from the Blue Mountain School Calendar
(for sale from Colleen Redman; Box 634; Floyd, VA 24091)
THE SOUTHERN APPALJ.CHIAN BIOREGION
ANO MAJOR EASTERN RIVER SYSTEMS

PUBLISHED BY: Kanlah Journol
PRINTED BY: The Waynesville Mountaineer Press
EDITORIAL QFACE nus ISSUE:
Worley Cove, Sandy Mush Ouk

WRITE US AT:
Ka1Wih Journal

Box 638; Leicester, NC; Katuah Province 28748
TELEPHQNE: (704) 683-1414
Ka/UahJournaJ is on SkYland BBS, Asheville, NC.

For information, call (704) 254-6700.
Diversity iJ an important clcmeot or bioregional ecology, bolh
nalUral and social. ln line wilh !his principle, the Kataah Journal tries
io serve m a forum for lhc discussion of regional issues. Signed aniclcs
express only the opinion of the authors and arc not necessarily lhe
opinions of lhe Kataah Journal edilOl'S a staff.
The ln1U1181 Revenue Service has declared Kataah a non-profit
organiulion Wlder section SOl{cX3) of the lnicmal Revenue Code. All
contributions IO Kataah are deductible from pcrsooaJ income tax.

'LNVOCA.TWN
I think ouer ogoin my smell oduentures,
My fears,
Those I thought so big.

For ell the ultol things
I hod to get
And to reach,
And yet,
There Is only one greet thing The Only thing To Hue,
To see the greet doy thot downs ,
And the light thot fill s the w orld.
- Inuit song

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Here in the southern-most heartland of the
Appalachian mountains, the oldest mountain range on
our continent, Turile Island; a small but growing
group has begun to take on a sense of responsibility
for the implications of that geographical and cultural
heritage. This sense of responsibility centers on the
concept of living within the natural scale and balance
of universal systems and principles.
Within this circle we begin by invoking the
Cherokee name " KatUtih" as the old/new name for
this area of the mountains and for its journal as well.
The province is indicated by its natural boundaries:
the Roanoke River Valley to the north; the foothills
of the piedmont area to the east; Yona Mountai11 and
the Georgia hills to the south,· and the Tennessee
River Valley to the west.
The editorial priorities for us are to collect
and disseminate information and energy which
periuins specifically to this region, and to foster the
awareness that the land is a living being deserving of
our love and respect. Living in this manner is a way
to insure the sustainability of the biosphere and a
lasting place for ourselves in its continuing
evolutionary process.
We seem to have reached the fulcrum point of
a "do or die " situalion in terms ofa quality standard
of life for all living beings on 1his planet. As a voice
for the caretakers of this sacred land, Kat"'1h, we
advocate a cenlered approach to the concept of
decentralization. It is our hope to become a support
system for those accepting 1he challenge of
sustainability and the creation of harmony and
balance in a total sense, here in this place.
We welcome all correspondence, criticism,
pertinent information, articles, artwork, etc. with
hopes thaJ Ka/Uah will grow to serve the best interests
of this region and all its living, breathing members.

-The Editors

~
k)t,nt.er ,1989-90

�Coming of Age in the Ecozoic

E r a-continued from p. 1

or life apan from the other members or the communiry.
We arc awkward at this manner of thinking because many
of our religions as well as humanist traditions carry a cenain
antagonism toward the natural world. But now the refusal to
acknowledge the intimate membership in the corrununity of Earth
is leading to their own destrucrion as well as that of the planet.
The next generation can survive only as functional members of
this larger community. Our children are instinctively aware of this
wider sense of identity. We need only foster I.his awareness.

Earth Literacy
Our children also need to be literate about the Eanh. They
need to learn not only how to read books composed by human
genius but also how to "read" the Great Book of Nature. Again,
absorbing this Great Book is natural to children. Alienation from
this primary educational experience has been, in our generation,
the source of unmeasured disaster to every aspect of human
existence.
A true prosperity requires being able to understand the
language of nature. Native peoples know this language. II is
primarily the language of the Earth, a language of living
relationships that extend throughout the universe. We have here
within this Nonh American conrinent a superb natural setting in
which our children can become Eanh-literate, capable of
undemanding what their world is telling them.
Energy Awareness
Our children need to understand how to function with the
energy of I.he sun and wind and the water rather than with the
energies of fossil fuels or of nuclear processes. Our inabilny to
use these other energies properly has led to a situation in which
the planet Earth is covered with grime and poisons. These toxins
are not only eating away with their acids the very stones and
structures of all the great cities of the world, but they are also
harmful to the planet itself.
The understanding of more benign energy forms and the
skills to interact with them effectively are absolute necessities for
the survival of our children in a sustainable life context. In
addition, it is imponant 1ha1 these energy systems be designed
with sensitivity and a sense of appropriate scale.
Our children also need to understand the healthy limits of
their bioregion's capacity to provide energy and to suppon life.
They need to be encouraged to envision a way of life that can be
compatible with Lhose natuml limits. Helping children get in Lhe
habit of conservation as well as recycling is an imponant step tn
encouraging them to co-exist with the rest of the life community.
Food
Our children need to learn gardening. The reasons for this
reach deep into their mental and emotional as well as into their
physical survival. Gardening is an active participation in the
deepest mysteries of the universe. By gardening our children
learn that they constitute, with all growing things, a single
community of life. They learn to nurture and be nunured in a
universe Lhat is always precarious but ultimately benign. They
leam profound reasons for the seasonal rituals of the great
religous renditions.
More immediately, however, i'&gt; the question of physical
survivaJ. With the ever-increasing loss of soil on which
food-growing depends, with the rising innaiion in the economic
sphere, with the need for food grown in a proper organic context,
and with the crowded situation in our urban centers, the capacity
of our children to grow a significant umount of their o~n food on
very limited areas of Eanh will become an increasing urgency.
Elementary education especially might very well begin and
be developed in a gardening context. How much the children
could learn! A language related to life! Emotional responses 10
blossoming and fruitful plants. social cooper:11ion, death as a
source of life. They could learn geology and biology and
ascronomy. They could learn the sources of poetry and lner.iture
and the ans. They might even be saved from the sterile and
ephemeral world of Atari.
WUller. 1989- 90

Participawry Role
Our children need to be prepared for their role in the
fruitful functioning of the Great Earth itself, the first and greatest
of all "corporations". They need to learn that the underlying role
of all human corporative enterprises is to enhance the functioning
and meaning and value of this primary corporation, the planet in
which we live. If the Eanh becomes bankrupt there is no future
for anything that lives within the Earth.
The remarkable achievement of the Earth in its natural state
is its ability 10 renew itself and all its living forms. There is a
minimum of entropy in the Earth system_ Energies arc cycled
recycled indefinitely. The infrastructure renews itself. No
human process can do this. NeiLher automobiles nor Madways,
nor subway systems, nor fossil fuels, nor railways, n..ir power
plants, nor nuclear generating plants renew themselves_ They
Inst but a few years and then rust away and the resources of the
planet arc no longer sufficient 10 renew them.
A completely different role of the human in relation to the
Earth begins to identify usclf. One which functions in a different
fashion and with different ideals from the highly entropic,
exploitative manner in which our culture functions at present.
Recognizing our intimate membership in the whole Life
community and becoming literate in its wisdom and language,
our role becomes that of dynamic panicipator. ln recognizing this
intimate connecLion, we begin 10 understand and align ourselves
with 1he natural world's capacity to be self-emerging,
self-propagating, self-nourishing, self-educating, self-governing,
and self·hcaling.
Experience of the Sacred
Our children need to understand the meaning and grandeur
and sacredness of the Eanh as revelatory of the deep mysteries
and meaning of the world. Rather than teaching them to disdain
the natural world as unwonhy of their concern. it would be most
helpful if our religious traditions would move toward a stronger
emphasis on the glorious phenomena of the universe about us as
modes of divine communicauon.
In a special manner, through celebration and ceremony,
our children need to observe and esteem the spontaneities of
nature in our own bioregions here in the different areas of Nonh
America; spontaneities that give expression 10 genetic diversity
which is the most precious endowment of the living world.
Without 1he marvelous variety of living forms that swim in
the sea and live and move upon the Eanh and ny through the air,
our own human understanding, our emotional life, our
imaginative powers. our sense of 1he divine, our capacity for
verbal expression; these would all be terribly diminished. If we
lived on 1he moon, our sense of the divine would reOcct the lunar
landscape: our cmouons. sensitivities and imagination would all,
in a similar manner. be through a lunar mode of expression.
So with our children, they are what they are and have such
remarkable expansion of life because of that share in the natural
world that they have here within the Nonh American continenL
The radiance of their surTOundings is even now reflec1cd in the
radiance of our children's countenances.
Sc11se of History
Our children need a sense of their historical role in creating
this coming ecological age. 1hc F..cozoic. This future world is
something that has never existed before within the context of the
whole planeL We are involved in an irreversible sequence of
planetary developments. For the first time an integral form of the
planet Earth wi1h all its geological contours, its living forms and
us human presence has become possible as a vital, functioning
plane1ary whole expressing itself in its unbroken sequence of
splendors tn movement and song and an infinite variety of color
in the sky and throughout the continents.
There 1s truth in the expression--· The Dream is at the heart
of the Action. The greatest gift we can give our children is to
assiM them in their dreams of a planet of pure air and water and
sunlight and soil. where the community of all living beings can:.,;l!I'
~·
nourii.h in the celebration of existence.
A

Thomas Berry noted geologian and awlwr of The Dream of the
Earth (Sierra Club Books, 1988), is presently collaboraring with
physicis1 Brian Swimme on a new book, The Universe Story.
l'lb •'lnoenu Reny

�~iftFJ. §trfilkT~ ~ftfp
$11~~ ~ ~~T:P41

in

'!8~&amp;11.

illus~uon

by Jermain Mosely

Mrs. Woods' science class at
Asheville Alternative School has
been studying forests and
rainforests in particular. We went
to the "Discovery Place" in
Charlotte to see an exhibit on
Rainforests and have studied
about forestry in class and at
Holmes State Forest.
We have learned that if all the
rainforests are destroyed then our
oxygen will decrease a whole lot.
We have also learned that the
rainforests are ancient. They are
very special and important to us.
They give us many products as
well as 1/2 the world's animals
and plants.
Our class is getting together and
making money to help save these
forests So far we have almost
made $300. With that we will be
able to buy 10 acres of land out of
a rainforest in Belize .

Jc.iiWcih Jo1Ul1Q( pllc:Je 4
'

•I

We have been raking people's
leaves in our neighborhood for
$1.50 or more if the yard is really
big. All of the people's yards we
have raked, have given a little bit
extra. One boy in our class raked a
medium size yard with his friend
tor a man and got $30.00.

We have worked very hard on this
project and hope that we will
encourage other people to pitch in.
We put pictures in the halls of our
school. A few nights ago we had a
woman named Mrs. Jeanne
Cummings come to our school to
show some slides of her
'Earthwatch' trip to a rainforest in
Borneo. We had live entertainment
and refreshments that night. It
was very exciting for all of us.
Do whatever you can to help save
the Rainforests, it is important to
all of us and we hope that these
Rainforests will survive.
/
By Samala Hirst
kll-ntcr, 1989-90

�Ph""'' b~ Karen W•tkin'

Hey, all you people out there,
have you heard of the new business Kid's T reecycling Co.?? !!
It all started when our teacher started talking about
how imponant trees and recycling are. We think 1hat
this is a great Saving-The-Trees business and a grea1
class project.

We sell all sorts of recycled paper producls like paper
1owcls. rissuc and 1oilet paper. On 1hc lirst day we
only got two orders. Then we got more and more
orders every day and week. We have $65.00 so far.
Do you know when we get older there won't be many
trees lefl? There won't be hardly any paper. Don't let
1hat happen! We all need to recycle. S1art now at
Kid's Treecycling Co. We are in third grade at
Asheville Alternative School. South French Broad
Avenue. A ... hcv1llc. NC 28801. Ourtcacheris
Victoria Maddux. You can call her in the evening at
{704)- 645-4593. Call now and become a "Recycling ..
Ci1i1en"
-·-hy: llana Craig. l.arJ Weaver, Ken;. Wahcr,\Vill lknnen.
Molly Ru ... h and Alesia Summey.

l./UlU:t, 1989-90

�Conflict Resolution
and the Family
Conn1ct. Every family has it. Household chores,
homework, messy rooms, schedule connicts, ~pace invasion~.
values collisions, power struggles, and scape-goating have all
been long-srnnding and universal sources of stress in 1hc
American family. The quality of family life. though, is
detennined not by \.\hethcr or not a family has conflict but by
what they do with it.
It is commonly recognized that parents have a great
innuence on the overall process of dealing "'ith the inevitable
conflicts that plague families. What is frequently overlooked.
however, is the contribution that children have 10 make in the
conflict resolution process. Children are our greatest source of
inspiration and creativity; they have internalil.ed fe\.\er rules and
limitations and "yes--bu1--tha1 wouldn't work bccause"s and have
a natural spirit of discovery that can set the stage for new and
more expansive ways of thinking.
This article is based upon my own experience as a par.:nt
and as a conflict management consultant and educator. coupled
with the perspectives of my daughter Dana. age 14, and my son
Nick, age 10. We will citplore three imponant variables which
operate to affect an individual\ or a fomily'~ response to conflict:
Spirit, Personality/Well·Being, and Skillfulnes5.

by Ellie Kincade
Spiritff he Spirit of Possibilit)
Spuit is the auitude with which we approach problems and
conflicts, and is the foundation of the process of resolution.
Thomas Crum, author of The Magic of Conflict. makes two
imponant points about the nature of conflict:
ConOict js a na111ral phenomenon. We see it everywhere in
nature - the magnificent beauty of mountains, canyons, beaches
was formed by eons of connict. In our human relationships,
from the intra- and interpersonal through global levels, the
choices we make determine whether the intense energy inherent
in conflict will be a del.tructive force or as Crum says. will be
"the best sandpaper around for smoothing out our lives"
ConOict js noi a comest. Winning and losing are goals for
games. 001 for connict resolution. Resolving connict is rarely
about \.\ho\ right: it's aboul the acknowledgement and
appreciation of differences.
Dana's summary of a positive spirit toward conflict is:
*Trust one another.
,. Approach problem situations with lo\'e. (Y?u can
love someone and be angry at the same nme.)
t.n.rtrt'r',~90

�•Be flexible and willing lO undersl:lnd another's
point of view.
Nick adds:
•Take responsibilny for your own "stuff' and
realize thal whal you do affects others.
•Anticipate your own and others· needs and try to
prevent conflicts from happening.
•Have a sense of humor, even when there are
problems!

Every family has to find its own unique way of
discovering and fo:.tering a spirit of possibility for dealing with
issues. Families who creatively integrate faith, hope. charity. and
love, and playfulness into their everyday lives develop the
flexibility. willingness and perspective to change gracefully and
powerfully over time. They bring this creative power 10 every
conflict or advei;ity they face.

The family who believes that it is possible to find win/win
solulions (rather than win/lose solutions) to their conflicb. finds
them! A fringe benefit of lhis philosophy about confl1c1 1s that
children (and eventually 1heir parents too!) learn that what they do
and say makes a difference, thnt conflicts can be resolved v. ithout
baules and that problems lhat seem "impossible" to solve arc
really just challenges to human flexibility. compassion and
creativity.

Dana defines respect as the wtllmgness to allow each
person the freedom to express their true and unique self.
Affirrmng differences, making allowances, and building on those
differences facilitate conflict resolution. We've grown up with
homogeny as an ideal. Think about the all-American metaphor of
the "melting pot" where cliversity becomes lost ma kenle of drab
glop. Consider, instead. 1he image of a salad where each
ingredient maintains its discrete qualities while adding volume,
texture, nourishment, variety, and beauty to the whole.
Each individual's personality de1ermines their preferences
and style in dealing with conflict. Nick emphasizes that often he
needs space and wants to be left alone when conflict arises; when
he "cools orr· he is better able to talk about it. Dana usually
wants to talk things out nght away, bu1 sometimes wants time 10
think things out alone. She stresses the importance of asking one
another for what we need and being considerate of our different
needs. Individual differences rue, in fact, one of the greatest
resources in problem ~olving. Division of labor conflicts can
often be easily resolved by having family members volunteer for
their "favorite" chore. For example, Dana and Nick bo1h like to
cook: I much prefer the mindlessness of cleaning up afterward.
Dana likes carrying in the firewood and Nick builds and tends the
fire. or cour.;e those preferences and inclinations do change in an
evolving household, so frequent communication and negotiauon
arc a musr.
In a favorite 'Peanuts' car1oon. Sally is complaining, "I
hate everything! I hate the whole world!" Charlie Brown
responds. matter-of-factly. "I thought you had inner peace."
Sally replies. "I do, but I still have outer obnoxiousness!" We all
have outer obnoxiousness. the level and intensity of which is
directly relatec.! 10 our general state of well-being. One's state of
well-being (or lack 1hereof!) may be lhe most significant factor
affecting the individual's ability to respond to conflict with
tolerance, flexibility, creativity and a "Spirit of Possibility."
The three of us agree thnt a bad day at school or work,
exhaus1ion. pressures of upcoming events, or a general sense of
malaise is often the root of our outer obnoxiousness which can
lead 10 conflict. Here are several things families can do to
enhance 1he well-being of individuals and the family unit:

Herc are some fun ways families can develop and exercise
the "Spirit of Possibility":
•Play games like, "There's Not Only One Way 10 Do Anything".
Discover throogh brruns1onnmg the many f&gt;O"-s1h1l111cs m a snuauon.
How many different wa)'~ arc there to m:ike p&lt;1ll&lt;!akcs? To plant a tree?
To w~h a window? Wc"vc ycl IO find an acuvity lhal can he done m
JUSl one way. Make the jOlhl)' or brrunstonnmg commonplace. so tl1'1l
11 occurs more na1urally in connict snuauons.
•Keep 1rnck of "Impossible Things• that happen an the world Read and
d1SCus.s news s1orics, historical evenL~. sporting accomplishmenb.
amazing inventions, ulcs of survival and raniaslic JOumcys, and mo~l
1mporwuly, personal life cxpcncnccs m lhc accomplishment or "The
Impossible". For example:
Remember when ...
..."Nick almost gave up finding a shark's t0olh at the beach-and then
found live!"
·~"Grandma 105t her diamond ring m lhc gnx:cry ~iorc parking 101 and
wcnL b:lck lhat nighl and found 1L"
..."Dana though I she'd never be able to afford her trip to the Soviet
Union and !hen raised all the money for tile lrip by selling hct pocll)
books."
Our true contcmpornry heroes arc ordinary people in ordinary
cin:umslallCCS who occomplish cx1100td1nary tilings.
• Acknowledge. and celebrate seasonal changes and cytlical
llllnsfonmuions, e.g. watch 1hc moon wax and wane. gardcM grow.
birds migraic. cocoons spin and haich. seeds di\-pc.rsc. Notice and honor
developmental changes in ram1ly member;: e.g. have celebrations m
honor or landmark events. bcginnmgs. endings. and annavcrw1cs-·
there's always something IO cclcbrutc, rrom lo&lt;;t w:cth to maJor rites of
passage. American l1'3d1tion I\ lacking in mual. Look to other cultures
and uad11ions and creaic your own! Gncve the losses and welcome the
new growth !hat rollows

Personalil~ Factor~

and Well-Being

(I) Eyeball the week ahead 10 alert one anolhcr abou1 high ~lre5' limes
and ask for cxlr'd supJ10n, e.g. Nack mak&lt;:S school lunches when Dana
has a track meet so she can get some cxtnl rest: Dan3 covers dinner

when I need to prepare for a worlc'\hop. Communic~ning m advance
•Experience and affinn your conna:ledn~ to tile world·•ll·latgc Mike
family dcc1s1ons about what contnbuuons io m:t.lcc 10 commumty and
global service projects. The needs, a~ we look around u•. arc
overwhelming. Learning lO make choice~ aoout how to u&lt;c: our
personal energy and rc~rces 1s a b;i~1c hfc skill for hvang m th" age.
Remember the story of 1hc person at the edge of the '&gt;Ca, tossing
beached si.arfish back mto the occan. A man appro:1chcd und '"I.ell,
"Why arc yoo bothering to do tha11 Then: arc so mnny. Whm d11Tcrcncc
docs it make io save a few?" 11ui person p3uscd. thought. smiled nnd,
tossing ano1hcr \lllffitj\ mto 1hc sea, replied •1t make' a diffcrcnc.: to
that one:
•explore mull1-cuhurnl perspectives by cncuuragmg c~changc~
through pen.pals. ho,11ng mtcmauonal ''i\ltOrs, or travel D.&gt; your
g1fl·shopp1ng lhrough catalog., that \upport collage mdu\trlC\ 1n
,·nrious cuhures around the world. Dana involved our cnurc famil)·.
from C03Sl to coast, in her ci111..cn-diplnmacy trap to lhe Soviet Union
lhis past summer She enhanced our ·spirit or Po~1l&gt;1hty" by making
her own dream come true and ~he created a network of connectedness
bctwc:cn many Sovic:ts and Americans \\ho share the larger dream or
world peace.
&amp;.&gt;Lnte.r, 1989-90

about schedules 1\ connic1 pn:vcnuon!
(2) Milke \tree;,; mnnagcmcnt a family alTair. Take walks. have joint

"temper tantrum'· 10 let off sicam. talk about your drc3111s, give one
anolhcr massag~. have ·,1op-:icuon hug~· (prionty hug&gt; can mltrTUp!
any ac11vi1y, C\cn an argument). Plan healthy menu.' together, hsien lO
music. dance. LAUGll A LOT! llavc nightly snuggles before bed.
Every f;tmily ~ds to discover and invent 1ts own 'tlC'' managcmcn1
plan Suppon one another's mdl\·1du.al \l.l'CSS marugcmcnt programs,
IOO. Dana ruid Nick ga&gt;c me space for mcd11auon, racqlldball, or naps.
Tran.•;pona110n to tllcir 'JX&gt;rb. academic and ~ul cvcnL~ is a pnoruy
for me.
(3) Learn w1lh your ch1IJrcn wmc tools for ccn1ermg. n:laxauon 8lld
sp1r11ual renewal Pra)'Cr. mcd1ta.t1on, visunli1.ation, brealhmg, }Oga,
dance. ~ns. and CCr1ilm man1al JI'\.\ (p:llllCUlllfly the nuid, powerful
and non-v1oleni ans suc;h as a1k1do and T11.1 Cha). arc all ways to
develop a relaxed, Oc.ublc. balanced. aucnuvc, and strong poMllre.
From tl11$ ccnicrcd siate at is easier to move with confidence and care
through life's ngors.
(oontiml&lt;d an~ 23)

�Developing the Creative Spirit
by Linda Metzner
Imagine a warm, lazy summer's day, sky very blue.
You are on your back watching clouds roll by. What do you
sec there in the clouds? How docs it sound to you? Can you
move the way the clouds move?
What are the possibilities? Can your imagination take
you places you've never been before? Are there new ways to
get there?
If we are not utilizing the body-mind's creative
capabilities, we are allowing ninety percent of the nco-conex
--the largest and most recently-developed pan of the brain--to
go unused, an ocean of untapped potenrial. The work of a
lifetime, in tenns of mind evolution, is to make new
connections, to use the heart-mind, the whole brain and the
nervous system, to crave! to new realms on new paths, 10
envision and create ever-greater inter-relationships among
things.
A deeper goal of the teaching of creativity. and of an,
is to offer a starting-point, a vocabulary of the spirit, tools
for climbing through the changing terrain of the mind. The
dilemmas of our lives are dealt with by looking not just or the
problems but with them, around them, inside and outside of
them, and beyond them.
Imagination, "the ability to create images not present to
the sensory system;· involves the creation of thousands of
physical connecting links between neurons in the brain. If the
neurological structures for creative thinking are allowed to
develop in childhood, regardless of the end product of the
imaginative thought, then the resulting system of abundant
connecting links will be available to the adult as well.
Joseph Chilton Pearce, m his book The Magical Child.
speaks about a cenain point in childhood, especially between
the ages of seven and eleven, where vmually any suggestion
can be adopted and utilized by the child, if it is given without
doubt or ambiguity. Wnlking through fire, healing ~·ith the
hands, clairvoyance, many typ;!S of "paranormal" abilities arc
really extensions of creative thinking exhibited by children
given "pennission" to experience them.

Here are a few travel tips for the lifelong journey of
nunuring the creative spirit within ourselves and others:
Play. relax, go slow. New ideas will come from places
that are beyond your conscious control. Make time for
them.
Listen to your dreams, your flashes of insight, your
intuition. Try not to label mind processes as weird or
useless. Don't be shocked if you hear of other sounds,
colors, or beings a child is conscious of. You arc tapping
into a world Edith Cobb calls "common-plus-cosmic".
Give yourself guidelines for creative activities.
AJlow the mind to play with one or two small features,
and explore all the possibilities: a few colors. a few
textures, a musical interval or timbre.

Try to have material that presents ever-increasing
challenges, but stay grounded in past work. In teaching
music, try to stan with the body, with movement. for
every new idea introduced.
JC.Qiiuih

Journat p1t9e 8

"Compe1itions are for horses, not anists" (Picasso).
Don't compare, rate, evaluate or "improve" anyone's
work. Ask the anis1 to tell abou1 ii and get some insight
into her/his thinking.
Have some open rime, some open space, and some
open materials. Keep a box of bright colored papers,
scissors, glue, fabric. markers, pencils; loose clothes for
movement: a variety of sound-makers; typewriter or tape
recorder for stories.
Study and learn. Be aware of how others are taking
new leaps and exploring new territory.
Look for examples in life of an going outside old
boundaries: murals, mobiles, architecture, pantomime,
storytelling. This is the same evolutionary process found
in frogs, flowers, and blue-footed boobies.
Look at how it's been done in other places. In Africa,
animal forms become patterns on cloth; in Bali, girls
dance as goddesses in a trance state; in China, a five-note
scale played on bamboo pipes forms an orchesrra. Other
cultures have already transcended some of the artistic
boundaries that we've inherited in ours.

After working alone, try working with one or two
others. Your ideas may expand synergbtically, way
beyond what you had alone.
Learn simultaneously to respect others' crearions as
you create your own. Sometimes this calls for quiet
listening or watching others, or spending time with
someone else's finished work. What new ways does
he/she open up 10 you?
A mind that craves new solutions, new paths. can leap out
of trenches of conditioning and make miracles happen. This.
after all, is how the Universe 1s being created, even as we
speak!

RESOURCES:
CATALOGS
• Animal Town CoopcraU\'C Ventures
PO Box 2002. S:tnlll Barbara. CA 93102
• Chmabcny Book Scrvice
2830 Via Orange Way Su11.c B, Spring Valley, CA 92078
• Geode Educational ()pllon~
PO Box 106, We.~1 Che.qcr, PA 19381
• Music For Lillie People
PO Box 1460, Redway, CA 95560
• Suzuki Musical lnsuumcnis
PO Box 261030. San Diego, CA 92126
• World Music Press
11 Myrtle Avenue, PO Box 2565, Danberry, CT 06813
SUGGESTED READING
Adams, James. The Cart 01ld Feeding of Ideas. Addison· Wesley. 1986.
Amabile, TCIC.~ Growing Up Creative Crown Publishers, 1989.
Cobb, Edith. The Ecology of lmDgina11on in Childhood Columbia
Umvcrs11y Press, 1977.
Gardner. Howard. Frames of M111d: Tht TMory of Multiplt lnttll1gtncts.
Basic Books, Inc. 1983.
Pearce. Joseph Chihon. TM Magical Child and TM MallU;al Child Matures.
E.P. Dunon, New York. 1977
Piening, Ek.lcchan:I and Lyons, Nick. Educating as an Art, The Rudolf Si.cincr
Mciliod. The Rudolf Si.cuicr School Press. NY. 1979.
Reck, David. TllL Music of tM IVholt Earth. Charles Scribncr'5 Sons, NY.
1977.
~

lmdo Merzner reaches Orff music and co.directs Anspirit, a

srudio of creorive orrs in Asheville. NC. She is a composer 011d
arranger and direcis rlie choral group, Womansong.
H.l~nter, 1989-90

�The :Balloon Ls A. Unworn
These ukas /or cJ.vfik&gt;plrJ.9 c:reattvit!I i.n mlldrcn '""
s!Jared U'ith us from A.rtspu1t, 11 i;reato-e art..s studio 1n
Asm:i•1Jle, NC. 1'!4:mbcrs 1nc{Ulk: 1'frls A.rrwld. (day). 'BarrU:
'Barron (m&lt;wcment), Norma 1Jradky (paper), Vicki.
aadh~UIJ (ft/x:r ), and lmdu 1'f4Urwr (musu;).

Xak.e a sefJ-portrait with pieces of coCored.
paper. Choose the coCors that
you.. IJorr.. as smaU:
' - mmn the most to
or as i.ur9e as ~ou Llke.

1.nter , 1989- 90

�by Lucinda Aodin and Martha Perkins

We need co recognize how imponant it is that women
take back their power· the natural power of creation is ours.
While a woman feels most in concrol of the birthing experience
in her own home, it is most important that she be able to
exercise her power wherever a binh should happen.
Women often do not realize the tremendous reservoir of
power that is theirs to tap into when they are delivering a
newborn. Birthing a child is the most powerful activity that our
bodies can perform, and a woman who can binh with power
will be a better mother and a stronger woman. No matter where
a baby is born, the mother should be able to accomplish it with
the full power that is inherent in the act and with the dignity of
womanhood.
We recently viewed a slide show of binh as represented
in an throughout history from cave glyphs to modem

obstetrics. Traditionally women are shown birthing upright,
strong and confident. A woman helper ·or sometimes a man •
is behind her; a midwife is below and in front of her. Paintings
and drawings from around the world and throughout the ages
of history all depict this trinity of birth... until modem times.
As the picrures draw closer to the present, the woman
sinks fanher and farther back into the images until she
disappears from the picture altogether. In recent photographs of
operating room situations the woman giving birth is not even
visible. She is flat on her back. her whole body draped except
for a gaping vagina, which usually has been cut. She is not
mother or a person, but a thing. Watching those slides brought
home instantly what has happened since our birth power has
been stripped from us.

functions of her body, mind. and spirit, and she is delivered.
She is not giving birth, or delivering her new-born life. She is
being delivered, which implies that she is being set
free ... "Deliver me from this childl" ... who is then taken away
to the nurseries, to the bath, to be re-warmed after its small
body is chilled.
This separation creates much emotional hardship for both
parents and child. But the love of a mother and a father is
amazing. It reaches beyond the hardship and bonds in love
with their child • but childbirth and bonding does not have to
be so hard.

We tend co think of power in terms of its mis-use rather
than thinking of power as being healing and strong. A
woman's birth power is power in its pure sense: power that is
not manipulative, not selfish. Birth power is selfless. Labor is
a series of overwhelming surges of energy, powerful waves.
Binh is a power act. It is one way in which a woman quests for
a vision and finds her pince in this life. In giving birth a woman
must exercise the ultimate strength of yielding. In yielding to
her labor she draws on the energy of the life foroe. Our culture
tends to consider yielding as an act of weakness. But in giving
birth, yielding is the strongest act. h is the strength of the
whole uruversc that brings a baby into chis world.

When birth is a narural act of power, a woman is not
delivered. She embraces the power of her womanhood, yields
to the strength of her body and her spirit, and gives her baby
passage into his or her own life. Watching births we have
learned that a midwife's job is to guide a woman into her
power· to work with a mother, to educate her, and to help her
to use her innate knowledge. It is amazing to watch the change
in a woman as she comes into her power.

Entering a hospiial a woman feels small and
insignificant, like a pebble amid the looming technology. It is
unnerving. The situation is out of her control and her mate's
control as well. Every intervention tells her that she knows
nothing about the procedures of birth and that her instincts arc
not to be truSted. The hospital staff is in command. She is not
IO yield tO the power of birth. Rather, anaesthesia takes over the

We arc successful as midwives when at the end of a
birthing the woman says, "I did it. Thank you for helping me."
If a woman says,"I couldn't have done it without you," we
have not done our job well enough. The mother deserves the
credit. After all, she has done all the work. If someone were to
ask us, "What is the job of a midwife?", we would reply, "To
give back chc power."

.

~t.UA.h

.

.

JounwaC p"'.JS 10

�•
To rcali1.C the binhing power we must first relearn the
birthing process. It is an ancient process, a wise way, and
generations of humaniiy have proven that it works. Then,
anned with our knowledge, we must demand 1ha1 our
institutions change with us. Our hospitals. doctors, nurses, anJ
midwives have to allow us as women to have control over our
own health - no, we as women must take control.
Families will never be srrong until we take back the
power of birth...and until we have power and strength in the
family. we will never truly heal the Eanh.
Lucinda Flodin and Manha Perkins art both motlU!rs a11d
work togetlier as a midwife team in the area s11rrn11ndi11g their
lwmes in the Doe River watershed.

by Jan Verhaeghe
Midwives nuending home binhs know the success of
their calling-the welfare of the mothers and babies in their
care-depends in pan on the special time immediately after
birth. No midwife worth her salt, excep1 in a m.iner of life or
death, would take a b:lby from the mother.
What exactly is binh-bonding? Birth-bonding is the
uninterrupted time immediately following binh when 1hc
mother and baby establish the foundation for their
relationship by re-connecting in every aspec1 of their now
separate lives. The most intense and the most important
period for birth-bonding is the firlit two hours but cenainly
Iasis until the baby falls into 1he deep steep infants experience
St!Veral hour.; after binh.
During bonding, mother and child becollll! linked
psychically in a way that defies our ability 10 analyze the
experience. The newborn is extremely impressionable and
everything that happens during this period leaves a deep
imprinL The natural longing of 1he baby is to re-establish i1s
cquilibrium--to be wann, 10 be held, to suck. to hear a
familiar heartbeat. To be separated from the mother at this
time must leave a la.sung and discressed memory. I believe
bonding is visual, tactile, aural, oral, olfactory, and
hormonal and occurs most easily when the mo1her holds her
baby and interacts wi1h it through the senses during 1hc
sensitive period immediately following birth. The "en face"
posilion--touching and being touched, hearing and being
heard, feeding and being fed. learning each others
smells-are complex interactions that occur with case when a
baby is placcd--and left--in its mother's arms.
The mos1 immediate person to bond wiih a newborn i~
the mother, but it is very important that fa1hers also bond
with their infantS. Fathers who have had 1he opponuni1y to
bond with one child but not with another 1ell 1he same storie_,
as the mothers of these children. Fathers of C-sccuon babies
often are better·bonded with their infants than the mother
simply because a woman who has just undergone major
surgery cannot give her full allention to her infant Siblings
bond wi1h an infant v.ith outsianding positive results as .... ell.
Many well·mcaning physicians and hospnal personnel
feel tha1 a mo1her's holding her baby for a few minuies on
!he delivery table constitutes "bonding". However, true binh
bonding means mother and baby are nm scpara1ed for hours
or even days following 1he birth. While the imponance of
binh-bonding has caugh1 the auention of many hospitals, us
~,it.er,

l 989•90

specific meaning and significance has often become sacrificed to
hospital routine. For citample, the widespread use of anaesthesia
in hospiial binh.s continues to be common practice.
My first three binhs in 1hc 60's were under Demerol
and Scopolaminc, an amnesiac. With "scope;• a mother
"forgets" the birth Cltperiencc and is too drugged to look at her
baby who is also drugged. Twenty-four hours later, I was given
my first look at my baby. I had no memory of the binh, and the
baby seemed a perfect stranger. Having missed out on sucking
during the minutes following birth, the baby seemed not to know
what to do the first times at the breast, and I invariably felt
rejected by each of my babies. I also felt inadequate as a mother.
With each baby, a kind nurse suggested trying again later and
went off to the nursery to give the baby a bottle. As a result I and
many other women often questioned our ability not only to
breastfeed a baby but to care for an infant. Later on many of us
found little satisfaction in raising our young children.
b:lby but to care for an intan1. Later on many of us found
linle satisfaction in raising our young children.
I am fonun:11e to have had another chance at childbinh
and an opponunily 10 experience birth-bonding with two
babies. With these babies or the 70's, one born in a hospital
but with no drugs, the other born at home attended by a
midwife, 1 breastfed with ease and confidence. In addition, I
never felt any alienation from my babies, never knew
post-partum depression, and experienced child rearing as a
joyous and fulfilling experience--in my 40's.
As a result of my mid-life binh experiences. I became
a labor suppon person, childbinh educator. and activist.
Undoubtedly the most important a.~pect of my las! 1wo binhs
was the binh-bonding I had with my babies. Meeting and
observing many mothers and babies over the last eigh1 years,
I am convinced 1hat bonding has a profound effcc1 on how
we parent and on how our children grov. spiritually as well
as mentally and physically.
When I first became nctive with childbinh in the RO's,
I could not help bu1 noiice that mothers who expressed joy
and who had an air of serenity about them as they dealt with
their children were mothers who had drug-free deliveries and
who were not separated from their newborn. ln 1nlking and
corresponding with moihers who had experienced binh
bonding with one child but no1 with another, I found the
same story over and over. There were many more
difficulties of every kind where there was linle or no
bonding. These babies had problems feeding, cried more,
were often unhappy as toddlers. The mothers often fell
rejected by the babies, were frequcnily depressed, and
questioned their abilities 10 mother Where there was
bonding, the opposite was true.
While no one wants a mother to experience any more
pain than is necessary, the use of anaesthesia in whatever form
is 1he factor most likely to prevent bonding. While an epidural
anaesthetic (injected between the layers of the covering of 1he
spinal cord) allows a woman 10 be awake, it canies with it
many risks that make funherintervention likely. With an
epidural, a woman mus1 lie almost motionless for a long time
which compromises the baby's oxygen supply often making a
C-section necessary. Even if she avoids surgery, she has no
control over her body from the waist down and often
experience~ headaches which further inccrfen: with the bonding
process.
Natural childbirth may seem an impossibility 10
women v. ho have been taught 10 fear the experience.
However, with preparation and loving suppon. the great
majori1y of women experience childbirth a:; an exhilarating
even! with binh·bonding the a.\pcct that has the most positive
long-term effect.

Jan \'erliaeghe lives in tlw Hendersonville, NC are.a and
provides c/Uldbirrh prepara1im1 for ho~ and hospilJl/ bin/~
XcltUM )o"-rt1.GL PIMJC

l

l

�The Magic of Puppetry
An Interview with Bonnie Blue

by Christina Morrison and Karen Watkins

Karuah: How did you become a professional
puppetee11 You said it was a gradual process?
Bonnie: J used 10 be an extremely shy,
sensitive, unself-confident person. And going
from 1here 10 an outrageous puppe1eer... you
could ask why such a change?
Kanlah: Was it the positive response to your
gift with puppetS?
Bonnie: I didn't have the confidence to see my
gif1s. ll was playing with children. And by
doing voice exercises, breath exercises, mime,
developing charac1er, realizing what my body
was doing when I was hunched over and
covering my hean. And just grokking those
things, understanding them, made me open
up. That's all. I just got to break my own
rules.
Katuah: And do all those things your puppets
were doing!
Bonnie: Yeah, through the puppets I got to do
them. And I got 10 realize how fun it was to
run around my universe smashing my rules
and "supposed to's." And then I got to see
this whole new person in here that I liked!
You know, self-likin~. It's so much fun
teaching self-liking. Kids like themselves...
they say, "I made rhis puppet and irs great!
Bonnie says it's great. I know it's grear!"
Kau1ah: Do you make your own puppets?
Bonnie: Yes. Snooge was the first puppet I
built. He's a three foot tall abominable
snowman with a 2 year-old personaJity. So he
says things like, "You! Come! Give me hug!
Oh ho, that tickle Snooge; that make me
happy!" (laughter)...That kind of lovable
fella. And the show was a take-off on
Scrooge; that's bow we got his name.
Ka!Uah: How do you manipulate them? On
strings?

Bonnie: I know ... well, I'm glad you're here.
(laughter)
Frog: You know, its a funny thing about
peoplc--thcy'll laugh al anything, won't you?
AHAHAHA!! Oh, look at that- there's a gnat!
Bonnie: No there's not ...

Frog: No wonder I've got a headache...

Frog: Right up thcre ...comc on you liule
guy...(hystcrical laughter) HUSH! You
might sea.re him away! ... bcre be comes!!
(buzzzzz·---slurp!I) 1 LOVE GNATS!!

Bonnie: And the other hand makes your ann
move, and T don't have more hands to rn:ike
your feet \lr'alk.

Katuah: Oh that's great! The kids must go
wild. I bet they can talk to him for hours and
cell him all their feelings...
Bonnie: Yeah, they do. and I.hey wanna touch
him a loL.
Frog: Get their hands in my mouth ...

Bonnie: These arc moving mouth puppets so
they·~ not on strings. I play with Mr. Frog
most often in the classroom- he's a good lap
puppet. Snooge is hard lo put on my lap, but
Frog here...

Bonnie: He does a series, Frog here. He comes
to the classroom and helps me teach. First of
alJ, l teach three forms of character. Physical
character-when they build their own puppets
they think about how we look and our
differences, like hair color, etc. The second
fonn is vocal cbaractcr-nol just talking but
sound effects:

Frog: Hi! (deep, froggy voice)

Frog: .... Nyaat...... ncooow .....secceccuurp! !

Kawah: HL Frog!

Bonnie: And the third form is movcment--how
lo move their hands when they're making it
talk. And within moving character you have
the concept of gravity. For example, you

Frog: Hello...about time I got outta my basket.
);:Q Li4an
l

''

( .

don't let a puppet float because frogs don't
float - they jump up, they come down. So we
do this and he helps me teach gravity. The'
way I do it is he begs me 10 make him walk:
and I say, "I can't, I only have one hand-one
hand's in your head, see?

Frog: Aaarrghhh!!.... But I wanna walk!
Bonnie: I'll make you hop!
Frog: I don't wanna hop. I never liked to hop.
I wanna WALK!!
Bonnie: So then he'll say, "Hey. haven't you
been teaching these kids how to use puppcts7"
And 111 say "Yeah". And he'll whisper to me
-and I love making puppelS whisper cause the
whole class is listcning·--hc'll say...

Frog: ...Maybe a couple of them could help me'
walk ...??!
Bonnie: So we do. A couple of kids come up
and each takes one of his sticks and I say.
"Now before you sum, remember we have lb
exaggerate everything with a puppet. We're
gonna lift each leg high in the air, bringing It
far forward ... "
Frog: Jllicelegs,huh?

Jomrm! pa«Je 12
I

I

1\:

Winter, t 989-9l
' f

I

1

•ll

�Bonnie: And then down just a linle in front of
the other leg... And then I get them going
really fast and Frog'll say, "Oh this is so
exciting! So exciting! I get 10 walk!" And his
legs are going everywhere and he goes
"AAAHHHHI!" and falls down! Major
crash!... And then he goes:
Frog: .... UUUUHHH ..... .AAARRRGHHH!!
....(painfully pulling his legs up) How long
have you two been walking, anyway? Don't
you know you don't pick up both feet at the
same time? That's hard on the old frog belly...
(J1ysrerica/ laughter)
Bonnie: (to us) Are you alright? h's a
wonderful way to show teachers how 10 use a
puppet to teach a concept.The kids don't even
know they're learning about gravity... they'rc
having fun.

try, even when it comes to folding a piece of
cardboard. Third graders will say, "I can't; do
mine!" And I'll say, "Silliness!, of course you
can! If r gave you a snowy hill and a piece of
cardboard you'd bring it back to me loonng
like a rag!" And then every time, no mauer
what it looks like, I'll say, "Perfect!,
wonderful!, you guys are so good!"

Katuah: Do you stage any productions in your
program?
Bonnie: No, I don't have time. First I do a
demonstration of puppet types. I bring in
shadow puppets, string puppets, rod puppets
and scenery puppets--trccs that talk. And full
size body puppets like Momma and Baby
Dragon.

Ka!Uah: And they're getting their bodies into it,
so it's not just this abstract concept.
Bonnie: According to Dr. Joseph Chilton
Pearce, who wrote The Magical Child,
children ICMn best when rhey use their bodies.
That's why they'll be banging, clicking,
rocking ... and then they're told to sit ~till! But
a lot of rcachers now are using this idea. They
say,"When r reach syllables, we drum!
Katuah: And your kids also make their own
puppets, right?

Karuah· They must love having a puppet to take
home.

Katuah: And do their kids get out of hand when
they're with you ... because they need to let
loose?
Bonnie: No, actually they don't. The thing is
that Lhcy're not very creative - they're afraid to
try. In classrooms where the teachers are
saying "very good," "good for you," "my
class is so great!"-- the kids can't wair. They
Slllrt throwing their voices right away, they're
anxious 10 explore new ground. But where
the teachers are afraid and need to have
"proper" behavior, the children arc afraid 10
Wlnter, 1989-90

Bonnie: I encourage the teachers to follow up.
And after creating and learning to use I.heir
puppet I let each one come up and do
something wilh their puppet for the class. So
they really discipline themselves and focus on
it and create an imaginary friend ... and. you
know?, its not really imaginary anymore.
Katuah: Most kids are taken out of their
imaginations and into "reality" way too soon.
And all the creative potential that's losL..
Bonnie: It's true. The imagination is a preuy
special space. C first learned this watching
mime anists. Totally blank scage and they
create imagcs...pulling ropes, falling in love,
picking a flower. And the audience secs the
flower, a yellow flower and it smells like a
daisy ....
I do a story called "The Fishes' Wishes",
where puppets are by a nver, going fishing
and there 's a troll under a bridge and all that.
And once a 3 year old came up afterward and
said, "How come your feet aren't wet after
standing in that river all that time?" So there's
a magic that goes on between audience and
performer... that realm of imagination where
you can walk without your body and be there
with other people. And it's a place of extreme
pleasure.
Katuah: It's also unportam for kjds to work
through their feelings with fantasy. Like dolls
--it's play therapy. But \\.hen they get past
second or third grade they get messages that
it's not ok to pretend. they're not supposed to
play dolls (especially boys). And puppets give
them that okay.

Bonnie: Yes. They bring in an old sock,
knick-knacks, buttons, lace, etc .. and I
provide the furl) hlllt and moving eyes.

Bonnie : Oh gosh, they love these puppets.
First they glue the fabnc mouth pieces
together, which 1s prcuy challenging, and I
take it as an opportunity to affirm them.
Number one, when you're working with
puppets you cannot fail. Anything you do 1s
brilliant, and the more you do of it, the beuer.
So they make brides, punk rockers, little
girls, a lot of dragons. Then I say, "Go home
and empty your junk drawers!" And the next
day they bring in all kinds of stuff to decorate
them. Fabric, nut shells, boule tops, yarn ...
and we lay a big pile on the table and I insist
that the children do all the choosing.
And some teachers just can't sra11d it. They'll
say, "Red and orange don't match". So I say,
"But it doesn't maucr with a puppet- the
wilder the beuerl Let's see what it looks like."
Its just the "shoulds" we all learned as
children that they're passing on ...

Kaniah: So you leave them t0 create plays on
their own.

Bonnie: 1 think kids are pretty willing to
pretend up until third or fourth grade. Mostly
sixth grade is the oldest age I work with.
People are afraid to try puppets with older
kids.

Kauiah: Why?
When I introduce Momma Dragon I
say, "One of the things we're going to study
is character- physical, moving and vocal
differences". And while I'm doing that I'm
putting her head and hands on and I say, "Has
my physical character changed, by the way?"
And they say, "Yeah!" And I spread my body
out and start breathing really deep and take a
big, slow step. By then they're backing up,
staning to squeal. Then I slowly tum around
and make her look at one of the kids who's
not backing up 100 much. And then I come
forward and swallow that child!
Katuah: Oh my Goddess! You're kidding!
Bonnie: No--the head is so big it could
encompass your whole body. And then she
stands up and says "YUMMM• " And that's
how I begin the program.
Then they stan thinking about what they want
to make, and the second day, we glue the
mouths of the hand puppctS together. Then the
third and founh days we finish the puppets
and the fifth day we do skills ... breathing,
talking, eye contact, gravny, moving. sound
effectS.

Bonnie: In America, people think puppets are
for children ... in the European countries
people know puppets are for all ages. And
puppetry is also fairly new here, whereas it's
thousands of years old in Europe and the
Orient.
I love the origin stories. I know there used to
be puppets of Jesus that opened and closed
their eyes and mouths, and most of these were
burned during inquisition times--and I
imagine so were the puppeteers! And in Java
the puppeteer has been their spiritual teacher
for cons. He goes from village to village and
sets up his scrim and docs a shadow
production for 2 or 3 nights ... and of course
they don't have lights, so they use the fire. In
India and Java they call the veil of the shadow
scrim the "veil of the worlds".
Kauiah : There arc so many ways to use
puppets that most people aren't aware of. I
taught French 10 a kindergarten using a puppet
who only spoke French. He'd tell me he was
embarasscd cause he couldn't speak English
and was afraid the kids wouldn't like him. So
immediately the children said, "tell him we'll
continued on next page
JC:ol.UM Jo14rnoC pcaqe 13

�speak in his language!" And they all wanted to
learn French so they could talk to Giuseppe.
Bonnie: How perfect. I'd really like to work in
the depths of the education system and give
teachers the tools to usc ...altcmatives. Most
are so frustrated with all the paperwork. They
say, ''I used to be able to do art work with the
kids but I don't get to have fun with them
anymore."

gone into ans. And their parents have grown
up with very little ... but through this program
they meet so many different kinds of artists. It
gives them an idea of the world other than
T. V. and their own backyard.
When I first staned "'ith Mountain Ans I was
just going to perfonn and teach abou1 puppets.
And then I gor the idea for having kids make
1he1r own puppets and so much has come out
of it--all the characters- I had no idea.

Katuah: Do you ask teachers to stay in the
room while you're there?

Karuah: Getting the kids involved ... expressing
rhemselve~. Thar's the magic of i1.

Bonnie: I like the teachers to be there and pick
up on it and help our. And I've also had
teachers inhibit the class wnh their "supposed
to's". Especially with the sound effects. That
drives teachers crazy 'cause they've spent all
year teaching the kids not to do those things.
And then I'll say,"Lct's hear your voice. let's
hear it loud!", and the kids arc going wild and
the teacher's looking at the door...(laughs)
But they've got to realize they can let it all
loose. They can take a puppet and be fun and
make the kids laugh and they won't lose
conrrol or respect, they will gain it. If they
dare to share with a child in their realm, then
they've gotten inside and can teach much more
effectively. If they'll go into the child's world
rather than criticizing the child for not being m
the institutional world ...

Bonnie: The primary value is definitely
expression--in every form. in any form--and
the accep1ance of that expression. Self
acceptance: teachers accep1ing their
self-expression, children accepting theirs.
teachers accepting children. and children
accepnng teachers.
At the end of my program when the kids
introduce their puppets 10 the class. every
once in a while I'll get a teacher who'll do it,
too, and the kids love it! They'll say."Wow!.
she made a voice for her puppet"' And I know
the teacher might feel like an idiot. especially
when she's supposed to be a standard in a
group and she's asked to do things that are
real weird and silly. So going through and
daring to feel that sillinesi. and create an
expression--daring 10 do that is. I think, the
greatest transformer. I've seen it first of all
with myself, ho11. brave I've gouen, and I've
seen it with the cluldren.
In 1his process I've taken a close look at life
and how we hold ourselves, the way we look.
our hean area. With a puppet. if the bean's
covered you know how Lllat feels • it's sad.
And with love you're throwing it out. With
anger, you cover it, tum it away. look down
the long nose. I teach those types of
expression.

Katuah: Their world ...
Bonnie: It's not even the teacher's world - it's
the 'supposed to be' world. And they were
taught 11 and they're still trying to be very
good at it. But there are lots of exceptions...
like Mrs. Thompson in Brevard. She takes her
lcids out and teaches them to plant trees and
grow seeds and mke care of animals. She
teaches respect for nature. And she docs ii on
her own.
Katuah: What's your feeling about the
Mountain Arts Program?

Karuah: You're reaching a 101 about human
relations and the self--much more than just
"puppets".

Bonnie: h's wonderful. The thing I love about
it is we're touching the really rural
communities. If it wasn't for Mtn. Ans those
kids wouldn't be gelling hands-on contact
with artists very often.They have strong
spons programs but not a lot of funding has

Bonnie: Teachers will say, "Kids that never
talk have their puppets talking!" Or, "I learned
so much about this child from his puppet and
what it's saying."
Sometimes I see children who might be abused
at home and they'll punch their puppet or the

JC.citiwh Journa! pciqe t 4

puppet 1s very aggressive and wants 10 chew
and bite. So I might say to the puppet,
"What's your name?" And the puppet says.
"None of your business". And I say, ''Well
aren't you glad to have a boy like this?" "No.
I hate him." And I say, "But he sure did a
good job making you. that I can say for sure".
And the puppet gets quieter, softer ... So I
plant a little seed of positive. It's all I get ume
to do but it could be taken so much funher.
That's why I encourage them to hug the
puppet...
Katuah: And make friends with their puppet.
Bonme: Yes. Because they're expressing to
themselves, talking 10 themselves. Another
1hing about problem children ... If you have a
class of twenty-eight kids and one or two are
hyperactive or disruptive, the teacher usually
puts them in the hall because she doesn't have
1ime to deal with them. So I know that child is
lacking love. Love really heals a battered
child. So the disruptive child I find. which
doesn't happen much 'cause with puppets
even those children arc usually pretty
engrossed ...
Karuah: They just want a little more attention
from you.
Bonnie: Exactly. And that's what I give them. I
give them what they wanr. I make them come
up front and hold my hand. I'll pat 1heir hand
or put my hand on their shoulder if they'll let
that happen. And I'll say, "you need to hold
my hand, that way if you don't hear my
message with your cars, you'll feel it from my
energy". I reach them about communication
without words. I'll use gesture and mime and
rouch because the problem children need to be
touched.
Katuah: Do you wish you had more time to
spend wnh each group?
Bonnie: Definitely. It'd be nice to teach
puppetry as a full time cumculum. If you have
a good puppet teacher you can have art and
thearre in the same school. .. and you don't
have to use only puppets. You could combine
creative writing, theatre and an .•. And you
might be doing Midsummer Nigl11's Dream so
conum:cd on p. 28

WLntcr, 1989-90

r

�by Doug Woodward and Trbh Severin
There arc many different reasons pan:nts
might want to teach their children ut home. As
parents, the two of us panscularly want to
nurture in our children the 4u.1lities of love
crcativuy. mdcpendcnr thinking, enthusiasm for
learning, a po~11ivc ..elf-1mage. and a spim or
co-opcra11on (rather than compctiuon) with
others.
As there is no altcmauvc school in Macon
County where we live, we at one point were
seriously considering moving to an arc:1 that
offered a good choice in alternative education
Then we heard mention or homeschooltng and
decided that maybe the quality education we
sought could best be provided right here at
home.
The "social problem" often mentioned in
connection with homeschooling gave us pause.
however. We were afraid that our young one&gt;
might become isolated at home and not have
enough interaction with other children. Our
worries were needless. We found that there
were many other families involved in
homeschooling m our area, and that there were
plenty of activities planned to bring the
homeschoolers together. The more we read and
the more we interacted with other families, the
more assured we were that the "social problem"
of homeschooling was not a problem at all. As
we watched the children interactmg in small
groups, we could not help but think it was a
favorable co.1trast to the usual social experience
found in a classroom of 25 or 30.
If, like us, your family is interested in
homeschooling, you might find that you are not
as alone as you might think at first. Even in rural
Registration

The suuc of North Cnrolina requires that 11 child
be registered by age seven for public, private, or
homeschooling. For informauon on Ille requ1remcnis f0&lt;
regis1ntlion of homcschoolcrs, wmc:
Staie of North C..olma Division or Non·Public EdllCllltOn

c/o Ron Helder, DIJ'CCtor
532 N. Wilmingion SL
Raleigh, NC 27604
(919) 733-4276
The states of Virginia and Tennessee regmcr
homcschool children through the county bonrd$ of
education. Contact your local board for mfonnalioo.

areas the homeschooling population h
significant, and chance~ are that the.re will be a
support group dose by.
Homeschooling support groups can serve
1heir member' in a number of ways. l.c:r's loClk
at the children first ·1 hough it\ true that the
parents can direct the kids toward rradit1on:d
mu~ic cla;scs, sports activities, and classes for
special skills. socializing with other
homcschoolers has benefits all its own. When
families get 1ogc1hcr, the age grouping is vertical
and scattered. not horii.ontal as is found in an
onhodox classroom. A ~ix-year--0ld might learn
1he needs of an infant. share thoughts with a
teenager, and deal with adults on a personal
level r.ither than as authority figures. Harmony,
tolerance, and cooperation are fostered.
Even wuhin the fun activities,
opportunities for learning abound. For example,
our group pressed apples this fall. Children
involved in the ga1hering, washing, chopping,
pressing, and bouling of organically grown fruit
are likely to come away with more than just the
mste of juice in their mouths!
Adult members of a support group always
have their own skills 10 share, whether they use
these skills in the course of earning a living, or
whether these are activities that they just love
doing. And do not forget the emerging skills of
the children. They, too, have something
imponant to teach the adults. if we will listen.
Family activities • planned so that bo1h
spouses can panicipate - are the heart of the
social opportunities in a support group.
Potlucks, field trips, campouts, and service
projects are but a few of these.
On the other side of the coin, mcntorship

Finding Help
for Your Homeschooling Program
Magazines
llomt EdJ&lt;c011011 MogortM

Box 1083
Tonaske!, WA 98855

programs offer a one-on-one growing and
learning experience. Here a child can select an
adult who offers a skill m which he or she 1s
interested. The child makes the contact and
together the child and the adult work our a time
when that skill is being used and the young one
can ohscrve or participate.
Support groups also offer the parents
infoimation to help them get staned and to aid in
dealing with legal requirements. The group can
also provide curriculum help, creative ideas,
workshops, connection to state or national
homeschooling organizations. and plain old
empathy!
We greatly appreciate the nexibility and
choice involved in homeschooling. The
children's love and enthusiasm for learning has
been fostered by studying subjects in which
they are most interested and when the readiness
is there. We srudy subjects in an integrated
manner. always making it "hands on" as much
as possible. If the children become interested in
Indians, we get involved in native dance,.music,
cooking, crafts, st0ries, and more. Since we
continue to be actively involved in bicycle
touring, canoeing, and ,backpacking, we just
take the cllildren along. We can spontaneously
take off on an adventure withowt the hqsS'le of
school schedules. A family field trip is a highly
educational expcriem.:c:! •
Leaming togettier continues to be exciting
and challenging as our falJlily-continues io.make
its own path into eCluca[lpn'. No longer do we
~lk about relocating to anoiher ~a in S8anfh of
an education that fits our children's needs, for
we've found it right here ~t home.
A Bcka Book Publications
Box 18000
Pensacola. fl.. 32523

Calvcn School
IOS Tuscany Rd.
Bnllimorc. MD 21210

Oak Meadow School
Bol 712

Blacksburg, VA

24060

Gr11wing Witlwut Sclwo/111g
2869 Massnchuscus Ave.
Cambridge. MA 02140

The Sycamon: Troe

Ttaching Books and Matt rlals

CoSta Mesa. CA 92627

Rainbow Resource Center

The loc:al library is a good place to begin your
search for aYllllable homeschooling mrucrials. Some local
libraries have worked with homeschooling groups in
pun:hasing books, petiod1cals, and assisting in the

Organlu t ions

National Homeschool Assiocialion
Box58746
Seattle, WA 98138
(SOO) 486-135 I
(S&lt;rvius: o quarterly newsle11u. teoclttng rt-'Ourct
file, homuclwol trove/ directory, tttn·IO•lttn program,
apprtnticeslups and mtntorships for homtschooltrs.
student uchan~, oN1 o 11twslt11tr digest ~rviu.)

k'lnwr, l 989-90

Box 365
Taylorville, lL 62568

2179 Meyer Place

John Holt's Book and Music Siorc
2269 Massachuseus Ave.

dcvelopma11 or vcrucal files on homc.schoolmg.

Cambridge, MA 02140

lnrorma tlonal Book1

Educational Spccuums/

JltNnlSdtool RtDtkr

Bluestocking Press
Box 1014 (Dept. AF2)

by Mad: and Helen Hegener
Ttaclt Yowr Own by John Holl

Pliurvillc. CA 95667

�-If! 1' SUI., J11,,t'J1, Sf
(If/ ye fl1•f -nt•i/e ~ ff, , -Ae"

·Ceremony

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tk Omalia 1"£an prayer Urtmtm!J introtfucine a
new6orn dsi!tf to tk natural worUf.
Ofun, in cqnttmporory cultuns, tk new5orn is fo~
introtfuutl w tk fiuman cOtlflflunity and to tk tfiviru
orrftr··out not spu.ifially to tk natwTJl ul0rl4.
!Here in tliis urem.ong, tk naturof wo&amp; is atftfresstd
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Illustration by James Rhea

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��Mother Earth The Natural Classroom
Early one morning, I sat outside with my
dnughtcr reading a children's ~tory .. h "'as a
story dealing with bircb, habitat, animal
adaptations. predators, and camoullag_c. In the
middle of the story. we nouccd the 11n1est bare!
dan under the eaves of our garage. How did ii
get lhrough? It :.queaked underneath such a
small space. !low hard to believe. More careful
observation ~howed uo; there was indeed a
hidden nest. We could h.'lrcly see the bits of
l\\igs showing through. What a pcrf.:ct
accompanimem far the story we were reading.
It was one of those wonderful examples of
~ynchronici ty. One 1.hat Nature is so famous
for, if only v.c arc patient and obscrvan1
CnOUl!h .

~ If only classroom tC.'lching could h:ivc
more moments like that in science or
environmental studies. In my teaching
experience, I have noticed how attuned to nature
students become when they arc allowed. More
often than not, experiences like that arc reserved
for "field trips," and those occur too
.
infrequently. We are usually forced to bnng
natural science inside the classroom rather than
r.ake the students directly to the Eanh.
Twenty years ago, when l first read Si/enc
Spring, 1 was amazed nt how we were S?
closely intenwined to the Eanh. Why didn't we
pay nuention back when it was written?
Couldn't we have avoided many of our recent
environmental pitfalls? Now, as we enter the
L990's, having had some very harrowing
cnvironmenrol disasters, it is clear that schools
can no longer ignore the imponance of teaching
and providing hands-on experiential
cnvironmenlal programs. Leaming has to extend
beyond the boundaries of the classroom.
For the past three years, I have been
involved with the Nonh Carolina
Adopt-A-Stream Program which is part of lhe
National Save Our Streams Program. The
Strcam Program activities are primarily
bands-on, very environmentally conscious
lessons. Since our school is a five-minute walk
from a stream, we are able to rcgulnrly take
advantage of the opportunity to visit the stream.
The children considered the activities
wonhwhile and fun - and could see that they
were making a difference. The program
integrated well into our second and third grade
cwriculum by including science, social studies,
languuage ans. creativity, and problem-solving
skills.
In order to allow children to realize what a
unique and precious place our Eanh is and to
understand their participation in it, we need to
step outside of our classrooms. Mother Eanh
can teach us about our home, but we need to
make provisions for being th.ere in direct contact
with her. Students need to be outdoors ·
observing, listening, sensing - when Mother
Eanh shares her synchronistic lessons with us.

Second grade .mlllem Quinn \Vardin andpre-kindergarrner Anna Srein cleaning a srream ne.ar rhe_r
1
scltool on Clean Streams Day, 1988.
Photo by Tun Reid

Biodegradable Diapers:
Not What They Say They Are!

It sounds like a dream come true disposable diapers that are environmentally ~fe.
"Degradable is a wann and fuzzy word, hke
organic and natural," said R.A. Denison, a
senior scientist at the Environmental Defcnst:
Fund.
Unfonunately, "These plasucs are being
sold as a way to reduce waste and that is a
hoax," says Jeanne Wirka of the Environmental
Action
Foundation.
A truly degradable material breaks down
into basic constituents like water and carbon
dioxide through natural pr~esses. The n~w
diapers do indeed break down 1mo...smaller b11s
of plastic. But in the dry, oxygen·~tarved
environment of modem landfills, they might not
break down much at all.
"Li11lc is known about what happens
during and after the degradation process to
chemical additives, toxic heavy metals. and
other plastic ingredients," said Ann Beaudry in
an anicle in Motlutring Magazine. And "even the
eventual breakdown inr.o small pieces of plastic
offers no solution to the landfill capacity crises
because the breakdown of throwaway diapers,
disposable or biodegradable, take up just as
much room in the landfill as the original."
Large amounts of human waste arc also
- Susan Schneider Gries~!# deposited in the landfills possibily b!'Ceding
virulent strains of pathogens such as poho virus
fr'
Suggested Rtadint:
which may find 1.heir wny to underground water
SltariJtg Nt111Ut with Children by Joseph Bh3tat Cornell
sources. Toxic chemicals also follow the snme
Keepers oftlu! Earth by M. Caduto
route to the water sources.
Streamwalkingfor Kids by Gwen D1ehn and Susan
There has been a large eco-marketing
Gricsmaict (NC Stn:am Watch Program, 1988)
campaign for single-use "biodegradable diapers"
C!IMtcling people ONl nlJIJVt, Lesson plans. (Great
targeted at natural food stores and environmental
Smoley Mll\S. !nstirute at Tremont, Gre:u Smoky
catalogs, aimed at reaching environmentally
MlnS. National Park. Townsend, 1N 37882)
conscious parents.
Xl••Unh 7ournnt PIUJ'- 111

For four and a half years our family has
"recycled" cloth diapers in the wnshing machine.
You can use 1.hem from one child to the next,
tum them into rags when they're worn out, and
let them truly biodegrade when they're no longer
usable.
Of course cotton production often uses
pesticides, but there is little comparison betw~n
that and the daily disposal of 5 to 15 plasuc yes, PLASTIC! · diapers.
Most kids are in diapers for 2-3 years.
The cost comparison is nbout $84 per month for
disposables, $26 per month for clor.h through a
diaper service, or a one time cost of about $50
for a few dozen cloth diapers if you buy and
wash your own.
"Each family that chooses natura l,
recyclable conon diapers for their child prevents
I ton of waste from entering the solid waste
stream each year," wrote Benudry.
I hope this makes you reconsider whether
f
you want to buy into this fal~e dream o_ the
disposable diapers or the reality of creaung a
healthy environment . Let's stop trying to take
the easy way out.
For more resources and infonnarion on
how and why to use cloth diapers, feel free to
call me at the Traditional Binh and .Natural
Family Health Colleccive; 36 l Sterling St.;
Atlanta GA 30302 (404) 880-9172.
'
- Aviva Jill Romm
"Doubts are Voices on Dcgracbblc Ptasuc: W3SJ.c." NY
Tim(S, 10/25~9
"B1odcgr11dablc Diapers: A Pseudo Soluuon." Ann E.
Beaudry. Molhtring Magam1t, Fall. 1989
•
"The Ethics or Diapering," R.W. Hollis, Motltering
MaglWM. Fall, 1989
~
Wi.nt..er , 1989- 90

�RESOURCES

Tips for

Gardening with Children

Parenting

from Tom You11gblood-Pe1erse11
.\lo1huU1J: \lag;vmc

P.O. Bo~ lo'IO; Santc Fe. NM 87'&gt;0-l

Start i.mall - a 6' x 10' garden can be a perfect ·
size for a liule one.

N11n1inng Tf&gt;d.1~

187 Cao;clh Ave.: San Fmnc1S1:0, C,\ Q-l 11-l

Have fun! I put this toward the top of the list
because remember, beauty b in the c:yc of the
beholdl.'r. This means no garden is perfect, and
it's as much the proceH as ii is the results, for
children.

Education
/'h(' C)t 11/The Chtld., Rulh \fueller

(!'le" Soc1c1y Publishers)

The best garden layout is narrow beds - no more
lhan three feet wide so the children can work
from the edges - and wide paths that can fit two
willing and eager workers.

Ch1ldhodd- l lu. l\'aldorf Pc·r.1{1('Cli&gt;-c, by ~ancy Aldri.h

R1. ::?. Bo~ :!675; We&gt;.iford, VT 05-19-l
Grc:en J~ic/Jcr
c/o Tim Grant: 95 Robcn Succt; Toronto, Onwrio
M5S 2K5, Canuda

What to plam? Whatever the children like toe.at
and nibble. lf that list 1s shon, you can
supplcmem wtth vegetables and flowers 1ha1 are
especially fun to grow. Like cherry tomatoes,
sunflowers, ever-bearing srrawbcrries and
nastuniums. All of 1hese can be nibbled
fresh ..... tmmedia1e gratification is one of the
easiest ways to keep children interested in the
garden.

National Dirtctory of Alttrnative SchocfJ, National
Coahuon of Al1crnauve Community Schooh
R.D. I. Bo~ 378: Glcnmoorc. Pa. 193-l 3

1lorne ~1wn Magaw11:
P.O.Box IOIB: Tona.tj{e\, WA 98855
\1t:rlyn s Pt!n
P.0.Box 1058: Ea~t Greenwich, RI 02818
Skipping Stones
80574 H:11.c1ton Road: Coungc Grove. OR 97424

Our Fwur&lt;' al Stake: A lunugtr's Gwck 10 Stopping the
Nuclear Arntf Rare, Melinda Moore &amp; Laurie
Ol'i&lt;:n, ti tJ/ , (New Soe1e1y Puhfohcrs)
l.111/e Fritnds for Pt!aa

4405 29th Street; Ml. R.1n1cr, MD 20712
Kid'IArt Nt!WS
P.O.Box 27-l: Mt.Sh:lsm CA 96067
Nauonal Home School Assocwuon
P.O.Box 167; Rodeo, NM 88056
American Montcsson Sococty
ISO Sib Ave.: New York, NY 10011
Waldorf lnstilutc
260 Hungry Hollow Road
Spring Valley, NY 109n

Stop War Toys Campaign
C/o Wur Re''-'lCrs' Lcaguc - NE
Box 1093: Norv.•11:h. CT 06360
Who's Calling tilt Sho1.1: /lo" to Re~nd £f/wn·tly 10
Children's Fascina11on Kllh Illar Play and War toys
by N311ey Crls.&lt;oon-Pa1ge and Diane Levin
(New Society Publishers)

Stopping Abuse
Nallonal Child Abuse HOl Linc, l-800-4AC-HILD

National Association for I.he
Educ111ion or Young Children
1834 Connccticul Ave. NW
Wa~ing1on, D.C. 20009

Children's Defense Fund
122 C St NW; Wa.'&gt;hingion. DC 20001

The Nalionnl Association for Mediation 1n Educauon
425 Amity St.; Amhcrs1, MA 01002

Child Welfare League of Amcnca
440 First SL NW (Suue J 10)
Washington. DC 20001

Nnlional Coaliuon or Altcrnouvc Community Schoch
58 Schoolhouse Rd.: Summertown, Tn. 38483

End Violence Agamst lhe Next Gcncruuon, Inc.
977 Kcclc1 Ave.; Berkeley. CA 94708

Changing Schools
Teacher; College 918
Ball Struc l.inivcrsity
Mu11cie, IN 47306

ramily Violence Research Program
Family Rc=h UiboralOry
Univcr~11y of New Hampshire
Durham, NH 03824-3586

Peace and No n-viole11ce
An OutbrC'alc of fi:aci:. Sarah P1nlc.

A "fanual on Nonv1oltnci: and Childrtn.
compiled ancJ edited by SitphanicJudson
(New Society Publishers)

,,li..n t.er, 1989-90

Kidsrights
3700 Progi:c~ Blvd.: Mount Dora. FL 32757
N3UOnal Chtld's RighlS Alliance
P.O.Box 17005; Durham, NC 2no5
National Commiu.ce for the Prevention or Child Abuse
332 S. Michigan Ave.; Chicago, 0. 6060

Get real 1ools. (small ones), not toys for your
children. No matter how young, don'1 waste
your money on flimsy plastic 100ls in toy stores.
Purchase smaller-sized good quali1y tools for
$4-$5.00 from hardware or garden shops.
Have the children wear old clothes and shoes.
I telp the child clean and put away all tools when
finished.

Again, HAVE FUN!

Tom Youngblood-Perersen ls director of
the MAGIC Commu11iry Garden programs in
A!iheville. NC. fie and his wife Berh eat
11aswriw11 buds in their own garden with their
five year-old so11, Evan, and plan to imroduce
the1r newbofll. Campbell, w rhe fun of it, as
well

Childre11's Media
Four Arguments for tht Elimination of Television
by Jerry Mander

Action fat Children's Television
20 Unh·ersity Rd.; Cambridge, MA 02138
Council on lnitrracilll Books for Childn:n
1841 Bro:idway; New York, NY 10023
Lollipop 'PoWCJ Press
30S £.Chapel Hill St.; Durllam. NC 2no1

Much of I.he information for these resoiuces came from:
lloliftic Educa1ion Rt!'oli&lt;"W,
P.O.Box 1476; Greenfield, MA 01302

'Ifuml;s to X/n.!JO'l 'Xlfl9for fufp in cmnpili119 tfiis
resourus listintJ.
/
X4ti4ah ) o'4rnat palJtl 19

�HOSTAGEPANTHERTOWN

FREED

ACTION FOR BEARS BRINGS
RESULTS

Nlllrll World News Savice

Nlllrll Worid News Service

With the aid of the Nature Conservancy and
national politicians, negotialions for a major hostage
release wcre compleled Monday, No~cmber 27 when
6.295 acres of the Panlhcnown Valley in the headwaters
of lhe Tuclcascgcc River WllletShcd were tnWfcrrcd IO the
US Forest Scrvke.
The valley has been the sub.)CCt of controversy
since 1988 when Duke Power Company bought Ille l.r1ICt
as part ol ilS land acquisition program for a high-voltage
11811Smission line IO go lhrough the hcan of Transylvania
and Jackson counties In North Carolina. Much
opposition IO the pawer line cenicrcd lllOWld lhc idea of
"Save Panlhcnown Valley."
Oulte bought the propeny suddenly in 1988.
Ownership of the whole property was a powerful
negotiation IOOI 10 help Duke secure 11S preferred route
for the power line. Once the route was established.
selling the propcsty to the Nature Conservancy was easy
for the ginnl energy corporauon, as 11 only required an
800 acre comer of the land for the tmnsm ission line
right-of-way. The sale softened some opposition 10 the
power line, which 11"ill cause ml1JOT habi1a1 disruption
along its route and spur damaging development in its
service area, nnd gave Duke ihe appearance of being
syrnpnthetic IO cnvironmcnial issues.
However, Panlhcnown is a unique and scenic area
and home IO several rare plant species. IL~ future appcnrs
10 be much more secure. The Forest Service will
temporarily manage the land under a 4-C land
management classification, which restricts use 10
non-motonzod recrcauon and favOlli black bear habil31,
and promised IO preserve its 'ICCnic beauty and unique
geological and biological features. The publrc attention
the valley has received will most likely be a strong
guarantee for lhn1 promise.

A demonstration on behalf of black beats cag
on the Cherokee lndioo Reservation for tourist auraction
bas apparently brought results. The September
demonst.ration, led by PETA (People for the Ethic
Treatment of Animals) and allCnded by 100 maJChers
including many Crom the rcserva1ion, wallccd from
Oconoluf1ce Visitors' Center 1n the Great Smok
Mountains National Park to the infamous Saunooke'
Bear Land, cited as providing some of the wors
conditions for animals among CAhibits tn this country.
Chief Ed Taylor mcl the group and told them no
ID meddle with internal affairs on the reservnlioo and
go home. The response to this was a chorus of shou IS
"We are home!" from many of the dcmonsi.nuors wh
were residents of the reservation. The Chief then told lh
group ihat Indians were tired of outsiders telling the
what lO do, app:ircruly forgetting lhal. the exhibit owners
on whose behalf he was speaking were all while pcopl
who hnd leased space on the rcscrvntion IO cash in on lhe
summer tourist now. Muuenng, Taylor then got into hi
car and retired from lhc scc.ne.
But Taylor was affected by the dcmon~tration.
The following month he brought a resolution into th
Tribal Council thnt wou Id hnve required that bears
kept in "natural habitat areas" on penalty of SI ,000 fo
''iolallon. The Council. however, replaced this rcsolu tio
with one that said the caging o( bears 1s "presenting
problem• and nuthorized the Council 10 invcs1ig:ue th
pol&gt;~ibility of the habitat area.

BENTON MacKA YE TRAIL
After nine years 3 dedicated group of volunteers
has comptcu:d a 78.5 mile hiking trail from Springer
Mountain, Georgia Lo the COhuua Wilderness Arca on
the Tcnncs.'iCC "lllle hnc.
The hiking p:ith is called the Benton MacKaye
Trail after ihe founder of the Appalachum Trail system.
Pans of the trail follow an early fll3n for the Aflll3l3chian
Trail. which was later ch311ged IO ilS prcscn1 route.
The remarkable aspect of the Benton MacKaye
Troll is that it was constructed entirely by voluntcc~.
who have worlccd steadily over a nine-year period to
complete the uaJI through the Goorgia mounuuns. Much
work still needs Lo be done 10 bring the path 10 11s
proposed termination po101 in the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park, but trail votun1cers were
jubilant to have completed lhc first ~uge of the route.
Officials of the Southern Region of the US
Forest Service agreed early rn the llllil's hisiory Ihm they
would back the propo:;ed route if the Georglll segment

were completed.
A Tennc.'iSCC chapter of the trail volunlecrli has

been formed IO extend ihc trail nonhwan:t through the
Unicoi MounUlill.\ IO reach the Smokies.
• scurce: article by John llarmon (n 1hr Atlanta
Journal-Constitution, October 14. 1989.

FOREST PLAN REMANDED
Narlnl World News Service

The Chief of the US Forest Service, Date
Robenson, on September 28, 1989 sent back the
bclcllgucrcd Land and Resource f\.lanngemem Plan for the
Nantahala-Pisgah National Forests, saying in panicular
Ihm the plan places too much emphasis oo clC31CuWng
as the method of choice for lumbenng and 3Jso allows
projected umber sates that would fail 10 recover their
CO~ts.

While not spcc1ficnlly outlawing clcarcutting or
any limits on its use. Robcn.o;on dircctcd the N-P
National Forest staffs 10 research altcmauvcs w the
clcarcutting technique and to be more nex1b!e m their
thoi~ of logging methods. His denial Ytllidatcd yc:ITS of
work by conscrvation groups, parucul:irly the Western
North Carolina Allianc~. to convince the Forest Service
to stop 1ts smgle-minded reliance on the clcarcuumg
ux:hnique.
The Chiefs directive also said the rorcst rtan did
not adequately JUstify proposed timber sales Lha1 would
have resulted in the loss of additional tax money IO
subsidi1.e clcarcuts in the Southern Appalachians. In
1987 the Nantahala·Pisgah National Forests lost a total
of S2.5 million in bclow-&lt;:ost limber sales. (l1lc For~l
Service accounung procedure was changed in 1988 lO
make it more d1fficull 10 dctcnmnc the economic swtus
of timber SJlcs 1n indl\·1duat rorc.sts. hut 11 Is csumated
that tosses held steady or rose slightly in that year.) A
rccelll study author11cd by the Forest Service, Tiie
Southern Appalachian Timber Study. documented a
decade-long price drop in hardwood lumber in the
Southern Appalachians. Robcnson's memo duected the
Nauonnl Forests ndm11ustrauve siaffs to incorporate these
more recent figures m their review of timber ~les
policies and umber qUOlaS.
Chief Robertson's remand order showed most
clearly the political nature of the US Forest Service. for
the issues of clcarcutung and below~t salcs that he
dealt with in his administrative order were drawing much
negauve publicity IO the agency. However, the Chief,
white urging caution in the construction of fore.~ roads,
did noc suggest any specific changes in road pohc1e.s in
the N3ntahala-Pisgah Na11onal Forc.,ts. Alw, white he
called for specific plans 10 provide hab11111 for 12
threatened and cnd:lngercd ~pccics, he did not cnll for a
forests-wide roadlcss areas survey IO determine the noed
for wildcmcss areas and undisturbed habnat. as called ror
m particular by the rcgion:ll office of ihe Wilderness
Society. Thc.sc 1s~~ arc as 1mponan1 as lhc clcarcumng
issue. but 11 ~med th31 ihcy were neglected m ihe
Chiefs repon because they had not aroused a vociferous
public outcry ag111ns1 the For~t Service as h3d the umber
policies.
The message is clear; 10 bring chnnge to the
nauonal forests, stir 11 up.
~uing

II

WE BRING GOOEY THINGS
TOLIFE II
Narunl World Ne"'• Service

South of Hendersonville Nonh Carolina, in th
below the East Flat Rock comm unit
where some I 50 peorle draw their drinking water
concentration~ of a canccr·causing mduslnal solvcn
exceed the siatc stnndard by at least 3.500 times
The General Electric lrghting fixtW'Cl&gt; productio
plant in lfcndcr,on County has ~ixu:cn undergroun
Storage t.anks, two waste water trcaunent ponds, and
sludge 1mpoundmcn1 on land owned by the plant. Tw
landfills. a recently reported le:tlcing drain pipe, and
1983 chemical spill arc all contribuung factors to lh
!isling of this s11c by the Nonh Carolina Clean Wate
Fund as one of the 22 WOrsl groundwntcr contaminatio
site.~ in Nonh Carolina.
The Fund has also C!\llmaled ihat 35,000 peopt
in lhe stale arc drinking water w11h some degree 0
contamination. Nonh Carolina has the c;ccond highcs
number of household wells in the United States
(822,000) as there is a ready supply of gruund water
SOlllil of which is working 115 way to the sea from lh~
mountains of the Katuah region. It appears iha1 we Ill'
playmg a dcm11I game of "chemical do-or-dare" wnh
untamtcd war.er, esscnunl to our health and lhnt of lhc
groundwntc~

b~hcre.

A~ one of the "toxic 22" shes of sever
contamination in Nonh Carohnn, General Elcctri
contmucs to release poisons inio the underground wnters
which participate in lhe cyd1c now of water through Lhc
E:uth. It tna)· seem like these chemical ·sotu11ons' are
gone from 'sne', yet when they rc.•wface will G.E. really
be bnnging good things 10 life?

. To register comments concerning G.E.'s
you can ca.II the G.E. coMumer products
IOll·frcc number 1-800-626-2000.

praeucc~.

�PICKENS DISTRICT
FOREST WATCH
Nanni World News 5cr'1ice

WHAT'S H.A.A.P.-ENING??
Narural World News
ELA (Ecological Living Ahemativcs), a broad·
based eco-forum rccenlly ronned in East Tcnncs.'ICC, is
addressing some local problems lhal threaten the Holston
River 00..tjn and area rcsidcncs' heallh. One of the group·~
firs1 ac1ions was an 1nformnuonal demonslra1ion to
promoic press coverage of an upcoming pubhc bearing
concerning a permit rc-issunl for the was1e-wa1er
1tCalmen1 facility or 1he Hols1on Army Ammuniuoo
Plani (H.A.A.P.). located in Hawkins and Sullivan
counties. The plan1. managed by Easunan Kodak,
manufactures RDX, Composiqon B, HMX, HMX·TNT,
RDX-Plaslicv.cr and other spe(:1fteally ordered exple&gt;sive
compounds used m the U.S. and sold on the in1cmational
weapons markc1. The action consis1ed or 15 ELA
members cxh1b111ng signs reading "National Dcfen~ al
Whose Expcn~?" and "Don'1 You Wish You Could Ea1
The Fish?" as well as posters promoung the lime and
d:llc or Ille publt&lt;: hearing. Mcmbcts handed OUl lcallclS
to employees ond mo1ori~1S pa~smg through I.he busy
faciory inu:rsccuon.
!\.lost hearings m Ille o.rca receive small aucnd:ulCe
and liU!e or no public eommenL However. the heanng.
held Nov. 30. auracicd approx1ma1ely 30 people,
indicating the success of the group's action. Al the
beanng, comments were scheduled 10 be limi1cd to
subject maucr rclevan1 lO NPDES Permit #TN0003671
only, relating specifically to water polluuon control
guidelines. Activ1s1S speaking, though, insisted on
citing several problems at the plant which contribuLC 10
water pollution. even though they were not included 1n
the pcnniL
Among these problems is a huardous waste
landfill at the plant that has recently been re1llrflCd to
service. ft is feared that leaching from this area. as well
as other runoff from the 5800 acre plant, could cause
additional accumulauons of 1oxins in the river. Among
the elcmenis seeping from the munilion~ plant are vinyl
chloride, chromium, cyanide and nickel. Some IOxins Ind
heavy metals occur m the daily discharge crtlucn1 in
amounts grca1er than one pound per day; some occur in
ci1cess of 10 and 15 pounds per day. All discharge goes
inlO the HolslOn River which must absorb other wastes
as well. Eastman Kodak's PET plastic factory lie.:; just a
rew miles upstream. On Nov. 15 Easunan cxpcnenced a
"typical" spill loosing 36,000 pound., or acetic acid in10
the Holston. These accumulations, as well as ogncuhural
run-off, together contaminate the river which is the
source or lite Ci1y of Morrisiown's drinking waLCr
supply.
1f you would hke IO register comments on Ibis
and other problems concerning water pollu11on in
Tennessee, wri1e to: TN Dept. or Heallh and
Environment (Div. or Water Pollution Conttol); 150 9th
Ave. North: Nashville, TN 37219, or call (615)
741-7883.
If you would like IO know more about ELA and
upcoming activiues, write to: ELA; P.O. Box 851;
Jonesborough, 1N 37659.

k'i.nur, 1989-90
1

1l

'.'

While the "Up State" may be viewed as ju~t a
smllll comer or South Carolina. it holds a promineni
place along 1he cas1.em cscnrpment of the Soulhcm
Appl3chain Mountain Range. It is 31so home 10 a
growing number or bioreg1onal folks actively involved'"
the "public input" process of the Sumter National
Forest's Andrew Pickens Dislnct.
South Carolina Forest Wa1ch is presently
appealing two comparunen1 plans in the Chauga River
watershed. 1xlscd on the lack of a prcharvcst "hydrologic
survey•. which would have addressed the prot.cCtion or
two brook trout sucams and the conversion or the forest
IO a pine plantation. Additionally. the planned umber cut
was based on a study conducted in the piedmont and not
on steep mountain slopes.
"Those who arc only good with hammers sec
every problem as a ruul." Quoting Abraham Maslow.
Forest Wruch ttca..~urcr Richard Cam eqilamed that the
1985 Long Range Pinn for the district reveals a narrow·
minded approach to muluplc use. "The Plan relics
heavily on the conversion or milled hardwood and pine
forests to pllllltations or hybrid pines plan1ed on ten by
ten foot spacm~ Wildlife received very llUle auenuoo .•
"In order 1ha1 we might co1ribu1e to the
re-educa11ng of the Fores1 SCfVicc, we've done a 101 or
Sllldy on our own. Aside lrom our meetings with the
USFS and private timber interests. our bimonthly
mce1ings host a variety or speakers and lcanung
experiences. We also manage 10 gel out and cruise
management companrnenL~ in the Picltcns Oistr1c1."
For more information on the South Carolina
Forest Watch, wntc:

P. 0. Box 657
we.,tmmstcr, South Carolina 29693

CLEARCUTTING
HAS ABAD DAY
Natural World News S..,.jc.,

Research findings reported at a US Forest
Service-sponsored work.shop in September di.o;putcd the
notion that clcarc:utling provides crucial forage for cen.ain
species of wildlife. The audience at the "Wildlife
Considerations in lmplemcnung the Land and ReSOUtce
Managemcn1 Plan" mccung was addlCsscd by =hers
from various soulhcastcm universities.
Recent work Bl the Univen1ty or Georgia has
shown that deer appear IO be very adaptable 10 a wide
variety or forest types. Contrary to popular belief, deer
depend less on the type of browse found in clcarculS than
they do on a variety of hard mast (acorns and nuts)
provided l'y mature forests. Turkey research 11 Clemson
h:l.s also revealed tha.l 1urkeys make liulc use or clcarcuts,
needing a variety or hard and soft mast.
Similarly, Univcrsi1y of Tenncsscc reseateh ha~
shown that bears make very ligh1 and seasonal use of
forage in clcan:uts. depending more heavily on a good
selection or hard mast. Furthermore. the roads as.&lt;;0eiBICd
with logging have proven IO have a severe impact on
bear populatlon.s. Bears have been found to use rough
woods roads and skid lnlib as they LrBvel in scarth or
forage, but they avoid ~ystcm roads, whether open or
closed to vehicle traffic. Thus, roads affect bear
populations by effectively reducing Ille size of their
range. as well as by providing easier access for hunLCr.&gt;
and poachers.
Representatives from the NC Wildlife
Commission also spoke and indicated their concern
nbouc the effect of the Forest Servicc·s !'03d·building and
harvc.qing practices on wildlife population&lt;.

THE CASE OF THE
DISAPPEARING TRJTIUM
Natural World News SetVice

The US Dcparuncnt of Energy (DOE) has again
suspended 311 commcrciai ~hipmcnts of 1ritium. the
radioacti"e ~ used in nuclear wlll1lc::lds, after significant
quantities of it turned up missing. Tritium is used in
biological and energy research and in making luminous
lights, signs. dials and w:u.ches as weU es being used to
increase the power or nuclear warllcads.
The halt in tritium shipments was 111nounccd in
July or 1989 after an inconclusive search for: five grams
or the element that laboraiory records said had been
shipped to commercial customers. bu1 which buyers said
had never arrived. ln August. the DOE said it would
resume mosi shipmcnis after bilS or the missing malerial
were found. The dcpartmcnt discounlcd the likclihood or
theft at that time. Only a few special shipmenis have
been made since then.
An in1emal lab rcpon said d~pancies in the
shipping records d:lted at least IO 1985. In some cases.
customers reportC&lt;I they h3d received 40 percent ~
tritium lhan they had paid for.
A copy or the confidential July 20 report and
rclalcd Oak Ridge documcnis were obtained through a
legally enforceable request under the Freedom of
Information Act. lnvesLigators for Martin Marien.a Energy Systems, wtuch nms opcr311on:; at the Oalt Ridge
nuclear complex, said in the report that a significan1
amount of 1r11ium had been losL m a lest shipment
bc1 ween buildings. It appeared lhat Ille I~~ amounted to
abou1 two grams. approxima1ely half thc amoun1 used in
a smglc aiomic warhead.
According 10 the conliden1ial rcpon, workers
loaded the Lriuum into a container, which was sent to
another bu1ldmg. There pan of the contents of the
coniamer was unloaded for sampling, then repacked and
scn1 back 10 11.s ong1nal locauon. Thrcc-qW111CrS of the
tritium was lost in that round trip. Leakage and
procedural jXUblcms wcte ruled OUL
Reprcscniative Edward J. Markey (0) or
M3ss3chusctts swd, "You have IO \l/Olldct what kind of
Keystone KOJl!I operntion the Dcpanment or Energy ha!.
down at O:ik Ridge. when they lose more than 22,000
cunes or tntium in a I.Cl;! designed IO find out why DOE
keeps on losing l.nlClt or tritium."

DON'T CROSS
DA GREAT PUMPKIN
Nuunl WorldNcwsSavlcc
The WCSICnl North Carolina Alliance undcrsoc:ml
lhe gTOUp's opposjuon to wide.~ead clcarcu1ting in the
na1ional forests by staging a Halloween day
dcmonsLretion in front or the US Forest Service
headquaners m Asheville. The action specifically
protested a proposed clearcut near thc popular Craggy
Gardens area on thc Blue Ridge Parkway. The clcen:ut
would be in full view or tourisis at the visitor cerucr.
"Even the Great Pumpkin says, 'Don"1 cu1
Craggy.'" rc3d a sign held by young David Gilmour of
the group. The Alliance noted that lhis panicular cut.
which would be 12 acres in $tlC and less than a mile
away from the visitor center, is especially mappropriatc.
(Other acuvists were of the opinion. however, that the
Forest Service should be required 10 do oil their
clearcutting within sight of major IOW'i.\t auractions.)
As a result or the aucntion the Craggy clearcut
has received, the Forest Service is re-evaluating the
!ituauon. lrutcad of allowing the ll'BCt IO be clearcut, the
agency may n:quuc selective culling. which would lca.-e
~ or the trccs standing • or 11 may spare the enure 12
11CrtS. The decision is yet 10 be announced.
JC.at~
, l

Jo\&amp;rnaL p1i9t1 21
...

'

�Natural World News
SPE C IAL REPOR T

ALARKA CREEK
CONTROVERSY
by David Wheeler
The headwaters of Alarka Creek rise high on the
Cowee Ridge, where !he North Carolina counllc.~ or
Swain, Jackson, and Macon comer. The creek\ origins
are on !he Alarka Laurel properly, l1lOtC than 2,000 :icre.~
of IJlnt.I which includes 35 :icre.~ of a unique red
spruce-bog association. The creek runs lhrough 2,000
acres or watershed uninhabited by human bemgs, along
!he way wmbting over the Alarka Falls. once a place for
fasting and p111ying held sacred by lhc native Chcrokcc
people. Until 11 reaches the Alarb Community in Swam
County. lhe wate.rs of lhc croelc are clear and support a
nallll'lllly-reproducing populntion or brook IJ'Oul
However, Alarka Creek is in clanger. The Alarlc.:J
LaW'Cl propcny, owned as an invcStmcnt by a panner.;hip
or land speculators, has been on the market for years.
Only now is a developer showing &lt;iome interest in the
acreage. The identity of the developer is a catefully-kcpl
~ret. but it is known lh:lt plans for the Almb Laurel
propcny include a golf course and a luxury resort.

At the request of William Mcl.amey, an aqu:ttic
biologist living in Macoo County, biologists from the
NC Dcpruuneru of Envuoruncntal Management {DEM)
visited Al:uka Crcd: and ~led the wnu:r.;. Biological and
chemical tcsL:i confirmed that lhe wntershcd met the
stringent standards for qualirica1ion as a state
"OulSlanding Resource Water• (ORW). Streams 11ut
11\CCI ORV/ standards arc lamentably very few. and.
clearly, Alarka Crock is an lllca worlhy of protection.
But omcu1J efforts 10 preserve Alarka Creek have
run Into an ob!&lt;lllCle. There is still resentment in Swain
County towards the insensitive acuons or big
government, which m the mid-1940\ condemned !;ind in
Swain, OSl.CllSibly for the citpans1on of !he Great Smoky
Mountains Nauonal Part, but which in ac1U3!11y lumcd
OUI IO be largely for lhe bencn1 of lhc Tcnnc.'--« Valley
Authority for lhc creation of Fontana Lake.
The focus for 1hc ire of 1his generation of Swam
County citi7.cns is a promise made by the govemmcm i.ll
the time of the land acquis1tOl1$ for a road that would p;is~
on the north side of 1hc lake. now within lhc Park
boundaries. That promi~ was never fulfilled, althoogh
lhc infamous North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms ha,
blocked a bill lhal would have finanC13lly compcnsalcd
the cow11y.
The uprc_o;s1on for 1h1s anger 1s a group called
"Citizens Against Wildemc.~~: which ha.~ a siorcrrom
office in Bryson Ci1y. lhc Swam county _,eat. The group
owes 1l1 existence and probably much of 1L~ crroc11vcncss
to the slrollg wppon of Senator Helms Alway' on the
lookout ror a political situation IO man1pulau: 10 has own
advantage. Helms took the "Ci111.cn~ Against Waldcmc.s"
under his ••mg and has fanned 1hc fires of their
rcscntmcnL The group's baule-&lt;:ry 1s; "We are ltvmg
poorly because 85% of our county 1s under federal
control."
Abrka Creek lw been caughl rn the whirlwind
This ,.."a$ clc;arly revealed when a reprcscmauvc from the
Trust for Pubhc Land journeyed up tO lhe mountains to
look at the an:a at William Mcl..amcy's !QQUCSL
"He thought he was coming up to look at &lt;1 pn:Uy
creek with a waterfall," said Mclarney. "Bui when he
51,.. the area. he said. ilus )!)ould be a national priority
fo •ur organi1.ation!' When he communicated h1~
lin1' "I'' IO the nntional office. they agreed w1lh hi$
II.\
&lt;r.lcnt and gave cooseru 10 the project Bui to make

a lnJnsfcr, they needed sponsorship from some
appropriau: n:itional political figure. such as a senator or
a congressional reprcscn1J11Jve but none was to be found.
The reason: Jesse Helms. So efforts by the Trust for
Public Land to help A!arlca Creek have been stalled:

The Alarb Creek issue came to a head when lhe
DEM held a public hearing on lhe ORW classification 111
the Bryson City courthouse on the evening or November
2. 1989. The district couruoom was p3Ckod. Over 250
people aucndcd the hearing, mos1 of 1hem on short
notice, because the public announccmcn1 or the mceung
h:id nol been published in the county newspaper until the
week before the hearing dale. Mosl of lhe speakers
present were from Swam County, and m~l expressed
strong opposition to an ORW classilicauon for Alnrka
Creek. Regnrdless of the ickology behind 11. local power
is a fonnidablc force and noc to be underestimated.
The proposed development on Cowee Ridge
seemed to be synonymous with economic pro~rity m
lhe mind.~ or most or those who spoke agams1 the ORW
classific:iuon. Several dccned the opinions of "oul'idc~·
from ncighbonng M:lcon and Jackson counties when they
spoke in support or prou:cuon for Alarka. "You're JUst
saying that because !'.iacon alre.ady ha.' six malls." called
a woman from !he audience at one poim.
"!l's very ironic." eommcnlCd William Mct..amcy.
"They were calling people who laved 20 miles away
'outsiders.' while a California developer who ha..,n't even
revealed his name 11nd was rcprescnicd only by 1wo
Georgi.i lawyClS is considered one of lhcir own.
"PCISOllally. I would l\OI favor any ~lution to the
ultimaic fate of the Big Laurel lh:11 would lock Swain
County people out. and a big development would do lh;al
more effoctivcly than nnything else anyone could do. The
kind or people who would frequent that place don't want
locals around Swain County rcsidcnis couldn't afford to
buy a membership. and even If they were w gc1 m !here,
they wouldn'l find whnt they were lookmg for . 1 don't
think any or lhc.&lt;;c people play golf.
"There would be short·lerm jobs building lhe
resort complex and a few permanent JObs taking care or
!he buildings and lhe grounds. Bul by all acounLs 1he
m3m access rood is more than likely going LO go down
!he Macon County side of the mounuun. Until 1t reaches
the Alarka Community. the road into Swnin Cou.nly is
cxuaort.11nari!y ~lcep. A four-wheel drive vehicle can
make ll prcuy casily...whcn lhc roat.l's dry . However, 11
would be a tremendous JOb to put a first-&lt;:lass. paved
highway in lhcn: th:11 would be comrorublc anti snfc ror
expensive car;.

·1 feel SltOngly that lhe economic benefits ror
Swain Counly are being grcally exnggemte.d. Swain
Coumy would receive an addition to their tax base and a
few minimum wage jobs, bul lhen lhey would also gel
all the run-off and all the golf course pcsuc1dcs, and lhe
county would have a 101 of add1t1onal costs for
ma.inu:nance and county service.~.
• Anolher element of irony 1s lhal dcvclopmcnlS
arc rrcqucnlly ralionnlizcd wi1h lhe argumeni lhat
property values arc going to go up (which in lhis cnse I
am sure 1s true), as if that were a good thing. For a
l'C311or or person who has a piece or property and is
interested in selling ii, a rise in property value.~ is a good
lhmg. Bui for an)•onc else who is Uying 10 hold property
or 1s m the market to buy property. a rise m costs is an
unwelcome development These people may not be able
to alTord to buy land or may lose propeny they already
own v.hen the land values go up. The grca1 majority or
people from Swnin who spoke up in favor of
development arc acwally ca.~ing themselves out the door
by calhng for big monc) IO move mto thcll'county."
The hcanng in Bryson City did not tell the whole
story. When they heard of the Alarka Creek dilemma.
other local people, largely from Jackson and Macon
coumies, responded with a massive leuer-wnting
campaign to tho DEM c;ilhng for protection or 1hc
watcr,hcd. Apparently Alarka Creek is well·known and
:ipprcc1111ed as o spccanl place by many people in its
\·icinuy.
There was also $0me reaction 10 1he strong
pressure exercised in Swam County by the Ciuzens
Aga1ns1 Wilderness group. One local woman lOOk lhc
swnd a1 the publu: hC.lling and lCMfully told the audience
to pay aucn11on 10 what they value and be cautious about
what they would lhrow away. It was obviously a great
effort of will for her to male such a swtcmcnl, and she
wns the only speaker m support of the ORW mc:isure
who received applau:;c from the crowd.
111crc were othcn; who did not dare 10 lake 1h:11
courageous suind. Wilhom Mclarney said lhat he
received phone calls after 1hc mecung from Swai n
County nntives who had attended the h.:aring, but felt too
mumidated IO publicly voice support for Alark.a Creek.
"It's a complicated issue." s:iys Mcl.amcy. "The
people of Swain County have real grievances.
parti,ulatly in rcgnrd to Fonwl\3 Lake. Unfortuna1cly,
these gricvanres arc being man1pul3tcd.
"The wider issue to 'TIC. which gives me pause
when I lhmk about it, ts whnt has the greater soc1cly
done lO the...: people 10 create the situation 1hu1 c;cpn:.. \Cd
...
1lo;elf at th;it hcunng?"
~

Or1wmg by Junca Rhc•

�The synergy that 1s created when each family member take!)
responsibility for their own well-being and suppons the
well-being of others, is another resource that serves the process
of resolution when conflict docs arise. And of course, the greater
the level of well-1&gt;¢ing in the household. the less obnoxiousness
and conflict there is!
Skillfulness/ Talking it Out
According 10 Dana and Nick, "talking it out"--and
sometimes over. under. around and through--is the main process
for conflict resolution. There are three aspects to that
communication process: lisrening, Expressing, and

The quality of family life is detennined
not by whether or not a family has conflict but
by what they do with it.

Problem-solving.
lisrening. Although the most powerful communication
skill, listening remains underused by us all. It is still much easier
to give advice, preach, argue, moralize, lecture, or change the
subject than it is to reaJly listen 10 what someone else is saying.
"We listen with our answers running," a colleague of mine said
recently. Reflective or ac1ive lis1ening, on the 01her hand. is
listening with your heart, listening for the unique essence of the
speaker's experience, and letting the other person know that they
have been heard by repeating back to 1hem their message as you
heard it.
It is particularly challenging to lis1en to another person's
point of view in the mids1 of a conflict situation; i1 is, however,
the cornerstone for resolution. Listening acknowledges and
validates (not necessarily agreeing with) the other person's
perspective and encourages important data in the conflict to
emerge.
Expressing. The other side of listerung is expression statements about perceptions, interpreta1ions, thoughts, feelings,
wams, and actions. In conflict situations, it is helpful to state
your experience in a way that gives specific information that can
be clearly understood by the other party. Such direct expressions
arc commonly called "I Statements," (as opposed to accusatory
"You Statements.")
Nick is the resident expert on "I Statements" in our house
these days. His fifth grade class is studying conflict and its
resolution in a Mediation Center program called "Fuss-Busters."
Through the guidance and modeling of a gifted and committed
teacher, the students are learning to express their anger and
frustrations in an "l feel
when, _ _ __
because
" format. The objective of the "I Statement" is
to communicate your feelings in a way that does not put down or
attack the other and engages their assistance in resolving the
conflict. Nick explains that if the other person does not respond
helpfully, then it's time to ask the teacher for help. As the year
progresses, trained student mediators m the classroom will be
available 10 help resolve those conflicts.
Dana reiterates that being assertive and letting your family
and friends le.now what you're feeling and what help you need
from them prevents conflict from building up. Communicating
immediately and specifically and in a non-blameful style opens
the door for positive resolution.
Problem-Solving &amp; Conjlicr Resolurion. Frequently, the simple
expression of feelings or needs and a chance to vent or be heard
dissolve would-be conflicts. Just as often, however, living in
these bus~, high-stress, complicated times, family members need
to put their heads together to solve problems. We've noticed that
unsolved problems become conflicts to become resolved· if
Confl~CtS arc ~Ot fCSOlved, they re-emerge, often growing in
magrutude until .a blow-up occurs, or, worse, family members
separate and distance themselves from one another in an
avoidance pattern.
.
. Consider these typical modes of responding to conflict
snuanons:
I. Competition - "I win,• J get all rrry needs !Mt; you get 110thi11g.

2. Accommodation - "You win," I give ui; you get everything.
3 Avoidance - Neithu of ws geu a.ny1hing.
4 Compromiu - EtUh of ws gi11es a /i11/e fJJld gets a li11le.
.S CollDbor(JliJ)n - "Win - Win,• we wief111t IN probum aN.i
fwJ a crtasive sollllion that sat4fies both of our Mtds.

lollnter, J 989-90

~!though each o~ these a~proaches may be appropriate at
some umc, ~oU:iborauo~ provides the m~st longlasting and
mutually sausfyang soluuons. In collaborauon. the problem is
auackcd - not the people! And what would it be like if the
problem were embraced as an opportunity to fine-tune family
functioning, rather than attacked?
In the process of collaborative connict resolution, a critical
stel? is for ~II concerned to clearly define the problem in terms of
their own interests and needs. After carefully listening to each
person verbalize their side of the conflict. then all can come to an
agreement on the definirion of the problem.
In their book Gerring To Yes. Fisher and Ury recount che.
example of t~o sisters fighting over one orange. Finally, in an
effort to be farr, they compromise and cut the orange in half. One
sister takes her half, peels the orange and cats the orange. The
other sister takes her half, throws away the fruit and uses 1he peel
to bake a cake. Clearly, a far superior solution would have
emerged had they identified what each person's interesis were.
The more accurately the problem is defined in terms of basic
interests and needs, the more easily and quickly it can be solved.

The process of creatively managing conflict, stress and
change in families is a dynamic and continuous one. The more
enriching, supportive, compassionate and fun that process is. the
less resistance we feel coward it. When conflict is approached in a
"Spirit of Possibility" toward healthy change, when individual
differences and personal well-being are protected and honored,
and when families are committed to using the skills of open
communication and problem-solving, conflict becomes a resource
for growth rather than an clement of disintegration.

Ellie Kincade 1s assisrant director of 1he Counseling Cemer ar
UNC-Aslll!ville. She is also a consulranr in t/11! Aiki approach 10
creQlive corf/lier resolutwn. conducring workshops in the fields of
edµcarion and human services.
SUGGESTED BOOKS
Ct11ing 10 Y1.s Roger Fisher and William Ury
TllL Magic ofCofl/liCI Thomas Crum
Parent E/ftctiveness Traimng Thomas Gordon
Swttl D'eamsfo' Lillie Onts: Btdlimt! Fan/IJJks
10 Build Self Estum Michael G. Pappas
RESOURCE ORGANlZATJONS

Childrcn"s Ctcativc Response to Conflict
c/o Fclbwship ofRcconcili.11.IOn
Box 271, Nyack. NY 10960 (914) 358-4601
Na-th Carolina Ccn1e1 for Peace Education
214 Piusboro Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919)929·9821
The Eanh.stcwanis Network
cto The Holycatth Foundation, PO Beu 10697
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 (206) 842-7986
The Mediation Cciucr
408 County Court House. Asheville, NC 28801
(704} 2S 1-6089
The Nauonal Association for Mediation in E.ducation
425 Amity Sueet. Amherst. MA 01002
Parents llld Teachas for Social Rcsponsib.ility
PO Box St7. MOtCIOwn, VT 05660

�From the Diary of a Modem Child
How can I find a moral sense
when falsehood lives
protcetcd in governments?
\\'hen playing false becomes the norm
kids begin 10 wonder what's the form?
Our role model&gt; have been S10len
our culture hns been stolen,
corponue bored rooms determine
our feeding, our clo1hing,
tnmsp&lt;&gt;rting, and :;chooling style
A way of gathering in council
has been stolen by govcming images
or faces we never see
Menning ha:; been

~laced

by scllini;,

polling. and man ipulaung ...
Waste bas been accelerated
a~ we consume resources
and spil out the remains
on pi lcs of rock idols.

profiteering religions.
and streams of vidio Ulpc
Is then: any way we can reclaim our live.~
from corporate and industrial wastelands
or pictures that lie,
jobs that don't work, :ind 'inter uiinment'
tha1 teaches escapism a.~ a way of life
that rcsponsibilily is boring·
doesn't move fast enough •
requires too much undeNanding ...
Who is more immature
the grown or the growing?

At times it is in·sensing 10 think and feel hov. much and
how quickly some aspects of human ~ociety are vanishing. It is
as though the forces of our ungainly comple~ evolution arc
usurping our ability to Ulke the time 10 recognize 1he v.onder and

POCKET CULTURES
by Wtll Ashe Bason

When we look seven generations away we first sec ourselves
and our children and then the grandchildren that are on tne Way.
This is where our impact on the future is. I low arc we raising
ourselves and our children and prepanng for our children's children
Now? How can we restructure our lives so as to bener nunure
ourselve:. and our children and our children's children? What sort
of environmcm is best for growing whole and healthy humans?
How do we bring this environmem into reJlilV in Katuah?
Many of us "grew up" in the false commumries of modem
amcrican cities or suburbs. These were and arc cnvironmenL&lt;; which
foster alienation. Almost everywhere is owned hy someone. People
are "at home" only at home! lllc streets arc the only common
ground around, and they belong 10 cars. There 1s relatively dense
population without the community spin1 which would make such
density bearable or even pleasurable. In reaction against this, some
of us have chosen to live in rurul areas. We have tned to isolate
and insulate ourselves from the dominant culture. Our children
don't really underswnd this but they do understand that they want
to be able 10 sec their friends more often then they do now, living at
lhe end of funky driveways at 1hc end of long din roads. Fulfilling
this need usually means school and spons and other activities
which are driving us to drive. But the driving is not the worst of it,
How can we build a new society, one without the faial dis eases of
the old, if we send our children during their fol'TTl.llive yC41l'S to
institutions whose very nature fosters competition, where
s:icredness of place and being arc not even on the graph. Modem
)C"I

uon Jo~r~

pn9~ 24

necessity of simple enduring cultural bonds. Child "forwaroing"
in the context of a dominating culture, or absence of culture, can
be a very unsettling, frustrating, and paradoxical experience. Do
we re-invent human cullurc again to satisfy the need to bring
rights and meaning through the symbols we put into practice? Do
we attempt some kind of symbiosis with a decaying power
structure that needs a dose of creative innovation? Or do we just
open the floodgates and let the grimy warer of predigested images
and infonnation come into our senses without any sense of
becoming in-sensed?
The ad-age of images and sounds coming across screens
and speakers 10 thousands of people each day may seem "cool"
and scintilating but what arc their effects on the long-range
accretion of mind, feeling, and decision for a child? Is it possible
10 create a suppon network that promotes family healing in the
face of squashing pressures from a society that apparently
doesn't represent or value many of the vital aspecb of its own
being? Some of these impon-ances are sustainability, care for
those less privileged. more extensive ecological well being,
relevant work. a sense of the biological region we inhabit as
home, and a healthy supponive extended family.
What is the c:ltect of poverty on families m the Katuah
region (and not just for us SCRUFFIES or Smanemng
C:1retakers, Rurally Urbane, Fueled For Impoverished Ecological
Survival)? What is the real effect of turbulence in 'broken
homes' and 'instant familes' full of conflicting and compromising
inrerests between close relatives and step-relatives on the gcner.il
patterns of society?
Perhaps 1hese questions arc 100 deep, yet these are the
kinds of far-reaching ques1ions often coming to awareness these
days. A major difficulty in trying 10 summon the context in
which our vitals can flourish, wilhou1 being continually
smothered in stress, manifests in the allure of electTOnic media,
and its exrensive computer manipulation of visual and acoustic
"space" that we all share. As this auruo/video gaming sucks in
more and more attention it is essential io realize that it is not a
clear expression of the whole mind of our species. The complex
whole fields of human life encompass far more than movies.
sit·coms, ads. and canoons could ever fuUillingly u:mslate.
Commercial media is IJ'Uely an aucmpt by the few to dominate or
falsify for the many. The right of choice in the means and content
of any particular kind of media hypnotism should be considered~
primarv to essential responsible hum:in freedom .
~•
Corporeally. Rob Messick

American public schools are lhe melting po1 lef1 on 100 long to boil.
They arc tee vec reali1y. At their best. they are only capabk of
teaching the parts. Meaning lcs&gt; lhL~ of wurds and dead f~g.
organ:.. Our children only choose them because we haven t given
them an alternative. We have presumed and pretended that
providing an ahemative to school was mostly a mauer of legality
and academics. In fact tt means providing a commun11y in which
children can find friends as well as intellectual stimulation and
emotional security.
11 is no1 enough 10 m~ulute ourselves from the dominant
culture. We have 10 create new culture. Not another candidate for
dominam culture. but hundreds and thousands of pocket cultures.
Pocket cultures that anfully represent unique hum:in ad:ipiarion to
unique and sacred places. Cultures m harmony with their
environments and thus in harmony with each other. A iangihle
culture of l'C.'.11 relationships between people and animals and plants
and water and din and stone and architecture and real stuff hke that
there and not a culture of tapes and magazme.~ and books and
workshops and videos and seminars and full-Oedge~·n8J'$. etc. The
culrurc that we have built m each other's heads is beautiful and true
and meaningless unless it leads to way of life, which it will.
The world is changing rapidly. Humans arc very. very
numerous and on the move almost everywhere. Everyday we hear
about more refugees and more homeless people. Earth's cities are
overcrowded and choking on their own waste. It is a world of
villages that will emerge from this nigh1marc. A world in which
people once again know their neighbors.!'- ~orld ~ sobered by the
environmental con sequences of our unthmking acuons. that respect
for and worship of nature will once again be no1 the dommant bu1
lhe only religion.
(c:on11nucd on ncxc P•&amp;•)
kllnter, l 989 - 90

�I know lll3Jly people of good ecological conscience who have
bought land and wish 10 have a comm~nir_y. yet insist on living
miles from each other. If a person ts wishing to move 10 one of
these communities. about the fauxcs1 pas one could make would be
t0 pick a house s!~t I~ near 10 a!1 ~i~ting home, ~nd 100 near
usually means vmhin sight of. This 1ns1s1ence on d1s1a~ce seems .
downright unfriendly when J_udged by '!ie Cherokee. T1beun. Thai.
Dogon, Greek. Zulu, or Zuni (to name 1us1 a very few) standards.
There is a very good book called A Pmtern Language by
Christopher Alexander and some ~f his friends: and this l?ook i~
very highly respected among arch11ecrs and designers for its radical
and coherent approach to archi1cc1ural planning. There is a paucrn
called "connected play space"' and the book goes on to cite
information to the effect that there is a direct corm;pondencc
between neurosis and the number of friends that a child has
growing up. Alexander and company used some statistics on family
size and average 11ges of children and came up with the figure of 64
families as the number needed 10 insure that all children would have
a good chance to find friends. They suggest that what children need
is a community of this size in which each home borders on a
continuous play area. In such a place, children would do much of
the work we now call childcare. This is a much more time-honored
and natural arrangement than the pauems we sec non-functioning
around us at present. Children learn responsibility in taking care of
other children. They also generally have a whole 101 more fun

tllnte.r, 1989-90

hanging ar&amp;ind with other kids. Saner and happier kids could help
spread these virtues 10 the older folks.
Adolescents have a compelling need to be around their own
kind, which suits the rest of us just fine. This is sure easier 10 bring
about in a small community than in isolated fanns1eads. Young
people have a terrible SIJ'Uggle just trying to exist economically
IOday. In villages and small communities young people can get
good jobs and sec their friends regularly without the expense of a
car. The ttansition from child 10 adult can be more gradual and
na1ur.t.l 1han the current IJ"Cnd which is usually to move away from
parents and friends who can function as a suppon group. Perhaps a
101 of suicide and depression is related to fear.; of nor being able 10
"make it on one's own'.' In a village or small community \\C: make
it on our own 1oge1her, a much more reasswing and slllblc
arrangemem.
Perhaps future generations will look back at the dominant
culture's concept of land ownership with the same horror with
which we now view slavery. Up until fairly recently most of the
\\Orld's people lived an agricultural village communities in which
some or all of the land was owned or used in common. This
common usage certainly more clearly reflects the basic biological
reality of 1he planer we share. Children growing where some of the
land is ~hared have a bener chance of learning ro see land as an
en111y in it's own right.

�Dear KatUah,

Another excclltnt issue (Fall, 1989) ·But I mu't Like exception with
lhc statement m Pnmck Clark's otherwise Cine arucle on the Eastern
cougar/panther/paint.er. He wn1es: •Although it seems fitting and right for
panthers tO be inh:lbiung the southern mountains. not one official sighting
has been made. Until lhcn, panther ad"ocat~ have no basis for demanding
protection for cougar habita1.0 (p.18)
Wrong. The burden or proof is on the government to "prove" !here nr.:
no pamhcrs. Until then. we must err on the side or lhc cml:ingcrcd cnt1er :llld
manage as though lhcrc arc cougnrs.
Curr.mil)· wildlife managers go by the dictum, •Extine! until proven
ext.anL • We must rever&lt;;e this: "Extant until pro"cn e~tincL • 01hcrwise,
unscrupulous and/or incompetent managers c:in ignore even the best
sightings. awruung the day someone brings in a cougar carcass to prove ther~
1ll'C (oops, wue) cougan here.
No compromise,
Jwmc Saycn
Prt.ltnJt Appoluchian IVildl!l'MSS

DRUMMING
LETTERS TO KATUAH

Yts, wt agru. f hanks. Jamie. ·eds.

Dear Kaui3h.
At first. thank you for sending me a copy of the Katlinh Journal and
the U.N. Charter for Na1Urc.
I agree wilh your "StatemenL or Purpose·'. I enjoyed about all lh.:
Joumal's articles, you're really on the right way; I wish every 81oregions

should have a journal like yours.
Herc in ltaly, the BiOregional Movement is ju.st starting. That's fine.
but I lhink. they're sull a bit humon-ccnu:rcd.
I. as member of lhe Italian Wilderness Association's D1rec11ve
Council. am trying hard to spread an ccoccnuic awarcncSl; among i~
members..
O.K. Happy llllils tO all of you.
Cioo,
Morcul Giuseppe
Mantova, Italy

Dear Folks,

Congratulations on your grc:it "For All Things Wild issue!
I, IOO. am deeply concerned nboul the "Norlh Carolina road binge."
The same insanity grips Virginlll. We need 10 form a coohuon ag:Unst the
most environment.ally dcslIUCtivc clement in technology. (I wrote an article
about it in lhc earth First' Jow-nal, Vol. IX, No. II. 1988).
The on-going and looming cnv1ronmcnuil destruction is truly
pl:inct-shalung and i~ the mojor clement in lhc "grccnhot1~ effect" when the
infrastructure is considered
Unfortunately there seems to be a strong block, e"cn among
cnvironmcntahSlS, r.t. the automobile. We need t0 overcome lhis nnd tach
individual mu.it act to reduce dependence drastically
Tunnies ngoin for a great issue.
Enrlh Firstl
Bob Mueller

Dear Kaltiah,

I have enclosed several pamphlets explaining lhc Na11onal Peace T3X
Fund Bill. This bill 1s designed to allow !hose persons consc1cn1iou.~ly
opposed IO war IO have thc military ponion Of their taxes dirccled toward
peace rclaled proJCCl.S. Over onc-lhird of our 1ru1 dollars arc going for current
military expenses, 10 say nothing or lhe add1tionnJ 19% t0 take Ct11e of past
military expenses.
Fof mon: inform:iuon aboul lhc Peace Tax Fund Bill, please write io:
National Campaign for 11 Peace Tax Fund
2121 Decatur Pt. NW
Wa-.hington. DC 20008
(202) 483-3751
Mrs. llarold Sir.Idler
Dear Ka.Wah People.
I think you JUSt keep geuing better and bcuer! Congrntula11on~ on
puumg t.ogethcr an cons-1stently fine JOUmal.
But I'm upset! I can't believe Kataah of all plaec.,. lhousht 11 wns ok
to pnnt a want ad for "Christions Only." J really gOt goosct&gt;umps when I '1111\
that ad. I wonder why none among you removed 1t from pnnt Did you think
it would offend no one? (Why?)
l~s so out or your charnctcr 10 print something discnmin:itmg "'h1ch
could only be painful to members of our emerging community I'm sure you
won't do u ngain. bu1 I want to let you know how I feel.
Sincerely.

Randee Brenner GoodslJl&lt;h
Thanh for )'011.r kind words for 1~ Kaulah Journal. l\'t fttl that
inc/1Uw11 of 1~ ad is not 11uusarily n11.1 of choracta for ·1\'eb,.·orl11111"
which fr 111tt.ntkd to h('/p connect people cf t~ rtgwn with rach mhu. Thll.S
ii rtfkcu the divusity ofpeople and 111tuc1.11111~ rtgio11.
To i11dicatt that a f1U1ctio11 is "for chrwians 011/y" dot.&lt; not
necessarily co1Utit11.1t discrimlflaJiDn. bw rather Is 1ntt!ndtd to connut
"'.t:mbus cf a s~cijic interest group. • tds

JC.a• ah Journm ptu)e 26

l.ltnlcr, 1989-90

�Hau Kauiah,
I am wriung lh1s lcllcr to you m reference to our ncwslcucr called
'echoes of lhc drum'.

I am interested m pulling 11 m the wcbworkmg section of lhc Katllah
Journal. Bui I wlll explain a liulc about ii before I go any further.
'echoes of lhc drum' 1s no1 your onlinnry ncwslcucr. It is not hke the
of the ocwslcucr~ that only put news in 11. The news thnt we put in the
newsleucr revolves around und1tional teaching or the Ntui\'C American
Indians and lho1r Sacred Red Road. h eamo 11bou1 as a need to be able to get
1r.1du1onal tcachmgs m10 the iron houses (prisons) throughout Tunic hlJlnd.
rcs1

I was a member of the Thunderbml Pmon Alliance. but when I saw
that their goal was ne&gt;I to tench but to become an acthl't sort of group. I
separated myself from thc organi1.a1ion. And followed the mcditmc teaching
thu1 I was brought up in. As a Lakot.a and descendent of several medicine
icachers and trad1uon;ll leaders of my people, I left the radical a' u vi st ways
behind and chose 10 seek a more aauvc involvement in gcmng the trnduional
tcoch1ngs ms1dc the 1ronhouscs. And since money wns a big factor 111 not
being able to buy books frQm publishers. I &lt;;ought a \•isie&gt;n "hlte I was
inside lhc solitary confinement MX"llon of the Staunton Corrccuonal Center.
As I fasted and prayed to Wnkan Tan~a. the vision came 10 me. And m the
vision l saw the Ancestors calling out 10 me 10 tca.:h the teachings of all
indigenous tribes. and not just only the Lakota way,. Because 111-.dc the iron
houses there were more than JUSt Lakol&lt;ls and behind the iron doors. The
vision told me 10 remember bad. to when the drums sounded out with
messages 10 the different villages. To become one with th•· 'ound of lhosc
drums. And Ihm was the bcgmmng of the' ision or which I now follow. And
1hal 1s where the ncwslcucr got 1lS name from. II h called 'cch&lt;X!s of 1hc
drums'.
The hardcM pan afterwards wa.~ to spc.ik to the Eld.: rs and TClKhcrs of
the different tribes, to help me in this end&lt;'.a,·or. And they saw the sUlt'Cfll)' in
whal I wa.~ doing. And th.:y have all come 1ogcth.:r and pro' id~ me 11. ith
teachings I will cnclo'e a copy of the ncw,lcuer. The next part was 10
resolve the issue or nm to wruc each and every warden of the different iron
houses 1hroughout Turtle hland. So I went to the Lihrary of Congress m
request for an I S S.N permit. And u 11.as granted. and therefore clc;mng
another step m getung the teachings inside the iron houses by way or a
ncwslcucr
And from the initial 75 ncwslcncrs that were sent lo 1hc guys and
women 1hroughou1 Turtle hl:md, the ncwskncr has grown to a ma1l111g l"t
of over four-hundred and flfiy now. And 1hc 1mponan1 thing 1s thal 1hc
ocw~lc11er 1s free or chargc. This is in ;icc;ordancc wnh the traditional 1c:11;hcrs
that I have gi,cn my word to, that I would m no way ~II what 1~ given to us
by th.: Grl'lll Sp1nt. And therefore I have done so. And II will be the pohr~
thal th.: newsleucr will never be sold, nor will then&gt; Ile a -.uhscripuon r.i1e ror
ll.

The one message " 1hu1 the ncwslcuer is nQI onl) for 1nmale&lt;. bu1
for ull who wisll to lcum from the teaching th:u arc in the newsletter&gt;,
We don't a.sk for any donation for the ocw~lcncr. we asi.. that 1f
anyone wishes IO receive the ncwslcuer, tha1 lhcy help with the postage of it
We give to all that Wl.'h 11, whether they can aHorJ to send postage or not. It
will not be denied to anyone that wants 11. And our mo1lm1t hst 1s growing
daily. So 1f an)·onc who wishes to rccc1\'C it. they c311 do so by writing the
following people and they will be pul on the mailing li\t.
I.) Thundcrhawk, 157372, Editor
Rt.2Box Ill BIWld, VA 24315-9616
2.) Moonyccn Scay, Publi:&gt;hcr
P.0 Box 860; Vcron;i, VA 2441!2
3.) Zandc Griffith, AsM. Editor, 'echoe.~ of the drum'
R.R. 1; Box 11 l·B: Pamphn. VA 23951!
From v. hat I ha\'c 11. riucn you may lake anylhmg oul of 11 and put 11
the Wcbworkmg scc1ion. Or 1f you choose 10, you may me and wnt.:
nhou11hc ncwslcucr once you have read 11. I will do~e thi' lcuc-r for now.
lllld m clo~1ng I Jlf8Y that th.: Four Wm&lt;;h do grant you the People of Kat~1
Jllany of beautiful 'iOngs of joy. \\'akan Tanl;a ntCI un wclo.

I rClld your wonderful papcr and was cxcucd by it. You arc really
doing a grea1 thing by pubhshmg the kind~ of things you prin1. One
cmicbm: 11.hy nOI prim on recycled p:ipcr'!
Sintetcly,
Lonna Richmond
Kno~villc, Tcnncs.~

Good question! Ont wt've often cn11sidertd. With all our local
pruittr.&lt;, rtcycltd paper would nu:an tlrat 1&lt;-e would havt to bu}' o full roll of
rtcyclt:d new.&lt;print UI an enormous prirt wt cll!lnot anywhere near afford.
Rccytlahlc f'&lt;ll'e.T u tht be.ft wt con dQ riRht now. ·eds.

Dl:ar KatU.lh,

I just had 10 write and express appreciation for your summer '89
issue. It 1s a very thorough message mspinng all who read 11: to act rather
than to ri:act. JOin wilh others for peace, listen mlhcr th.an shove. Welcome
messages to a world or people rc.idy to run if we ,,lightly scno;c a hmt of
bcm!l pushed. And lhcn ...as I looked for your address I saw a book review on
/hr Chaliu arid Tiit Bladt--an incredible book I'm currently rtadmg Some
things ju,1 fall in place, don'1 they!
My heartfelt th:inks,
Brcc1.e Bum.\
Quincy, Florida

in

Visual comments on tefc~·ision by Thom Preston (left)
and Rob Messick (above).

Muakyc Cya.,m.
Thunikrhawk
1t K.Ul®n • 1.1 nDI paqd 27
;r.
''
Jour r '~
ft

�New ELF In Town
For six years Franklin and Susan Sides
have been head gardeners at the Mother Eanh
News demonstration gardens in Hendersonville
in the upper reaches of the French Broad River.
Now they have taken the first steps to distill their
collective experience into a self-published
newsletter that, in their words, "chases the soul
of gardening."
Rather than emphasizing the "how-to"
aspects of gardening, their small publication will
concern itself more with the delights and fears,
the successes and mistakes, the small revelations
and moments of humor that gardening brings.
The Sides are asking for help for their
infant publication. Quotes, shon articles, humor,
poems, prayers, leuers, diaries are all eagerly
solicited.
And, of course, chan er subscribers are
also welcomed. The first issue of this infant
publication is scheduled for March, 1990.
To contact Franklin and Susan Sides with
submissions or inquiries, write them at: Rt. I ,
Box 57; Fairview, NC 28730.

continued from p. 14

The increasingly critical planetary
environmental situation has led many activists,
both young and old, to the conclusion that polite
protestations are not enough ro solve our present
ills and that means of direct action arc necessary
to save life on Earth in all its many
manifestations.
This holds true for the Ka1uah Province as
well. A core group of fifty activists has fonned a
Southern Appalachian chapter of Earth First!, a
continental group known for its srrong stands
and creative actions on behalf of the planet and
all its species. The local chapter has taken the
name Earth Liberation Front (ELF).
The new group is action-oriented. At its
first meeting the chapter decided to make its
initial focus the controversy over cleareutting in
the watershed from which the city of Asheville
draws its drinking water and took 11 field trip out
to the area the following week.
"This is only a beginning," said one
activist, identified only as Roadkill, "The
natfonal forests are being decimated by roading
and habitat destruction, and rampaging
development is taking over more and more
available habitat area. Our goals are to bring an
awareness of the ecological law of 'carrying
capacity' to the human population he~ and to
restore wild habitat hy creating a large biosphere
preserve in the Southern Appalachians that
would be linked by connecting corridors to other
preserve areas up and down the whole
Appalachian Range "
To jom ELF in its effons as pan of Eanh
Fu-st! or for more information ahout the group,
write them at Box 17 I: Alexander. l\C; Katuah
Province 28701.

'-''=

'I $
~~ BARE

.~

..=.,.;

11'

:J

ESSENTIALS

Natural Foods

.~

..
Wine Making

The Spirit of the Wild
James Rhea's artwork that was the logo
for the "Restoring Biodiversity in the Southern
Appalachians" conference and the cover of Issue
25 of the K011iali Jmmw/. is now available to ;ill
as conference posters and T-Shins.
The poster. are beautiful. four·color 11" x
17'' renditions of the native species portrJll with
conference information below and are available
for $2.00.
The T-shins arc heavy-duty, all-cotton.
silkscreencd by Ridgerunner Naturals. Only
large and extra-large sizes remain. They are
available for$ l 0.50.
Prices include postage. NC residents
please add 5% sales tax.
All proceeds from the sale of these items
will support rescue actions for native habitat in
the Southern Appalachian forest.
Order fmm· KALANU
Box 282; Sylva, 1\C
Katuah Province 28789

•: Bulk Herbs, Spices, &amp; Grmns
Vicamins &amp; Supplcmcnrs
Wheat, Salt,
&amp; Yeast-Free Foods
Dairy Substitutes
•• Hair &amp; Skin Care Produus

•
I11 200 west Kini! Street. Boone NC 28607
.. \....

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111

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704-264-5220

~·

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1

124 broadway
ashevJlc. nc
28801

]04-252-8..(04

carolina costume
compa11y

Katuah: Approval - giving 100% approval so
there's no failing involved - that's what's
lacking in our schools and why there's so
much fear. It's incredible when you see how
receptjve kids are to approval • 'cause Lhey
have so much to give.
Bonnie: It's attitudes. As the teacher walks
through that door - how the children respond
as a group is directly related to her attitude.
Directly. I've seen it so many times that l feel
it's an absolute truth. If the teacher is
affirmative and listens to the children and
inspires creativity then the children are eager
to learn.
Teachers all have to take psychology but if it's
not their interest they may nor use it. But
everybody's interested in what's fun and
funny. They say people learn 80% mo~e
effectively when they're laughing! Ev~~ tf
you're not using puppets you l'lln be pos111ve
and have joy in th.: classroom more often than
not.
Katuah: Could you say what you love most
about your work?
Ilonnie: h 's fun' I have a great time. ll's
definitely not something I cho:,;e - the puppet:;
chose me.
/

~

Beer &amp;
Supplies

you could get literature in there, 100. But
there's so much specializing in schools that
you don't get to put things together. And
puppetry puts it together.
I'd like to see the&lt;ltre become a standard pan of
elementary education ... for teachers to have to
take puppetry in order to be educators. I've
created workshops where I teach teachers how
to use puppets in the classroom and Textend
that to counselors and therapists ... anybody
who works with people. I'd like to get rid of
some of the rules and standards and replace
them with imaginative, affirmative attitudes
and teaching methods... then you're right on
the crux of the whole problem in the
institution.

801111ie Blue ca11 he camacted a1
PO Bo.\ lo57.
Asltcville. NC 28802 (7()./) 6./5-9918.

l\10LNTAIN ARTS PROGRAM
C'rc.1w.I 1n I IJ1!3, lh~ Mouniam Mts Progr-dm
(\!AP) ha." 'J'O!Nm.'d hundred' of ani,t·m rc,11kncc
rrogram&lt; for sd1ool • in wc,tcm 1'C. \' isu;il anisl&lt; .
dr~mall\IS, Jugi:lcr'. clo" ns, rn1111~'· mu,1cians,
crafl&lt;Jl&lt;.'Of&gt;l.: and wr111 ""orl. in &gt;ehool\ r11r a wc.:I••11
;i umc, 1yricall&gt; '11&lt;.·nJmg al kasl l\\O week' In a
rnun1v. Rcs1Jcnc1c' i:"c -iudcms an opponuniL}' 10
r:it1ic,1patc m tfifktcnl an forms With \\Or~ing
profc""onJh who ha'c ll tugh lc,cl of energy :inJ
,111hu,,..1.,m for their a.t. An) one intcrcslCJ m ha•mg
.1n ar11s1 1n their .s&lt;. hoot may coma&lt; I a "chool
.1dm1ni,1talor :ind rcq11~,I a 'l.tAP rrogr.un C'urrcntl)·
\IAP 1s .;cr,·mg 14 coun11c' with 27 .ir1""· An"tlrom ;ill d1sc1pllnc\ arc cnrnuragcd 10 a[&gt;f&gt;I). For
inronnouon or to reqllr\l llll ap1•ha111.. n, ""tc \11\P.
no, 11611. Bumw1lk:, ;-;c 21!71.!, (7(&gt;1) f.8~·721'

t.&gt;rntlr . t 989-90

�FOREST RESCUE IN THE KAT UAH PROVINCE

(An Ecological Manifesto for the Southern Appalachian
Bioregion)
These are program ideas drawn from the discussion at the
forest rescue action workshop. "For All Things Wild," held on
Saturday, OcLOber 28 at Warren Wilson College. The workshop
was held on the day following the conference "Restoring
Biodiversily in the Southern Appalachians: A Strategy for
SwvivaJ" and drew heavily on the ideas and analysis presented at
the conference.

All human use wirhin the biosphere preserve area must
conform to the demands of old-growth habita1 10 maintain ample
numbers of all native species. A grassroots initiative will be
needed to bring this issue before the federal Congress.
2) There can be no funher road construction within the
regional biosphere preserve, and we must begin clo~ing exi~ting
roads that in1erferc with the needs of old-growth habuat species.

The context for these proposals is the Preserve
Appalachian Wilderness proposal envisioned by Jamie Sayco of
New Hampshire. Put simply, the PAW proposal calls for a
system of large evolutionary or biosphere preserve areas along
the AppaJachian Mountain Range connected by wide mignuion
corridors to enable the movement of individual species and
genetic information up and down the length of the mountain
range. The preserves would maimain a variety of viable habitat
areas and characteristic ecosystems in protected landscapes large
enough to suppon the largest native carnivorous predators and
diverse enough to maintain all representative native species. (For
a more detailed explanation of the PAW proposal, see Ka11iah
Jour1111/, Issue 20.)
The "Restoring Biodiversity in the Southern Appalachians"
conference clearly demonslTated the necessity for profound and
immediate change. The Appalachian hardwood forest is being
severely compromised by human activities It may soon be unable
to fulfill its integral role in local and planetary life support. We
arc already in a crisis situation, and we need to think .and act
boldly to meet the ecological demands of our time. The current
political and social realities are self-serving and irrelevant due 10 a
distorted world-view which values the continued dominance of
Lhe human species al any cost. To conform to these present
realilies would only lead us further along a suicidal course. A
bold new vision based on ecological reality is required instead.
To correct the imbalance beLWeen the human inhabitants of
these mountains and our natural habitat, and to preserve the
original inhabitants - the native species - we must act. These arc
necessary first steps toward ecological sanity in the Katuah
Province:
l} A// the 3.5 million acres of public lands in the Southern
Appalachian Mountains shall be mandated to be a regional
biosphere reserve. AU inholdings need to be incorporated a~d the
national forests shall be extended to the purchase boundanes to
complete the biosphere preserve area.

'lljaee, '1\!tllngl 'Na@raj,s
T-S HIRTS. SWEATSHIRTS
For ADULTS and CHILDREN

ORIGINAL HAND·PRINTED
NATURE DESIGNS

3) Commercial logging in the biosphere reserve area must
cease. This would not be an undue economic hardship for the
region, as only 10% of the wood cut in the Southern Appalachian
region comes from the areas presently in national forest.
Compared 10 the ecological and social value of a large preserve
area, the dollar value of logging in the national forests is
inconsequential!
4) The Southern Appalachian Biosphere Preserve must be
connected to other natural areas. To this end:
- create a wide, viable wildlife corridor between the
Cherokee National Fores1 in Tennessee and the Jefferson
National Fores1 in Virginia
- re-define all major waterways as aquatic habimt corridors
from the mountains to the sea
- and create a corridor connection between the Southem
Appalachian bioregion and the Florida Peninsula biorcgion.

5) Bring human population lo a level within the ecological
carrying capacity of the bioregion - a size which does not
interfere wi1h the integrity or functions of the natural life
community in the Southern Appalachians.
,
Rather than promote accelerated growth, we must work to
decrease human numbers and impact to bring our species to its
proper level of influence within the region.

6) T ake a leading role in efforts to end atmospheric
deposition/air pollurion that is destroying the Southern
Appalachian forest and contributing to global warming.
7) Change our individual and social consciousness and
lifestyles to harmonize more closely with the natural conditions:#
the Southern Appalachian bioregion.

p

..
- David Wheeler

t!lti11ue At11p1111t/11re
all

Jler/J111D111 t!li11it

CALL or WRITE for
FREE COLOR CATALOG

DE..5 1GNS
by Rob \lessic.k
Jllus1ra11011 &amp; Design
in Pen &amp; Ink and Colored Pencil

Natural Food Store
&amp; Dell
160 Broedw9y
Ashevllle, NC 28801

Wher9 Broedw9y ~
Mmmnon Ave &amp; ~40

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
Mond.)'·S.un:lay: lllim-8pm

Sund.y; f ptn-Spm
(704) 253-7656

Wl.ntcr, 1989- 90

~t.Uah )ournGt P'"Je 29

�RECYCLED PAPER! - Directory of products
sources for the sou~ Suggcsacd donation S 1.00
ao Western Norah Carolina Alliance, PO Box
18087. Asheville. NC 28814 (7~) 258-8737.
HOMESCHOOLING FAMILIES gaaher on a
weekly basis. weather permitting, at Lake Louise in
Weaverville, NC on Wednesdays from 11:30 am
until 1:30 • 2:30 pm. We arc a small group, very
mfonnal, and open to anyone who wanas to join us
to exchange energy, infonnauon, ideas. and
playume. For more information, call Alice
Coblcnu (7()4) 6S8-2676.

BIODYNAMICALLY GROWN Com seed.
Mini-pops to giant fillers. Varieue.~ for no-aill
wilhoua hclbicidcs • and fOf compos1 ralher lhan salt
rcnilization. For caaalog please send SASE 10 •
Union Agriculwral lnstituae, Ra. 4 Box 463S,
Blairsville. GA 30512.

MOUNTAIN DULCIMERS • m3de of black
walnua, red cherry. or maple. Tops available in
wormy chestnut. buuemut, swcctgum, o;o~fras.
western cedar, and other woods. ConlllCt: Mize
Dulcimer Company; RL 2. Box 288; Blounaville,
37617 (615) 323-8489.

GREENING CARDS· concspondencc and advocacy
cards for people who care. Onginal an reproduced m
color. (10% of proc;ccds don&lt;lled ao proJCCLS ror peaoc
and jus11ce.) Wriae to Ginny Lentz. LovEanh

™

SEA KAYAKfNG ·Come enjoy peace and solitude
llllvehng wiah lhe rhylhms or lhe sea. Classes. day
trips, overnight aours, cusaom charters.
Kayal;/Sallboat tours 10 lhe Bllhamas. Knyak tours
to Cosaa Rica. For more informntion contaca:
Charlie Reeve:;; Sea Level Inc.: POB 478; Tybee
Island, GA 31328 (912)786-S8S3

Creations: Box 144S: Black MounaaJn, NC 28711.
MOON DANCE FARM HERBALS· habaJ salves,
tincaures. &amp;: ojls for birthing cl family health. For
brochure, please wriac: Moon Dance Fann: RL I,
Bolt 726: Hampton.
37658.

™

SCffiNCE TEACHER, ecologically aware, dcsm:s
land in KatUah, preferably E. Tenn. or W. North
Carolina for evenaual il\Mbiaauon. Mu.~1 lie well
w/ road fronaage. Conaaca: B. Bicmullcr: Soulh
Brunswick H.S.: Mammoch JcL, NJ 08852.
AUTHOR SEEKING RECIPES for wild fOOds
10 comribuaors JR book
upon publication. Recipes needed for fi'lh. game,
wild plants. Thomas K. Squier, N.D.: Ra. I, Box
216; Abcrdc&lt;:n NC 28315.
cookbook. Will give c.rcdia

CONSCIOUS COUPLE &amp; infana, wish 10
learn/wort on organic farm for housing + slipcnd
OR carelake a residence on acreage. Very comm1aed
and sincere. Wana to leave ahc cuy and profcss10ns
to work IOW8rd scU sufficiency. Can rcloc:ue Cllrly
June '90. Open to Options. Please Con13c:1; Dan &amp;
Barb Umbcrget: 347 Sinclair Ave. N.E.; Allanm.
GA 30307. (404) S21-2971
SKYLAND • log on to the computer bulletin board
or the Smokies. Networking. plus new~ on the
environment. natwc photography. giuncs. compuaer
utilities, much more. Conaiiet Michael Havelin.
sysop, (704) 254-7800.
NATIJRAL CHILDBIRTH CLASES 'PCCiali1mg
In Lile Bradley Method. Classes arc small and
include nutrition physiology. consumerism.
parenting skills, and rclaxaaion and labor SUJll'O'I
techniques. For more informaaiOn call or write
Maggie Sachs; 808 Florida Ave.: Bri~tol, TN
37620. (61S) ?M-2374.
"THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT" • a complete
report on our changing cmironmcna for lhc ncxa 60
years. $17.00 po~tpaid, or write for more
information. Lorien House; POB 1112; Blac~
Mountain, NC 28711-1112.

•

PURE SORGHUM - and sorghum based dcsscr~
toppings and chocolates. Handmade m the
Appalachian (OOthiUs. Free sorghum recipe bto.:hure
send SASE. Candy sampler (2-KY Buckeye~ &amp;
2-Bourbon Balls) S2.00 J&gt;Cl'\lpaid. Golden Kcntuc:ky
Products; POB 246: livmgslOO, KY 40445. (606)
453-9800.
X.Oti&amp;ah Jo\4rno! p"'Jl' 30

WANTED: HOUSE TO RENT. Profo..
"S1onal ccllha
and arust with one child are IOOking for a country
house. m lhC SUITOUn&lt;ling A1.hev1llc, NC area from
June I, 1990. Please conuact Ron &amp; Rachel
ClearfielJ: 7800 Colhn.~ Avenue; Miami Beach Fl..
33141 (305) 86S-048 I.
CIRCLES RETURNING • a new cassette by Bob

Avery•Grul&gt;cl' This JS music 10 touch lhc soul and
heal ahe heart. Lynes included. To order send SIO
per casscuc to: Bob Avcry·Grubcl; Rt l Box 735:
Floyd, VA 2400 I
St..~FOODS • fresh. hand-made herbal skin

prepwaaions at '="able onces. Send for price list~
106 E. Ma111 SL. Johnson City. TN 37601
REMEDY FOR rnE COMMON COLD?· I've
found one; it\ natural and 11 works Send S3 and
your SASE to: Heaven on Enrah; 482 Whue Oal.
Cle Rd.; Burnsvlllc, NC 28714.
RENEWAL PROGRAMS· I prov1Jc mdiv1dual and
corporate renewal programs for bus1ncsse~ &amp;
organi1.ations interested m hcahng thcmsclvc~ and
providing cmpowcrmcna 10 oth.:~. Wrote· Kalh1c
Pieper c/o Pieper A~~oc1ntcs: Ra I, Box 238:
Waync.~v1llc, NC 28786.
CREATION SOAP- lund·crnfacd herbal soaps from
the Blue Ridge Mounwn.~. Rose and bvcndet soaps,
mo1&gt;1uri1.mg bar, slumpoo/cond1t1oncr bar. Contnet
Anna: RL I, Box 278; Blowmg RoU, NC 28605
(7™) 262-2321.
YOGA FOR ALL AGES- Ongoint; cla.&lt;;:;C.S m the
Asheville lllC;l, workshops for group~. aml rnvaac
sessions. Give your..clr the s1fa or wellness and
peace. For more 1nfonna11on .:all Bo~ Kelly
(704) 2.S4-8698.

ORGANIC HONEY· Tulip Poplar, Sourwood,and
Wildnowet. From Patrick Counay, Virginia. No
chemicals. no white sugar, no hC11t, ever. Strained
through cheesecloth and packed JR heavy glass
canning J31'S. For a 4-oz. sample of our premium
sourwood and our catalog, send S4 10: Wade
Buckholas &amp; Megan Phillips; Route 2. Box 248:
Stuart, VA 2A 171. (703) 694-4571
STIL-LIGHT THEOSOPHICAL RETR EAT
CENTER • a quiet sp3Ce for personal mediaalion,
group inaerneaion through study, and community
won:. and ~p1titual '1Cm1rnir;. Conmca Leon Frankel;
RL I, Box 326; Waynesville, NC 287116.
MOCCASINS, bnndcruftcd of elkhide in ahc
trlld1lionnl Plains Indian style. W:ucr rc,~iswna,
resoluble, and rugged • gtC&lt;lt for hiking! Children's
and infana sizes available. \'/rue: Blue Feather
Mocca~ms: Box 931: Asheville. NC 28802, or call
Pollick Clark Bl (7~) 2S3-5&lt;};7.
NATURE LOVERS' COMMUNITY • Chrisainns
only. S1000 gives you hfctimc owncl'&gt;h1p righlS on
.S acres. Whole propetty consists of -is acres of
wooded calm and privacy. Write: Gospel Ministry;
P.O. Box 6S4: Clinton, TN 37717.
RHYTHM .6LIVE • Handcrafacd African- Style
Drums, workshops. learning tapes, drumbng_~. and
aacssoncs. Please send SASE IO Rhythm Ahvc!;
SS Phaux Cove Rd.: Weaverville, NC 28787 {704)
645-3911.
NEW AGE · group forming. All mtcrc~aed m
\haring about spirit to spirit commun1cotion,
channchng. v1suah1auon, hc;ihng, chokrns, IMOI,
etc. Emphasis on spmt and our connccaion to
Mother Earth, v1suaH1mg po~11ivc growth and
nurturing Conaact· Thcrc"a Carlson; ?SOI Ruic
Rd .. Knoxville. TN 37920.
WJ:BWORKING 1s free. Send submLssioos to:
Kattlah Journal
P.O. Box 63R
Lc1.:.:,acr. NC
Katllah Province 211748

Wint.er, 1989- 90

�The Kan1ah Journal wanrs ro communicate your thoughts and
feelings to the other people in the bioregional province. Send them
to us as le11ers, poems, stories, articles. drawings. or pliowgraphs,
etc. Please send your comributions to us aJ: Kati/ah Journal; P. 0 .
Box 638; Leicester, NC; Kati/ah Province 28748.
The Spring 1990 issue of the Ka11foh Journal will be
focusing on "Wellness in the Mountains." We are looking for
information and aniclcs on !hose who contribu1e to the heahhful
quality of life in our southern mountains; especially through
activities which promote self-responsibility and a high level of
wellness as the normal living state.

Issue 28 of the KatUa11 Journal (Summer, '90) will take up
the topic of "Carrying Capacity" and the burgeoning impact of the
human presence and human teehnology in !he mounrains. The issue
will look beyond the last induscrial smoke-cloud and past the end of
real estate, when we apply !his imponant ecological principle to our
own selves.

BACK ISSUES OF KATUAH JOURNAL AVAILABLE
ISSUE THREE · SPRING 1984
Sustainable Agricuhure • SunJlowcn • HWTWI
Impact on Ille Fon:st • Cltlldrcns' Education
Veronica Nicholas:Wom1n m Poli11cs • Linle
People • Medicine Allies
ISSUE FOUR · SUMMER 1984
WateT Drum • WalCT Quality . Kudzu - Solu
Eclipse • Clc.vcuuing · Trout • Going IO Waler
Ram Pumps - MICIOhydro - Poems: Bennie
Lee Sinclair, nm Wayne Miller
ISSUE FIVE . FALL 1984
Hll'Vcst • Old Ways in Cherokee . Girucng ·
lofuclear Wu1e • Our Celtic Heritage ·
Bioregionalism: Past, Pre""t, and Future •
John Wilnoty • Healing DatlaiC$S • Politics of
Participation
ISSUE SIX · WINTER 1984-&amp;s
Winier Solstice Eanh Ceremony • Horsepastur&lt;
River • Coming of the Light • Log Cabin
Rooia • MO\llll&amp;in Agiculture: The Right Crop
- William Taylor ·The Future of the Forest
ISSUE SEVEN · SPRING 198S
Sustainable Economics - Hoi Springs • Worker
Ownership - The Great Economy . Self Help
Credit Union - Wild Turkey • Responsible
Invuting • Woricing in lhc Web of Life
ISSUE ElGIIT - SUMMER 198S
Cclcbntion: A Way of Life · KauW. 18,000
Ye«n Ago • S-W Sites • Folk Arts in Ille
Schools • Sun Cyclr./Moon Cycle • Poems:
Hilda~ . Chuobe HaUa&amp;e Cenll::r.
Who Owns Appilachia?
ISSUE NINE· FALL 198S
The Waldu Forest - The Trees Speak •
Mi&amp;ratin&amp; Forata • Hone Louina - Swtini a
TrecCrop • UtbanTrea -AQQQI Bn:.od . Myth
Tmo

ISSUE TEN · WINTER 198S-i6
Kate Rogers • Circles of Sionc • Internal
Mylllmaking • Holistic Healing on Trial •
Poems: Steve Kmulll • Mytltlc Places • The
Uktena's Tale • Crystal Magic
"OrcamspW.ina"

ISSUE TWENTY ..ONE • Fall, 1988
Chutnuts: A Natunl Hwory • Restoring the
Chc:AAut . "Poem or Preservation and Praise"
Continuing the Quest - Forests and Wildlife
Chestnuts in Regional Diet - Chestnut
Resources • Herb Note . Oood Medicine:
"Changes to Come" • Re•iew: Wliuc legmds
Live

ISSUE ELEVEN · SPRINO 1986
Community Pl1nning - Cities and the
Bioregional Vision - Recycling • Community
Gardening· Floyd County, VA - Gasohol •
Two Bioreglonal Views • Nuclear Supplement
Foxfire Games · Ooocl Medicine: Visau

ISSUE TWENTY-TWO · W°U11er, '88--89
Global Warm.ing • Fire This Tune - Thomu
Berry on "Bioregions" · Earth E.xcrc:is4' . Kort
Loy McWhiru:t - An Abundance or Emp&lt;inea
LETS - Cllroniclea of Floyd • Darry Wood .•
TheBIOlltClm

ISSUE THIRTEEN . Fall 1986

c - For Awakening • Elizabelll Callari - A
Gentle Death • Hospice • Ernest Morgan Dealing Creatively with Death • Home Burial
Box • The Wake • The Raven Moc.ku •
Woodslorc and Wildwoods Wisdom • Oood
Medicine: The s.._ Lodge

ISSUE TWENTY-THREE - Spring, 1989
Pisgah Village • Pl111e1 An - Orcen City Poplar Appeal - "CllOllt Sky" · "A New Eulh"
Black Sw1n • Wild IAvcly Days - Reviclwa:
Socred Land Socr«d Sa; Ice "6«. Poem:
"Sudclcn Tc:ndrits"

ISSUE FOURTEEN . Winter 1986-87
lJoyd C.rt Owle • Boogers Ind Mummcn • All
Species Day • Cabin Fever Univonity •
Homeless in Kaulah • Homemade Hot Wat..Stovemalter's Narrative - Oood Medicine:
Interspecies Communic:alion

ISSUE EIOITTEEN. Winter 1987-88
Vamcular Archilecture • Dreams in Wood and
Sione • Mountain Home • Earth Energies •
Euth-She.llcred Uving • Membrane Houses •
Brush Shelter • Poems: Octobu DWJt. • Good
Medicine: "Shell.Cr"

ISSUE FlFTE.E.N • Spring 1987
CoverlelS • Wom1n Forester - Susie McMahan
Midwife • Alternative Contraception •
Bioscxuality • Bion:gionalism 1nd Women Oood Modicinc: MAlriudW Culture - Petarl

ISSUE NINETEEN · Spring. 1988
Perelmdra Cl~ · Spring Tonics • Blueberries
WildOower Gardens - Cranny Herbalist •
Flower Eucnces • "The Origin of lhc Animals:
Siory. Good Modlcinc: "Power" - Be AT"'°

ISSUE SIXTEEN · Summer 1987
Helen Waite • Poem: Visions in a Garden •
Vision Quest - First Flow • lnitillion •
Leaming in the WUclemess • Cherokee
OWJcnp - -Valuing Trees"

ISSUE TWENTY · Summer. 1988
l'luave AppaJacru.n Wildr:mw · HiaJ!landl
of Roan • Cclo Community - l.IDd Trust Anh11r MOf1111 School - Zonin1 luue • .,,,_
Ricl&amp;e" • Farmers and \he Farm Bill • Good
Medicine: "lMld" - Acid Rain - Duke's Power
Play · Chaokee Miaohydro Projoc:t

ISSUE TWENTY ·FOUR - Summer. '89
Deep Listt:rting · Life in AIOmic C"lly - OiftlCt
Actlonl · Tree of Pe.ce • Commuruty Buildlftg
Pcaccmaltcrs - Ethnic Survival • Pairing
Project • "Ba.tllesong" • Growing Peace in
Cullurea · Review: Tltc Clta/iuOlld IN Blatk
ISSUI! TWENTY-FIVE· FALL. 1989
The Gn:at Forest • Resl.orina Old Orowtlt •
Regional Planning • Tunbcr • Forest Roada
Poem: Sparr- Hawk. · A Pl..:e f« Bun •
'7/uu FLU 1/tc RtWi HLaElfl" • l!utern
P1nthcr • Oak Decline • People md Habiw
Wtld S--n.s - Daner Fair

- - - ---- - - - - - -- - - - - -- - - - - - - - -- ---- - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - ~UAtt)OURNAL

P.O. Box 638 Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748
Formo~info:

Name

Regular Membership........ $10/yr.
Sponsor.........................$20/yr.
Contributor.....................$50/yr.

Address

City

call Mamie Muller (704)683-1414

State

Zip

Enclosed is $
to give
this ejfon an exua bOOst
I can be a local contaet

Area Code
loll.mer, 1989-90

Phone Number

person for my area

Back Issues

=

Issue# __@ $2.50 S_ _
Issue# _@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue# __@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue# __@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue#_@ $2.-59= $_ _
Complete Set (3-1 J, 13-16,
18-25)
@

S3s.oo =s__

1

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                  <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;,&amp;nbsp;was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span&gt;, 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.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; 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.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This digital collection is only a portion of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah&lt;/em&gt;-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 &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;. 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.</text>
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                <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, Issue 26, Winter 1989-1990</text>
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                <text>The twenty-sixth issue of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; focuses on children and parents: their roles in family and in the bioregion. Authors and artists in this issue include: Thomas Berry, Samala Hirst, Ellie Kincade, Linda Metzner, Lucinda Flodin, Martha Perkins, Jan Verhaeghe, Christina Morrison, Karen Watkins, Doug Woodward, Trish Severin, Susan Griesmaier, Aviva Jill Romm, Tom Youngblood-Petersen, Rob Messick, Will Ashe Bason, Jermain Mosely, Marnie Mikell, James Rhea, Martha Tree, and David Wheeler. This issue also features an interview with Bonnie Blue, puppeteer. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, 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.</text>
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                <text>&lt;a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"&gt; AC.870 Katúah Journal records&lt;/a&gt;</text>
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                    <text>ISSUE 27 SPRING 1990

$1.50

BIOREGIONAL JOURNAL OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS

�Postage Paid
Bulk Mail
Permit #18
Leicester, NC
28748
P.O. Box 638 Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

�Personal and Planetary
Transformation:
A Holistic Model of Healing.......... !

by Richard Lowenthal

The Healing Power...................... 4
by David Wheeler

Peace to Their Ashes .................... 6
by Sam Gray

Healing in Katuah........................9
by Doug Aldridge

"When Left to Grow" ................. 10
a poem by Rob Messick

"Calling to the Ancestors,
Calling Our Relations" .......... 11
poems by Stephen Wing

PERSONAL AND PLANETARY
TRANSFORMATION:
A HOLISTIC MODEL OF HEALING

The l3elly .................................. 12
by Lisa Sarasohn

by Richard Lowenthal

EARTH DAY 1990 !!. ................ 15
a special pull-ow supplement

Food From the Ancient Porest.. .. .19
by Snow Bear

Natural World News ..................20
Good Medicine .......................... 24
Drumming ................................ 26
Leners to Katuah Journal

Events ...................................... 29
Webworking ............................. 30

It is abundantly clear that the Earth is in
the midst of a tremendous ecological crisis.
Human societies the world over are also
experiencing phenomenal changes and crises as are the individuals who live in them. Our
collective destiny seems to be shifting rapidly,
and may well be careening out of control. A
very good question, at this point in our
evolution, is "What is happening to us and to
the planet - and where are we heading?"
Our planetary crisis, like all crises,
combines great danger and great opportunity.
If we are to meet the challenge successfully,
we need to understand both the dangers and
the opportunities - and learn how to deal with
them.
The best model I have found, to help us
approach comprehension of this planetary
crisis, is derived from the holistic
understanding of health, illness, and the
healing process. In order to better understand
what is happening on a global scale, we need
to consider the recently-articulated possibility
that the Earth may in fact be one huge living
being, with its own self-regulating systems.
Both the Gaia Theory of Lovelock and

Margulis, and Peter Russell's work on "The
Global Brain", point in this direction. If the
Earth is truly an individual, indivisible being,
the processes of personal and planetary
healing may mirror each other in many ways even more, they may be inseparable.
In the holistic view, physical i!Jness is
often the result of unresolved emotional and
spiritual issues, as well as the build-up of
toxic waste-products in various organs and
tissues of the body. Our increasing
understanding of the human psyche, and of
the interaction between mind and body (if
indeed they can even be separated), has
shown that suppressed emotional traumas and
long-buried negative self-concepts have a
constricting, deadening effect upon the
body/mind. They, too, may thus be
considered powerful toxins which 'poison'
our entire body/mind system. Their effect is
reflected in, and amplified by, the
accumulation of chemical toxins in the body an excellent example of the mirroring effect
implicit in the holistic model of healing. That
is, our body/mind system is an integrated
whole, in which toxins on one level indicate
(continued on page 3)

�STAFFTinS ISSUE:
Susan Adam
Heather Blair
Rob Messick
Mamie Muller
Lisa Sarasohn

Scott Bini
Jim Houser
Richard Lowenthal
James Rhea
Chip Smith
Rodney Webb

Manha Tree

David Wheeler

EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:
Will Ashe Bason
Trip Halbkat
Michael Red Fox
Phil Ross

Jack Chaney
Michael Havelin
Marsha Ring
Kim Sandland

COVER by Martha Tree
Special thanks Kitty Boniske for providing a home for this
issue, and to Phil and Allen for their hospitality and
forbearance.
PUBLISHED BY: Kat"'1h Journal
PRINTED BY: The Waynesville Mounraineer Press
EDITORIAL OFACE JHIS ISSUE:
The Cenier for New Priorities, Asheville
WRITE US AT:
Kar"'1h Journal

Box 638; Leicester, NC; Katuah Province 28748
TELEPHONE: (704) 754-60')7
KalUah Journal is on Skyland BBS, Asheville, NC.

For information, call (704) 254-6700.
Diversity is an important clement of bioregional eoology, bolh
natural and social. In line with !his principle, lhe KatUalt Journal 1rics
IO serve as a forum for !he discussion of regional issues. Signed anicles
express only lhe opinion of lhc aulhors and are not necessarily lhe
opinions of lhe Ka1Ualt Journal edilOrs or slaff.
The lnlCmal Revenue Service has declared KatUalt a non·profit
organization under section 50l(cX3) of lhc lnlCmal Revenue Code. AU
conlributions IO Ka1ao1t aic deductible from personal income tax.

'LNVOC:ATWN
From the dark below
The young stem curves upright
Green into light
Leaves open their cluster
In the sun they sing
Wisdom of the stars
And blossom in the life of all creation

1l!E SOUTHERN APPALACFDAN BIOREGION
ANO MAJOR EASTERN RJVER SYSTEMS

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Here in the southern-most heartland of the
Appalachian mountains, the oldest mountain range on
our continent, Turtle Island; a small but growing
group has begun to take on a sense of responsibility
for the implications of that geographical and cultural
heritage. This sense of responsibility centers on the
concept of living within the natzual scale and balance
of universal systems and principles.
Within this circle we begin by invoking the
Cherokee name " Kat1'ah 1' as the old/new name for
this area of the mountains and for its journal as well.
The province is indicated by its natural boundaries:
the Roanoke River Valley to the north; the foothills
of the piedmont area to the east; Yona Mountain and
the Georgia hills to the south; and the Tennessee
River Valley to the west.
The editorial priorilies 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 of the biosphere and a
lasting place for ourselves in its continuing
evolutionary process.
We seem to have reached the fulcrum point of
a " do or die " situation in terms ofa 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 Kat1'ah will grow to serve the best interests
of this region and all its living, breathing members.
-The Editors

"'-t\&amp;nh )ournaL Pci&lt;Je 2

/
SprLnlJ, 199 0

�(conlinued Cmm peac 1)

toxic build-up on other levels as well. Spiritual, emotional,
mental, and physical problems :ire completely intertwined and
interdependent. There 1s no separation between them, yet there is
a twist to this scenario - there is usually a "time lag" involved in
physical manifestation.
This idea of "time lag" is imporunt, because it indicates
that we may not sec visible, outer effects or iMer trauma or
constriction for a long time. Conversely, when we do see outer
effects, or when we consciously "feel bad," we can be pretty sure
that toxic ideas or feelings have been poisoning us inwardly and
subconsciously for some time, and/or our bodies are
overwhelmed by toxins and stress.
Since all the various "levels" of our being are interacting to
produce "disease" (dis-ease). the most effective healing method
addresses what is happening on each level simultaneously. In
particular, it deals quickly and directly with any physical
"presenting problems", especially those that are imminently
life-threatening. (This is the fort.e of modem medicine.) It would
also - and even more importantly - prescribe a process of gradual
detoxification, "remedial learning", and therapy to help the
person heal on the deeper, more intangible levels as well
These deeper levels of healing present some problems,
usually of a psychological nature. What happens is this: as the
body/mind starts releasing toxins - physical or emotional - we
enter a "healing crisis" which can take many forms. Often there
be brief l'CCUJ!Cnccs &lt;?fold illnes~s which were suppressed
with drugs; chemical toxms st.an coming out through the skin,
which can brcalc out in pimples, boils, or rashes; and we may
experience nausea, weakness, and dizziness. These physical
symptoms are not "problems" in themselves • in fact, they arc
pan of the solution. Problems arise when we give in to fear and
believe we arc "getting sick", instead of understanding that we
are releasing toxins as we heal.
But here's the rub: since repressed emotions arc
themselves mental and emotional toxins, it is likely that we will
experience a lot of fear - or anger, or sadness - as buried
emotions are surfacing to be released. We wiU also be releasing
and experiencing our cultural fear of emotion, and our training to
be afraid of our fears! For this reason, we need extensive
preparation and prior education about the nature of a healing
crisis: what it means, what to expect, and how to deal with the
emotional discharge. The crucial clement is that we learn to look
beyond OUlU appearances or the temporary ill feeling, and ro trust
that the body/mind krwws very well how ro heal itself when it is

w!"

properly supported in doing so. Withour this krwwing, this faith,
healing is much more difficult.

4) Simultaneously, humanity as a whole is starting to
awaken to the mind-boggling depth of the issues involved.
Tremendous social problems such as drug and alcohol addiction,
di~i~tegration of the familr, distrust of government, teenage
suicide and pregnancy, SOCJal apathy, and overall deterioration
of education and our quality of life arc spurring people to seek
new ways, new answers. The success and rapid spread of the
Alcoholics Anonymous movement, its many off-shoots, and
therapy and support groups is one facet of this process.

The primary toxin being released is
our toxic belief in separation - our
misunderstanding of our relation to the
universe, nature, and other people.
5) The entire planet and all of humanity is going through a
healing crisis involving the generation and release of toxins on
every level. The crucial issue seems to be this: whatever we
refuse to deal with inwardly MUST eventually appear outwardly,
and KEEP appearing outwardly until we 'get the message'. This
means that our 'inner' psychological reality and the 'outer'
ecological reality are in fact ONE reality. Because we have
allowed such a toxic build-up within ourselves and our societies,
and have NOT dealt with our inner and interpersonal realities
effectively, our world is mirroring our internal denial--by
manifesting externally the pain we believe we've 'avoided'. Thus
unbelievable amountS of deadly toxins arc being produced either
intentionally - i.e. plutonium and chemical/biological weapons or as industrial wastes. And these toxins arc either stored away
for 'safe' keeping or dumped directly into the planetary
ecosystem, with disastrous results.
This process is the 'outpicturing'- the outer result - of
psychological toxins that have been accumulating for several
thousand years. The primary toxin being released is our toxic
belief in separation - our misunderstanding of our relation to the
universe, nature, and other people - and with it the overwhelming
fear and defensiveness this disempowering belief generates.
6) As humanity's emotional negativity and toxic belief
systems rise up from the depths of the collective unconscious and
come to the surface (become conscious). they at first cause an
increase in violence, immorality, greed, exploitation, and
narcissistic behavior. Initially, people identify with these
surfacing negative patterns and act accordingly; they may
temporarily become even more fearful, self-centered, and
exploitive (as we've seen during the 80's). This 'regression' is

Now, if we apply chis practical, yet visionary, model of
healing to our planetary crisis, we might arrive at the following
"diagnosis":

part of the healing, difficult as it is to accept; it is making our
inner reality outwardly visible and tangible - and inescapable.

1) We arc now experiencing on a planetary scale the
destructive outer effects of long-standing, toxic beliefs and
feelings operating within us, and within our social structures.
The intensifying pollution and degradation of the Eanh is a
reflection of humanity's inner pain, denial of interdependence,
and emotional and spiritual degradation. The outer problems we
arc generating arc mirroring back to us, in no unccnain terms,
the concrete, tangible, and inevitable results of our arrogant and
divisive belief systems. This outer reality is making our
intangible INNER reality visible. Though we have prided
ourselves on our 'enlightened self-interest'. we arc now being
forced to see that our modern way of life is neither enlightened
nor in our best interests - or the best interests of the planet.
2) Some of these outer effects are threatening our survival
and the life of the planet - effects such as tropical deforestation,
over-population, the "consumer mentality", acid rain, the world
arms trade, erosion of topsoil, production of huge amounts of
nuclear and chemical hazardous wastes, etc.
3) These life-threatening problems should be dealt with
immediately, to at least reduce their impact and buy time so the
body (of humanity and of the planet) has the time and strength to
recuperate somewhat. This would require ecological, political,
and social activism on a very broad-based, grass-roots level. It
would also require that we institute educational processes that
help people oo COMMUNICATE and COOPERATE more easily.

~~S!J'UCtivc tendencies we have set in motion may really be the

We thus need to recogniz.c that all the "terrible" events and

SprLnq, 1990

1moal messengers of a far deeper, positive change; we need to
remember that appearances are not always what they seem. And
we especially need an educationaJ approach that can help us get
through the darkest moments - or years - of this planetary
"healing crisis." A vision of the positive end result - the
proverbial "light at the end of the tuMel" - will be absolutely
necessary, if we arc not to lapse into judgementalism, impotent
rage, or despair.
Fonunatcly, we already have such visions available to us.
Many writers and 'futurists' are exploring and communicating
a~ut the incredible transformations already occurring in such
diverse fields of human endeavor as physics, biology, the
psy~hology and treatment of addiction, 'citizen diplomacy',
sohd-waste management', economics, and world politics.
All these developments have one thing in common: the
gradu~I shift from a mechanistic, separative, controlling mode of
consciousness to an ecological, holistic, relationship-oriented
mode. This shift aligns us with the Earth; it is the fundameotal
inner shift which will allow us, as it progresses, 10 adapt to the
immense changes we arc experiencing. The old order based on
separation, exploitation, and fear is dying. Let us assist in this
tremendous transformation process, and panicipatc in the birthing
of the new, with courage, determination. and love.
,,
JGQt®h Jo1Mnat

PQl}e

s

�THE HEALING POWER
by David Wheeler

The Appalachian Mountains are old, and their power is
subtle. But their power is yet strong. Standing over the eastern
seaboard of the Turtle Island continent, the intangible influence of
~e Appalachians racli~1es out over all the lowlands so thickly
mhab11ed by human bemgs. As surely as that power is invisible
and inexplicable, its subtle influence is also vital 10 maintaining
the balance of life of the eastern half of Tunle Island.
To the original inhabitants of the Southern Appalachians
"medicine" meant power, and the mountains were always know~
to.~ sacr~ and powerful. Traditionally, Cherokee Indians of a
spmtual mind would plunge every morning into the river that
flowed by each village. Thus they partook of the medicine of
water and mountains. They ate wild foods and healed bodily
ailments with roots dug from the ground, roots lhat were full of
the medicine of the mountains.
C:Cnain peaks or waterfalls or other special spots in the
mountams were known as sacred sites where the spiritual energy
of the mountains was concentrated. The native people went to
these places for fasting and prayer, to find who they were when
they came of age, and, if they could, to die when their time was
at an end. They knew that these were sacred places, for they
could sense the energy directly. And did not Grandfather Eagle,
the most sacred of creatures, choose to live on the mountain
heights?
The ftrst white people who came to the mountains were in
awe of the imposing presence of the Appalachians. On the
~urface, the fi~t immigrants who followed 1he early explorers
mto the mountain coves and "hollers" seemed to be too engrossed
!n sim~ly making a livelihood .fo~ themselves, and too caught up
m praying to an abstracted Chnsuan God, to recognize the power
of mountains - but inside, deep down, they knew.

Others, coming 100 years later, recognized the power of
mountains and came for healing. First by carriage, then by
~I, they came to escape the flatland heat and to cure a variety of
ailments - most often tuberculosis, for which the only cure
known in both Europe and North America was to retreat to the
mountains. Well-known resort centers, spas, and sanitariums
were .built, an~ their prospe~ous ~de became an important early
cash mdustry m the mountains. This type of commerce was at its
peak when the lumber barons were just beginning their
exploitation of the region's timber trees.
Only the rich could afford the healing offered in the
mountains, so the patrons of the fashionable resort/healing
centers were largely southern aris1ocra1s with a sprinkling of
northern industrialists. The Line between "healing" and "vacation"
often became quite blurred. It was sometimes hard 10 tell a
popular spa from a resort hotel, as the same building often served
both purposes.
The warm springs of the town now called Hot Springs in
Madison County, and other mineral springs along the French
Broad, became known as healing places, and several spas were
constructed during the middle 1800's for people to "take the
waters."
Wilma Dykeman tells of the great resort/healing centers in
her regional history, The French Broad. She wrote:
"Health and pleasure were the attractions of the watering
places: the first providing a worthy excuse for the indulgence of
the second. Advertisements of the period mentioned immediate
cures, upon use of the mineral waters, for 'Diseases of the Liver,
Dyspepsis, Vertigo, Neuralgia, Opthalmia or Sore Eyes,
Paralysis, Spinal Affections, Rheumatism, Scrofula, Gravel,
Diabetes, Consumption and Chronic Cough, Diseases of the
Skin, Tetter, Indolent Ulcers, General Debility, Sleeplessness,
and Nervous Prostration.' The waters of many places were
reputed good for barre nness in wives and impotence in
husbands.
th~

Drawing by Rob Messick

Spri:rMJ1 ! 999.•

�''The Wann Springs, most famous of all the French Broad
watering places, mentioned in one of their brochures that
partaking of their minerals would 'bring the bloom back to the
chec_k, the lustre to the eye, tone to the languid pulse, sr:rcngth to
the Jaded nerves, and vigor to the wasted frame.' From all
co~tcmpo_rary accounts of t~e social life of the place, its patrons
amved with cheeks already in full bloom, eyes overflowing with
lustre,_ and pulses. in no need of stimulation beyond that of
moonlight on the nver or the shady tum in a lover's walk."
The city of Asheville became the hub of both the health and
society circles. In 1888 a German doctor named Carl van Ruck
established the first large tuberculosis sanitarium, arid, as word
got out about the beneficial mountain climate, others soon sprung
up around the area.
. . . To ~he wealthy visitors, who knew only the highly
c1v1hzed life of the lowlands, the mountain landscapes were
exotic and wild. The fine "foreign folk" thrilled at the rugged
scenery, the waterfalls and swift-running creeks, and the
mountain air, so cool and crisp even in the summertime.
T?&lt;1ay, muc~ the same attractions bring people to the
mount~1ns. Ostensibly, they say they come for tourism and
rccrea~on, but the deepest _need is for healing: the healing of
relax~on from ov~·paced lifestyles; healing from crowdedness,
poll~uon, and existen?Cs overfull of people and machines;
healing from banal rouones, fast food, and TV-screen lives· but
most of all, healing from an inner emptiness of which they~ no;
know the source.
Easy accessibility has brought the culture of civilization
~eep into the m.ountains. They are no longer strange, exotic,
isolated, and wild, as they were to the early socialites who
thronged the fashionable watering spots during the late I800's.
But there are what seem to modem urbanites to be great expanses
of unbroken forest. There is water that is actually drinkable as it
~m~s out from a spring! This is a functioning native habitat this 1s wholeness, the world as it could be.
There are so few examples of natural native environments
in the eastern pan of the continent that the forests and mountains
of ~ppalachia serve ~ ~ important grounding point for urban
v1s1tors. From a hfe in which the human influence is
omnip~nt, from an environment that is largely manufactured or
synthesized by human hands, the Appalachian hardwood forest is
a d.ose of reality. The ~~man spirit needs places like this by
which to refresh our sp1ms and to judge our actions - a mark
from which we can see if our culture is straying.
This sense of wholeness could be the cornerstone for a
whole new relationship between the human species and the
mountains. As it becomes increasingly rare, that sense of
wholeness becomes increasingly precious. Restoring the heaJth
of the. Appalachian forest by ending commercial exploitation and
allowing the forest to grow towards its natural climax state would
be the key to this new relationship. It would transform the
physical landscape of the mountains and would perhaps also
work to change the inner landscape of human society as well.
This new balance would require a greatly reduced human
prc~nce in the n:iountain habitat area. The primary use of the
region at present is as a resource base to support a large number
of human beings - but this is obviously not the purpose of
existence for the mountains. This has to change.
The "resources" of the area, the continuing life cycles arc
needed instead to support large numbers of trees, herbac~us
plants, and native wildlife. There must be a core habitat area that
is no.t violatc;ct by human beings, but used only in ways that are
consistent with the demands of the natural habitat - a biosphere
preserve. With conditions throughout the world already under so
much pressure from the human presence, the mountains should
be primarily a place for restrained visits.
But there is a possibility that a greatly limited number of
humans could create a right livelihood in a buffer zone that
surrounded the central preserve by leading others to the
wholeness .~f the land - relating specifically through healing.
learning, spintual exploration, art, recreation, and initiation.

SprlrMJ, I 990

. These kinds of activities need, of course, to be approached
with great care. When the value of an experience is in the
wholeness of it, then practitioners must be careful that the sense
of wlwle'!es~ is not ruined by the number of people arriving to
take part in 1t. Access would need to be carefully rationed. This
level of experience is obviously not to be degraded with crowded
parking lots, souvenir snips, or giant ridgctop condos. People
come to the mountains to treasure what is rare and special - and
strong - about them. It destroys their special ambience to make
them over to appear just like every other place frequented by
humans.
At the Cumberland Island National Seashore off the coast
of south Georgia, ~mping is by permit only and reservations
must be.made well 10 advanc~. This policy is intended to protect
the fragile nature of the seaside habitat. A similar policy would
serve well in the Appalachian biosphere preserve to protect the
fragile sense of wholeness.

This sense of wholeness could be the cornerstone
for a whole new relationship between the human
species and the mountains. As it becomes increasingly
rare •. that sense of wholeness becomes increasingly
precious.

Thinking .in t!tis vein leads to visions of the possibilities of
a new way of life 10 the buffer zone - a way of life that could
partake of the power of the mountains without diminishing it
The beginnings arc already in place. Carefully and respectfully,
the rest can grow.
Th~re are .~dy many summer camps and several outdoor
leadership tra1mng programs that draw on the natural
surroundings and provide challenging expeditions, environmental
education, and initiation experiences for young people (sec
KatUahJournal #16).

There are already several major colleges and universities in
the Ka!Uah province. They need to re-orient their direction of
study to focus on the ~l~gical context of their region, but they
represent excellent fac1h11es that arc already available. Like the
University of Tennessee in Knoxville and North Carolina State
University do at present, the learning institutions of the region
could provide headquarters and support for extended field
expeditions and field schools in the wild. Like the Great Smoky
Mountain Institution at Tremont they could teach the knowledge
and the values of the wild.
Other courses of study could be les$ fonnal such as
tracking sch~ls that taught skills and deepened awarcn~ss of our
plant and animal relations, and nomadic primitive Eanh skills
schools that created their own camps wherever they were.
A new vision for the mountains would also include more
~calin~ centers scauered among the hills, where people could
retreat to convalesce, or choose among a variety of healing
programs. These centers could also be used for educational
seminars and conference/retreats.
.
Spirit~al centers, like the existing Southern Dharma Center
m Hot Spnngs, NC, could also hold seminars and spirituaJ
retreats, as well as guide long prayer fasts and vision quests deep
in the uninhabited biosphere preserve area.
In this way the mountains could contribute to the
r7juvenation and ~nrichment o.f the human spirit. At the same
ume. by approaching the land m a manner that was once again
respectful and reverential, the humans could continue the work of
transforming our relarionship with the land.
The mountains will heal themselves, if we allow it. If we
can bring ourselves to allow it, then the mountains will be here
with all their power to heal us when we need their healing.
It. all could come around. The ghosts of the grand old
mountain health resorts could return once again to inspire a new
transfonnation in mountain life.

�Peace To Their Ashes
by Sam Gray

The earliest myths of the Katuah bioregion
available to us are those from the Cherokee people
collected by James Mooney a century ago (1887-1890)
on the Qualia Boundary in interviews with tribal
elders who were among the last surviving links
with the most ancient oral traditions of the tribe. It
~011/,' be fitting to observe the centenary of this
important cultural transmission with an invocation
of gratitude to these elders: John Ax, Swimmer,
Taywadihi, Suyeta, Ayasta, and to the spirits,
creatures, all our relations about whom tl1ey so
eloquently spoke. In Mooney's words, "peace to
their ashes and sorrow for their passing", for wit/I
them pa~sed away a universe of animated grace,
subtle wit, profound teachings, and recitative power
that will not come tllis way again.
James Mooney was an ethnologist, a skilled
tta.nsmittcr of oral traditions, who included ethnographic and
historical data in his book Myths of the Cherokee. He
refrained from interpretive comment about the meaning of
various themes within the narratives.
Int~rprecive th~o~cs about mytholo~ical discourse arc
very ancient. Hellerusuc and Roman wnters as diverse as
E~emerus, Ovid, and Pausa_nius made interesting, though
bnef, comments on the funcoon and nature of myth. Within
the last century a great many, more complex ideas about
myths have been developed by anthropologists,
psyc~ologis~s. and culrura_l hi~torians. An unbiased survey
o_f this vast liter.uurc leads inevuably to the conclusion that no
single theory, idea, or typology can satisfactorily account for
all the myths of a given culture. This literature. as a whole,
does estab~ish that ~yths have imponant links to various
psycholog1ca1, social, and cultural themes within and
beyond th~ society of o~gin and that the centrality of
mytbopocs1s to the evoluuon of human consciousness is
indisputable.
For the anentive there is, somewhere within the
mythological narrative, an opening - a door through which
the things spoken of in the narrative connect with things
unspoken inside ourselves. The legacy of the Cherokee
elders, transmitted by Mooney, and the accumulated
awareness of the function of myth in consciousness permit
us to respectfully approach the ancient myths of KatUah.

JUDACULLA
.
On Caney Fork Creek in Jackson County, NC. there
is a large stone about the size of a recumbent bison. h is of
steatite-sandstone composition and is covered with incised

graffiti, pictographs, pcuoglyphs, or "Indian writing." The
local name for this stone is Judaculla Rock. A few miles to
the east, high on the ridge above the Caney Fork watershed
at a ~lac~ _wh~re Jackson, Haywood, and Transylvania
Counties Join, 1s a cleared area known to the white sculcrs
as Judaculla Fields which was often used by them as a
summer pasture for livestock. This ridge, grassy bald, and
the vast watershed beneath was generally known as the
abode of him who some thought of as "The Indian Satan":
Judaculla.
I have known this place and the name Judaculla since
binh, having descended on the maternal side from those
earliest white settlers in the Caney Fork the Scotch-Irish
clans of Parker and Coward (cow-herd). My grandmother
grew up on the farm that included Judaculla Rock and her
brothers, father, cousins, and uncles used to drive livestock
up the long trail each spring to take advantage of the lush
grass covering Judaculla Fields. My grandmother related to
me that when she was a li!tle girl she was told to sweep and
clean the rock. Whether this was to occupy an energetic child
on a long summer day. or expressed the notion that it was
better to have the satanic writings exposed to the christian
light of day than be covered by din and undergrowth, to lie
there, eventually forgotten and unsuspected, and work some
mischief on later generations, I never learned. She also told
me that on occasion, groups of Cherokee Indians would visit
the rock, camp beside it and "sing and wail all night long".
These and other stories were told me about this place when I
was a boy, and at ftcqucnt intervals over the four decades of
my life I've visited the rock and the Caney Fork watershed,
drawn there by an energy I could neither wholly identify or
describe.
It was upon reading Mooney's Myths of the Cherokee
that I learned further truths about the place. Judaculla is an
English corruption of the Cherokee name, Tsul'ka/u
me~ing "slant-eyed," and he was a mythic hero of th~
ancient Cherokee. The Judaculla Fields arc known in
Cherokee as Tsunegun'yi, meaning 'white place', referring
doubtless to the uninterrupted whiteness of the snow-clad
bald in the winter and resonating further with the ancient
Cherokee cosmology in which the color white was associated
with peace and well-being. It was in the peaceful fields of
Tsunegun'yi that the slant-eyed giant Tsu/'kalu had his
abode.

TSUL'KALU
. A giant, a great bunter, lord of all the game, wild,
sohtary, of monstrous aspect, never seen, but heard often
enough during summer storms, rumbling around up there on
Tsunegun'yi ; this was Tsul'kalu. And like all who are
solitary and monstrous, Ts"l'kalu knows loneliness and in
time, goes looking for a mate. There is a beautiful Cherokee
girl, call her Sada'yi, who lives with her mother down
(continued on page 8)

Sprl."'J, 1990

�.,~(~)
Spc~. 1990 ~

�(continued from page 6)

along Caney Fork. Sada'yi has begun to sleep apart from
her mother in the asi, the cave-like dugout made of logs and
earth that was a common feature of Cherokee homesteads.
By sleeping in the asi, Sada'yi indicates the autonomy of her
young womanhood and her receptivity to the unknown. So
one dark night Tsul'ka/U comes to her. She tells him that
her mother has said whoever she chooses for a mate must be
a great hunter and provider.
"I am that," says Tsul'kalu and, though she has not
yet seen him, she senses his power and his truth and she lets
him enter. His huge body fills the darkened asi and there is
just room for her own small body to lie beside him. ln the
morning, he is gone and outside hangs a freshly killed deer
on the drying poles. They continue in this way for many
ni~bts.

Eventually Sada'yi's mother, ever practical, points out
that they have enough meat, could her mysterious and still
unseen lover possibly provide some wood for the winter
fires? The next morning they find whole trees, tom roots
and all from the eanh, piled in the clearing. The mother,
though puzzled, is pleased and $he presses for funher
se.rvice: could he chop the wood for \hem? Next morning all
the wood has been removed; the clearing is empty. Chopping
and stacking wood is an activity embedded in the human
order, and Tsul'kalu has emphatically pointed out that he is
not of that order.
Sada'yi's mother, an irrevocable voice of the human
order, begins to insist upon seeing her daughter's strange
lover. She wants to know more about him, take his
measure, encompass him, and harness his prodigious
powers. Sada'yi conveys her mother's request to the giant
and after some persuasion he is willing. He insisrs that she
(the mother) must prepare for a shock and above all she must
not react to the sight of him by losing control and screaming
out, "USGA'SETJ'YU!" meaning "frightful". So next
morning, he remains in the asi past daylight, and when the
mother lifts the flap to peek at him she, of course, goes away
screaming, "USGA'SETl'YU! USGA'SETl'YU!" In spite
of her intentions, the encounter with this intrinsically wild,
monstrous, disproponionate being from outside the human
order obliterates her control. Tsul'kalu vanishes and does not
return for a time.
Meanwhile Sada'yi has her menses and there is a
copious flow of blood. Her mother, disappointed there's
been no conception, and meddling now ever closer into the
affairs of the lovers, gathers the blood and throws it into the
river. When next Tsu/'ka/u visits Sada'yi, he asks,
"Where's the child?"
When told there's been none, he asks, "Where's the
blood?"
She takes him to the river bank where the blood was
thrown in. Something calls silently to him from the river
and he goes into the dark waters, dives down seven times
and emerges with a small worm, which he carries cupped in
his hands toward the asi. By the time be has reached it, the
worm has grown into a baby girl which he hands to Sada'yi
saying; "Your mother does not like me and abuses our child,
so come, let us go to my home."
She embraces the child, takes leave of her mother, and
they go together up the mountain to peaceful Tsunegun'yi ..

T he New Garments
Although the figures and events in a mythic narrative
arc usually distinct, the narrative as a whole sometimes
seems inconclusive and directionless, as if it were silently

linked to other myths or to moments outside itself. The myth
connects with ourselves and with the world but in ways that
are elusive and not always subject to articulation. In this, the
myth is like the dream. Upon waking we often feel that
remembered elements of the dream are meaningful; chey
connect with and inform consciousness. Sometimes a patient
analysis of the dream will elucidate these connections but this
process is never free of a potential collapse because we know
there is always more; that the recollected dream arose from a
region that remains disordered, directionless, and connected
to material we cannot reach. Recognizing the original unity
of myth and dream, the Australian Aborigines call the source
of their myths and scories, "The Dreaming".
The myth of Tsu/'kalu connects us with the
relationship between the human order and the wild, almost
incomprehensible order of nature itself. Tsul'kaltl is of this
latter order. He is, in a sense, lord of it by virtue of his
disproponionate, monstrous aspect, his magical energies that
supply food and create life from what the human order
discards (menstrual blood), and his refusal to be fixated by
human seeing and judgement. Tsul'kalll's huge hands can
make love to Sada'yi , silently kill the deer of the forest for
her sustenance, and fonn a womb for the gestation and birth
of their child. Like the forces of nature, be sustains the
human order and, at the same time, is irrevocably in
opposition to it. There is but one way the human order can
experience and comprehend Tsul'ka/u's order, and that way
is indicated by the monster giant himself in the final episode
of the myth:
Sada'yi's brother has come to Tsunegun'yi to see
her. He asks to see her husband also. She relays the message
to Tsu/'ka/u and he instructs: "You must put on new
garments in order to see me."
The brother indicates he is willing to do this.
"Go then," says Tsul'kalu , "and tell your people to
gather in the townhouse and fast for seven days. During that
time they cannot leave the townhouse or raise the war
whoop. At the end of seven days I will come to them with
the new gannents and then they can see me."
The brother recurns and explains all this to the people.
They very much want to see this giant lord of the game and
immediately gather into the townhouse to begin the fast.
Now there is one man among them who is not of
them. He's from another place and of another clan. This
man steals out of the townhouse at night and eats. On the
seventh day the people hear a great roaring coming down
from Tsunegun'yi. As it comes closer it becomes deafening
and they are all terrified. Suddenly, he who has broken the
fast can bear it no longer and runs from the townhouse and
the village shouting the war cry. The roaring ceases, then is
heard receding back up into the high mountains around
Tsunegun'yi where it is silent. The people never c lothe
themselves in the new garments, and they never see
Tsul'kalu.
The meaning of this episode offers profound insights
into the nature of Cherokee spirituality. The new garments the purified desire of the people - have no exact equivalents
in contemporary secular experience. They are the necessary
transformation that a people must undergo in order to face
sacred power. Sada'yi was made "new" by the purity of her
erotic surrender to the god. The people as a group were co be
transformed by their surrender to the God's discipline. It was
this discipline that would have sustained their well-being,
their courage and their silence in the face of the
mind-destroying power of the slant-eyed monster Tsu/'kalu.
WA DON'

8prLfl9, 1990

�HEALING IN KATUAH
by Doug Aldridge
Hin the search for wisdom, the soul must sojourn upon the
earth, and dJUing this stay it will be enlightened as to the purpose
and care of the earthly temple, the body oft/ie soul, or the body.
Children can be taught the uses of growing things and their
prepara1ion. Many have not the desire to learn them, and seek not
the knowledge which is all abow them. These then must rely
upon the medicine man, such as I, to help correct the results of
ignorance. Mankind must experience and grow through all
phases of wisdom before becoming evolved into the higher
realm. If the spirit is moved, then shall the knowledge be
acquired. The Grear Spirit speaks to all."
- Mauzsan
Powhatan shaman, 1603

I - A Karuah Healing
I am a relative newcomer to Katuah. In seven years here
my family and I have taken root, and with each passing year we
have found greater aliveness in our relationship with the land and
its people. This growth has emerged primarily through a
closeness to the eanh - found in gardening, foraging, wood
gathering, and living in increasing harmony with nature. Two of
our three children, Autumn-Leaf and Forest Hean, were born at
home in an old house perched at the edge of Cherokee Forest.
The attendants at their births were friends, not technicians, and
they came to suppon us in the growth of our family. The skillful
assistance of Lucinda Aodin (see "Birth Power" issue 26 Winter
1989-90) was instrumental in the success of our homebirth
experiences.
Living this close to nature - a half mile from the nearest
neighbor, a half-hour from the nearest four-lane road - cultivates
a trust in unseen powers. We sense that we are surrounded and
supponed by the same forces that suspend the stars in the clear
depths of the heavens above our house, that sustain the grasses
through the freezes and thaws, that warm the eanb from within,
while they hurl the sun in its daily changing arc above the
ridgetops.
Our home wasn't built here for convenient access to
anyplace else. It's a steep, winding mile of a dirt road down to
Highway 321 as it curves around the mountainsides that drop
down to Watauga Lake. And the TV reception is about the worst
on the East Coast. But it is well situated in other, more important
ways. Abundant springs, up behind the house, kept us in plenty
of water through the driest days of recent drought. Strong winds
rarely reach us in the shelter of the ridges. Water flows into the
house by gravity, and the kitchen stove doesn't care about power
outages, because it bums wood. In winter, a sheet of plastic
around our front porch cuts our heating needs and creates a
sunroom for the whole family.
Closeness to our environment has had a profound impact
on our faqlily's health of body, mind, and spirit. Plenty of fresh
air, pure +.tater, sunshine, and relative freedom from noise and
light pollution make this a nunuring place for a young family and
contributes to our peace of mind. Spiritually, our homeplace
draws us closer to the Oneness of All Life. It is that spirit - The
Great Spirit - that called us here six years ago. And the lessons
we've learned here prepared us to find another home, larger in
proponion to our growing needs, and well-watered, wellSprl."'J, 1990

sheltered by the lay of the land, with good southeast exposure
and plenty of garden space - another old homeplace where
generations of Kauiahans have been born, raised, and grown old.
"Seek ye first the Kingdom of God," said Jesus of Nazareth,
"and all these things will be added unto you." I believe that. I
also believe that seeking the Kingdom, today, means returning to
the source, and I thank God that it is still possible in KatUah.

II - Seeking Guidance
In the winter of 1987-88, friends from Charlotte, Nonh
Carolina recommended that we get in touch with Harold Green, a
healing ans practitioner. While the family was thriving, we hoped
Harold could teach us more ways of preventing disease and
promoting our own well being. We had never had cause to turn
over our responsibility for our children's health to anyone else.
My wife Barbel and I felt we needed more guidance than we
could get from books.
When Barbel first spoke with Harold on the phone, he
looked inward for guidance, as he often does when asked
questions; he "got a yes," and agreed to come up from Charlotte,
where he was teaching healing ans and giving personal health
consultations, working - as always - for donations. I have seen
him work for no personal gain, and I have seen him accept a
feather and a stone with the same sincere thanks he gives for an
offering of money. The most imponant thing, in his view, is that
each individual take responsibility for his or her own welJ being.
Harold Green, it turned out, practiced Native American
healing ans. He is an associate of Chief Two Trees at the Native
American Studies Institute in Old Fon, North Carolina. Both
Harold and Chief Two Trees teach that each individual must
become a healer in order to be cured of "dis-ease." As the Chief
put it when I asked him recently about the philosophical basis of
this teaching:
"Everyone is a healer - everyone - but the art of healing is
studied only by a few. What we're about is to teach people to
heal themselves. The Christian Bible says 'Physician, heal
thyself.' So everyone becomes a healer. Now the art of healing
has been passed down through generations and generations."
Commenting on the surrender of personal power involved
in our transition from an agricultural to an industrial society,
Chief Two Trees said, "People got into the habit of paying
somebody else - to raise their garden for them, to manage their
health for them, to spend their money for them. They even pay
their minister to manage their spiritual being for them. They gave
away all their power, kept nothing for themselves. So what we're
about is to teach people again to go back to growing their own
garden, even in the smallest amount. Learn how to identify, to be
in harmony with nature through a garden. I don't care if it's in a
window, in an apartment Know the value of fresh food with life
force in it, freshly harvested within a few minutes of being eaten.
Second, we also teach people to think for themselves in a
spiritual way. Because no one can walk in your moccasins."
Harold Green's first visit to our home in the winter of
1987-88 was an experience that opened up for our family new
avenues of knowledge and practical, usually simple, techniques
of healing and preventive medicine. We quickly recognized in
him the teacher we bad been seeking. The home remedies he
(continued on next page)

Drawing by Rob Messick

�(continued from page 9)

taught us 10 concoct from leaves and roots, berries and bark,
herbs and flowers, brought us greater strength and vitality. And
the act of gathering and preparing natural tonics and remedies
deepened our kinship wilh the land, making real the concept of
the interconnectedness of narure, humanity, and spirit. Gathering
black walnut leaves and hulls in summer 10 dry and hang in the
pantry can be mere ritual (which has value). Drinking black
walnut tea, on the other hand, can be merely medicinal. But
when I gather them myself and prepare a tea and drink it and
serve it 10 my family, then I combine lhe healing virtues of rirual
and medicine, and the benefit is greater than the sum of the pans.
Harold's work with us has helped our whole family 10 heal
huns ranging from physical to spirirual dis-ease. Sometimes
through common sense advice, a1 other times through the
intuitive gift by which he channels divine guidance, and always
with a rich fund of practical knowledge, he has 1augh1 us to
reclaim personal power and heal ourselves.
The responsibility for ta.king or not taking his advice is
ours, and we do what we think and feel is right. Although we
were strict vegetarians, we have introduced medicinal quantities
of meat into our family fare at his recommendation. We have
been strengthened by it More slowly than he would have liked,
we have taken to sharing the knowledge of healing arts nutrition, iridology, herbology, reflexology, acupressure,
massage, crystal therapy, dream analysis, hydrotherapy - that we
have been building over 1he years.

ill - A Katuah Healing Continues
When I slatted seeing Harold Green, I thought I was in
good heallh, despite a bout of blood poisoning a year before that
could have killed me had I not gone to a hospital. By the time
Harold came there was only a scar on my right hand to remind
me that when it came to preventative medicine, I had a 101 10
learn. In fact, my immune system was still dangerously weak. I
began my own healing by taking responsibility for my condition
and accepting Harold's guidance. I attacked parasites first with
herbs and later colonies. I strengthened organs, whose weakened
condition showed in my irises, with specific foods and
supplements. l treated my ears and mouth, which had bred a
systemic yeast infection, with tea tree oil (mixed, for use in cars,
with castor oil in 1:10 proportion). All this strengthened my body
and helped eliminate toxin-producing, energy-sapping parasites.
(Chief Two Trees maintains that 85% of all diseases are caused
by parasites.) Gradually, I made gains in overall vitality.

. \'(hen I was strong enough in spirit, mind, and body
(whtch 1 really one strength), I entered a deeper level of healing.
s
My new-found strength was drawn inward, focusing on the
work of healing from the inside out. The ground I had gained
physically was apparently lost during this time. I feh weak and
listless. I developed rashes as toxins were discharged through my
skin. I had to trust my intuition that I was getting better, because
I felt sick.
At that time, in the fall of '88, I intensified my use of
therapies Harold taught me. lridology helped 10 identify organs
and systems that needed nutritional suppon. The "laying on of
hands" through massage, acupressure, and reflexology improved
energy flow through my body. Hydrotherapy sped up the
elimination of 1oxins. Through dream analysis I was able to lay
hold of the taproot of my trouble, a parasitic liver condition.
This period of intense healing lasted about cwo months and
subsided in the winter of '88-'89. The evidences of its passage
are 1he presence of healing signs in the irises of my eyes, along
with a general reduction of iris discoloration associated with
toxicity. I now have a new vitality that includes a much stronger
immune response and heightened energy and productivity.
Through this experience I have learned that medicine which is
limited to relieving symptoms maintains the underlying causes of
disease. True healing leads back through the symptoms to the
underlying cause, making the cure complete.
The ripples of my well-being have spread outward into
other areas of my life where progress was blocked. I'm writing
for a wider audience. More money is coming in. We will soon be
moving to our own home from a rented one. Barbel and I are
sharing more widely in the healing ans movement, and we have
found another teacher in Rudolph Poss, Ph.D., Director of
Boone's Life Energy Center. We are both working at the Life
Energy Cemer as therapists. Barbel recently returned from the
first of a series of trips to New York City where she shares her
knowledge of healing ans.
Yes, the ripples of my own healing carry the work of
teaching and healing far beyond my horizon. Change starts in
your head and works its way out from y.our guts. But it doesn't
stop with you. Heal yourself and you'll heal your world.
Physician, heal thyself.
Doug Aldridge is afather, a healer, and a writer. He also
teaches at The Kid's Country School (a homeschool in Doe
Valley), and is a lecturer in English at Appalachian State
University. He practices pressure point therapy at the life
Energy Center in Boone.
~

WHEN LEFT TO GROW
Surrounded by forest
That clothes the land
Wilh fallen leaves
From sleepy trees
The warming sun
An occasional breeze
The ever flowlng creek
By this peacefully calm day
Closely following this windey stream
Us cool motion over rounded stone
That makes a constant sound
Coursing the way lo an open sea
Hovering in the wind
Being like lhe white cloud
In clear blue sky
Gliding over rolling countryside

These hairs like limbers
When left to grow
Become long and full
This body like rolling hills
When lefl to grow
Becomes intrinsically well and appealing
A mind like integral relations
When left to grow
Becomes clear and tuned to pattern

JC.atUah Journal: pc:iqe 10

Poem and Drawing by Rob Messick

Sprl.nq, 1990

�Calling to the Ancestors, Calling Our Relations:
Poems by Stephen Wing
Feather and Shadow
We have come to the lime of the choosing
of ancestors.
This is the place where my ancestors came down
from thcir square hole in the sky

The world is
bigger than we can see, that
long horizon promised.
So they built ships.
My ancestors grew com here, this is the clearing
where they danced the year
Preparing to abandon
their bodies, they built cathedrals
where the ancient groves had been.
The world is bigger than we can see...
One by one the monks
fell unconscious in thcir cells.
My ancestors camped here in the Winter
of the Early Snow, they knew th&lt;? spot by the stars
The unknown continent grew
vaster as they conquered,
the invisible cities grew richer
in their delirium: each
Crusad&lt;?r, each Conquistador
conjuring a private mansion,
lying in his fever and his cloud of

mes.

This is wh&lt;?re the young men came
fasting and singing, alone in the sacred land
It might have been my great-grandfather
bending, the boy at the plow
too young to remember that horizon
of unbroken acreage, hanging back
against the pull of the mule
to pluck a flint-shard from the vanished prairie grass -

Visiting the Deer

This is where my ancestors came
to honor their dead, this windy ridge in the sky

He looks up. Douds break
into feathers, streaking over
the horizon. He sees one
sweep across the sun and the bright land of his father falls
into shadow.
We have come to the time of the choosing:

This is my native place.
This mountain. This creek.
This is my native place.

•

Sp r Lr19, 1990

Going up to visit the long view
at the top of the hill
today I have
travelled the deer-trails:
bending to duck under
where the deer duck under
branches,
leaping where the deer l&lt;?ap
dry ravines, coming at last
in to open sky:
gazing down where the deer gaze
down on human hospitalities
with wild shy suspicionWhen I caught my breath
I looked down and saw only
the houses of my
neighbors, the loop of road.
Going back I travelled
as usual down the track of tires
in the dirt.

Drawing by James Rhea

JC.atUah

Journm

pQ4Je 11

�Pabllillg ofVislutM Krisluta

Jaipur, India

The Belly

Your Belly Pulse ls The Earth Mother's Heart Beat
Your belly pulse
is the earth Mother's

heart beat.
Press into yourself:
exit the breath, expireand sink,
sink down in to
the consecrated center
intense, dense, compressed,
the consolidated possible;
life engaged unto itself,
life drawing light unto
itself, life compacted to the
one still one point.
And press yourself out again:
be filled by the breath, inspired--

to live,
to live in to
the world that's ever being born from you:
galaxies expanding, stars chasing stars,
filling, bursting the radiating joy,
life swelling beyond
itself, life exploding
light, life spiraling outward,
the turning world.
Your belly pulse
is the earth Mother's
heart beat.
The earth trembles
her rhythm
through us; our feet skip
along her surface
while beneath she beats
her molten drum.
-Lisa Sarasohn

C Lisa Samsohn 1990

by Lisa Snrasohn

Our bodies are a gift from the earth: the solid substance
of who we are comes from the soil. By the powers of sun,
water, plant and animal life, the soil's minerals undergo a
change in fonn and we incorporate them as organ and gland,
corpuscle of blood, muscle fiber and bone. Our bodies arc the
gift of a woman's belly. It is in a woman's womb that our
Lives begin to take on form. The umbilical cord links our
bodies to our mothers, bringing nutrients directly into our
bellies.
The belly is the measurable center of our bodies: it is at
the mid-point between the crown of our heads and the soles of
our feet. Healing traditions the world over -- the ancient
cultures of Egypt, India, China, Japan, Greece, and the
Americas -- know the belly to be much more: the center of our
vitality, the place from which we live. These ancient traditions
recognize the belly as the source point for our physical and
emotional well-being. for our sense of individual wholeness.
Clearing and strengthening the belly through movement and
breathing techniques leads to resrnenl health, freedom from
fear, self-mastery, and the power of personal presence.
These same traditions also recognize the belly as the
source point for our spiritual well-being. Clearing and
strengthening the belly allows us to experience our individual
Sprl.f\9, 1990

�connectedneu to the universe, to sense our intimate
participation in the Great Life. Although our original. physical
connection with our mothers' nourishment has long been
severed, there's a subtle cord mnaining between our bellies
and the mother-world. A vortex of primordial. creative energy
swirls into and out of our bellies, feeding our spirits and
sustaining our vitality - if we allow it to do so.
A clear, strong belly provides a secure feeling of being
"at home" - at home in the body, at home on this Earth,
well-rooted and generously nurtured, kin to the creatures with
whom we share this planet. In this light, attending to the
strength and health of the belly not only enhances our personal
immunity from disease, such attention also brings fonh our
personal contribution to healing the planet When we embody
the knowledge - when we feel it in our bones and know it in
our guts -- that we are one with the Earth, preserving the
integrity of our natural systems will no longer be a political
issue. It will be a mauer of self-respect.
Jn writing this anicle, my intention is to inspile you to
honor your body, and particularly your belly, as you would
have others honor the Earth. Drawing on my studies of
biology. regional planning, yoga. and lhcrapeuric massage, I'll
outline the anatomy of the belly, indicate a range of cultural
attitudes regarding lhe belly, and explore their influence on our
well-being.
What's In a Belly?

The Vital Organs
The abdomen ranges from the pubic bone of the pelvis to
the muscular diaphrngm at the base of lhe rib ca~e. It houses
the vital organs of digestion, elimination, and reproduction:
stomach, liver, gall bladder, pancreas, spleen, small intestines,
large in1estine, ovaries, uierus. The digestive organs process
and absorb nutrients, satisfying our hungers and providing the
energy and substance we require for all our life processes. It is
here, too, that toxins and waste products arc neuttalized, soned
out, and prepared for discharge.
Without regular physical exercise, mental stress and
shallow breathing tend to increase muscle tension and reduce
circulation throughou1 the body, increasing the accumulation of
toxins and unbalancing the flow of glandular secretions. These
factors can contribute to a host of abdominal dysfunctions,
including common ones such as indigestion, intestinal gas,
constipation, and menstrual discomfort.
From the poini of view of Western anatomy and
physiology alone, exercising 1he body, wilh particular attention
10 the belly, would seem to offer substantial health benefits.

The Body-Mind Connection
Jn her books You Can Heal Your Lift and Heal Your
Body, Louise Hay suggcs1s the specific patterns of thinking
which set the stage for various physical conditions. She
indicates lhat the accumulation of fat in general represents a
person's excessive sensitivity and his or her need for
protection. The fear a person feels, lhough, may be "a cover
for hidden anger and a resistance to forgive," she writes. ln
particular, a fa1 belly may reflect "anger at being denied
nourishment." She offers a positive affirmation to replace the
negative partem of though1: "I am always safe and secure. I
nourish myself with spiritual food and I am satisfied and free."
The psycho1hcrapis1 and bodyworker Lyn Davis Genelli
considers lhat the "pot belly" or "beer gut" which some men
develop reveals their "need to protecl their vital organs from an
attack." A large belly, she suggests, offers a sense of
protection in "the 'wars' of the production plan1 and corporate
suite..... Despite 1heir protesta1ions, men unconsciously love
their fat [belly) and feel tha1 the ownership of one... is a sign of
security, prosperity, and survivorhood."
My experience working with people who come to me for
therapeutic bodywork is in accord with the ideas these writers
Sprl."'J, 1990

have proposed. The condition, shape. and inner sense of the
belly reflect a person's willingness and ability to nouriJh himor herself emotionally, to digest new expcrieoces, to release the
past, to be courageous in the presence of risk, to generate the
self-approval which helps a person feel safe and secure.
ln working particularly with women, I find that
imbalances in the belly often relate to issues regarding
creativity. A bloated belly is like a storehouse, the place where
enormous creative power has been stuffed because expressing
that power has seemed to be either impossible or unbearably
risky. A woman who has not yet found a satisfying way to
express the fertility of her imagination may well embody the
image of the "pregnan1 virgin."
A woman's belly also ponrays her feelings abou1 her
sexuality and womanhood. Conflict.s related to sex,
pregnancy, child-bearing, rape, incest, and abortion will often
influence the belly's health.
The Belly Center

Japan: Hara
ln Japanese cuhure, the point two inches below the navel is
named "tanden". To indicate the whole abdominal region, the
Japanese use the ierm "hara," which literally cranslatcs as
"belly." Hara refers to this central physical region of the body,
and 10 much more: the rich human potential for psychological
and spiriiual development. The person wi1h hara is, as
approximated by our language, "gutsy." He or she has
developed the clari1y of his or her "gut feelings" and
consistently acts on the strength of this inner knowing.
In Hara: The Vital Cenier of Man (sic), Karlfried Graf Von
Durckhcim details the role of hara in the Japanese tradition and
also characterizes the physical, psychological, and spiritual
benefits of developing hara 10 people of all cultures. According
tO Von Durckheirn, the qualities of a person with hara include:
a feeling of boundless energy; enhanced immunity from disease
and rapid recovery from illness; easy and graceful movement;
creative imagination; tranquility, pa1icnce, inner calm and
flexibility; confidence, endurance, conienonent; penetrating
insight; a capacity for quick and mature decision-making; the
experience of security and lhc ability to mee1 changes with
equanimity and poise; a sclf-&lt;:ollected harmony.
Von Durckhcim indicates that hara is significant for us on
two levels. For the individual, possession of hara "gives one a
special strength for living in this world." And on the universal
level, through hara "one is enabled to realize consciously one's
own being in the Great Being which is the ultimate meaning of
life." As hara develops and a person senses his or her own
immersion within, and identity with, the Great Being, he or she
"joyously experiences a new closeness to the world, to people
and lhings, to nature and God..."
India: The Ch.okras
The spiritual and healing traditions of Japan have evolved
from their initial source in yoga, the science of
self-development origina1ing in India more than 6,000 years
ago. Yoga recognizes a subtle core of life energy moving
through lhc body from the base of the spine to the crown of the
head. Along this column there are seven energy centers - seven
"chalcras." Each chakra corresponds to a location in the body
as well as t0 specific issues and concerns.
The belly region includes the firs1 three chalcras. Muladhara
chalcra is at the base of the spine, and rela1cs 10 our sense of
physical security and our individual survival, issues of trust
and mistrust. When lhis chakra is weak or congested a person
may typically experience fear - including fear of death, worry,
anxiety, and a fear of !erring go: "I feel threatened by ..." On a
regional and global level, solid was1c disposal and pollution
control seem to be "firs1 chakra" issues.
When it is clear and strong. the energy of lhis first chakra
generates self-sustaining instincts, urges, and initiatives; a
respectful awareness of the body and its functions; and a
healthy concern for self-preservation. I think of wilderness
survival training as a healthy "first chakra" activity: "l can take
(continued on next page)
JCQtUah Jo1.4mat PacJ'I 13

�(continued from page 13)

care of myself; I am always safe and secure."
1be second chakra is Swadhislhana, corresponding to the
reproductive organs and relating to sensuality. When energy is
congested here, a person typically experiences boredom,
frustration, and disappointment, often as the consequence of
overindulgence: "I feel incomplete unless I have ..." On a
larger scale, the problems related to over-production and
over-consumption of material goods arc "second chalcra"
issues.
In its clear expression, the second chalcra suppons the
faculties of imagining, generating ideas, recognizing
distinctions, and making choices. Enjoying beauty - savoring
tasty foods, appreciating good music, talcing delighi in vibrant
colors and rich texrurcs -- seem to me to be a healthy "second
chakra" expression: "Everything I need is already available to
me; the Universe supports me with abundant joy."

lower body, and belly center--between Heaven, Earth, and
the condition of being human. In order to perfect any pose,
holding its alignment with minimum cffon and maximum
relaxation, a person must discover for him or herself how to
intensify and use the strength of bis or her own belly. In this
process, a person also discovers how to sustain a balanced
relationship among upper body, lower body, and belly center.
1 see the belly as the point where energy descending
from the heavens through the torso meets energy ascending
through the legs from the Eanh. Such is the condition of being
human: living between the poles of heaven and earth,
embodying spirit, enfolding energy into matter, incorporating
consciousness.

The Cultured Belly: Views From Around the World

"If we are to heal the Earth,
let us start as close to home as possible:
let us start with the portions of Earth
which are our bodies."

The Wisc Woman tradition of herbal healing seems to
take a similar view. This ttadition perceives the intention of
Life to be so nurturing that our immediate environment
provides exactly the plants we need for promoting our
well-being. And these plants arc so abundant that we tend to
regard them as common weeds.
The third chakra is Manipura, ar the navel. It relates to
issues of personal will and the sense of emotional security.
Energy congested here often reveals itself in feelings of
jealousy, anger, resentment, hostility, and greed, resulting
from comparison and competition: "I bet I can make him
do .... " In a regional and global context, a third chakra issue is
political domination of one group of people over another.
As the energy at the third chakra clears and resolves, an
individual feels a secure sense of personal identity. I think of
healthy third chakra expression as self-empowerment - taking
assertive action in one's own best interest, motivated by self
esteem, and acting upon one's values no matter how unpopular
they may be: "I am at peace with my own feelings; I approve
of myself."
The stretching and breathing exercises of yoga energize
and clear the first three chalcras by bringing awareness to the
belly and by stimulating the flow of life energy up through
the central core. Some poses, such as Standing Leg Stretching
and Shoulder Stand, invert the torso and so apply the force of
gravity to draw the flow of energy down from the base of the
spine towards the crown of the head. Other poses, such as
Bow Pulling and Balancing Stick, require standing and
balancing on one leg while raising the other; they are difficult
to do without maintaining a sense of the belly as the pivot
point around which the body turns. In order to maintain
balance for more than a few seconds, a person must compress
the belly in towards the spine, increasing the density of the
belly center.
Poses such as Cobra, Locust, and Bow clear the
abdominal energy centers and also develop the power of
muscles in the abdomen, buttocks, and lower back. While in
these postures, a person must press the belly into the floor,
grounding it securely. Given this firm central contact and
support, the upper and lower portions of the body can lift
almost effortlessly: establishing the connection of the belly
with the Eanh allows the spirit to soar.
The poses of yoga bring the body into a configuration
which demonstrates the relationship between upper body,

As already mentioned, Oriental and Asian cultures
regard the belly with greatest respect, understanding it as the
center of life itself. Other cultures have given special attention
to the significance of the belly as well: belly dancing in the
Middle East and the vigorous ttaditional dances and midsection
massage of the South Sea Islanders ensure that the abdominal
muscles remain well-toned. I understand that two Australian
aborigine women will greet each other when they meet by
touching their bellies and foreheads together.

In American and European culture, the prescription for
physical beauty has included "belly in, chest out", as if the best
belly were an invisible one. Current fashions-high heels, tight
jeans, "tummy conttol" devices in underwear and pantyhose-work to flatten the belly, increasing the relative volume of the
upper body.
Hiding the belly and bringing attention to the upper body
signify the value our culture places on mental activity, speed,
and agility. Our attempt to raise Lhe body's center from the
belly to the chest, says Von Durckheim, reveals how we reject
our relationship to the Eanh: "The urge to transcend gravity is
quite natural to man (sic) as a spiritual being, but the desire to
break loose from the vitalizing bond with the solid earth is in
conflict with the law of his (sic) terrestrial existence."
European culture did not always consider the belly with
such distaste, however. Von Durckheim writes: "In the
Romanesque and Gothic sculpture the belly is clearly stated and
expresses strength...and calm acceptance of the bond with
earth....The Gothic belly seems 10 say: 'You cannot win
Heaven if you betray Earth."'
In The Obsession: Reflections On tire Tyranny of
Slenderness, Kim Chemin links our cultural attitude about
women's bellies with attitudes about pregnancy and childbirth.
She suggests that a womanly appearance-including a naturally
round and ample belly-- is threatening. It reminds us of a time
when as tiny infants we were helpless, totally dependent for
our survival on this huge, looming, rather frightening creature
called our mother. To see a woman with a large belly is to
revisit a primal sense of woman's awesome power.

Conclusion
A friend of mine often says, "How we do anything is
how we do everything." How we relate to our bodies and to
our bellies tells the ttuth about how we tend to the Earth and its
natural resources.
If we arc to heal the Earth, let us start as close to home
as possible: let us start with the portions of Earth which are our
bodies. Going beyond conceptions of good and bad, of
opposites and adversaries, to recognize the sanctity of all that
exists--including our very selves--this is the consciousness
which heals our bodies and will be healing our planet. And
we have a practical way to develop this consciousness, by
clearing and strengthening our bellies.
~
8pf'l-n4j, 1990

�~~

~UA~Jjf&gt;URNAL
.

SPECIAL EARTH DAY 1990 EVENTS SECTION

Earth Day Just Dawning........ .
Earth Day affords us the opportunity to
publicly recognize our home planet as our source of
sustenance and nurturancc, and to acknowledge the
need Cor it to be honored, protected, and
appreciated. It is a time to admit that it is home
and life support systell\not just ror us humans, but
for the whole ecological life community in whjch
we participate. It is a time to celebrate its beauty
and diversity and its incredible cvolvement.
It is also a time to take responsibility for
this richness which we have been given. We must
recognize tha t our Insatiable demands are
darkening the future of life on this Earth. Even as
we accept that grim reality, we can rejoice in the
fact that by realizing our responsibility, we also
realize our power-that when we begin to change
ourselves and our lifestyles, the planet can begin to
renew Itself.
Let us mark Earth Day 1990, not as a
one-day affair, but as the beginning of a decade of
change, a decade of action toward an ecologically

sound future. Earth Day has the potential to be a
significant catalyzing influence. It can help to
mobilize an ongoing, citizen effort towa rds
~luating our environmental crisis and responding
to it. Earth Day can also provide an opportunity
to engage a much broader constituency on local and
regional levels.
Environmental action, the green pledge, the
environmental audits for home, business, and
institution, the pledge of allegiance to the Earth,
the Earth flags .... All of these need not become
"have-beens" artcr April 22; ra ther, they need to
become habits. Earth Day provides practical
guidelines and tools which can be shared with the
wider community --on an ongoing basis.
Our actions on behalf of the Earth during
the decade lo come are what will make Earth Day
1990 a mearungful even t. The problems we face
are global in nature, but our actions must begin here
at home in o ur own region:

• The extinction of Sp&lt;'Cies threatens the
future of evolu tion. We can work to slop the
extinction of species by helping the black bear
here.
•Exploitation of the Earth as "rcsoun:cs• is
eroding the basis for life. We can help to stop
exploitation by protecting the forest here.
•The life cycles of the Earth arc being
poisoned by our pollution. We can join the effort to
stop the poisoning by demanding the beginning of
the end of acid rain. We can do something to stop
the poisoning by purifying our waler here.
It is almost 400 years since European people
first stumbled upon this continent. The invading
culture has been changing the face of this land
ever since. Now it is time to change ourselves. As
we celebrate the Earth, let us also accept our
responsibility ror lt.s future.

• The Editars of the Karuah Journal

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�Join in the celebration...
EARTH DAY
April 22, 1990!!
Celebrations and events will take
place "locally" all around the planet. In
our Katuah bioregion, there will be a
variety of events on Earth Day and
surrounding it. Here is a partial
listing ...Come join in the celebrations!
WATAUGA COUNTY, NC
APRIL 17 *Children's poster exhibit and Area
environmental exhibits. At Boone Mall. •concert by
Bill Oliver, well-known educator and environmental
follcsinger. At ASU Rosen Conccn Hall, BroyhHI
School of Music. Cont.act Harvard Ayers (704)

262-2295.
APRIL 18 • Environmental Exposition all day •
Earth Day storytelling with Karen Wallace. Al
Watauga Public Library. •Bill Oliver, mid-day conccn;
Judy Hunt, St.ate Represent.alive, speaking, 12:30 .
12:50 pm ; Earth Garnes, I - 2 pm. At ASU Mall.
•Speaker: Michael Robinson, Director, Na1.ional Zoo.
8:00 pm. Reception to follow. At ASU Fanhing
Auditorium. Contact Melissa Banh (704) 262-3098.
APRIL 19 •Environment.al exposition a.11 day: Janet
Hoyle, speaking 12:30 - 12:50 pm; Children's concen
with Bill Oliver, 1:30 - 2:30 pm. At ASU Ma.II.
•8:00 pm, Speaker: Thomas Berry, in1emationally
known speaker and author of TM Dream of IM Ear1h.
Reception to follow. Al ASU Farthing Auditorium.
Contact J. Linn Mackey (704) 262-2418.
APRIL 20 •s1eel drum band, 12 noon, a1 ASU Ma.IL
Tree planting on lhc ASU Mall, then moving to the
Boone Greenway. •Plant sale. a.i Rankin Gn:cnhouse.
• Awards, Children's poster exhibit, 7:00 pm. At
Boone Malt
APRIL 21 •Music on the ASU Mall. Bike-a-thon.
New River and Watauga River Clean up.• AJJ Species
Day Parade, starling 10:00 am, al the parking lot at
inlefSCCtion of King and Water Sts.. ending a1 ASU
Mall. Prizes for elerncnt.ary, middle, and high school
lellehers and studcnts...everyone invited to participate.
11:00 am, free ice cream. Cont.act Karen Lohr (704)
262-4089.
APRIL 22 EARTH DAY •Morning, Interfaith
worship.• Fun Run/Walk.• Earth Day ceremonies,
Earth games, storytelling, and music, beginning 12
noon. At ASU Mall. Cont.act Karen Lohr (704)
262-4089.

APRIL 22 EARTH DAY • Sunrise Ceremony with
stories and song. *Nature and wildlife hikes
throughout He nderson County. •Earth Day
Celebration, hands-on activities, storytelling, music,
recycling demonstration. Jackson Park,
Hendersonville, NC. Coniact Ms. Freudenberger (704)
693--0135.

BUNCOMBE COUNTY, NC
MARCH 19 • APRIL 30 Tree Planling. ConLact
Monte Wooum, Quality Forward (704) 254- I 776.
MARCH 29 Asheville-Buncombe EARTH DAY 1990

Community Meeting, 5:30 pm at the Unitarian
Univcrsalist Church (Charlolle SL). AJJ are encouraged
IO plan events for our own neighborhood or area and IO
voluntccr to help with local projects and events. To be
included in an area-wide calendar of Banh events, call
Dory Brown (704) 622-713 1 or write:
Asheville-Buncombe EARTH DAY 1990, P.O. Box
5855, Asheville. NC 28813.
APRIL 2 • 7 River Awareness Weck sponsored by
Warren Wilson College. Culminates with Swannanoa
River Clean-Up on SalUrday. Info: (704) 298-3325.
APRIL 7 Glad-Bagalhon open 10 groups and
individuals wanling 10 participate in litter clean-up
project and weigh-in contest. Contact Jane Wilson,
Qwilily Forward, (704) 254-1776.
APRJL 9 • 13 Project Pride Weck. sponsored by
Quality Forward and Asheville-Buncombe EARTH
DAY 1990. Experiential environment.al education
through lhe ans and sciences for students of Buncombe
County Schools. Info (704) 254·1776.
APRIL 16 *Free day al lhc Nature Center, Gashes
Creek Road, Asheville. (704) 298-5600. • Artisl°s
Earth Day exhibit unveiled; artists will exhibit !heir
environmental an in the unoccupied storefronts on
Haywood St. and Pack Square, Asheville.
APRJL 16-20 • Earth Weck at Aficrschool Programs;
Monte Wooten of Quality Forward is willing to come
to Asheville afl.erschool programs to give t.alks on our
earth and its environment. Cont.act Monie Wooten
(704) 254-1776. *Landfill Tours for EducaJOrS: group
or organization opportunity to tour local landfill.
Cont.act Steve Heisclman, landfill recycle coorinator,
or Monie Wooten, Quality Forward, (704) 254-1776.
APRIL 20 Conference: Resources a1 Risk: The
Effee1s of Acid Precipilation and Ozone on 1he
SoUJMrn Appalachians. 8:30am-4:00pm UNCA Owen
Center. Sponsored by: Western North Carolina
Tomorrow, USDA Fores t Service-SE Forest
Experiment Station and UNCA Environmenlal Studies
Program. Registration $5.00....Caten:d Lunch $5.00.
Contact: Fn:d Huber (704) 251-6104.

HEN DE RSON COUNTY, NC
APRIL 21 Art Auel.ion. Work donated by notable
area artists, proceeds go to saving the wetlands in
Henderson County. Cont.act David Malpass (704)
697-9557.

APRIL 20 Ctltbra1 IM Earth Story Thomas Berry,
ing
intemalionalJy-known spealce.r and aulhor of The
Dream of IM Earth (Sierra Club Press, 1989), will
give a talk at Owen Conference Center. UNC-A as pan
of community-wide Earth Week aclivities. 7:30pm.
No charge. Reception follows.

APRIL 21 The Sixth Annual Environment.al
Summit: Al IM Crossroads: lmpacl of Devtlopmenl
on Environmenlal Qualily. Speakers include.: Thomas
Berry, Cynthia Sullivan, BilJ Holman and others.
UNC-A Owen Conference Cent.er. Cont.act: (704)
251-6104.
APRIL 21 "Earth Energies" talk by Morgan Eaglebcar,
an Apache medicine man and great grandson of
Geronimo. 10:00-12:00pm; Opponunity to partake in
a sweaL Two lodges builL Beginning 12:00 noon.
Love offering accepted. At Eanh Center, Swannanoa,
NC. Cont.act: Zoe&amp;. Jim Martin (704) 298-3935.
APRIL 21-22 Chez Op1 ion plans to show
environmental videos and distribute pamphlets in
SLOrcfront location on Haywood SL, Asheville, NC.
APRIL 22 EARTH DAY Celebration!! EvetyOllC is
invil.ed to wear Green for show of Earth solidarity!
• Bike ride for children and adults through downtown
Asheville. 12:30 pm. Contact Steve Millar (704)
254-0414. •Earth Day parade begins a1 2pm in
Downtown Asheville and marches IO City/County
Plaza. Everyone encouraged Lo join in!! • Earth
Games, Rainbow Games, and environmenlal exhibits
geared toward children. after the parade, at Radisson
Plaza Parking LoL •RALLY, wilh music, speakers,
sLrCCt lhealcr, and booths offering food, environment.al
products and information. •Bring your recyclables;
Scot Sanderson will have a recycling booth and will be
accepting plastic milk jugs. green and clear plastic
soda boules, aluminum, and sorted glass.
Pr oj ect EARTH (Environment.aJ Arrangement
Requiring Transportation that's Homemade) will aeate
a moveable environment.al display and show it in the
parade. ConlllCt: Project Eanh, PO Box 5855,
Asheville, NC 28813.
Re-invent Fair Have fun creating inventions from
recycled malCrial. Ideas can be pratical like making
sandals from old I.ires, or imaginative, like making a
perpetual motion machine from odds and ends. For
form and details, cont.act: Quality Forward, PO Box
22, AshcviJle, NC 28802 by April 16.

KNOXVILLE, TN AREA
APRIL 16 Murray Bookchin will speak a.t University
Center, UT campus. 7:00 pm
APRJL 21 • 22 EARTH DAY ECO-FAIR. Earth
Day Office: (615) 974-0643.
APRIL 21 EARTH DAY Benefit Concert. Earth Day
Office: (615) 974-0643.
APRIL 22 EARTH DAY Events • 5-K "Run for the
Earlh", sl8rtS a1 9 am a1 UT Vet School • Dance
againSt DeslrUCLion Marathon Benefit Dance• Video
festival •Earth Day Office: (615) 974-0643 or Center
for Global Sustainabili1y: (615) 524-4771.

�JOHNSON CITY, TN

NORTH GEORGIA

OTHEll RESOURCES:

APRIL 22 EARTH DAY CELEBRATION,
Downtown Johns on City, 1:00pm -5:00pm.
T~·planting, Music, storytelling, displays, recycling
fundraising, and Adopt-a-planter program. Contact;
Beuy Anderson, Director of Downtown Association
(615) 926-8546.

APRIL 17-22 Earth Skills Gathering. Twelve
individual ~ showing a wide variety of Native
American skills. Contaet: Darry Wood (704)
389-0428.

Eco-Net, an international computer network
link, will carry a national bulletin board for the
sharing of information, graphics, and ideas for
EARTH DAY events. EcoNet, 3228 Sacramento
Street, San Francisco, CA 94114/ (415) 923-0900.

KINGSPORT, TN

Earth Day Activities and events throughout Nonh
Georgia, contaet: Jirn Sneary (404) 226-0116, Dalton,
GA; Andrea Timpone (404) 535-1976 Gainesville,
GA; Christa FrangiJunorc (404) 351-3456 Atlanta.
GA.

APRIL 19 "Young Ecologist" Action Award presented
at Watauga Audubon Society Meeting.

GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLI NA

APRIL 21 EARTH DAY ACTIVITIES at Bay's
Mountain State Park, near Kingsport. Info: (61 S}
229-9447. Also Glad Bagathon and Recycling evenLS
in Tri-Cities area. Then. gathering at Davy Crockeu
Stale Park.
APRIL 22 EARTH DAY CELEBRATION sponsored
by Watauga Audubon, State of Franklin Sicmi Club
and ochers. Bluegrass music wilh cnvironmenUll lyrics,
storytelling, T-shins, 1-5pm at Bruce Park in
Kingsport.

FLOYD COUNTY, VA
APRIL 2 1 EARTH DAY AcnVITIES/ FUN DAY
FOR KIDS Kite flying. rccycUng exhibits, music,
food, local speakers. Contaec Mary Day (703)
763-2000.

EnvlroNet sponsored by Greenpeace Action and
open to the public. Greenpeace Action, Bldg. E,
Fort Mason, CA 94123. (415) 47U767.

APRIL 21 Earth Day Activities at Roper Mountain
Science Center. Speakers, music, booths, distributing
ttceS, ceremonial ucc-planting, free Ben &amp; Jerry's ice
cream, living farm demos, and organic gardening,
nature walks, 9am-3pm. • Recycling Fa ir at
Greenville Braves Stadium, 8am-3pm. Contact: Linda
Elmore (803) 281-0090 . •Parade from Ci1y Hall lO
Heritage Green, 3pm-5pm. Contaet Jay Rogers: (803)

232-3690
APRil.. 22 EARTH DAY CELEBRATIONS around
the area. • Music at McPherson Park, 3pm-5pm.
Contact Mary Ellen Settlemycr (803) 240-4326
*EvcntS at Furman University, coruact: Amelia Fusaro
(803) 233-1232. Otl&gt;cr Earth Day Activities &amp;: related
events, contaet: Earth Day Steering Committcc for

OTHER EVENI'S

IntemaUonal ECO-City Conference will take
place in Berkeley, California, March 29- April
1, 1990. Keynote speaker. Dennis Hayes, Earth
Day Director. Info: Cerro Gordo Dorena Lake,
Box 569, Cottage, Grove, OR 97424. (503)
942-mO.

Earth Day Wall St. Action on Monday, April 23.
Contact: Brian Tokar, P.O.Box 93, Plainfield,
VT 05667.

Greenville, George Actehef (803) 288-8782;
OTHER EARTH DAY CONTACTS:

BLACKSBURG, VA
APRIL 17
Rainforest Sympos ium. Conl8ct:
Si.ephanie Trimmer (703) 951-5173.

Klds Netwotk Students all over North America
can share environmental data. National
Geographic Society, Ed. Services, Dept. 1001,
Washington, OC 20Cll7. (800) 368-2728.

Earth Day 1990 National Hdqtrs (415)321 -1990
Earth Day 1990 SE Regional HdqLrs: (404) 352-4080
Earth Day Southeastern Campus Coordinaior: ~i
Calloway (404) 876-8634

EARTHWEEK "MESSAGE OF THE DAY"
Earth Weck will nationally focus on an
"EnvironmcnUll Message of the Day": Monday (April
16} Energy; Tuesday (April 17) Recycling; Wednesday
(April 18) Waicr, Thursday (ApriJ 19) Alternative
Transportation: Friday (April 20) Toxics Information;
Saturday (April 21) Outdoor/Recreation. For more
info: Diana Aldridge (41S} 321-1990.

APRIL 18 Environmental Teach-In. CEC Auditorium.
1:30pm-9:00pm.
APRIL 20 •Earth Grove Dedication. Tree-planting.
ConL&amp;ct: Heather McEllroy (703) 552-7897. •
Rainforest Benefit Concert. Buddy's ResL&amp;urant
9:00pm.
APRIL 21 •Broomln' &amp; Bloomin' Clean-Up 9:00am1:00pm •Bike Parade 2:00pm-3:00pm •Earth Festival
at Duck Pond 3:00pm-6:00pm. Contaet: Linda Binner
(703) 961-0586.
APRIL 22 PEACE-EARTH DAY CELEBRATION
Noon 'ti! Dark. At Amphitheater, Virginia
Poytcehnical Institute. Contact: Elizabeth DuFrane
(703) 232-2338. Environmental Audit Information for
Arca Colleges and Businesses. Conlllct: David
Hirschman (703) 951-8949.

ROANOKE, VA AREA

(jreen P{etfge
I pfeage to /Q my sfiare in savin9 tfu plamt 6y
f.tttin9 rny conum for cfu environment sfiape fww !:
Jilct: I pf.t49e to tU1 my utmost to recycle, UJnserve
tMl'//!J• saw fl/OUr, use efficient transportation, arul try to atfopt
a Gfestyf.t as if every tfay were 'E.arlli 'Day.
Purcfuue: I pfuf9e to 6uy l11llf use only tfwse proi{uct.s
feast fuzrmful to tfu environment. ?rlorwva, I wilI tlo 6usiruss
witli corporation.s tliat promote 9{06a{ environmental
ruponsi6ili ty.
'J/ote: I pk49c to vou arul support tfwse uuufufaw
wfw tkmonstrau an a6itflne UJnurn for tfst erwirrmment.
Support: I pfufae to support tfu pass49e of louJl. stau
arul fuftrol laws ana inurnational treaties tliat prouct tfu
environment.

Earth Day Activities &amp;t related events. Coniact: Chris
Barlow (703) 774-0581 or 989-0802.

You COii return this pledge to your local Earth Day group or
mail ii 10 Earth Day 1990, P.O. Box AA Stanford Uni..,ersity, C.4
94309

�SUGGESTIONS FOR
PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT

·ElkinglOll, John, et al. The Green Conswner. Penguin,
1990.
•Capl:in, Ruth and Staff of Environmental ActK&gt;n. Our
Earth, 011rstlwts. Bantam, 1990.

'.You tTUtJ(u want tQ.........
~ a hih - ~ a 6~ - diiM a tru - /Jiflt. t1ie
'Lartli a !Jift - (U{qpt a struzm - plant a tru 6e a utter·critter - astfast footf places tq use fess
protfur.t padc.Jiuitlfl - fimit use of pesticitles ion't tn:at soil fi{(J 4irt - avqjtf petro·cfilmicDl
transportation - fast for t1ie tlay -wal(.. G9fitfy.
jl

Recycling
• Help start a recycling routine at your school or
workplacc...aluminum cans, office paper, glass, CIC.
•Encourage your city and county governments lO set
up a curbside recycling program • Get your local
newspaper to print on recycled paper • Help gel a
"boUle biU" law passed by your Stale legislat.ure

Alternative Transportation
• Get bike lanes adopted for your city and county
Have some streets closed periodically, open only to
bicycles. • Ask that public uunsponation be improved
in your area and that mini-vans be explofed as part or
the solution.

Pfeage of jt{{egiance

to tfie 'FArtfi
I p(eage affegiance to tft.e

'F,artft., arul to tfie /fora, fauna
arul fiuman (ije tftat it supports,
one pfanet, irulivisi6(e,
witfi safe air, water ana soil
economic justice, equal rigfits
arul peace for a«.

Education
• Encourage your school to use the Earth Day '90
Lesson Plan and Home Survey which looks at energy
conservation, home toxics, transporuilion, water
conservation, and recycling • Encourage schools and
colleges in your area to conduct the Environmcnial
Audit • Adopt-A-Stream or other environmenllll project
at a natural area near your school • Tree-planting
aroWld school, and food for wildlife landscaping

Community Awareness
• Award businesses that use environmentally sound
practices • Help convert an urbnn vacant 101 inio a parlc.
or community gardens space • Support regionally and
locally owned businesses. • Buy products grown or
produced t11 lhc region • Invest in regionn.I businesses

Flying the Earth Flag!
Now is lhe time to encourage businesses,
schools, scout troups and others in the
community to get in the habit of publicly
displaying the Eanh Flag.
Sizes available: Large 3'x5' durable
nylon for inside or outside use; Medium 2'x3'
cotton for parade or inside use; and small
6"x9", on 15" stick. Available regionally and
nationally.
One regional source is: AshevilleBuncombe EARTH DAY 1990, P.O. Box
5855, Asheville, NC 28813.

Corporate Accountability
The Valdez Principles
A coalition of leading environmental organizations and
social investment firms have drafted a set of ten
guidelines for corporalC conduct concerning the
environment. They ore referred to as the Valdez
Principles. They address the issues of pollutants,
sustainable use of natural resources, rcducuon and
disposal of waste, energy efficiency, conservation, riSk
reduction IO employees and surrounding communities,
maarketing of safe products and services, damage
compensation, disclosure of poienulll hazards, need for
environmental representatives on corporate boards of
directors, and the value of annual corporate
environmental audits.

A copy of the Valdtz Principles is available from local
Earth Day groups as wrell as the Earth Day 1990
national ojfi~.

MAGAZ I NES
•Earth Island Journal. Enrth Island lnsutuLC, 300
Broadway, Suite 28, S:in Francisco, CA 94133
•£ -The Environmental Magazine P.0.Box 6667,
Syracuse, NY 13217. (800) 825-0061
•Raise the Stakes. Planet Drum Foundation, P.O.Box
31251, San Francisco, CA 94131
•World•Watch. Worldwateh lnslltut.c, 1776 Massachu:.eus
Ave., NW, Washington, OC 20036.
THINGS TO DO...
•The Earth Works Group. 50 Simple Things You Can
Do To Save The Earth. Box 25, 1400 Shlmuck Ave.,
Bcrlceley, CA 94709.
•MacEachcm, Diane. Save 011r Planet: 750 Everyday
Ways You Can llelp Clean Up the Earth. Dell, 1990.
-Council on Economic Proiorities. Shopping for a Beller
World. 30 Irving Place, New York, NY 10003

GOO D BOOKS...
•Raven, Peier H. The Global Ecosysuim in Crisis. The
MacArthur Foundation, 140 South Dearborn St.,
Chicago, n.. 60603, 1987.
•Berry, Thomas. The Dream of the Earth. San Francisco:
Siena Club Books, 1988.
•Sahtouris, Elisabet. Gaia: The Human Journey from
Chaos 1 Cosmos. 1989.
0
•Lovelock, J. E. The Ages of Gaia: A Biography of our
Living Earth. W.W. Nonon &amp; Co., 1988.
•Myers, Nonnan Dr., Gen. Ed. Gaia: An Atlas of
PlaMtary Manageme/I/. New York: A(IChor Books. 1984.
•World Commission on Environmentand"DevolopmenL
Our Common Fui11re. Oxford: Oxford Uni.vcrsity Press.
•Nash, Roderick. The RighJs of NaJurt, A History of
Environmental Ethics. Madison: University of
Wisconsin Press, 1989.
•Taylor, Paul W. Rts~ct for Na111re: A Theory of
Environmtntol Ethics. Princeton: Princeton U. Press,
1986
•Berger, John J. Restoring the Earth: /low Americans
Are Working to Renew our Damaged Environmtnt. New
York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1986.
•Register, Richard. Ecocily Berkeley: Building Cities for
.4 lleaJtlty F"""'°~· BcrJco!Qy, Nortll Atlllntic Books,
1987.
•Berg, Pe1er, et al. A Green City Program For San
Francisco Bay Area Cities &amp; Towns. San Francisco:
Planet Drum Books, 1989.
•Tokar, Brian. The Green Alternative: Creating on
Ecological Future. San Pedro: R. &amp; E. Miles, 1987.
•Renner, Michael. Rethinking the Role of the
Automobile. Worldwaich Paper #84, 1988.
•Todd, Nancy Jack and John. Bios/1e/1us, Ocean Aries,
City Farming: Ecology As The Basis of Design. Son
Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1984.
•Margolin, Malcolm. The Earth Manual: /low io Work
on Wild land Without Taming It. Berkeley: Heyday
Books, 1985.
•LaChapellc, Dolores. Earth Wisdom, 1978. Also Sacred
I.And, Sacred Sez-Rap111re of the Deep, 1988. Finn Hill
Arts, P.O. Boll 542, Silverton, CO g1433.
•Henderson, Hazel.The Politics of the Solar Age.
Alternatives to Economics. Doubleday Anchor, 198 I.
· Sale, Kirkpatrick. lluman Scale . New York: G. P.
Putnam's Sons. 1980.
· Fulc:uolca, Masanobu. The Ont-Straw Revoluiion. An
ln1roduction 10 Natural Farming. Emmaus: Rodalc Press,
1978.
°:Meclter-Lowry, Susan. Econo1T11cs as If the Earth Rl'ally
Mallued. Philadelphia: New Society Publishers, 1988.
•Sprctnalc, Charlene. The Spiritual Dunensions ofGrun
Politics. Santa Fe: Bear &amp; Company, 1986.
•Seed, John, Macy, Joanna, et al. Thinking like A
Mountain : Towards A Council Of All Beings.
Philadelphia: New Society Publishers, 1988.
This regional EARTH DAY 1990 EVENTS section
is compliments of Kaluah Journal; Bioregional
Journal of /ht Southern Appalachians , P.O. Box
638, Leicester, NC 28748. Published Quarterly.
Subscription: $10/year.

�FOOD FROM THE ANCIENT FOREST
by Snow Bear
In all the seasons, these mountains speak to us of their
beauty and sacredness. But ln the springtime rebirth of the
plant people, that beauty is projected in vibrant colors,
awe-Inspiring forms, fantastic abundance, and incredible
diversity. It is a good time for human beings to go to the coves
where ancient trees stand, to rest and watch, listen, and learn;
there Is strength, healing, and sustenance to be found there.
Some of the richest soil on Earth can be found In these
coves; In one such place I pushed my arm into deep, black loam
up to my elbow. In such soil grows Incredibly nourishing, vllal
foods. As you gather food from these coves, remember that the
old forests are disappearing beneath the chain saws and
bulldo:ters of a nation hungry for lumber and profit. I have been
told to speak prayerfully and announce my intention to the
spirit running through the life of that mountain. Pass over at
least four plants before picking one. Restore earth and leaf mold
to any holes left from digging roots - in fact, leave no visible
traces of your plant gathering. Do not gather plants in a heavily
trafficked area, such as hiking trails. I have been taught to
acknowledge the taking of any life with prayer and a gift (of
sage or t. bacco).
o
•In April and early May, the flowers known to botanists
as the spring ephemerals blanket the mountainsides. Many of
them are choice edible plants that grow abundantly to allow
gathering for food. Some of these Include:
TR0UT ULY (Erythronlum americanum) A yellow lily emerges from between two green and brown
mottled leaves. The leaves have a sweet flavor and may be added
to salads or cooked as potherb. The leaves that have no blossom
are choicest; after blooming there may be a slightly bitter
aftertaste. The bulbs are edible when cooked.

TOAOSHAOE TRILLIUM (Trillium sessile) •
The young leaves before fully unfolded have a sugary, sweet
taste. Bitterness makes the leaves unpalatable when the
blossom emerges. This trillium (and T. erectum, T.
grandiflorum) are good raw or cooked, but harvest only where
abundant.
SPRING BEAUTY (Clayton/a virgin/ca and caroliniana)
and RUE ANEMONE (Anemonella lhalictroides) - can often be
found together in immense patches on wooded mountain slopes.
The pea-sized tubers are an excellent addition to soups, stews,
and steamed greens.
•The ephemerals described above grow, blossom and die
quickly. Their growth cycle ends when the trees leaf out. Other
edible spring wildflowers have a longer growing season. These
include:
INOIAN CUCUMBER ROOT (Medeota vlrgln/ana) This wildflower occurs in so many different plant tribes such
as: mixed hardwood climax forest, hemlod&lt; glade, dry oak soils,
or moist creekbanks. It often grows in large patches that may
be thinned. Its root ls while, crispy, and watery, similar to
cucumber or water chestnut in flavor and texture. It is best
eaten raw.
(continued on next page)
Sprl.ncJ, 1990

Drawings by K.im S111dland

�SC FOREST WATCH GROUP
WINS APPEAL
Nlllnl World News Savico

The South Carolina Forest Watch group worting

foa.&lt;£.sfia&lt;f:e

-Jr.ill i u,m,

(continued Crom page 19)

SOLOMON'S SEAL (Polygonatum biflorum) Until the end of August, the leaves and roots may be harvested.
In spring, harvest only lower leaves to avoid disrupting the
flowering cycle; after seeding, the top leaves are more tender.
The leaves, like the root, are sweet and slightly mucilaginous.
The roots are often three-quarters of an inch thick and ten
inches long. Try harvesting the oldest (back) end of the root,
leaving two-thirds of the root undisturbed. The root Is a good
source of complex carbohydrates when cooked In soups and
stews.
RAMPS (wild leeks - Allium ttioocum) Ramps are the only wild plant still honored with festivals by
entire towns! At these festivals, people may saturate every cell
in their bodies with the pungent, garlic-like smell of ramps
without being shunned by family, friends, or neighbors. I have
found this mountain gourmet food in huge quantities in moist,
gravelly soils (subsurface springs) and in the yellow
birch-grass meadows of the high mountain gaps. Cream of
"potato• (Solomon's seal root) leek soup with bluff mustard
greens or ramps steamed with puffball mushrooms on the side
makes a gourmet foraging meall
The raw ramp bulbs are very strong and health-giving as
a blood purifier and tonic.
BROAD LEAF TOOTHWORT (bluff mustard - Dentaria
diphylla) - The white, cross-shaped flowers are abundant in
late April. The plant grows in shallow leaf mold on creek rocks
and banks. The leaves are available throughout the winter, but
the hot mustard taste gets milder in the spring. The
Interconnected roots of the bluff mustard patch taste just like
horseradish - finely grated with mayonnalse and vinegar it
makes a good hot sauce or dip.
To eat the food of the mountains where the beings of
nature live in the undisturbed patterns of the long-ago forest
attunes our bodies with the seasons and climate of Katuah, our
minds with the beauty of Katuah, and our hearts with the nature
spirits of Kaltiah.
May we walk In beauty and balance in these ancient
mountains.

in the Andrew Pickens District of the Sumi.Ct National
Forest in South Carolina has successfully placed itself
between the chain saws and trees of Compartment 43 in
the Chauga River walelShcd. The proposed timber sale
would cut three different timber siands tomlling 90 acres
in one of the two largest unfragmented mauue hardwood
stands in the Sumter Forest. fl consists of 300

contiguous acres of mawre hardwood irees and contains
the oldest hardwood sLBnd in the forest. The cul would
divide mature stands almost in two and would border on
lhe oldest group of uees on two sides.
Late in September, 1989, Forest Wa!Ch members
heard about the sale only nine days before Lhe appeal
period was to end. A flurry of activity produced an appeal
based on four factors: fragmentation of Lhe forest
resulting in deleterious edge effects on native forest
species. lack of a site-specific analysis, overcuning of lhe
site, and Lhe impact of the clearcutting on the water
quality of Crooked Creek.
The appeal was quickly sent o(f to the regional
forester's office in Atlanta, and four months later, the
Forest Waich group received a five page reply that
seemed to be almost a complete vindication of the Forest
Service's position. The only concession to the Forest
Watch appeal was a statement saying that the .district
ranger had not documented his cumulative effects analysis
on water quality. Therefore, the group was surprised to
read at the bottom of the last page, "For these reasons,
lhe appellant's claim is upheld."
However. tile victory is only a panial one for the
Forest Watch group and the forest. The appeal was
upheld on only one of the four basic contentions set fonh
in the document: the water quality issue. The regional
forester's decision said Lhat, as there was no mention of
Lhe other issues in Lhe Sumter Forest's Land and
Resource Management Plan, they were not legitimate
bases for appeal.
The Forest Waichers fear Lhal forest supervisor
Donald Eng, a hardline timber man, will quickly return a
revised timber sale plan for Comparunent 43, so the
saws are delayed as little as possible.
Undaunted, lhe group has decided Lhat by refusing
to consider the issues or forest fragmentation and
overculting, and other possible uses for the old timber
stand and Lhe forest as a whole. the Forest Service has
escalated the action. SC Forest Watch feels that since
such imponant considerations have been neglected, Lhe
forest plan ilSClf needs to be amended.
The Sumter Forest Land and Resource
Management Plan is up for a live-year review this year,
and the Forest Watch organization is requesting
amendment or a complete revision of Lhe plan. If the
Forest Service denies Lhat request, the group will then
appeal Lhat decision. SC Forest Watch is determined to
bring about a long-term change of policy in Lhe Sumter
National Forest..
Contact
SC Forest Watch
Box657

Wesaninster, SC
KatUah Province 29693

SNOW BEAR Is a herbalist, naturalist, environmental educator,
and director of the Pepper/and Farm Camp. He can be contacted
by writing to Pepper/and Farm Camp; Rt. 4, Box 255-B;
Murphy, NC 28906 or by phone st (704) 494- 2353.

Sp r1.n9, 1990

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DIOXIN vs THE ENVIRONMENT

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HELMS "STUMPS" NC FORESTS
As pan of an experimenlal pilot project, Ille Bush
administration recently released a list of southeasiem
national fon:slS where below-cost timber sales would be
slOppCd for two years.
North Carolina forest.s were mystenously
removed from that list. despite a Congressional study
showing that the Pisgah-Naru.ahala National ForeslS lost
$2.S million in 1988. h toter came to tight that,
although originally on th.at list. the Pisgah and Nanuthala
forests wcre om1ued aflcr sarong persuasion from Scnaior
Jcs.sc Helms.
A Nonh Carolina Forestry Associauon (NCFA)
newsletter article titled "Helms Helps National Fon:slS
in N.C. • reveals, "Helms used leuers from NCFA
members, Appalachian Multiple Use Council, and the
Appalachian Hardwood Manufacturcl'S Associauon to no1
only remove Pisgah-Nanlahala, but to force a review of
the whole below-cost initiative."
There arc 12 southeastern forests on the
below-cost liSt. including the Cherokee in Tenncsscc, the
George WashinglOll in Virginia, and Lhe Chatahoochcc in
Georgia. Bjorn Dahl, supervisor of Ille national forests
in North Carolina. was uncertain why Nonh Carolina
forests were rcrnoved Crom the program. "I know we
were on Ille original list." Dahl said. "We were advised
we were on, but when Lhe list came out we were off."
The proposal in the fiscal 1991 budget submiued
IO Congress in January would reduce the amount of
timber removed from the Wgeted foreslS by about 38
pcn:ent during a one-year test. One method of offsetting
the loss of pronts in timber sales was a pilot project that
will experimentally increase recreational use of the
forests. The prognun would mean higher fees for some
recreational uses and new fees for previously free
activities, such as picnic areas, boat ramps. and parking
lolS.
According IO the Forest Service the program will
have insignificant impacts on timber interest.s around the
12 national forests. Should the program continue for the
Delli five years an estimated S2S jobs would disappear.
Mary Kelly of the Western Nonh Carolina
Alliance poinlS out that the Pisgah-Nanuthala may have a
more sustainable future in recreation rather than timber
hqwdation. Kelly states, · we have a large number of
bade country and whitewaier outfitlCIS, and a large lOUrist
economy that 1s much more important than umber
resources IO our local economy, and it's unfortunate that
we weren't given the same chance to Lest out our ability
to manage for these resources."

Sowct: Asheville Citizen, Mat'ch 2. 1990
Spr L"'J. 1990

In the continuing saga of wa1et quality vs. dioxin,
we fmd owselves, once again, at a pulp and paper
processing plant. This time, we've moved over the
l1IOWllain from Canion and Olampioo Colporalion IO Lhe
Ecusta Corporation mill, on the Davidson River in
Transylvania County, NC.
The story is quite familiar. Chlorine is used as a
bleaching agent on wood pulp which, in tum, is used to
produce white paper products··m this case, lightweight
paper for bible pages and cigarette papers. Diollin. a
highly carcinogenic IOXin, is produced during lhis ~
and subsequently rclc.ased in the plant's discharge. In the
case of Ecusta, dioxin has been found in fish sampled
downstream from the plant in the French Broad River.
A considerable amount of wrangling has been
going on between Ille NC Department of Environmenlal
Management (DEM) and the EPA over whether or not
Ecusta's waStewater needs to be monitored. In February
1989. the DEM released a list of the state's toxic
discharge sites which would be required to clean up their
acL Ecusta was not on the lisl.
The EPA disagreed with this decision and 1n June
released ilS own clean-up list which contained Ecusta and
nine other Nonh and South Carolina mills. EPA then
informed DEM that Ecusta must also be included on the
state list, or they would overrule the state and seize
control of Ecusta's was1ewater permit, as allowed by the
Oc.an W31.Cl Act of 1979.
In July, the state capitulated and included Ecusta
on an amended but still preliminary tisL Finally, in
February 1990, the state released its final list, which
included both the EcUSta and Champion mills, and EcUSLa
was given a deadline of June, 1993 to comply with
newly developed state limits on dioxin discharge.
In a scenario familiar from Champion days,
Ecusta's parent company, the P.H. Glatfelter Company,
based in Pennsylvania, claims ii may be forced to close
the plant if required IO meet Ille st.aodards by 1993.
The EPA 's rote in pressing the state IO control
Ecusta's wastewater permit has been the focal point for
much of the prolCSl by those rallying to the side of the
county's largest employer. In a front page anicle io the
Asheville Citizen on 1/17/90, Esther Wesley, cxecutivc
director of the Transylvania County Chamber of
Commerce, was quoted as saying "Ecusta doesn't have a
problem-EPA has a problem. They rcally expect entirety
IOO much from a manuf.acturing planL •
The Glatfelter Company apparently agrees with
Ms. Wesley and filed a fcdcral lawsuit in January asking
US District Judge Richard Voorhees to prohibit the EPA
from invalidating OEM's original decision not to include
Ecusta on its cleanup lisL Much of the dissension among
Ecust.a, the state, and the EPA centers on confusion
about bow and where to measure dioxin in the river.
Fish sampled last year just below the plant had
up to eight times more dioxin than fish sampled 4.4
miles downstream. However, state and mill officials
point out th.at farmland and the town of Brevard's
wastewater treatmenl plant could pocentially contribule
diollin. To confuse mauers further. periodic samples of
Ecusia wastewater have not revealed mcasurcable levels
of diollin (although dioxin is more rctiably detected in
fish tissues than in waler samples).
In addition, there is liule agreement over how
much dioxin is IOO much. Despite insisting that Ecusta
discharge should be controlled, the agency has never
established wastewater limitations for l'lax·pulping mills,
or which Ecusta is one of two in the U S.
The DEM did not adopt a diollin standard until
October. It is not a uniform standard, but one based on
the quantity of a plant's efOuent and the receiving
waterway's ability to dilute iL

ract

Tbe one
which la 1101 coolusillg is that
dioxin is a very dangerous substance., especially when it
is on tbe loose in unknown quantities in the
envilOnmenL It is ""' acceptable to have communities
along Lhe French Broad River living in fear of dioxin
conramination.

The NC Division of Environmental Management
(DEM) is seeking comments on 1 proposal to identify
and set special proccctive standards for stmuns in the
SllllC iclcnliflCd as "High Quality Waiers." Over 900 miles
of streams in the western part of the state are up for
n:classificalion.
Write 10 the DEM in support of the High Quality
WalCtS rcclassifteation. Address comments to:
Greg Thorpe
NC Division of Environmental Management
Box 27687
Raleigh, NC 27611

THE DEFENSE OF WRIGHT
SQUARE
Nlllnl World News Service

Wright Square was a small green arc.a amid the
mini-malls in Highlands, NC. Sill 45 year old dogwood
trees and one old arbor vitae tree stood there until the
Town Board decided it needed additional padcing places for
downtown shoppers.
The November elections had brought some
changes to Lhe Lown. Voters had made their choices clear.
For the first time a woman and an
environmentally-leaning candidate were elected IO the
Town Board. The old board members saw that there was
going to be some opposition in their ranks, and decided
that before the new board was convened they would take
care or one tittle project: Wright Sqwirc.
Townspeople had thought th.at the square would
be one of Lhe fll'Sl topics IO be addressed when the new
Town Board was installed, so they were surprised one
Friday when bulldozc:n appeared in the square and started
to work demolishing the trees. Immediately women from
local garden clubs came to the defense of the bit or nature
left in the square. It was a school holiday, so they were
joined by some high school students, members of a
studen t environmental group, Youth Advocating
Planetary Improvement (YAPI).
Carrying a few Earth flags, the townspeople
stopped the demolition work for the day. Workers
lounged about their machines as the women clustered
around the trees, and a few of the students occupied the
branches of the dogwoods.
At the end of the day the workers left, and the
protc.slOrS also went home, congratulating themselves on
a job well done. However, unknown to anyone, during
the night Lhe bulldozers plus worters with chainsaws
were ordered IO return to the scene, and when morning
broke the town woke up to find Wright Square leveled to
the pavement.
The Town Board may have won a temporary
victory, but they stirred up a furor in the town of
Highlands.
As one woman put it, "Certainly we're concerned
about the trees, but it wasn't just about the uus. It wa&lt;1
about a large number of people who cared deeply about
their environment not being liStened to by the governing
body of the town. It was also about the issue or
representative govcnwent.."
(continued on neut pigc)
Xat~

Journa£ pCMJ"- 2 1

�"~, '1051 ! P\R. ll~D. W ~"° 01111.
LUNCH "10 KEEP IT

(continued from page 21)

F~ESM

!"

Canoon by Docta 1)'

HAYWOOD COUNTY P ROPOSES
GARBAGE FEAST FOR BEARS
Na11nl World News Service

County and municipal govcmmenis lhroughou1
Ka1Uah arc wrcsl.ling with the looming specter of
mounlains of trash, and no place lO pul lhem. Haywood
Coun1y in western Nonh Carolina is no exception. The
prcsen1 IMdfill (i.e.• dump) 1s Casi approaching capacity
and will be closed wilhin lwo ycnrs.
Efforts by Lhc coun1y commissioners lO siie o
new dump in lhe CrabU'Ce community failed. Sirong
opposition, well-developed during Lhc "Siop Lhc Nuclear
Dump• efforis, derailed 1hc comm1ssionecs and lhe11
handsomely-paid "front man•. engincct Gary "Mackie"
McKay. Not lO be dclencd, McKay (who n:poncdly will
receive IO'h of the engineering COSIS LO site a dump)
proposed a new site in Lhc While Oak community on

Fines Creclc.
While Oak is lhe most isolated and leas1
populaled area in lbe county. It is adjacent 10 Lhc
once-magnificent Pigeon River. close 10 the Grea1
Smoky Mounlain National Parle, and lbe Hannon Den
Bear Sanctuary. It is here lhat McKay proposes a
IOO·acre dump. A representative of Tribble and
Riclwdson, lbe engineering company McKay h11ed lO
conduct groundwaicr lCSLS at lhe site, bas said, "We
couldn't have found a belier loc4tion for a landfill.•
The inhabitants of While Oak community
disagree. One residcnl, Bob Hessler, is worried aboul
pollution leaching from lhe proposed dump into lhe
Pigeon River. Hessler approached lhe county
commission wilh lhe idea of municipal trash composting
and was amazed lO find that no one knew what ii was.
Composting garbage reduces disposal problems
greatly. Through a biological fcnnentation process.
municipal waste producLS (liquid sewage, sludge. and
garbage) are Lransformed inlO a valuable, marketable
produce "Class r composL. Additionally, comp0s1ing
roduccs the built of garbage IO a mere 15% of ilS original
volume, which would require a much smaller landfill sile
for the remaining plastics and non-biodegradable wasteS.
As an al1cmative disposal method, composting a a
s
proven, eost-cffcctivc solution.
McKay seems oblivious to 1be fact thal
composting works. As County Commissioner Noland
put ii, "There may be a connict of interest with McKay."
There are olher problems with the location of the
proposed landfill. White Oak residents sought the
opinion of black beat researcher Mike Pelton, a professor
m lhc University Of Tennessee's Dcp:1rtmem ofForesuy,
Wildlife and Fisheries. In a prepared stalCment he swd.
"Landfills, garbage dumps, or any olber conccnLraled
source of human food or ~e serve as an awaction LO

bears. Throughoul Nonh America, wherever lhe two
occur in close proximi1y, problems have arisen. These
problems tend LO be particularly bad in or near zones of
protection for bears, such as national parks or designated
sanctuaries.
"The proposed landfill on Fines Creek in
Haywood County, NC meets all the criicria for being a
polential problem. Its proximily to lbe Great Smoley
Mounlains National Parle and the Harmon Den Bear
Sanctuary in lhe Pisgah National Foresl are of special
concern. ln addition Lo the above prollimily lO areas of
pro1ec1ed populaiions and high bear numbers, olher
factors add 10 the concern over lhe location of the
proposed landfill. One is its proximity to historic release
siu:s of problem bears by lhe National Park Service, and
the other is lhe vulncrobilily of bears attracted lO lhe site
while trying 10 cross 1-40.•
Because of lhe limited road system in the Park,
there are only lhree areas to relocate problem bears A
landfill adj3CCnt 10 lhe CaUlloochee area, where almos1 30
percent are released. could hnve sign1fican1 implications
regarding bear management. A majority of visLorlbcar
interactions occur on lhe central or wes1 end of lhe Park.
Therefore, ii is importanl lha1 a remOle rclocallon area be
available oo the easl end. Caialoochee is the only
reasonable area for consideration.
An ongoing study wilhin the Harmon Den Bear
Sanctuary suggests lhat lhe landfill as also wilhin the
reach of mosl snnclU31)' bcrus. Breeding-age fcrnales could
be drawn ou1 of lhe prolCCted confines of the sane wary,
where they would be exposed 10 much higher nsks of
mortality. Hunters frequent lhe borders of lhe sanctuary
area, and a ncarl&gt;y landfill would encourage more bears to
aucmpl lhe dangerous crossings over lntctsta1e 40.
In response, McKay has suggested ughl.ly
bundling the garbage and wrapping ii in plastic--a la
Saran Wrap--to conlain the auractivc aromas.
Additionally, McKay proposes hiring a game
warden to patrol Lhe dump, to educate the local folks
aboul "dump bears," and 10 control poachers.
Presumnbly, this warden would also act as a traffic guard,
halting traffic on 1-40 lO allow bears to cross over from
lhe Hannon Den 8CM SanclU31)'.
Reahsucally, a composting opcrauon offers
Haywood County a much safer disposal mclhod thal
could be more centrally located on a smaller S•le tha1
would not present a danger lO the alrcady·abuscd Pigoon
River or to the local bears.

say, have been CSUlblished in geographic areas other lhan

lhe mountains and are not valid in lhe mounl3Jn locale.
Despite well-organized. suong opposition, lhe
Deep Gap generators will be buih if lhcy receive
approval in early March from the NC Utilities
Commission and lhc federal Rural Elecuification
Administtation. The "deep gap• widens ....

DON'T GO NEAR THE WATER
Nawral World News Servoc:c

Sedimenta1ion is the Kaiuah region's mos1
common form of waler pollution.
Until January I, 1990 state and private forestry
operations were exempt from any lcmd of sedimentation
cooirols • namely, the NC Sedimcniauon Pollution
Control Acl (NCSPCA) of 1973.
Now, even on privale and state con1111Cts, loggers
must adhere LO the following provisions 10 prevenl
sedimentation due to land-disturbing acuv1Lies:
I) Establish Bild mllinlain a sLrCWnsidc manage men I zone
along all bodies of waier.
2) Prevent any debris and wasies from entering bodies of

walCt.
3) Consuucl occess roads and skid trails so lhal
sedtmentation is minimized.
4) Apply pesticides and fcruliu:rs according to labeled

uses, and in such a way as 10 prevent adverse
impacis on water quality.
5) Leave shade over streams.
6) Provide erosion control for all large-scale din-moving
projcclS within 30 working days after ceasing
any phase of an operation or when bcgiMing a period
of inacuvity.
The NC Slllte Forestry Commission is
rcsponsable for reviewing loggang operations, writing
individual sedimentation conirol plans, and referring

CLOSING THE DEEP GAP
Na11nl World News Service

Moonlain People for Clean Afr (MPCA) and the
Blue RR!ge Envaronmcntal Defense League (BREOL) arc
leading the effortS lO s1 construction of diesel
op
generators in lbe Docp Gap area of Watauga Counly. The
generators are planned by lhe Nonh Carolina Electric
Membership Cooperative lO supplemen1 electrical power
supplied to lhe Deep Gap area by Dulce Power.
Opposition lO the proposal has been voiced for many
monlhs, and has included protests presented at public
meetings and picketing in fronl of the electric co-op's
Raleigh offices. The NC Division of Env1IOnmental
Management hlls altc3dy issued a pcrm11 lO the CCH&gt;p lO
build the generatOrS.
Protesicrs state I.hat Ibey have nol received fair
representation from 1he state organi1.a1ion sci up LO
mediate between lhe people and the utili1y companies.
MPCA and BREOL have both taken the stand thal
lhcrmal inversions and fog common 10 the Occp Gap area
should prohibit the building of diesel gcncnuors and lheir
inevitable discharges of sulphur and nitrogen oxide acids.
The co-&lt;&gt;p has argued it will comply wilh state
emission standards, but the opposilion groups say lhat
these standards arc not sufficienL These regulations, they

non-compliant opcra1ions 10 the NC Division of
Environmental Management (DEM). Your assistance in
notifying lhe county foresicr or the OEM of violations
will malte lhis new "non-exempt" law work. Contac1:
NC Division of Environmental Man3gcmen1,
Land Quality Secuon
59 Woodfm Place
Asheville, NC 28801
(704) 251-6208
Drawing by Rob MC$$iclc

Sprl.nq, 1990

�YOU OTTER BE THERE
Nlllnl World News Savice

"They're cu1e and cuddly. bul lhey're wild
animals, and they'll bi1e," says wildlife biologis1 Mike
Carraway. River OllcrS lllC once again making a saand in
the mountains and foothills of KatLiah's eastern slope.
Ouers have been released by b1olog1S1s mos1
rcccnlly in the Ca1awba River in Burke County. Plans
include future releases below Lake James near
Morgan1on. Oucrs were once bunted for lhe1r beautiful
fur eoais, and !hey have been absenl from Kn1uah since
lhe early I 900's.
Rcmuoduccd oners seem to be strongly
eslllblishcd in lhc Great Smoley Moun1ains. where they
have migrated over high ridges and through forests IO
slake oul new ierritones far from lhe1r original release
si1cs. As lite newly-rclcnsed ot1ers make !heir way
upsueam. 1bey wi ll pencira1e in10 01her mountain
wa1ersheds. Since Ibey are now proiecied from pell
huniers, ouers should be able to conunue !heir strong
comeback in K.aUiah·s walCrS.

Drawin&amp; by Jomes Rhea

PROTECTING BLACK BEARS

OAK RIDGE ON TRIAL

NC SOLID WASTE BILL

N.nnl World News Savice

Nlllnl WOfld News Savice

Nllll.nl World News Scrvi&lt;ie

On May 2, 1990 lhe NC Wildlife Resources
Commission will bold special public bearings on lhe
topic ol raising the minimum hunting limll for blaclt
bears from SO pounds IO 100 pounds. Thac will be two
hearings tba1 nigh!. one scheduled for 7:00 pm at lhe
Smokey Mountain High School in Sylva, Jackson Co.,
and anolhct at lhe same time a1 KinSIOll High School in
Lenoir, Caldwell Co.
The entire Sou1hem Appalachian black bear
population is estimaled a1 2000 bears. The number of
cubs born each year varies widely depending on lhe food
supply, bu1 averages approximately 200-300 cubs per
year. Given the legal kill of 300 bears each year and a
poaching ra1e llta1 is llto ugh1 10 equal lba1, lhe bear
population appears 10 be barely holding its own or even
declining at !his time.
Yc1 habi1a1 stresses such as loss of bard mast
production due to oak decline, damage from lite
oncoming invasion o f lhe gypsy molh, increased road
construction and use, and continued clcarcuuing promise
10 pu1 additional pressure on lhe existing black bear
population in lhc near fu1ure.
Research by wildlife biologists bas shown that
lhe average age of female bears being killed in the
moun1ains is between 3.5 and 4.6 years. The average
female docs no1 bear young until age four. For a creature
wilh a poiential hfe cxpcclllncy of 20 or more years, lltis
early age mortali1y drastically reduces reproductive
capabiluy and lltrcaiens lhe species' abilily 10 rebound
from babitn1 pressures.
There is much to be done to guaranlCC lhal lhe
black bear will forever roam lhcse mounLains. Raising
lhe minimum hunting limil for black bears 10 100
pounds is one measure lhlll is now up for deb:ue. Those
who arc willing IO speak up for lite black bear should
aucnd lhe special hearings on lhe evening of May 2.
Those who canno1 auend lite hearings can cornmunicale
lhc1r opinion to the:
NC Wildlife R~ Cornm1~~ion
S 12 N. Salisbury S1.
Raleigh, NC 27611

Renders may well remember lhe announcement
for the Hiroshima Day demonstration al Oak Ridge
(Ka1iiall Jow nal #2A). Over 700 people joined in diRc1
action io procesl lbc Oalt Ridge facili1y's manufacwring
of nuclear weapon components. Of lhe more lhan 700
demonstrators, 29 were ancsted for crossing lbc line a1
lhe galCS of lhe Y-12 plan! in a ges1ure of non-violent
confron1:11ion. Two of the 29 arrested, Bonnie Kendrick
and Kathy Brown, enlCICd a plea of "llOI guil1y• and an:
preparing for lhcir trial, which is scheduled for June 7.
The women hope their uial will successfully
ques1ion lbe morali1 of the manufac1
y
unng and
deploymem of nuclear wcnpons. They plan to focus on
lhc environmental problems associated willt bringing
these implemenis of ca1astrophic destruction into

The Staie of North Carolina approved new solid
wasie managemen1 policies a1 the las1 session or lite
General Assembly.
Legislation adopted SlalCS lltat lhe preferred
melhod for handling the swe's solid waste problems is IO
reduce waste volume al the source. Following tbal. the
nex1preferable mclhod is recycling and reuse. If malUials
caMOI be reused, then composting is lhe preferred
disposal SU'al.Cgy. The least-preferred melhods of disposal
arc ancincralion and landfill dumping.
The solid W8SIC managemen1 legislat.ion also SIClS
an objective for 25~ of the slalC's wasie IO be recycled
by 1993. Local governments lhroughoul 1he SIBIC are
required 10 institulC recycling programs by July of 1991
to help achieve this goal.
The legislation also stipulates lltal large plastic
containers will have 10 bear labeli ng indicating !heir
composition, in order to help in recycling. h bans the
sale of packag ing containing halogena1ed
chloronuorocarbons (CFC's) and polys1yrene food
containers effective Oc1ober I, 1991. II also stalCS lhai.
beginning in October 1990, used oil will noc be accepted
&amp;1 landfills; by 1991, lead-acid b:wcrics will be forbidden:
and lh:ll, beginning in 1993, yard trash will no longer be

Sprl"'J, 1990

existence.

Kendrick and Brown will base !heir plea on the
grounds of necessily. and will bring up case histories
from the Nurcrnburg Trials. The defendants arc galhcring
evidence of Ibo radioactive and toxic dangers in lhe Oak
Ridge area. They also have cxpcn willlesses who will
verify lheir plea of lite neccssi1y for civil resis1ance.
Among the witnesses appearing will be Robert Aldridge,
who designed lbc missile delivery syslCm for lhe Triden1
11-05, bu1 is now an ardcnl anti-nuclear pcaoc activist.
Francis Anlhony Boyle, a professor of inLCmational law
and author of lhe book Defefldjng Civil RtsiJtanet Under
Inttrnaticnal Law will also take lhe Sland.
The women feel lba1 we canno1 afford to carry on
"business as usual" while industrial pollution and
weapons production lhrcaien lhe life cycles of lhe planet.
Unul the threat is stopped, !hey say, lhcre will be ever
more public ou1cry, and more trials lhal raise lhe
imponan1 quesuons of cnvironmentnl safely, communi1y
heallh, and moral responsibilily.
Anyone who i~ inLCrcslcd in rinding ou1 more
aboul 1h1S trial or wishCli to make a dona1ion to the
defense fund, please coniact:
Oak Ridge Envuonmenllll Pe:ice AllUlllCC
P.O. Box 1101
Knoxville, TN 37901.

8CCCplCd.
The solid was1e management bill also aulhoriz.es

suppon and training activity 10 help s1a1e agencies and
local governments fulrill lhe objectives of lhe new slalc
policies on solid wasLC. This will be 1mplcmcnLCd by the
NC Dcpartmenl of Environmeni. Health, and Natural
Resources and lhe Commission of Hcallh Services. II
also charges the NC Department of Economic and
Communi1y Developmen1 to assist in rinding and
developing markets for composlCd products and recycled
mmcria.ls.
Source: News/ti/tr of tht IVattr Resourcts
RtSearch lnslitutt of TM Unilitrsity &lt;!North Carolina

�HEALING THE WHOLE SELF
These are the words of a traditional Cherokee medicine person...
Sometimes to understand something, it's necessary to
dissect it, to take it apan into pieces. Western culture does that
well. But they have become so expert with the parts that they
have forgotten how the pieces fit together as a whole.
Western medicine dissects people by seeing them as
spiritual, intellectual, emotional, and physical. But there is a unity
between those pans. If a person gets sick spiricually, and if he or
she ignores that, the imbalance will evencually show up in his or
her emotional and psychological make-up. And if that person
keeps building walls to avoid facing their problem, eventually it
will manifest itself on the physical being, where it will put the
person into such a situation that he or she can't ignore it
My grandfather used to say that what we call the common
cold isn't a sickness or a disease at all. It's the Spirit's way of
saying, "Stop! Slow down! Here's an opportunity to see what's
going on in your life."
When you have a cold, you feel too bad to go rush and run
about But if you take the time to sit down, examine your life,
and be really honest with yourself, as you come to some kind of
conclusions, that so-called "cold" or sickness will go away.
But not all sickness comes from the inside, because one
half of the world is eating the other half right now, and there's
viruses and bacteria and accidents that can happen to the body.
A part of well-being is to be spiritually strong,
psychologically and emotionally. You do that by not avoiding
things. You make peace with your mother and father, if they've
messed you over. You forgive them, and you forgive yourself
most of all, because of the bad feelings you had, because they
didn't meet your expectations, real or not real. You come to peace
with that You can come to peace with the other expectations that
have not been met in your life, and other people who turned out
to be not what you thought.
Then, if something attacks you, it's less likely to be
severe, and your recuperative powers will be much stronger.

We have been placed in this world to strengthen our spirit.
We are here to learn, to overcome, and to take responsibility for
being here. People who totally neglect their spirit, and do nothing
to carry out the purpose for which we are here are more likely to
be susceptible to those external things that attack us. They might
stop a bullet, be attacked by viruses or diseases. Of course
anybody who makes love continuously with someone who's got
AIDS is likely to get it. We still have to learn common sense, and
take care of our own selves on that basic level.
Then there's the mental part of ourselves that comes in two
pans: there's the up-front, linear/critical, intellectual mind, and
then there's the emotional part.
The linear/critical pan of our brain is very limited in its
function. Its job description is that it deals with problems. If it
doesn't have a problem, then it makes one. And 99 times out of
100, the problems that it creates are negative, because that part of
our brain only wants to solve things. The Creator gave us this
ability so we would have a better chance of survival, so we could
figure out how to keep a lion from eating us or how we were
going to survive this freezing winter. It's a gift The lion's got
his claws and teeth; we've got this conex. Solving problems is
what it does. So to be healthy, you have to present that pan of
your brain with a problem - a positive problem.
The other part of our mental self is the emotional part. This
pan contains all our emotional feelings, positive or negative. The
catch is that the linear/critical part of the brain acts as a
doorkeeper. It locks the door to bad news. It locks the door to
things it wants to avoid. If I mistreat someone, even if I know
it's not good to mistreat people and HnowT did it .wrongly, my
mind may not want to admit to that. lncidentstike thar stagnme in
my emotional mind. All the feelings that arose when other people
injured me or hun me, all the anger and frustration from incidents
that 1 have not yet resolved with myself, all of that is hidden
away in my emotional mind.
I cannot avoid those feelings, even if my linear/critical,
problem-solving brain doesn't want to hear about them. So if I
build walls around that stuff with my conscious mind, it waits
there until night-time when my defenses arc down, and then it
comes out through the back door, through my dreams.
To maintain spiritual health, resolve as many of those
things as you possibly can up front. That's hatd, but it makes it
easier if we recogniu that we are going to make mistakes in our
lives. All life is is an education. We arc here to learn from this
experience. But sometimes we punish ourselves our whole lives
for mistakes we have made.
As much as possible, we need to deal with all those
incidents and the feelings they raise consciously at the moment,
because what happens to us in our dream state is as real as what
happens in daylight, and it's just as important Deal with those
things and go on.
That is the way to be where your power is. Personal power
is when we stop and take responsibility for our own actions. We
have a tendency to blame other people for things we do or don't
do. We blame other people or events outside ourselves for most
of the things that happen to us - particularly the bad things.
Actually, most - not all, but most - of the good or bad that
happens in our life is dependent on our own level of attention and
caring. But as long as people relinquish their responsibility by
attributing events that happen in their own life to something or
someone else, then they will never have personal power. They
are giving it away.
Along with personal power go happiness, sadness, and joy
- all those things are our responsibility. They arc created
internally, not externally. My wife is not responsible for my
happiness or my sadness. rt is me. It is happening inside here.
This is where I create these responses to the circumstances of my
life.
SprLrM), 1990
I

�Most people walking around in the world are separated
from their power. Their power is far in the future, or their power
is the past dealing with regrets and pains, unfulfilled
expectations, a lack of love, or whatever else is troubling them.
The result is that, while they are right here, they have no power.
They are always ahead or they are always behind. because they
are waiting for a future opponunity that never comes, or their
energies are behind them dealing with yest.erday.
If those people had their power right here, they could deal
with things. The only place we can deal with things is in the
present. We cannot spend our lives behind or ahead. We have no
personal power if our power is not located in the present
Otherwise, life is a question of "Eat, shit, sleep, and die."
People like that are the same as one-celled creature. That kind of a
life is a waste of soil and energy. That kind of person can do
nothing.
The way of healing used by the old Cherokee medicine
men involved conjuring. Conjuring means manipulation.
"Manipulation" is a bad word in the dominant culture. You don't
say you manipulate people even if you do.
But manipulation is alright as long as it is used for the
benefit of the patient and not for one's personal benefit A good
conjurer never conjures for himself. If a medicine man conjures
for himself, avoid him, because he will manipulate a situation for
his own personal gain. If a medicine person charges you for
anything, he's profiting from the experience of another person's
suffering. Traditional native people won't have anything to do
with that kind of person, unless it's a maintenance-and-repair
doctor practicing western medicine. That's just the way those
doctors do it.
The old Cherokees used to say that the white doctors
caused disease. They knew it, because the doctors charged for
their help, and obviously they didn't wanr their patients to get
well. That was how they made their living.
There are three levels of conjuring or manipulation. People
use the elementary fonn of manipulation every day to get their
way. A man often uses bis manliness, bis male aggressiveness.
That touches primal instincts in women or children. When the
dominant male is rowdy, they have a deep programming that
prompts them to split for cover. If a woman wants to manipulate
a situation, she uses her feminine sexuality. Those are
oversimplified examples of conjuring. In actual life we do it
mucl\ more subtly.
There is a higher fonn of conjuring, and that is by using
knowledge. Understanding how things work allows one to
manipulate a situation. A lot of things that western doctors or
scientists do seem like magic to us, because we do not
comprehend the principles involved. It isn't magic to them,
because they understand how it works.
It operates in another manner as well. Everybody has
within themselves a force that I call the Physician Within. If a
healer or a conjurer has a deep understanding of people, he or she
can contact and activate the Physician Within inside their patient.
But it talces a great degree of understanding.
For example, I knew a young fellow once who fell off a
rock cliff and was badly hurt. He was carried to a bed and Jay
there, drifting in and out of consciousness.
A medicine man came and looked at him, and then came
over to us and said, "I don't think he's going to live. He's hurt
bad inside."
They called another medicine man, a really old guy. He
came over there. He talked with the first medicine man. Then he
went over there and studied the victim, looked him over. He
knew the boy well. knew his situation.
The old man leaned over and was talking to the victim for
quite some while. The young man started moving around a little
bit He moved his body, and after a while he sat up and was
looking around. He was weak, but that old man had provoked
the instinct to survive just by saying some words to him.

Spr""'J, t 990

It took me three years to find out what words the old man
had whispered to that boy. Finally the old man told me. What he
had said was, "Your best friend, Everett, is messing around with
your girlfriend. I know it. I've seen him slip in there a couple of
times, and before you die I want you to know that he's been
putting one over on you all this time."
It seems so simple when you know the secret. But that was
a powerful statement for that boy. It made him mad. The old man
understood that. He had a practical understanding of the laws of
nature. If he did not know what was said, a western doctor
would not have understood. He would have thought that the old
man had been using some form of magic.
We all have cenain requirements as human beings. We all
want warmth, we all require nurturing. It's just as imponant to us
as supper. We want that hugging, we want that gentleness. A
good healer understands these things. The better we understand
these instinctual requirements, the better we will be able to
understand other human beings, and the better we will
understand ourselves and why we do what we do.
The spiritual form of conjuring, which is the most
powerful and the hardest to explain, is when individual healers
pull their whole being together - they are not hindered by their
limitations, their human nature is not getting in the way, their
self-interest is not getting in the way, nothing is blocking their
potential - and then they arc able to hook into the power of the
whole universe, the One.
When it all comes down to equations, the answer is One there's but One, and we're a pan of that One. There is incredible
power in being able to move that energy into the patient. This
energy provokes the Physician Within to give the energy center a
boost when nothing else will. This is a direct transmission of Life
Force.
The old Chinese conception of the Tao is much like what I
call "medicine." In this sense "medicine" is something very
different from the way the western people mean it
There's yin and yang. We might be tempted to call them
"good" and "bad," but they refer to the pairing of any and all
opposite forces, whatever they are.
The two forces come together. They come close to each
other, but they never touch. One comes moves toward the center
and becomes dominant. It stays until it's fulfilled, and then it
pulls back. As it pulls back, the other one is pulled in. It's a
dance. Everything is moving. What moves that process is call~
the Tao. And the center, or the space between the two opposite
forces, is medicine.
When traditional healers study medicine, they study
everything in between the two opposite forces. Without that
action there is no life. My grandfather said, "God is the energy
that started movement Whatever started motion is God." And the
motion God started was this.
From that space in the center, we can tap into the energy of
the Whole. When we do it ceremonially, we can concentrate the
energy of a group of people on the healing process that needs to
happen. A group of people can create a powerful phenomenon
when they can stop their own personal self-indulgence, even for
one split second, and move collectively on the same issue. It
doesn't happen often anymore, but when it does, it is uplifting.
Things happen that defy the understanding of the rational mind.
There is an old saying, "Magic comes when all doubt has
been removed from the mind."

�DRUMMING
LETTERS TO KATUAH

Dear KatUah,
I was reading in the Wildlife in North Carolina magazine
about the Chestnut trees and I hadn't thought about them much,
but I think it would be nice to have some big ones around. I
saw your address in there and they said that you had an old
issue of the Ka!Uah JourNJJ, which was about the Chesmut
tree. I would like to get one if you have any more.
I live out in the country about ten miles from Statesville,
a couple of miles from the small town of Catawba. It is across
the river though in a differen1 county. Let us hope that the tree
can make a comeback.
James Ford

Editors' note: We were pleased and surprised to receive over
75 requests for the ChestllUl Issue due to that menti()n in
Wildlife in North Carolina .

Dear KanJah,
I was recently adopted into the Seneca Nation, and I'm
seeking information on the Seneca People. Their language,
dress, spirits, and everything else I can find out. I would also
like to receive information on KatUah JourNJ/ to be sent to my
fianccC who got me very enthused in researching Native
People. She enjoys collecting artifacts or anything that
resembles Indian an woric. While I helped build her collection I
became interested in the reading of the history. She is part
Indian, but I forgot the People. I am now in prison and me and
her went our separate ways before my arrest, but I have not
stopped caring for her or sending infonnation I uncover to help
her. I get out of here in 5 months, and hope the Great Spirit
will rejoin us once again. I would very much like you to send
her a subscription of your Journal as a gift from me. Please bill
me for it and I will cover the cost as soon as I can. There is a
friend on my dorm who is starting to receive your Journal, so I
will be sharing his. Please send me any information you can on
real books on the American Indian. Than.le you for your time
and help in this matter.
Sincerely,
Robert Stigleman

Dear Kazuah Journa.J,
I am writing to lei you know about the establishmen1 of a
new organization in South Carolina, the Action Research Forum.
Our aim in founding this group is to promote peace,
justice, and environmental pro1ection through research,
education, and communi1y-based action.
We are currently compiling information about effons in
the deep south to achieve greater social and economic justice , ro
end racism, and to protect the environmen1. We hope that your
organization will send us some of your recent pubhcations and
reports, and that you will add us to your mailing list so that we
may receive regular news of your work.
Jn exchange, we will spread the word as best we can about
your organii.ation through our resource listings, and we will keep
you up to date about our effons (we plan to have a newslener).
We also plan to eventually have enough funds to make donations
to organizations such as yours.
If you have any questions, please feel free to write us or ro
get in touch by phone.
We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,
Bill Hall

Dear KanJah,
Recently, on a trip to Georgia, I came across an issue of
the KmUah Journal. I was very excited to find a publication
with such infonnation. Though I don't live in the area, rm
interested in the information you are compiling.
I eventually plan to move, and I may well move to the
Southern Appalachians. I am interested in self-sufficient living,
organic farming (which I am doing now), and similarly minded
people who don't worship the microwavable, plastic shrink
wrapped, computerized world.
I've enclosed money for a year's subscription and two
back issues. If you would kindly send me addresses about
organjc farming and small self-sufficient communities in the
bioregion I would be much obliged.
May the Great Spirit bless you for doing such work,
Daniel Shoag

Action Research Forum
P.O.Box 176
Starr, S.C. 29684
(803) 352-2757

Dear Kanlah,
Your statement of purpose tingled my bells, and
scanning the sample copy you sent clinched it. Now I'll go sit
in the garden and read every word of the issue. But first, here's
my SI0.00.1 want to see more.
Blue Sky

Sprlcn(}. 1990

�STONESCAPE
Dark morning tangled with the mind A labyrinth by wind designed.
But like a storm the window of the eye,
Shattered a depth beyond the will to cry.
Pale light littered the rooftops with our grief.
The wonder of it mirrored in each leaf.
We saw ourselves in shadows of a chill
Flickering the stonescape of our will.

- Sandra Fowler

.&gt;ear Katuah,
We have been fortunate enough to receive your paper from
a friend who lives near Washington, D.C., where it is more
available than in our area.
I was so happy to see your issue on children and wished to
comment specifically on the article "Binh Power" by Lucinda
Flodin and Manha Perkins. The predominant misconception is,
in this piece and others like it, that midwives, free of the
sociological trappings of organized medicine will permit women a
more natural embrace of birth as a life changing force. It is true
that midwives often permit a couple to birth more in the setting of
their choice-what appears as untruth is that they give parents back
their power.
Birth is the completion of a circle, a psychobioecosystem if
you will, as fragile and complex as the Gaia. This circle, begun
in the embrace of conception, requires no orchestration or
observation by a 'professional", either in its beginning, or in its
completion in the act of binh. Do it yourself homebirth, as
presented by Marilyn Moran in her 1st book, entitled the same,
and in her collected birth accounts, entitled. Happy Birth Days, is
the tuest form of empowerment. It is no wonder, considering our
socially promoted birth norms (from hospital technology to
midwife at home) that the world is seeing more and more divorce
and breach of commitment. Instead of Poppa caressing Momma,
and assisting the life of their love into the world, the father is
assigned some minimal position behind mother while either a
doctor cuts, or a midwife massages the mother's genitalia.
Through the binh of our first child we experienced such
transcendental communion, such ecstacy, such fulfillment as one
in the universe. This would have been impossible should anyone
else have been present besides my husband and myself.
Midwives do not give back power by assisting binh - they
would empower by providing prenatal care and encouraging
fathers to fulfill their position as soulmate and companion in the
act of binh. True empowerment comes through accepting
complete responsibility.
I would love to see this view presented in your journal.
Marilyn Moran is a wonderful and eloquent woman, who I am
sure would appreciate the opportunity of presenting our
conflicting view - should it be your policy to provide open forum
in this way. Her address is:
Marilyn Moran
c/o The New Nativity
P.O.Box 6223
Leawood, KS. 66206
Thanks for all the wonderful work you do!
Praying for Peace,
Teresa A. Rasmussen

Nore: The editors would like to caUJion couples to be aware of
safety considerations when considering undenalcing an
unassisted birth.
Sprl.nq, 1990

The Fourth Turtle Island Bioregional
Congress (NABC JV)
will be held August 19-26, 1990
at Lake Cobbosseecontee,
near Augusta, Maine
in the Gulf of Maine Bioregion.

Faced with the developing ecological
crisis, the Congress sees its mission as
deciding whether the bioregional
movement is to become a ''visible
and viable social/political/ cultural
transformational movement" (and
creating the bioregional and
continental organizing strategies to
fulfill that goal) or to be primarily a
philosophical concept that permeates
other movements for change.
The movement does not need to
further refine its resolutions.
Rather, it is time to apply these
principles in practice in our
bioregions and across the continent.
People from the Karuah Province
will be attending the NABC IV, so
please contact the Katuah journal
(Box 638; Leicester, NC; KatU.ah
Province 28748) if you are going, so
that we may coordinate
transportation and consider how we
will represent our region at the
Congress.
Mail Congress queries or registrations
to:
Turtle Island Bioregional Congress
Gulf of Maine Books
61 Maine St.
St. Brunswick, ME
Gulf of Maine Bioregion 04011

Places for the Congress are going
quickly, so register immediately, if
you are interested in attending this
important event. Registration is $175
for adults, $100 for children.

�ENVIRONMENT-AL PHOTOS
WOMEN'S INTERNATIONAL
LEAGUE FOR PEACE AND FREEDOM

The Spirit of the Wild
James Rhea's artwork that was the logo
for the "Restoring Biodiversity in the Southern
Appalachians" conference and the cover of Issue
25 of the KatUah Journal. is now available to all
as conference posters and T -Shirts.
The posters are beautiful, four-color 11 .. x
17" renditions of the native species portrait with
conference information below and are available
for $2.00.
The T-shins are heavy-d uty, all-conon,
silkscreened by Ridgerunner Naturals. Only
large and extra-large sizes remain. They are
available for $10.50.
Prices include postage. NC residents
please add 5% sales tax.
All proceeds from the sale of 1hese i1ems
will suppon rescue actions for native habitat in
the Southern Appalachian forest.
Order from: KRLRNU
Box 282; Sylva, NC
Katuah Province 28789

The Womens International League for Peace
and Freedom (WILPF) is 75 years old this year.
The group was organized in 1915 at the Hague,
Netherlands. It has been an interracial
organization throughout its history.
The League came about when more than
1,000 Women's Suffragist leaders from 12 nations
met at the Hague to mount a campaign to abolish
war. Jane Addams of the U.S. chaired that
Congress. The participants chose the name
'Women's International League for Peace and
Freedom' and resolved to work to end intervention,
promote disarmament, negotiate regional conflicts,
and work for peace and freedom by non-violent
means.
Those resolutions and our commitment to
undoing racism as an influence in our society still
form the basis of the programs of WILPF.
The Asheville Branch of WILPF meets for a
pot luck lunch on the third Saturday of each
month at 12:00 noon at the Friends Meeting House;
227 Edgewood Rd. (off Merrimon Ave). Join with
us.
For further information call Dorothy (704)
298-9082, Brita (704) 667-0287, or Mary Kay (704)
667-04630.
SEE "EVENTS" for details a bou t WILPF's?Sth
BIRTHDAY FUNDRAISER on APRIL 71

The Appalachian Environmental Arts
Center is issuing a call for environmental
photography to be entered in an Eanh Day
photography exhibit to open in Greeneville, SC
on April 22, 1990.
The exhibit is intended to bring attention
to abuses of the natural world as well as to
celebra1e !he environment
Complete details on photo categories and
entrance procedures may be oblained by writing
Gil Leebrick at !he Appalachian Environmental
Arts Ce nter; Drawer 580; Highlands, NC
28741 or calling (704) 526-4303.
THE BURNING QUESTION

...AND JUST WHAT IS A
YAPI??
A YAPI (Youth Advocating Planetary
Improvement) is a species of concerned and
aware high school student committed to making
beneficial changes on the planet.
The idea began in Highlands, NC. where
the Y API's have organized and publish their
own newspaper, Reflections, for others of their
ki nd. They stand for world peace, the
environment, and an end to world hunger.
Y API supporters or individual Y APl's
wishing to stan a new chapter can contact the
group at this address:
Youth Advocating Plane1ary Improvement
Box 2136
Highlands, NC
Katuah Province 28741

MYLES HORTON MEMORIAL

t!lti11ae .,4(11p1111e/11re
ul

Jler/111"1111 t!li11k
74 EAST OESTMJT SmEET
ASHEVIU.E. NC 29801
70t·251MIOIG

EU.EN Hlf'IES, M.Ac.. ~ M,
UC. .MU'UNCTURlST

HUMMINGBIRD

The career of Myles Horton, Jong-lime
radical activist and co-founder of the Highlander
Research and Education Center, ended with his
death early this year. Myles was well-known
nationally as well as regionally for his work in
the causes of labor organizing and civil rights.
Friends and admirers of Myles Horton will
gather at Highlander early in May for a memorial
service dedicated to his memory.
Any who arc interested in attending the
event may call Alissa Keny-Guyer at (615)
933-3443 for details.

Bulk I terbs, Spices, &amp; Grains
Vitamins &amp; Supplcnwn1s lf?!~faw
WhC&lt;ll. Sall &amp; Yeas1-Frf'C
1-cxxfs
Dair} Subs11tu1cs
I lair &amp; Skin care

Natural Food Store

&amp;Deli
160 Bl'Olldway

Asheville, NC 28801

Wher'9 BroedWlly 11*ts
Mlrrlmon Ave• ~240

OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
Monday·Slllurd.y: 9 am·8pm
Sunday: 1pm-Spm

(704) ZSS.785&amp;

_,

f]\iagei 'JWtt~r 'Natyr&lt;\l~
130 N. Main Street
Waynesville. NC 28786 (704) 456-3003

'Tht' t\ft'';ffl';:
S~~~
Oldl'SI &amp; Ull&lt;WSI

N111urc11 FoocLs Gmn•n(
704-264-5220
200 W. Klng St. Boone, NC
3 Bloclts from Campus

SprincJ. l 990

�€V€0t'S

18-2 1

BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC
The Black Mountain Festival.
Traditional and folk music weekend with Tim
and Molly O'Brien, Ethel Kathy Austin (black
vocal), Liz Carroll (fiddle) wilh guitarist Daithi
Sprouce, Figgy Duff, Harry and the Cajuns,
The Buzzard Rock String Band, Summe.r
Puppetry Caravan, more. Ans and crafts
festival, 5/21-24; contemporary and international
music weekend, 5!25-Zl (see lhose dates). Cost:
$12/day on weekends (vehicle camping $5
extra); $40 for weekend w/ tent camping or
bunks; $5/day Mon.-Thurs. For more info;
Grey Eagle and Friends; Box 216; Black
Mountain, NC 28711.

MARCH
WESSER, NC
Nanl.3hala lnlCmalional River Rally. Paddlers
from the Soviet Union and Othct countries will compete.
Sponsored by Nanlllhala Outdoor Center. Call fOC' dclails:
(7().1) 488·217S.
I S-26

17

ASHEVILLE, NC
Shadow puppet workshop and demonsll'ation
for children 7 and up with Hobie Ford and the Goldenrod
Puppeis. 10:30-11:30. Free.

22-23

BROWNS SUMMIT, NC

Lex Mathews Conference on Theology and
EnvironmenL Keynote: Thomas Berry. $25. Call The
LMd Stewardship Council (919) 821-4391.

19

GREAT SMOKIES PARK
"Forests and Trees of the Smokies." Visiting
lhe various forest associations of the Great Smokies.
S25. Sec 4/21.

2A

ARDEN, NC
"Bringing A Course in Miroclts into
Application," workshop with Aliana Scurlock at Unity
Center of Arden. 10 am • 4 pm. $65. Write: Dr. Frank
Trombcua; 671 Balsam Rd.; Hendersonville. NC 28739.

25-27

25

SWANNNANOA, NC
Willaru Huayu, lncan spiruual messenger
from Cuzco, Peru, will speak on lncan prophecy and
spirituality at The Earth Center; 302 Old Fellowship
Rd.; Swannanoo, NC 28776 (7().1) 298-3935.
28

Brevard, j\IC
The Traveling Ecological Road Show
featuring lhe YAPl's, hjgb school students for the
environment, at Brevard Episcopal Chun:b, 6:30 pm. For
information, call: (7().1) 526-92482.

21-22

GREAT SMOKIES PARK
"Wilderness Wildflowers.• Two-day
instructional wildflower identilicat.ion. Easy 8-milc hike,
camping. $50. Coniact Smoky Mountain Field School;
University of Tennessee Non.Credit Programs; 2016
Lake Ave.; Knoxville, TN 37996 (800) 284-8885.

APRIL 22 IS EARTH DA y THROUGHOlJf
THE KATUAH PROVINCE· SEE SPECIAL
PULL-OUT SECTION, PAGE 15, FOR DETAILS

APRIL
7

JOHNSON CITY, TN
"Wizard of the Wind," an environmental
fairytale, and shadow puppet workshop on dental care.
Museum BClmission fee. For info, call: (615)928-6508.

7

ASHEV ILL E, NC
Fundraiscr Concert fOC' International League
fOC' Peace and Freedom with David Wilcox. Joe and Karen
Holbert, Womansong. Jubilee Center. S7. Call (7().1)
298-9082.
HOT S PRINGS, NC
"Daily Life as Spiritual Practice," four-day
Zen retreat wilh Cheri Huber. Sl60. For more info,
write: Southern Channa Retreat Center. Rt. I, Box
34-H; Hot Springs, NC 28743.

23

ASHEVILLE, NC
The Tra veling Ecologicnl Road Show
featuring lhc YAPl's, high school students for lhc
environment.. at lhe Asheville School. For info, call
Evereu Gourley (7().1) 254-6345.

TUXEDO, NC
"National Forest Service Reform The Time l s Now!" Randal OToole, J eff
DeBonis, David Wilcove, Leon Minckler, Ned
Fritz, panels, field trips. Camp Green Cove.
Registration; $10. Meals and lodgi ng; $49. For
more info, call Western North Carolina AUiance.
(704) 258-8737.

2.S-27

BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC
Block Mountain Festival contin ues!
Contemporary and international music with Leon
Redbone, Ephlat Mujuru (mbira player from Zimbabwe),
Aor de Gana (Latin band), Lucy Blue Tremblay, Stark
Raven wilh lhe Twister Sisters (folk rock), White Boys
in Trouble, Goldenrod Puppets, more. See 5/18-20.
26-28

MADISON, VA
"Woman/Earlh/Spiri1 • gathering on
feminine spirituality. $210. For info, contaec Sevenoaks
Pathwork Center. RL I, Box 86; Ma&lt;lison, VA 22727
(703) 948-6554.

MAY

JUNE

4..S

17-22

HELEN, GA
"The River Cane Rendezvous," the
Eastern Eanh Skills Gathering for 1990. Jim
Riggs (wilderness skills advisor for Cla11 of the
Cave Bear), Darry Wood, Snow Bear, Steve
Wans, Scott Jones, Eva Bigwitch, and Eddie
Bushyhead and other practitioners of aboriginal
ans will teach flintknapping, firemaking, plant
lore, native hide-1anning, split cane basketry,
primitive weapons and tools, and more.
Pre-rcgis1er: $125. Contact Bob Slack; Unicoi
State Parle, Helen, GA 30545 (404) 878-2201.
Sprlnq, 1990

5

FRENCH BROAD WATERS HED
Clean Streams Day • clean-up effons
throughout lhe French Brood River wniershcd. For info:
Transylvania Co.· Rich Fry (7().1) 884-3156
Henderson Co. · Jim Volk (7().1) 684-1423
Buncombe Co. ·Quality Forward (7().1) 254-1 TI6
Madison Co.· Jane Morgan (7().1) 689-5974

1·3

HOT SPRINGS, NC
"Non-Duality and Social Awareness"
workshop wilh Catherine Ingram. WOC'kfog for social
change while living in an understanding of non-duality.
SIOO. Southern Dharma Retreat Center. See 4/4-8.

5

GREAT SMOKIES PARK
"Geologic Evoluuon of the Great Smokies.•
Learn the language of the rock record to lnlCC the history
of the Smokies from one billion years ago. Dr. Don
Byerly, instruct0r. $25. See 4/21.
10

ASHEVILL E, NC
Matthew Fox of Lhc Center for Creation
Spirituality to spcalc ot Jubilee Center, 46 Wall SL. For
more info, call: 252-5335.
Drawin&amp; by Susan Adam

NOTE: Tlie Founh North American Bioregional
Congress (NABC N) will be held August
19-26, 1990 at Lake Cobbosseecontee in the
Gulf of Maine Bioregion. Those who want to
attend should register immediately, as space is
filling up fast. See page 27 for details.

J{.Qt.Ucih Journot JXlCJll 29 •

�SUMMER

CAMP,

July

9th

thru

20th.

EnVironmeoaal ICtivitica sbated with die Eanh, plus
swimming, hilciq, bones, locs or run. Send
brochure to: Cllnp Wildlirc in the Meadow; lobo
IDd Dory Brown; RL l, Box 184-B; Hot Springs,
NC28743.

ror

DREAM TABLE GROUP on Western Carolina
University campus. Cullowhee, NC. Next meetings
Jn.2, 3/l9, 4/S. For more infomwlon, call Joyce
Prcwiu al (704) 293-5403.

RA WKWIND

RENEW AL

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES (Sunroots)
organically grown • to eat or as seed tubers for
spring. contact Sicvco Knopp; S06 Menimon Ave.;
Asheville, NC 23g04 (704) 2S8-2S86 or (704)
682-3573.

EARTH

CO-OPERATIVB • g7 8Cre primitive rweat IDd
working community rarm in northern Alabama
mountains, j ust 1 lS miles nonhwest or ~ta.
Classes on alternative lifestyles and Nauvc
American philosophies. Earlh Renewal gatherings
planned on a quancrty basis. Facilities availiible for
private organizational use. For craft catalog or
schedule of events, call (20S} 635-6304.
SPIRITUAL PERSONAL ADVICE. Correspond
with your Native Gnndfather. All questions
addressed Crom Medicine Pctspcctivc. No charge
ever. SASE with teuer to: Blue Sky; Box S387;
Largo, Fla. 34649.

ADVENTIJRES FOR EVERYONE· Backpacking,
canoeing llama ltddting in the NC mountains, SC
barrier ~lands. Congaree Swamp. Families wi!11
young children and seniors wclcoc_ne • ~ w~
cany your gear. For moce informatson wnte: Magitt
TrUs; P.O . Box 6876; Columbia, SC 29Ui0.
MIND MAPPING • on-going classes in wriuen
ICChniquc integrating right and lei\ hemispheres Of
the brain. Groups and organizations welcomed. Call
Catherine Faherty at (704) 298-0077.
BIODYNAMICALL Y GROWN Corn seed.
Mi.n i-pops to giant fallers. Varieties for no-till
without herbicides , and for compost rather lhan salt
fertilization. For caialog plcau send SASE to:
Union Agricultural Institute, Rt. 4 Box 463S,
Blairsville, GA 30Sl 2.
WOODSCRAFT • Seeking to correspond with
persons interested in primitive woodscraft s~ills
such as, bow/drill rirc-making, t rackang,
snarc/deadraJ I trapping, cic. Have auended Tom
Brown's basic class. l.T. Garrison; RL 4, Box 667;
Spring City, TN 373g1.
ORGANIC HONEY · Tulip Poplar, Sowwood and
Wildflower. From Palrick County, Virginia. For a
4-oz. sample of out premium sourwood and our
catalog, send $4 to: Wade Buckholts cl Megan
Phillips; Route 2, Box 24g; Stuart, VA 24171.

(703) 694-4S71

I AM LOOKING FOR A POSITION with an
environmental awareness/action organization in
Asheville or neaiby. Prefer pan-time, beginning In
summer or fall 1990. Please contact laneicc Ray;
RL I , Box 1gg.J; Quincy, FL 323S l (904)
442-6474.

CREATION SOAP- hand-crafled herl&gt;al soaps from
the Blue Ridge Mountains. Rose IDd lavender soaps,
moisturizing bar, shampoo/conditionct bar. Contact
Anna: RL 1, Box 278; Blowing Rocle, NC 2860S
(704) 262-2321.

YOGA FOR AU. AGES- Ongoing classes in the
Asheville area, workshops for groups, and private
sessions. Give yourself the gin or wellness and
peace. For more infonnation call Bonnie Kelly
(704) 254-869g,

WHITE CANVAS MATERI AL • 42 yards of 12 oz.
unused canvas, 6 ft. wide. Enough ror a full-size tipi
or very large tenL Cost $380. Wilt sell for $220.
(704) 29g.7639, Asheville.

SEERSUCKER BABY SUNG, with colonul beads
auachcd for baby's tccthing pleasure securely nestles
newborn through young child. For immediate
delivery, send $ 12.00 and parental shin size (S·XL)
to COZY CRADLES; P.O. Box 514; Tahlequah,
OK 74465.
SKYLAND • tog on lO lhe computer bulletin boanl
of the Smokies. Networking, plus news on the
environment, nature photography, games, computer
utilities, much more. Coniact Michael Havelin,
sySOp, (704) 254-6700.
MOUNTAIN DULCIMERS • made of black
walnut, red cherry, or maple. Tops available in
wormy chestnut, butternut. sweetgum, sassafras.
western cedar and other woods. Contael: Miu
Dulcimer Company; RL 2, Box 288; Blountville,
TN 37617 (615) 323-8489.

MlNl-FARM with beautiful mountain views. IS
acres: tn. woods, ln. fenced pastures. Modem
2-story Log House. 45 min. to Asheville. Please
contact: Pat Palmer: 409 N. Trade SL; Tryon, NC
28782.

90 ACRE MOUNTAIN PARADISE • We arc
seeking environmentally conscious buyers lO share
and help protect a unique cl beautiful ttact of land.
Call (704) 258-2586 or (704) 682-3S73.

RHYTHM ALIVE • Handcrafted African-style
Drums, workshops, learning iapcs, drum bags • and
.
accessories. Please send SASE to Rhythm Alive!;
SS Phenix Cove Rd.; Weaverville, NC 28787 (704)
645-3911.

NEW AGE COMMUNITY FORMING on 57 acres
of land. Located on sacred Cherokee Stone
Mountain. Visions of healing the earth cl our
children. Contact Sue Ann Ritter; Rt 2, Box 314;
Vilas, NC 28692.

CONSCIOUS COUPLE cl infant, wish to
lcam/wolt on organic £arm for housing + stipend
OR Clrelake a ~dence on acreage. Very comrniled
and sincere. Contacc Dan &amp; Bast&gt; Umberger; 347
Sinclair Ave. N.E.; Atlanta, GA 30307 (404)

Sll-2971.

VEGETA.RIA.N

MASTERPIECES •

tacto-vegetarian cookbook designed to provide
recipes for Slandard rare as well as gourmet dishes.
Over 300 recipes. Spiral bound, 403 pp. $ 14.9S ppd
from: 2122 Forest Dr.; Owloltc, NC 28211.
ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE LANDSCAPING SERVICE • Lawn maintenance, trees,
shrubs, nowc.cs cl edibles. Organic. Patrick Clark,
254-8116.
NATURAL CHILDBIRTH CLASSES specializing
in the Bradley Method. Classes are small. and
include nutrition physiology, consumcnsm,
parenting skills, and relaxation and labor suPP?"'
techniques. For mon:: infonnation cal~ or wme
Maggie Sachs; 808 Florida Ave.; Bnstol. TN
37620. (6 lS) 764-2374.
ASTROLOGICAL CHART with aspect grid and
key to astrological symbols. Send SIO, SASE, and
birthdate (mo/day/yr), binhlime (00:00 AM/PM},
and birthplace (city, state} to Sw Charts; P .0. Box
18205; Asheville, NC 28814.
NEW AGE GROUP forming. Emphasis on spirit
and out coMection to Mother Earth, visualizing
positive growth and nurturing. Contact: Theresa
Carlson; 7501 Rule Rd.; Knoxville, Tiii 37920.
MOCCASINS, handcrafted of clkhide in the
traditional Plains Indian style. Water-resistant,
rcsoleable. and rugged - great for hiking! Children's
and infant sizes available. Contact: Pauick Clark;
Earth Dance Moccasins; Box 931; Asheville, NC
28802 (704) 254-8116.
RECYCLED PAPER! • Directory of products

sources for the southeast. Suggested donation S 1.00
to Western North Carolina Alliance, PO Box
18087, Asheville, NC 28814 (704) 258-8737.

WEBWORKING is free. Send submissions to:

Drawing by Rob M~slclt

KotUah Journal

P.O. Box 638
Leicester. NC
K:uUah Province 28748

Sprl.nq, t 990

�The KatUah Journal wan rs to communicate your thoughrs and
feelings to the other people in the bioregional province. Send them
to us as letters, poems, stories, articles. drawing~ . or phowgraphs,
etc. Please send your conrriburiollS to 1LS at: Kattiah Journal; P. 0 .
Box 638, Leicester, NC; Kattiah ProvirLCe 28748.
Issue 28 of Lhe Karuah Journal (Summer, '90) will take up
the topic of "Carrying Capacity" and the burgeoning impact of the
human presence and human technology in the mountains. lf we are
to continue after the last industrial smoke-cloud and past the end of
real estate, we have to apply this important ecological principle to
our own selves.
Articles deadline: April 25 - Editorial meeting: May 12 Layout: June 2 until...

"Water ls Life" is a principle with which we are all familiar.
Issue 29 of the Kat"'1h Journal will concern itself with water and
watersheds in the Southern Appalachians - the blessing of water,
how it affecLs the lives of all of us who live here, and what we can
do to protect iL

BACK ISSUES OF KATUAH JOURNAL AVAILABLE
ISSUE THREE · SPRINO 1984
Sustainable Agncultutc - Sunnowcrs • Human
lmpacl on the ForcJI · Children.I' Educalion
Veronica Nicholu:Woman in Polilics • Liule
People • Medicine Allies
ISSUE FOUR · SUMMER 1984
W11cr Drum Wa1er Quali1y . Kudzu - Solar
Eclipse • Clcucutung • irout • Ooing io W11a
Ram Pumps · Microhydro · Poems: Bennie
Lee Sinclair. Jim W aync Millu
ISSUE AVE · FALL 1984
Harvest • Old Ways in Cherokee • Oinseog •
Nuclear Wu1c • Our Celtic Heritage •
Biorcgionalism: Past, Present. and Furure •
John Wilno1y • Healing Darkness • Politics of
Participation
ISSUE SIX · WINTER t984-8S
Winiu Solslice Earth Ceremony • Honcpasturc
Rivu • Conilng of the Light • Log Cabin
Rooca • Mountain Agricullurc: The Righi Crop
• William Taylor . The Furureoflhc Forest
ISSUE SEVEN · SPRINO 1985
Suslllnlblc Economics • Hot Springs - Worker
Ownenhip • The Orcat llconomy • Self Help
Credit Union • Wild Turkey • RcspoNiblc
Investing • Working m the Web of Life
ISSUE EIOHT · SUMMER 198S
Celebration: A Way of Life • Ka1l1ah 18.000
Years Ago • Sacred SilU • Folk Arts in lhc
Schools • Sun Cycle/Moon Cycle • Poems:
Hilda Downer · Cherokee HeriLage Center·
Who Owns Appalachia?
ISSUE NlNE · FALL 1985
The Waldee Forest • The Trees Spcalr.
Migrallna Forais • Horse Logging • Starting a
Tree Crop • Urben Trca • Al:«n Bread - Myth
Time

ISSUE TEN . WINTER 1985-86
Kate Rogers • Circles of Stone • internal
Mylhmaking • Holistic Healing on Trial ·
Poems: Sieve K.nauth • Mythic Places • The
Uk1cna·s Talc • Crystal Magic •
"Drcamspcaking.

ISSUE EIOIITEEN . Winier 1987-88
Vernacular ArchilCCrure . Dreams in Wood and
Stone • Mountain Home • Earth Energies •
Earth.Sheltered Living • Membrane Houses Brush Shelter • Poems: Oc1obu DMSk • Oood
Medicine: "Shcl1cr"

ISSUE TWENTY-THREE - Spring. 1989
Pisgah Village • Planet Art • Orecn Chy •
Poplar Appeal • "Clear Sky" • •A New Earlh"
Black Swan • Wild Lovdy Days • Reviews:
Sacred Land Sacred Sex, Ice Age • Poem:
"Sudden Tendrils"

ISSUE ELEVEN · SPRJ.NO 1986
Community Planning • Ci1ies and the
'Biorcg1onal Vision • Recycling - Community
Olldcrun&amp;· Floyd County, VA • Ouobol •
Two Bioregional Views • Nuclear Supplcment
Fo.Uue Oames · Good Medicine: Visions

ISSUE NINETEEN · Spring, 1988
Pcrelandta Carden · Spring Tonics - Blueberries
WildOo wCT Oarden.s • Oranny Herbalis1 •
Rower Eucnces • "The Origin or the Animals;
SIOry • Good Medicine: "Power'" - Be A Tree

ISSUE TWENTY-FOUR · Summer. '89
Deep Lis1ening · Life in Aiomic City . Direct
Aclionl · Tree of Peace • Community Building
Peacemakers • Elhnic Survival • Pairing
PTOp:t • "Baulesong" - Crowing Peace ill
Cllltures · Review: TMCMUceOJtd IN Blode

ISSUE THIRTEEN · Fall 1986
Ccniu For Awakening • Elizabeth Callari • A
Ocnllc Dealh • Hospice • Ernest Morgan •
Dealing Creatively with Death • Home Burial
Box • The Wah • The Raven Mocker •
Woodslorc and Wildwoods Wisdom - Oood
Medicine: 'Tlic Sweal Lodge
lSSUE FOURTEEN · Winter 1986-87
Uoyd Carl Owle • BoogCTS and Mummen • All
Species Day • Cabin Fever Univenity •
Homeless in Kalolah • Homemade Hot Water
Siovemaker's Narrative • Oood Medicine:
lnu:rspccies Communication

ISSUE TWENTY · Summer. 19&amp;&amp;
Prcsctve Appalachian Wildcmcss . Highlands
of Roan • Celo Community • Land Trust •
Arthur Morgan School • Zoning Issue - 'The
Rid8c" • Farmers and the Farm Bill • Oood
Medicine: "Land" • Acid Rain • Duke's Power
Play • Cherokee Microhydro Project
ISSUE TWENTY.ONE · Fall. 1988
Chcs1nuis: A Natural History • Restoring the
Chestnut · "Poem of Preservation and Praise"
Continuing the Quest • Forats and Wildlife
Chestnuts in Regional Diel - Chestnut
Resources - Herl&gt; Note • Oood Medicine:
"Changes lO Come" · Review: Where ugmd.s

Uve
ISSUE AFT'EEN · Spring 1987
Coverleu • Woman Forester • Susie McMalw\
Midwife • Allemativc Contraception •
Biosexualily • Bioregionalism and Women •
Cood Medicine: Malri.vchal Culture · Pearl
ISSUE SlXTE.llN - Summer 1987
Helen Waite • Poem: VisioN in a Oarden •
Vision Quest • Firll Flow • Initiation •
Leaming in lhe Wilderness • Chcrokeea
Olallengc . "Valuing Trca"

~UAttJOURNAL

For more info: call Rob Messick at (704) 754-6097
Name

City

Regular Membership........ $10/yr.
Sponsor.........................$20/yr.
Contributor.....................$50/yr.

Area Code
Spr LrMJ, 1990

State

Enclosed is$
to give
this effort an exrra bOost

Zip

I can be a local contact
person for my area

Phone Number

..

".,

....

lSSUllTWENTY..SDC- WINTER. 1989·'90
Coming of Age in the E&lt;iotoic Eta • Kids
Saving Rainforest - Kids Tree.cycling CornpMy
• Conllict Resolution • Developing the Crcativ&amp;
Spirit • Dinh Power • Dinh Bonding • The
Magic of Puppetry • Home Schooling • Narnint
Ceremony • Mother Earth's Classroom •
Oatdening for Childrcra

ISSUE TWENTY-TWO · Winter, '&amp;&amp;-89
Olobal Warming • f'tre This Time • Thomas
Betry on "Bioregions" • Eanh Excteisc • Kor6
Loy McWhirw • An Abundance of Emptiness
LETS • Chroniclea of Floyd • Oury Wood
The Bear Clan

Box 638; Leicester, NC; KatUah Province

Address

ISSUE TWENTY -FIVE • F.All., 1989
The Orcat Forest . Restoring Old OroWlh •
Regional Planning - Timber - Forest Roads
Poem: "Sparrow Hawk" - A Place for Bean
"There Fell the Rain Healing" · Eastern
Panther • Oak Decline • People and Habitat
Wild Sanctuaries · BllUI" Fair

28748
Back Issues
Issue # _ @ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue# _ _@ $2.50 = $ _ _
lssue# _@$2.50= $ _ _ ·
Issue#_@ $2.50 = $ _ _
Issue# _ _@ $2.50 = $_ _
Complete Set (3-11, 13-16,
18-26)
@ $40.00 = $_ _
postage paid

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                  <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;,&amp;nbsp;was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span&gt;, 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.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; 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.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This digital collection is only a portion of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah&lt;/em&gt;-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 &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;. 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.</text>
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                <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, Issue 27, Spring 1990</text>
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                <text>The twenty-seventh issue of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; focuses on holistic healing: personal and planetary. Authors and artists in this issue include: Richard Lowenthal, David Wheeler, Sam Gray, Doug Aldridge, Rob Messick, Stephen Wing, Lisa Sarasohn, Snow Bear, James Rhea, Kim Sandland, Sandra Fowler, and Susan Adam. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, 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.</text>
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                <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, printed by The &lt;em&gt;Waynesville Mountaineer&lt;/em&gt; Press</text>
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                    <text>ISSUE 28 SUMMER 1990

$1.50

�~UAH JOURNAL
PO Box 638 Leicester, NC Kaluah Province 28748

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

Postage Paid
Bulk Mail
Permit #18
Leicester, NC
28748

�Carrying Capacity ....................... 3
by David Wheeler
Setting Limits to Growth:
Interview with Dr. Gary Miller.......•.•.•. 5
Recorded by David Wheeler

What Is Overpopulation?................... 7
by Stephe11 Bartlett
The Road Gang ......................... 8
by Rob Barro11

The Highway to Nowhere ............ 9
Opening Pandora's Box:
The 1-26 Projec1 ......................... 10
by Rob Barron

"Caring Capacity" .................... 11
by Will Ashe Bason
People and Habitat. .................. 12
by Chip Smith and
Lee Kinnaird Fawcett
Designing the
Whole Life Communicy.............. 14
by Marnie Muller

Steady State ................... ........ 15
by .Tim llouser
Poems by Will Ashe Bason ............. 17
Good ~lcdicine........................ 20
Transportcrnativcs .................... 22
by Pmrick Clark
Imagining

the End of Real Estate ................ 23
hy Jlecrdire P. CotUic'Cllt

Naturnl World Ncws .................24
!\Jan and the Biosphcrc ...............27

Drumming ............................. 28
l.e11crs to Katuah Joum31

Review: Cohousing .................. 30
by Will Ashe Bason
Events .................................. 33
Wcbworking ...................... .... 34

----

,

A f': are blesL The Katuah Province
V V~f the bioregion of Appalachia is a

place of beauty with abundant rainfall,
verdant forests, rich bottomland soils
developed from the old rocks of the hills,
and a wide diversity of plant and animal
species. The highland forests have provided
well for a human population for 14,000
years. They have maintained sttong
populations of other animal species for eons
longer than 1hat. And they consistently
perform important life suppon services for
the entire planet.
Yet today the growth and
development of human culture in the
Southern Appalachians is threatening the
viability of the system as a whole. And we
do not seem 10 know how to conttol ii. We
cannot control it because the idea of physical
"growth" is enshrined on a cultural pedestal
and is considered to be among the ranks of
the holy - beyond question. Physica1
"growth" is the economic watchword of our
society, the one tactic that has never failed
us. It is the measure of our economic
success in the concept of our Gross
National ProducL It is seen as the panacea
for all our economic ills, local or national.
But now our concept of infinite
growth has collided headlong with the
physical Limits of our biosphere. We have
passed the point of diminishing returns, and
our response is to squeeze our environment
all the tighter, even as it becomes
increasingly apparent that our world can no
longer stand the strain. But we still seem
unable to give up our addiction to the:
concept of infinite increase. We mochfy the
word "growth" with the limiting adjectives
"quality" and "responsible," but vinu~lly no
one is willing to publicly bring up the idea
that here in the Katiiah Province we have
alreotly surpassed the ability of the l3nd to
suppon our great numbers and our grea1
enterprise.
This is because the idea of carrying
capacity is not widely known. Carrying
capadty means the extent of a habitat'~
ability to suppon a conunuously sustainable
population of a particular species. Any
aspect ofhabita1 can be the critical clement
that limits carrying capacity for a given
species, although food or water are usually
the determining factors.
Even 1hose human beings familiar
with the notion of carrying capacity are
reluctant to apply it to our own species,
feeling that it violates some unspoken
human ttusl to admit that we, too, are bound
by the inevitable laws of Oeation. The truth
be known, in the Karuah bioregional

province we need to work to lessen our
species' impact on the ecosystem that
sustains us. But instead our numbers and
impact continue to rise.
The two-headed bogey of growth
and development is going to be one of the
most crucial issues facing all of us in the
Karuah Province in the decade 10 come. In
the mountains, developmem is synonymous
with access. Access today means roads.
Where the roads go, habitat destruction
follows. In some ways, the futare of our
. region is as simple as that

"'for Cife. in t~ mountains
is fi'Tling in tfanger
Of too many people.,
too many macftine.s... •
S""8 {yriu 6y Jolin 'Dentler

To understand whaL is happening to
us and to our region we need to understand
the idea of carrying capacity. We need to be
able to wield that idea incisively in order to
communicate to others about what is
happening and to bring about change.
The solution is for us to redefine the
relationship between our species and our
mountain habitat We need to see that we are
the mountains, that we are the forest Our
model is the old-growth forest itself. When
a forest is in the early stages of succession,
i1 grows aggressively. using up great
amounl.'i of energy, producing great
amounts of biomass. This is known as a
young forest. In the study of anthropology,
a society such as ours that expands
aggressively into the world is also known as
a young culture.
A young forest is constantly
growing toward whaL is known as the
climax condilion. In the climax, or
old-growth. forest, the processes of growth
and decay are maintained in a precise
balance Lhat is sustainable indefinitely. A
forest in the climax stage is considered 10 be
a ma111re forest. Like a mature forest, a
mmure culture emphasizes conservation of
energy, makes less demands on the world
around it, and is capable of continuing
1ndefini1ely in a condition of sustained
equilibrium with its surrounding habitat.
We, at the height of our destructive
cultural adolescence. need to decide: are we
going to add yet another ecosy_stem to our
list of conquests, or are we going to grow
into maturity as a culture ~d come once .
again into balance with this beautiful land m
which we are blest to live?

Drawing by Rob Messick

-The Editors

�~LJAH JOURNAL
STAFF TI IJS ISSUE:
Susan Adam
Patrick CJark
Karen Lohr

Stephen Banlett
Jim llouser

Mamie Muller
James Rhea
Chip Smith

Tersh Palmer
David Wheeler
Manha Tree

Rob Messick

EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:
Will Ashe Bason
Jack Chaney
Michael Havelin

Scott Bird
John Creech

COVER: by Rob Messick © 1990
BACK COVER illus1ra1ion by Joaquin Wlu1e Oak. a na1fre o/1he
Chumash tribe of the west coast. The Chuma.sh cul/lue has all but bun
destroyed- there are fl() full-blooded tribal memben, and 1he language and
sp1ri1ua/ traditions hU\/t1 been lost. All 1Jra1 remains is o/ 1he old ways of the
uibe is in tlu! art tradilion, which Joaquin and a few others carry on.
Joaquin and his family are currently li1•ing ln Black /.fountain. NC.

PUBLISHED BY: Katt'talr Jo11ntal
PRTI\'TED BY: The WayneSVtlle Mo11nrai11eer Press
ED!ffiRIAl. OffJCE THIS ISSUE: The Globe Valley
WRITF US AT:
Kattial: Joumal
Box 638; Lcices1er, NC; Kaiuah l'rovincc 28748
TEI EPllOl'l:E: (70-i) 754-6097

Kaniah Jaurnal is on Skyland BBS, Asheville, NC.
For infonnation, call (70-i) 254-6700.

THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BIORECION
AND MAJOR EASTERN RIVER SYSTEMS

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
/Jere 1n the southern-most hear1/and of the Appalachian mou11tains, the
oldest mounUJin range on our continent, Turtle Island· a small but growing group
has begun to 1alte on a sense of responsibility for the implications of tha1
geographical and cultural heritage. This sense of rcsp0nsibility centers on the
concept of living wit/Jin the natural scale and balance of univer.ral systems and
principks.
Within this circle we begin by invoking tht Cherokee name " Ka11lah"
as the old/new name for this area of the mountain.fund for us journal a.swell. Thr.
pro»ince is indica1ed by 11s natural boundaries: the Roanolc.e Rn·u Valley to the
nnrtl1; tl1e foothills of thr pit'dmont area ro the east: Yona MouMain and thr
Georgia liill.t to the south; and the Tennessee Riw~r \'alley 10 the wcs1
Thc cthtoria/ priori tie.&lt; for us are to colleet and dinemina1e informn11on
and cnerJ!Y wliich J'(rtain.1 ,Tpecifica/ly /fl this region. and to foster tltr.11...,wenr.ss
tlt111 the land is a living bdng dcsl'rving of our lo»c and respect. LMng in this
manner is a way 10 ins1ue the .mstainabiliry of the bio.fpht:re and a /a.wns: p/au
for aurstfrc.f in its continuing tva/111t0nary proctss.
We sum to luwe reached thi: fulcrum {'&lt;Jint ofa· do or die si111at1on in
terms of a quality .ttandard of life for all living beings on this planet. As a \'CJ/CC
for the rautllUrs o/ tht1 sacred land, K111"'1h, we advocate a rrnttrcd approach 10
th.: conupt of dccen1raliza11on. !1 i.f our hope to become a suppc•rt sy.flem for
thou accepting the challenge o/ .fu.flainab1/iry and 1he crca11on &lt;if lwrmony and
balance in a total scMe, hetc in this place.
\l'e we/rotrU! all correspondence, criticism. pertinent information,
a.rticlcs. artwork, tic. w11h hopes tlrat Kattlah will grow to scr1•e the best 111urem
of this rtgion and all ils li\•ing. breathing trU!mhers.
.~
• The Edi1ors p-'
H

D1vcrs1l) 1s an tm(IOl'l:lnl dcmcnl of l:&gt;1oreg1onul ecology, both
natural and social. In line w11h lh1s prmcipk. tho: J.'atWih Journal tries to
serve as a forum for the discussion of regioml JSsucs. Signed nttic k~ ~xprc!&gt;.~
only the ormion of the authors and arc no1 ncccssar1ly the opinions or the
KatWih Journal tditors or staft .
The Internal Revenue Service ha~ declared Kattlnh a non·prolit
organizauon under sccuon 501(&lt;:)(3) of the Internal Revenue Cod.:. All
contributions to Kat"'1h are dedoc11blc from personal income uu.

'LNVOCA.T'LON
The Wonder of lhc World
Nature's Beauty and Power.
The shape of things
Their colors. lights. and shades.
111esc r saw.
Look ye also while life lasts.
- InscrlpUon on an old English gravestone

~

KATU~RlN·1Ht·YEf\~- 2022.?
Cart.oon b) Rob Messick

.. .

Summrr, 1990

�CARRYING CAPACITY
by David Wheeler
ln 1944 a small island in Alaska was
stocked with 24 reindeer. There had been no
reindeer previously on the island, and 1hc
animals had no natural predators. Lichens and
other na1ural foods were plentiful and 1he
reindeer prospered. They prospered ro the extent
that by r963 there were 6,000 of the animals
inhabi1ing the island. By then the island was
badly overgrazed, and the severe snowstonns
tha1 s1ruck the area that winier decimated the
herd. By the winter's end there were only 42
reindeer left, only one of them a male. all of
1hem probably sterile from nu1ri1ion deficiency,
living in a badly degraded environment.
This small tragedy was recorded by David
R. Klein in the Journal of Wildlife Managemem.
It is known today as a classic case of the
consequences of violating 1he carrying capacity
of a defined habitat area. The moral for 1he
wildlife managers reading the story was that the
reindeer herd should have been managed to stay
below a maximum density of five reindeer per
square kilometer, a level that 1he island could
have supported indefinitely.
In the natural world, when a species
exceeds the carrying capacity of 11s given
habitat, if it canno1 expand its niche, then 1ha1
species sufferi; a dicback, usually from
starvation, until its numbers once again drop
back wi1hin the limits or its habitat's carrying
capacity.
Although we recognize the
idea of carrying capacity, we are
reluctant to admit its relevance to
our own species. The concep1
arose from the observations of
ecologists. who apply i1 as a
mauer of course to any
popula1ion being "managed" to fit
into a particular human-dcfmed
habitaL But even though we have
reached the geographic and
resource limits of the globe and
human habitat is now limhed as
well, we still hcsi1ate 10 apply the
concept of carrying capacity 10
our own kind. There is a myopic
assump1ion that somehow our
own selves are exemp1 from this
natural law 1hat applies to every
species in Creation.
The na1ural area in which
to calculate carrying capacity is
the bioregion, as the bioregion is
the basic uni1 of habitation, for
the human as well as 01her
species. It is relatively
uncomplicated to estimate the
carrying capacity for plant and
animal species once their habiiat
needs are known. In nature all
creatures are closely linked 10
their habitat and when one crucial
clement of 1heir life support
system is ovenaxed, usually food
or water, the species begins to
experience dicback. It is
Summer, 1990

characteris1ic tha1 overpopulated animal species,
like the unfortuna1e reindeer herd on St.
Mauhcw Island, usually degrade 1heir local
environment 10 some extent, sometimes
irreversibly, as they anempt to scrape out the last
shreds of sustenance before the population is
pruned back 10 sustainable levels. The role of a
predator species is co srrenglhen lhe gene pool of
their prey and 10 keep the population of 1he prey
species within the limi1s of carrying capacity,
preventing this environmental degradation.
The classic equation for figuring the
impact of a human socie1y is: population size x
1mpac1 of technology =effect on the habitat.
These factors are modified by the spiritual and
ecological altitudes of 1he socie1y. This equa1ion
is no1 useful in arriving at specific number
values, but rather it illustrates relationships. II
tells us, for example, that a slight rise in
population among the people of Turtle Island
has a much greater impact on the planetary
environment than a large rise in population in
most Third World counties because of the
garganiuan appe1ite of our energy-iniensivc
technology.
Human industrial technology has
complica1ed the idea of carrying capacily as it
applies to our own species. A habi1a1's carrying
capaci1y can be s1ressed either by
over-occupation, by excessive resource
extraction, or by waste disposal overload.
Modem society, supported by our high-intensity

technology, can stress a regional habitat by the
sheer volume of resources i1 consumes, by
simply monopolizing much of the available
space, by turning out more waste than natural
systems can process, or by 1uming out wastes
so exo1ic or so toxic 1ha1 digesting organisms
cannot assimifate them.
Mos1 imponamly, however, we humans
have learned how to reach beyond our own
bioregions to import resources necessary for
life. Early human beings were dependent on
their immediate bioregion and the well-being of
the other species with which they shared iL
Today we can exhaust the resources of one
region and then put off the ecological
consequences of our ill-use by en1ering another
region and ex1racting from there the resources to
maintain, or even to expand, our bloa1ed levels
of consumption. Each time we reach beyond the
bounds of our own bioregions to find 1he
materials to suppon life or to dispose of our
waste products, we drain the vitality of the
victimized region and bring hardship 10 all its
inhabitants - plant, animal, nnd human.
We also are able 10 extend our reach
through rime. By drawing off fossil fuels
deposited in pas1 millennia, we have boosted our
numbers and our rares of resource consumption
to extravagant levels, c~ting an ecological debit
that will be lef1 for coming generations 10 pay.
For example, energy-intensive industrial
agricuhurc is "mining" soils, causing severe
long-tenn degradation by forcing them to feed
much greater numbers of people
and animals than their capabilities
allow. Another example is our
fossil fuel wastes, which for
centuries will remain toxic
momenioes of the brief flowering
of industrialism. While we have
all the fun, our dcscendents will
have to resolve all the long-term
problems crea1ed by our energy
bonanza.
It lends a sense of urgency
to 1he ques1ion of carrying
capacit)' when we realize that we
are driving 100 species per day
into extinction and habitats
world-wide are constantly being
degraded
by
our
Himprovcments." We seem quite
willing to sacrifice the existence
of any other species, even the
greatest and grandes1, rather than
relinquish even 1he slightest
aspect of our prodigal lifestyle.
When we drive other life forms to
extinction, clearly we have gone
too far. ln doing this we not only
diminish the present world; we
threaten the planet's evolutionary
future.
Carrying capacity is not the
only balance to which we have to
pay attention in this world, but
for the purposes of evaluating our
success as a species, it is a most
useful one. Predator species have
(continued on next page)

JGQtimh ) 01unm p1a9e 3

�Photo by Doug Woodward

CARRYING CAPACITY (conunucd from p. 3)
instinct~al popul~tion. controls that help them
keep t~e1r.~pulauons m ~ance ':""ith their prey
• temtonahty, no maung during lactation
periods, long gestarion times. In some cases
infant monality rates are helped by adult males
wh? will kill and eat young cubs in their
temtory. Predators "know" somewhere in their
make-up that il is to their advantage to keep their
populations Jean and spare.
Humans seem to have retained this sense
of survival while living as nomadic and
semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers. Tribal people
had a variety of contraceptive melhods: herbal
magical, and ritual. ln some tribes wome~
would nurse their children into their founh and
fifth year, thus decreasing fertility. In some
hunting societies when times were hard,
mothers would sometimes bury a child rather
than let it live to face possible slow starvation.
Even nomadic hunting societies had unspoken,
but clearly defined, boundaries to their
wandering. Primitive people bowed to the
nece~ities imposed by their role as a predator
species.

The development of agriculture is marked
as a turning point in our conception of
ourselves. Agriculture allowed much denser
le~els of population, and a large number of
children per family became a desirable goal in
most agricultural societies, as it meant help in
I.he fields and a buffer against the high infant
monality engendered in the more densely
populated, unsanitary agricultural villages. It is
accepted as a general rule that when peoples tum
to agriculture, their populations shoot up.
However,
on
Turtle
Island
agricultural/hunting societies contradicted that
rule. ~ere in the Southern Appalachian
Mountams che Cherokee Indians maintained
balanced numbers in chis region of abundant
resources for many generations. The Hopi, the
Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) tribes, and the
Man~an repf7sented other native people:&gt; who
pracuc:ed agnculture yet kept their population
levels in tune with the ability of their regions to
provi~e. It ~s t&gt;&lt;?ssible to have resources enough
and soll ma.mlalll a balance with the land.
Recent archaeological finds show that
Neolithic agricultural societies in Europe also
JGcitUah Jourt;'QL ~Cl~, 4

had achieved that balance. However, the
Inda-European nomads who conquered the
continent never learned that an. Europe was
already filled to overcrowding when Columbus
opened up the New World for exploration at the
end of the fifteenth century. The Black Plague
had diminished the population somewhat, but it
had quickly recovered. There was not land
enough for all, so under the primogeniture
system fathers gave their holdings to their oldest
son and the younger sons went viking , to the
Crusades, or to the monastery. They saw I.he
world as theirs to plunder.
Immigration to the New World vented the
building population pressure in Old Europe and
postponed the dire predictions of Malthus in the
late eighteenth century concerning the miseries
of a land overcrowded beyond its carrying
capacity. Conditioned by life in the Old World,
the white immigrants coming to Tunic lsland
saw the. cont~ent in terms of opponunity:
economic capual, untouched resources, and
productive land - opponunity, in other words
'
for exploitation.
Today, with world population at five and
one-quaner billion and the population on this
contin_ent.at 420.100.000, returning to Carrying
capac11y 1s, more than ever, a necessary goal.

Yet the etruc of today is "growth." Growth is
seen as being synonymous wilh prosperity. But
when cells grow without heed to the needs of
the greater organism, this is called "cancer."
And this is precisely the nature of industrial
society in the world today.
We need to regain the predator's sense.
As a species, panicularly here in I.he Southern
Appalachians. we need to reverse the growth
et~1c. and restore the balance. If we are not living
wnhin the bounds of sustainability for our own
bioregion. then we are leeching energy from
other people and other species in other
bioregions or from the non-human species of
our own reJ?;ion.
For 500 years on this continent the
dominant influence has been to direct our energy
outward. to change the world to meet our
perceived wants and needs. We are now
realizing that we are not greater than the world,
that we are part of the world. With that
realization comes responsibility. Now the wsk is
to change ourselves and our society to fit the
demands of the Greater Life, specifically life as
we find it in our respective bioregions.
For the sake of the Greater Life, we need
to set aside large areas where native species can
find a home and the narural processes prevail.
For the sake of the Greater Life, we need
to curb our appetites ("Live simply that others
may simply live."). It is imperative that we use
all appropriate methods to limit our numbers.
For the sake of the Greater Life, we need
to c:ease. the productio~ of all slowly-degrading
rad1oacuve and 01herw1se toxic materials. Once
pr&lt;&gt;?uced, they inevitably end up in the life
chain, and the destructive influence of their
poisons accumulates in the body of the Eanh.
For the sake of the Greater Life, we need
to honor and show respect for the process of
death as well as for 1he process of birth.
Although the fact is masked by the
of latter day civilization, we are
JUSt as dependent on our regions as our earliest
forebears. As stated above, bioregions are the
basic unitS of habitation. They are our sphere of
influence, o~r gift and our challenge. We may
venture out mto the world, but our bioregion is
always "home." When we are willing to
recognize our limits, we wilJ find them clearly
stated in the life offered by our biorcgion~
~omogeneity

~

JAJI. ADDITIOS

A EASURE OF PROGRESS

~~
Phow counesy or lhe N&amp;1 Ri- Fru Prus

Su.m,mer, 1990

�SETTING LIMITS TO GROWTH:

ANINTERVIEWWITHDR.GARYMILLER

KaJ(talz Journal: How does carrying capacity work in
nature?

Gary Miller: The limits of a habitat's carrying capacity for
any given species come into play during what 1 call the "pinch
period," when one of the basic factors of that species' life
support - available food, proper conditions for reproduction,
growth space, water, etc. - becomes a limiting factor. A species
will reach carrying capacity when one of these limiung factors
stops population growth or causes population decline.
To carry that over to the human population, we are now
seeing clearly that certain areas - like Central Africa - are having a
very difficult time feeding themselves. Many pans of the United
States are now running out of water, so water availability is
becoming a critical limiting factor. There is no doubt that there is
a whole series of limiting factors that are going to affect human
carrying capacity, whether in terms of a region or in cenns of the
planet.
We don't know what the planet's ultimate carrying capacity
for human beings is. It's highly variable according to the
different parameters at work in different regions of the world.
Some ecologists are saying that the human population is double
the planet's long-tellll carrying capacity for our species. In other
words, the true biological, long-term, sustainable carrying
capacity for the people this planet can support is presumably
somewhere in the 2 1/2 billion range. We arc now approaching
five and one-quaner billion people.
KJ: Having fossil fuels available really complicates it.

GM: The fossil fuels that we are now extracting allow us to
exceed carrying capacity, because they offer an artificial way to
support great numbers of humans. However, that energy supply
is finite. Natural gas and oil will run out in the near future. Coal
will probably last some 200-400 years in the United States.
If we were 10 lose these fuel sources immediately, it \\'OU Id
cause all sorts of misery for the human population, because
vinually all the methods we in the West use to grow our food and
create our extrnvagant creature comfons arc based on fossil fuels.
Food production, one of the most important issues defining
carrying capacily for humans, is clearly now a function of fossil
fuel subsidies in the developed countries.
We live in a world agricultural economy based entirely
upon readily available and relatively cheap sources of fossil fuels.
The orange juice produced in Brazil, the apricots and strawbemes
produced in Spain. or the couon products grown in Egypt can be
shipped any place around the globe in a very shon period of time.
Water from the mountains of Nevada irrigates produce grown in
the San Joaquin VaUey of California. But try to accomplish that
when fossil fuel supplies are exhausted! That's when the real
issue of carrying capacity will be felt and understood by our
species.
KJ. Also for human beings. the qucsuons of values comes
into it, too. Right now we are continuing our own support at the
standard to which we are accustomed by sacrificing other
species' life suppon systems, thereby driving them to extinction.
GM: Based on our present population numbers and level of
resource consumption, we are basically incompatible. We have a
tendency to monoculture virtually everything, and once we take
out the native grasslands, the native upland forests, and wetlands
and replace them with monocultures, about the only thing that can
survive are the plants and the animals that are broad generalists
and a few parasites and predators that thrive off of those
monoculture species.
KJ: How about in the mountains? Arc there ways in which
it is evident that we are violating our region's carrying capacity?

GM: One thing 1 think of right away i~ the _rapi.d rat~ of
loss of flatlands the mosc suitable farmland 10 this b1oregton.
Those bouoml~nds are also prime areas for industrial and
Summe~,

t 990

•
Phoio by Rodney Webb

commercial s11e development, which means shopping malls and
all the things associated with malls and strip development.
Concentrated housing is also going up on relatively flat
land. The best farm lands available should be set aside for
farming so that we can support ourselves if and when we find
ourselves in a pinch period. If our supply lines are ever cut,
whether because of a war. or because we run out of fossil fuel
energy, or because of a natural disaster, we will have to rely on
our ability to produce food locally. But much of our prime farm
land is going under pavement and building structures, never to
be reclaimed. For all intents and purposes, that land is lost
forever, and with that land we have lost our ability lO cope should
any of these hypothetical disasters actually occur. Mu~h of the
bouomland habitat has disappeared, and as a result na11vc plant
and animal populations have declined. Very few mountain
wetlands exiSt today.
I question the quality of our present political leadership. It
seems like we need to call a moratorium on growth. There needs
to be time set aside to plan for the future. We need to plan now
how we are going to accommodate all species' survival. How
many people can we accommodate here before we do irreparable
harm t0 our support ecosystems and to the natural biota?
KJ What would be the most effective way to put a
moratorium on growth?

GM: One of lhe ways is for the citizenry to demand it. That
isn't likely to happen.
Another way would be for the lcad~hip of the community
to call for it, realizing, in their wisdom, that we live within finite
systems.
Another way is simply to not extend the ~ecessary
infrastructure services - such things as roads, electnc power,
water, and sewer.
KJ: Those items are presently thought of as services, but
they act in a much more aggressive way. Simply having those
layers of infrastructure in place guarantees growth.

GM: Absolutely. If you want an area to grow and dev~lop.
extend water lines, streets, power, and sewer. and ll 1s
guaranteed to develop.
There was an article in the Asheville Citizen on March 7,
1990 that told how the Asheville City Council approved a
subdivision by a 4-3 vote despite testimony from the fire
department stating that they would not be able to ~uarantee fire
protection to that development, be&lt;:ause the slope 1s too steep to
get the fire trucks up under icy conditions.
What the city council said was. "We want to keep
growing."

�What the leadership should be saying is, "If we can't
protect the people who would be living there, then the developers
shouldn't be building there."
I think that in this case our leaders were shirking their
responsibility and cenainly not looking out for the general
public's best interestS.

KJ: But on the other hand, not having the infrastructure in
place effectively prohibits growth ...
GM: ...Or at least keeps it at a very low density, because
most developers are going to be wary of developing a large
project where they can't be guaranteed infrastructure.

Kl: So the infrastructure has a pivotal role as far as the
extent of development.
GM: Yes. One of the biggest problems we now have in
Asheville, NC where I hve, is is the controversy around
extending the water supply infrastructure. The first choice of the
city leadership was tapping the French Broad River. For various
reasons the public said no.
If the voters were to say forcefully, ''No, we don't want a
new water supply, let's make do with what we have," saying in
other words that conservation should be a first priority, that
would put a crimp in long-term growth here.
The same thing is true for the sewer system. The sewer
lines are continually being extended. We have hundreds of miles
of pipeline that arc in critical disrepair, with leaks showing in
different locations throughout the city and the county, and still the
only time the administration ever hesitates to extend the sewer
lines is when the state threatens them with a lawsuit saying, "You
already have too many leaks in that area and the manhole covers
are popping out whenever it rains. You can't possibly extend."
So the city calls an emergency meeting, and they give a
million-dollar contract, rush in and repair the immediate
problems, and then they can extend the line and add more houses
in that area. They repair the sewer system just enough so that
they can go further out, which stresses it all over again.

Kl: Then the new power lines that Duke Power Co. is
going to put through the counties south of here is not just a
neutral kind of thing.
GM: Any time you extend any major form of
infrastructure, it cannot be defined as neutral. Any time those
services are punched through, they definitely tend to promote
growth.

KJ: In the mountains one of the most imponant types of
infrastructure is roads, because in the mountains access is always
one of the major limiting factors. When access is gained to an
area, that means that the people come, and as the access improves
and becomes easier, that brings more people. It happens very
consistently Wt as soon as there is access, the maximum number
of people come in.

GM: Absolurely.
It's creeping incrementalism. Everyone assumes that this
linle road here or that little activity there really doesn't make any
difference. But this occurs hundreds or thousands of times every
single day in any given region, and when one translates it to a
world-wide scale, one can see that we are forcing lms of
organisms and the habitats that are required to suppon them into
siruations that are life-threatening. There are 5 1/4 billion humans
out there; each of them, every day, has some son of effect on the
environment.We all make decisions that are in our own best
interests. We rarely think in terms of the best in1eres1s of the
woodpecker, the salamander, 1he migrating songbird, or the oak
tree; yet all the creatures of the forests and of the waterways
perform critical activities that benefit us both directly and
indirectly.

Kl: In this region the major effects of roads would be to
ei1her increase the density of human beings in certain areas or to
bring human beings into areas that were previously uninhabited.
GM: An example is the proposed Route I-26, which is to
link Asheville with a Tennessee state highway to Johnson City.
AU of the areas through which this new route will pass are going
to experience a period of extremely rapid expansion, simply
because they are going to be accessible to an estimated 12,000
vehicles a day.
Any time a major interstate is put through a rural area
where there is relatively low-priced land available, there is a
likelihood that someone is going to buy up land for industrial and
commercial development. There will be a lot of strip development
and probably small mini-industrial parks will sprout up along the
route. As a result, an increase in air pollution will occur as
nicrogen oxide, a precursor for tropospheric (low altitude) ozone
formation, is formed by all the passing vehicles. We now know
that low-level ozone is a major toxicant to plant Life in the
Southern Appalachians.
But of course that is what the growth and development
people m this area are willing to settle for. They are willing to
sacrifice a high quality environment for a middle quality
environment
The wisdom of that approach is highly debatable. Someone
looking at the long-term sustainability of all species, not just the
human species, quickly comes to the conclusion wt we just can't
keep growing indefinitely in an area that has such very special
features. To my mind the Southern Appalachian Mountains need
to be recognized as the highest kind of bio-rescrve, as opposed to
just another location for industrial and commercial development.
The mountains have exceptional physical and biological
traits. Large sections of the moumain habitat should be set aside
as a major genetic reserve area. There should be guarantees that
this special bioregion is not subdivided into a thousand small
biological islands surrounded by human developments and the
resulting pollutants.
(continued on page 21)

GM: A big boom occurred here as a result of the opening
of the 1-40 interstate. It was a coast-to·coast route that brought
thousands of new people through this area each week. many of
whom found the Southern Appalachians to be delightful and
decided that in some form or other they were going to come back
here and spend more time. Many of them have returned to visit,
and many of them have in fact moved here as permanent
residents.

KJ: That principle works on all levels. l-40 meant that
more people came into the region. a road going up into a new
cove or hollow means that there will be an innux of people into
that hollow, and a road going out into 1he national forest, means
that more people use that pan of the forest.
G.\f: Any rime we humans can open up access, sooner or
later people are going to use it. and that leads to increased use of
the area where that road has been added.

KJ· So stopping roads and roadbuilding would be an
imponant pan of limiting human territorial expansion.
JGal.Uah JourrmL PR9&amp; 6

Su.f!\ma-, 1990

�WHAT IS OVERPOPULATION?
Reflections on China and Karuah
by Stephen Bartlett
My Chinese friend had jus1 arrived m Madison, Wisconsin in order
to spend a year s1udying English. He was hom~ick and in culture shock.
If I had no1 spent two years wilh him in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province. the
People's Republic of China, 1he commen1 he made 1hat warm July
evening would have been completely incomprehensible 10 me. We were
sitting on a lakeside pier when a family of ducks came circling around
overhead in the pink dusk and splashed down into the wa1er nearby, a
stone's throw from the towering University waterfront
Chen broke the silence with this innocent question: "Whose ducks
are those?''
After a stunned silence, I managed to reply "Nobody owns them.
They are wild ducks."
My words plunged Chen into a deep contemplation. Finally, be
said, "How marvelous! Bui who will eat them?"
Behind this cross-culmral schism there lies both tragedy and hope.
For China is not only a land where humans have devastated Nature, but
also a place where people have learned some profound ecological lessons
~nd p_u_t them int? practice.. Ah.hough the 240 million human beings
mhabmn~ ~e United States 1s su_ll a s~all number compared to China's
1,080 m1 lhon, we have a per capita environmental impac1 somewhere in
the range of 40-60 times 1hat of a common Chinese person due to our
s1unningly "afnuent" culture. We have been on 1his inherently rich
conuncnt only a very short time in Chinese tenns, yet we have already
managed to lay waste ro a vast area of our land and deplete resources at
astonishing speed.
What then can the Chinese teach us to allow us to avoid the terrible
des01Jcoon they have experienced over the centuries? Can we live beuer
wii~ less, live more fully on a smaller scale, live more humbly in our
bodies and on our lands?
Jiangsu Provin~e is a sophisticated humanized landscape. There
where deer ~nc~ frohcked perhaps two thousand years ago, 77 million
people_ now live 1n a well-watered'. canal-irrigated alluvial plain the size of
Georgia, on the ba~ks of che Hum and Yangtse Rivers. Seventy-five per
cem of th~ pe~ple live on uny rural plots of less than one acre per family:
the rest hve m crowded, bicycle and coal-powered cities encircled by
dense seulcmentS of truck gardeners who supply nil lhe produce the city
will consume. Despite a dense population, the rural landscape is relatively
diverse ecologically, and almost entirely edible.
Rice grown by hand in paddies is irrigated by canals and ditches
swarming wich fish which in tum feed Oocks of domesticated ducks and
geese who supplement Lhe rice/tofu diet of the humans whose wastes arc
returned to the fields, which yield bountiful harvests of grains. beans,
oils and vegetables, whose leftovers go 10 the family pigs. Travelling bee
keepers migrate northward in spring as the flowering trees blossom.
reaping honey harvests and cross-fcnilizing the crops and fruits along the
way. Water buffalo wallow in canals in summer and huddle behind hay
stacks in winter and resolutely turn the soil the rest of the time. They
endure extremes of temperature and live on both water plants and dry land
foods, making their upkeep easier. Wild birds are sometimes trapped, and
the bountiful rivers are fished for the protein foods they can provide.
Sunflower seeds arc munched by the ton in movie theaters and the husks
arc used as mulch the next day. Occasional woodlots and windbreak trees
between fields and along roads improve the microclimate, reduce erosion,
and supply wood produc1s for tools and other uses. Almost nothing is
wasted, but almost everything is put to human use.
Where we lived in Yangzhou--a small city by Chinese standards
wi1h its 350,000 odd mhab11ants, life was made bearable and even frutiful
due to these charac1eristics of the Chinese lifes1yle:
1) Bicycles arc the main source of transport and local shipping. Air
pollurion and noise from vehicles is minimized. People are fit.

Stephen Ban.km in a field in China

2) All. of the myriad vcgetnbles. fish, eggs. tofu and meat arc
purchased directly from the farmers themselves who, hv10g within a 2
mile radius of street markets, make their way by pedal power. Thus, Lhc
food distribution system is extremely efficient and avoids Lhc use of
fossil-fuels.
3) Farmers rely mainly on human wastes for fertilizing (ir being the
most abundant source!). They double as sanitation workers by collecting
all the "night soil" in "honey buckets", caning it to their fields to sit in
holding pits, and using 11 on their crops, most of which will in tum be
consumed by the city folk. The quality and tas1e of the food was
cxcelleni, as was the variety. The only drawback is the danger of the
spread of diseases such as hepatitis, a danger avoided mainly with the
technique of quick and hot stir frying of foods in fuel-efficient woks.
4) Shoppers go out daily carrying their purchases in straw baskets.
There is very little plastic or paper waste generated. Produce sellers
appear at dawn at almost every street comer in the ci1y where staples such
as cabbage, noodles and tofu can be boughL
5) People maintain healthful routines. They ride or walk to their
jobs which arc invariably near their homes. They arise early and enjoy
afternoon naps during most of the year.
6) A sophisticated, human·shaped ecosystem has been evolved
lhroughouc the countryside where many ecological niches are filled with
edible creatures. Frogs and other beneficial creatures nre protected.
Female fish at binhing age are thrown back. Fanners use land
intensively. double cropping rice in summer and reaping a winter harvest
of wheat or barley as well. Yields are on Lhe average of 2 to 3 times those
of American farme~. per acre. Humans rely mainly on vegetable protein,
thus enabling every acre of land to suppon at least JO people with basic
grains and soybean products. Sophisticated crop rotations are standard
practise.

7) People do not bum fuels to keep warm in winter but tum to high
energy foods such as pork fat. and many layers of flannel underwe:ir.
Even goose down stuffed co:tts and pants are common in rur.il as well as
urban areas. Air pollution from burning diny coal is thus minimi~d.
(Note: in the bitter cold of nonh China, coal burning is common and is
cause for terrible air pollution.)

Lest we anempt to idealize the Chinese way of life, we must be
awttre that they have arrived at such an ecological and egalitarian lifestyle
only after laying waste to much of their land, especially in the vast Yellow
River Valley in nonhem China, the cradle of early Chinese civilization.
So ~at has the destruction been that the majestic Yellow River 1hreatcns
to change course yet again and is perched prccariouslv behind dikes at a
height of 9 meters above the arable plain of Shandong Province. It is kept
m check only through the continual effom of millions of man-days work
to constantly reinforce the dikes with soil dredged from the mouth of the
River!
(conunucd oo pace 30)

Summ£T, t9!JO

Xlituah Journal pa!JC 7

�THE ROAD GANG:
PORT RAIT OF A STATE TRANSPORT AT ION DEPARTMENT
by Rob Barron
During the Depression years, when local
governments were going bankrupt, and the
economic fabric of the state was coming
unravelled. the s1a1e government of North
Carolina, in order to keep the road system
solvent and functioning, took over all the counry
roads and all the major city roads in the state.
Since that time, vinually every major road in the
state has been under the domain of the Nonh
Carolina Depanment of Transportation (DOT), a
proud and arrogant bureaucracy that wields great
political and economic power.
The DOT is responsible for maintaining,
and expanding when necessary, North
Carolina's 76,000 mile road system. The DOT
executes the will of the state Board of
Transponation. The Board numbers 25 of the
most powerful people in the state. Board
member~ include pre~idems of trucking
companies, an execuuve of a billboard
company, construction executives, and one
woma~, the daughter of a family that develops
shopp10g centers. They are all politically
prominent and won their appointments to the
Board through their valuable contributions of
money. and influence to the governor's political
campaigns. These are the people who make the
transponation decisions for Nonh Carolina.
To have control over roads is to have
political leverage within the state government.
The DOT has an enormous budget. It has a
dedicated source of revenue and does not have
to come back to the legislature every year to
plead for a budget and submit its workings to
legislative scrutiny. And DOT funds are
discretionary, meaning that the Board has
complete control over how they arc spent. Thus
road funds also act as political capital.
Lobbyist Bill Holman, who works in
Raleigh on behalf o f the Nonh Carolina Chapter
of the Sierra Club and the Conservation Council
of North Carolina, says that, "Paving
somebody"s road, or widening somebody's
road, or opening up somebody's propeny with a
road ~s one of the wa&gt;'.s tha_t a governor can help
out h1s supponers. It is a rune-honored practice
in North. Carolina politics, spanning both
Democrauc and Republican administrations. The
building of highways is the single biggest pot of
discretionary pork barrel in the state budget and
it is almost tota ll y under the control of the
governor and his appoin tees. ..
'They are into more Political wheeling and
dealing than any other agency J know. The
amount of money and the amount of discretion
they wield is truly incredible. It's an
unbelievable hassle for the Division of Parks
and Recreation to spend several hundred
thousand dollars renovating a park - and it
probably should be that way, so that there is
some accountability for how public funds are
spenL But go over to the Highway Dcparunent.
and there is an enormous amount of wheelin"
and dealing going on involving projects i~
which millions of dollars are at stake.
"I don't think that there is much
out-and-out, undcr·the-table, illegal corruption
involved. There is a 101 of what I call "legal
corrup1ion," which is not illegal, but ii sure

Xatunn Jotnnal'. pnlJi: 8

does stink. There is a lot of politics in the paving
of roads. The location of a road determines that
some people make moot. on land use
speculation and others don't. Paving
contractors, the people that mine 1he rock,
consulting engineers, all those people wire
themse.lves into the political process with
campaign contributions. There's a lot of
patronage in the DOT. So, although it's not
illegal, let me just say that I'm not convinced
that it's public money well spent."

"I've worked wi th the
Forest Service before. and the
DOT makes the Forest Service
look like warm, fuzzy teddy
bears."
- Bill Holman, Sierra Club lobbyist
The Board of Transportation's greatest
power is control over the future of development
m the state. In Nonh CnroJina, it is fairly easy to
get a septic tank permit, a well permit, and a
building pennit. The state is notorious for its
lack of zoning regulations. Thai means lha1 the
only barrier to development is siting a road.
Since the counties lost control of their local road
systems, virtually all road decisions go through
the B~ai:d of Transportation. Local county
comm1ss1oners may, however, request changes
in their county's priority roads list, and the DOT
almost always accepts their amendments.
It is easy 10 see why roads are almost the
exclusive focus of the Board of Transponation.
Roads are power. Roads are money. Roads are
influence. Rai I roads, public transportation
programs, and energy conservation programs do
not offer such personal enhancement and
charisma.
The DOT believes in roads. Roads make
changes happen. Roads produce results. The
agency takes pride in doing itS job, laying the
pavement so that people can drive their cars and
trucks to get there faster, wherever they want to
go. They are engineers. Their task is to find the
shonest distance between two points. But the
agency also sees itself as the the facilitator of
economic development. 11 is a strongly-held
myth that highways bring prosperity. Around
the State House m Raleigh it is almost axiomatic
that, "~o~ds mean jobs." This is a corollary of
the prm?1ple .that, 'Gro~tb is good" - growth
almost mvanably meanmg the conventional
model of industrial factories and shoppmg
malls.
Since "growth is good," the DOT sees no"
reason why local governments should have
plans m place before new highways are laid
~own. :ro the _DOT, urban sprawl isn't ugly and
inefficient, tt s growth. And if developers are
geui.n~ rich because the people's tax money
subs1d1zes the sewers. w:1ter, and roads for their
projects, why. the people should be grateful.
llley arc gettmg growth.
As an agency. the DOT seems to think of
the environment as something that has to be

moved aside to get a road through. The National
Environmental Policy Act and the North
Carolina Environmental Policy Act now require
environmental assessments and in some cases
more thorough environmental impact statements
for highway projects. ll still is a :;truggle,
however, to get the DOT to follow
environmental regulations.
Road construction has massive direct
~ffec1s on the land. ~t best,. a new highway
involve~ eart~·mo.v1ng, soil turning and
compacuon, obbterauon of trees and other native
vegetation, fragmentation of forest habitat, and
of course habitat displacement in favor of the
usual pavement and grass highway landscape.
At worst, rondbuilding involves all this plus
stream siltation, filling of wetlands, and
destruction of rare and endangered habitats.
But unquestionably the most destructive
aspect of highway construction is the increased
human use and inevitable permanent
devel.oement that moves in along every road
once 11 IS in place.
An interesting dichotomy occurs here. Jn
selling their road plans, politicians and DOT
of!icials trumpet the amount of development that
will follow once road construction is completed.
They wax eloquent about the new factories.
malls, homes, and additional people the new
road will bring.
Once the road plan is adopted, however,
and it is time to prepare the environmental
assessments and impact statements, that same
development becomes completely insignificant.
It is a "secondary impact," implying that it is not
at all of primary imponance, and the public is
assured that this project (whichever project is
under discussion) has been carefully planned to
have little effect on the local environment. Jn the
language of the DOT, that same developmen t
that will have such a tremendous ecomomic
impact on the community wiJl be only a speck
on t~e local landscape, hardly enough to
menuon.

Up Aga inst a D·9 'Dozer
Environmentally-concerned citizens have
found the DOT to be an obstinate agency to deal
with, especially as the Depanment considers real
estate developers and contractors to be their
special constituency.
Holman says, "I've worked with the
Forest Service before, and the DOT makes the
Forest Service look like warm, fuzzy teddy
bears. The DOT is a relatively arrogant agency.
It is an agency that is used to getting its way. It
is an agency that is convinced that it is right, and
it doesn't take kindly to environmentalists or
anyone else proposing alternatives or criticizing
a particular route. So far, we have had very little
success in working with the DOT. They have
had so much clout, they haven't needed to
negotiate."
I low the DOT comes to have such clout is
apparent in the story of the Highway Trust
Fund, the $8.8 billion highway construction bill
that the Nonh Carolina legislature passed nearly
unanimously in 1989.
Eugene Brown. a political activist from
(contmucd on ncit p&gt;.gl')

Summer, I 990

�THE HIGHWAY TO NOWHERF.

1he Durham area, tells 1he s1ory of the
Highway Trust Fund legislation:
"Jt was an example of the old saying I.hat
there are two things thar you should not
watch being made: sausage and state
laws. It epitomized the pork-barrel
approach to enacting legislation.
"When the legislators arrived in Raleigh
last year, most of them knew I.hat there would be
some type of a highway bill. Governor Manin
h~d promised that there would be a highway
bill. (Speaker of the House} Mavretic wanted it,
along.with some other key legislators. So they
esrablished a Highway Study Commission. This
commission traveled throughout the state and
held a long series of public meetings, basically
with the Chamber of Commerce people, elected
officials, developers, and bankers. The
commission came and basically said, "Well, do
you need any new roads here?"
"What do you think the response is going
to be from folks who fi1 into any of those
categories? h's going to be, 'Sure, we need
some new roads!' The Highway Study
Commission turned into a "gimme" session. h
was almost like asking fraternities if they wanted
free beer or asking the Pentagon if it needed any
new weapons.
."During the course of this study, very few
questJons arose about economic priorities,
cost/benefit ratios, alternatives to automobiles,
or mass transit. The politicians wanted new
roads, and they used the Highway Study
Commission to instigate what they called
"grassroots suppon" - but basically it was big
money support.
"Once the Highway Study Commission
report was in, the leading politicians came back
10 their colleagues in the I louse and the Senate
and said, "We need this road bill." So someone
from Charlotte said. 'Well. 1 know that you
need a few roads down east. but what can you
do for me?' and someone else said, 'What can
you do for me up in Winston-Salem?'
"It was a mushroom effect. ft blossomed,
not like nowers, like weeds. The strategy that

""'.as used to pass this bill was a very simple one:
give everyone what they want. And that's
exactly what happened - everyone got promised
everything they wanted."
. Almost all of North Carolina's legisla1ors
capitulated to the power of the growth ethic, and
the $8.8 billion Highway Trus1 Fund was
adop1ed wi1hou1 any serious opposition on the
noor.
Stalling the Machine
Bill Holman secs some hope in legislative
slrategies 1hat can chip away at the roads
package. "Remember," he says, "that one
legislature cannot bind another, and legislators
often change their minds, especially when they
hear from their constituents."
Even if the DOT received all the $8.8
billion allotted for roads, it would still be
impossible LO build all the roads listed in the bill.
And getting all $8.8 billion may be a problem.
The state government is already $419 million
overdrawn on its budget. All the other
depanmcnts of the state government arc feeling
the pinch and may begin to hover around the
smell of pork fat coming from the Highway
Buildinl? in Raleigh.
ln i1s eagerness 10 build roads, the DOT is
itself falling behind in its own maintenance
program and may have 10 divert construction
funds to care for roods already built.
Ed Harrison. Transponation Chair for the
NC Conservation Council and the NC Sierra
Club chapter. says that one lesson 10 be learned
i~ vigilance. He emphasizes that transponation
planning is a long·term process, going in seven
steps from conccpl, to proposal, 10 planning, to

Traveling slowly along a winding
secondary road I 0 miles from the town of
Robbinsville, North Carolina, drivers are often
surprised when they come upon a major
highway development that leaves the small
county route and strikes off into the far
mountains.
They have stumbled onto the entrance to
The Highway to Nowhere.
h is also known as the Tellico
Plains-Robbinsville Road. It extends '&gt;i7 mil"S
through the Nant;ihala l'\ational forest bet\\ ccn
the two towns, one in Monroe County,
Tennessee and the other in Graham Count\',
Nonh Carolina. The tWO•l:tnc highway runs on
a wide, graded ro:idbed that cuts through terrain
that is steep, wild, and dangerous, disruptini: n
remote habitat area I.hat was once a sanc:tuary-for
the most reclusive of native wildlife. It is a road
that should never have happened. From its very
beginning the project "as ill-advbt:d, and its
history is one of destruction that has become
more Wld more expensive each s1ep along its
route.
The road was begun in the nurry of public
works spending during the War on Poveny
years. Residents of the two towns requested the
road, dramatizing their appeal with a wagon
train from Tellico Plains 10 Murphy, Nonh
Carolina 10 show the distance they had to travel.
The projec1 was authorized in 1962 to be
cons.tr~cted by the F~der~I Highway
Adm1n1strauon (FHA) as n 'scenic highway to
spur economic development in the two towns."
Construction began on both ends of the
road in 1965. On the Nonh Carolina side 4.6
miles of pavement were laid up Santeetlah Gap
along what is now the boundary between the
Joree Kilmer.Memorial Forest and the adjoining
Shckrock Wilderness Area. Work s1opped in
1969, however, wilh the passage of the National
Environmental Policy Acr (NEPA), which
required environmental impact SU1temen1s for
major projects throu~h sensitive areas.
Environmental groups successfully protested the
route through an ar~a soon 10 be designated
"ildemess, and a new alignment was chosen.
The roadway already buih was abandoned and
still can be seen. a monument to the folly of The
Highway to Nowhere.
Construction was resumed until 1977
when excavation in I.he Hemlock Creek-McNabb
Creek drainage on the Tennessee side uncovered
a deposit of pyriric rock material, which
releases a highly acidic leachate that kills stream
life. The short-term response was to release a
20% solution of sodium hydroxide, a highly
caustic but shon-lived chemical, that raised the
pH at the mouth of the creeks to 5.8. Then the
pyritic rock deposits were buried under topsoil
which wa~ limed and reseeded as a permaneni
control measure.
. li?wevcr, continued wa1er quality
mon11onng revealed that, although the addition
of the sodium hydroxide solution had
temporarily raised pH to levels tolerable to fish
nnd other stream life, as soon as these ll1:atments
were stopped the rneams had become acidic
again. The permanent mitigation measures had
failed.
(ccntilwcd on page 27)

(continu&lt;d on page 11)

S\lmmn, t 990

,........

...

�It is 3!' innocu~us-seeming Listing among
the many in the thick TIP (Transportation
lmproveme~t Plans) book published by the
Nonh Carolina D~P!1f_tment of Transportarion
(DOT): NC D1111s1on 13 .. ID number
A-10..•. .30.4 miles from 1-240 in Asheville,
NC to rite Ten11essee state line a1 Sam's Gap
fo11r-la11e freeway, part on new
/ocation ... $136,700,000 .... But these few
simple_ phra~es spell more change for the
mountain region.
A1 present Route 19-23 leaves Asheville
North Carolina as a four-lane highway on th~
way to the Tn-City area of Johnson Ci1y
Kingsport, and Bristol. Tennessee. Just north of
\1ars I lill the route divides. with Route 19
veering east to Burnsville, and Route 23
continuing as a two-lane road, improved with a
passing_ lane on some grades, over Murray
Mountain and up 10 the Tennessee state line at
Sam's Gap on the Appalachian crest. On the
01her side of the mountains, 1he road winds
dow!l through the Cherokee National Forest,
passing t~rough massive earth-moving and road
construcuon before reaching Erwin, Tennessee
and 1hen continui~g &lt;?n 10 Johnson City,
Interstate 8 1, the Ohio River Valley, and points
north and west.
T~e 15 miles of road construction
proceeding on the Tennessee side will widen the
route to a four-lane all t11e way to the state line at
Sam's _Gap. The Sme of North Carolina is
prepanng to do the same, either by improving
Route 23 along its present route (Alternative A)
or by creatin g Route 1-26, a contr0lled-acces~
freeway that would rake a srraigh1ercourse from
Mars Hill 10 the state line (Alternative D). Just
for the sake of discussion the DOT also offers a
"n&lt;? ~uild" alternative 1ha; would leave the route

as It IS.

. . "Alternative A" would cos1 the state $48
null_1&lt;?n and would cause the relocation of 77
faauhes and five businesses. "Alternative D"
would _cost $64,850,000 and would require the
relocanon of 52 families and six businesses.
The DOT, lhe "Chambers." lhe bankers,
~e truc.kers, .. and the developers favor
Al~emauve D, of C?u~. They promise 5,400
vehicles per day bnng10g money, Jobs. and
goods for the backward and impoverished
people of th~ moumain region. They say that
Route 1-26 will open the door of opportunity for
the So~thern Appalachians, connccling them
more directly to the eastern population centers
and the midwestem industrial centers.
However, I-26 is more likely 10 open
Pand~ra's mythical box of troubles.
H1stor:call}'._. new roads bring increased auto
polluuon, increased land prices. increased
mfrns~cture taxes, and increased crime and
congestion wherever they go. Most of all.
however, they ~ring more people. "ow quiet
rural areas. Madison and Yancey Counties will
never be t~e same after the opening of 1-26
channels inter-state traffic throug h their
m?untains and the side roads are upgraded and
"'1dcned to ex1cnd !he development.
As Ed Harrison, Transponation Chair for
the NC Conservation Council and ~C Sierra
Club Chapter, tells us. highway projec1s are a

OPENING
PANDORA'S BOX:
THE I-26 PROJECT
TO COLUMBUS

TO CHARLESTON

long time in the making. The idea of upgrading
Route 23 was first proposed in 1973 in the
Appalachian !-lighway Development Program.
Study began m 1977 and the alternative route
now touted as the 1-26 corridor was
~ecommended in 1978. The concept was stalled
m the early 1980's, but interest was renewed
wh~n T~nnessee began widening the corridor on
~heir. s1d~ of the state line.. Preliminary
1den11ficauon of the alternative routes now being
c?mpleted. 1he .DOT is now analyzing the
different a!1em~11ves. An environmental impact
statement 1~ bemg prepared by the J.E. Greiner
Co. of Raleigh. The final environmental impac1
statement is schedule~ 10 be completed by
August, 1991. The design phase will continue
until the spring of 1994, when the DOT will
begin 10 acquire right of ways. Consrruction is
scheduled to begin in the spring of 1996.
The environmental impact of the new
highway corridor would be immense. Thc:re is
no such thing ru. an environmentally-sensitive
four-lane highway project, and the DOT is
notorious for causing sedimen1a1ion problems.
The proposed 1·26 route parallels or crosse:; 15
stream~. The road plan calls for an interchange
on Big Laurel Creek, known as one of the 1en
best trout streams on the the French Broad river
watershed. The four-lane ..., ill make a wide
break i~ the Appalachian Trail at S:im's Gap.
There 1s talk of a welcome center on the
ridgeline of the Appalachian crest.

But Appalachian Trail hikers are nor the
only ones walking the mountains. The widt:ned
1-26 highway clearing will be a significant
b~rrier l? migration, particularly for
wide-roaming black bears. It will eliminate
native forest habitat for one-half mile on either
side of 1he roadway and cause further opening
an~ frn~mentation of the Pisgah National Forest.
which is already patchy, ragged. and poorly
conncc1ed.
~Vhcn a forest is broken open by n road or
other 1mrusion, interior-dwelling species 1ha1
pr.:fcr shade and larger trees lose their habitat
and rerrem 10 poorer habi1at areas. They become
more vu!nerable 10 more aggressive
edge-dwelling creatures that take their territory
and .raid th.cir food s~pplics: The gene pool
declines as II becomes increasingly difficulr for
shy, backcountry species to find breeding
partners, because the once-extensive habital has
been cut into smaller and smaller islands from
which individuals find it harder and harder 10
escape.
Biolo~is'ts propose various mitigation
sch~mes:_ using European "bridge and tunnel"
engineenng, as opposed to the traditional
American "cut and fill" method. Bridges and
tunnels leave natural wildlife crossings 1ha1 are
safe fro~ l~e highway traffic. However, they
funn~I w1ldl. fe traffic_ into lhesc few designated
1
cro.s~mg pomts, making them easy targets for
wa1ung hunters. To avoid this unfair advantage
hunting would have to be banned for one-half
mile on either side of the roadway. Leaving
c~ver and thick underbrush 10 the edge of the
n!lht of way would help protect crossing
am ma ls.
Th~ primary problem in highwa&gt;·
c?nstrucuon, however, is what is termed by the
h1ghw~y department as "secondary effects.''
Essenually, these are lhe results of human
access. Because of the highway, there will be
more people traveling through. More of these
p~ople will stop and stay. Because of the
highway, more people will move funher into !he
ru:al areas of t~e counry - it will be easier to
drive 1.nto the cuy 10 w~rk. Land prices will go
up. srnctly because of highway access.
Those who live along the 1-26 corridor
now may not be able to afford to do so ten years
in the future. The area may not look the same,
and they may not want to live there ten years in
the futu!.~· The proponents of the 1-26 plan talk
of 1hc 101crchange developments" that will
se.rve as_centers from which economic growth
w~ll radtate ~ut 1n10 the county. They will do
this; there will be convenience stores. used car
lots, fa~t food restaurants, and shopping centers
extending along the roads away from the
1~1erchanges in every direction. The
"mterch~nge developme!1ts" will sci the pace for
growth in the 1-26 comdor, and they will also
set the style for growth : fast. cheap. and
dependent on automotive transportation.
F~land will be traded in for parking lots. and
Madison and Yancey Counties will begin 10 look
like every other area "along the slab."

-RB~

NO BUILD®
XatUah Journaf '&gt;IMJe lO

S\&amp;mmer, 1990

�THE ROAD GANG continued rrom ~c 9

program, to final planning and design, followed
by land acquisition. and then cons1ruction.
He emphasizes that the first stages,
concept and proposal. are where it is easiest 10
block road cons1ruc1ion: 'The planning process
gets voted on by local officials, and having
liason with local elected officials is really the
best way to keep IJ'ack of what's going on. I
find that what works is to keep them in office
and tell them, 'Anything that ever happens with
a road, tell us .. .'
"Catch a new road early when it's just a
sketch line on a map."
The $8.8 billion road bill may be an
expensive lesson for environmental activists and taxpayers as well. Bill Holman renects on
the lesson that hopefully has been learned:
"The highway bill has served 10 wake up
Lhe environmentalists about the imponance of
these transportation plans. We have played a
very small role in the transportation debate, but
trnnsponation is behind the sprawling kind of
gTowth we have in North Carolina. Now the
DOT has woken us up."

Because the behavior patterns of deer or
bear arc not likely to change greatly. it is possible

10 come up with a number which represents the
carrying capacicy of of a panicular IJ'aCt of land
for these and other animal species. People have
much more complicated behavior and their
numbers matter much less than how they choose
to live. What do they eat and where does it come
from? What do they wear and where does it
come from? What type of buildings do they live
in? What type of fuel, if any. do they bum, and
what do they burn it in? Are they spread out or
focalizcd in their habitation pauem? Where do
they shit? What are their recreational activities?
What kind of shoes do they wear? What kind of
pets. if any, do they keep? Where, how, and
how much do they travel? What is their water
usage? What is their attitude towards wildlife?
The number of people in any given area is only
one ~f many variables in a carrying capacity
equation.
We can imagine a community of people
who ride to work on bulldozers, cut trees all day,
and keep a gun with them at all umes for
shooting anything that moves. At night they
retreat to a nuclear-powered castle and cat several
pounds of songbird tongueburgers. What 1s
Katuah's carrying capacity for this type of
rugged individual?
It is also easy to imagine tribes of people
wirh a religious reverence for nature and their
own place in it. Their homes and clothes are
modest. Their villages are powered by the Sun
and by the people themselves. Bicycles are the
means of transportation. Amaranth and com
Summer. 1990

"CARING CAPACITY"
grown in river bottoms are the main foods. They
tend huge oak and chestnut groves and share
their bounty with all creatures. Their waste is
recycled so that there is really no waste. What is
Katuah's carrying capacity for these people?
What right do we have to say?!
"What is our carrying capacity for love?"
is a much more relevant question.
There will be n srrong tendancy to rry 10
form some simple equation such a~ "number of

people x level of technology

=

carrying

capaciry." ff rhis could be divided by level of
conciousness. ic would be closer to the truth, but
it leaves out the factor of land suitability, and
leaves me wondering what we arc trying to prove
with this son of argument anyway? Anyone we
talked into leaving with this line of reasomng
would be the very person we wanted 10 stay•
Overdevelopment and the degradation of
our natural environment is a terrifying disaster
and we are so frustrated in coming up with
solutions that it is very tempting to point to
human numbers as the root of the problem. This
is a dangerous oversimplification. It takes away
our own culpability, which i~ a considerable
factor in the case of everyone I know. With very
few exceptions we still use cars and/or plug into
the main electrical network. Few of us recycle

everything possible or use recycled products in
all the places which we could. Few of us, at
present. use composting toilet~. Few of us grow
more than a symbolic amount of our own food.
Our clothes f114ly be made of cotton and wool. bur
where did these fibers come from? What is
sprayed on the couon? What happens to the
lambs? What mills knit the fibers into cloth? We
are a culture in transition. It is, in some respects.
a forced march into the future in which we are
panicipating. A trail of tears where our own
sorrow at the plighr of our people and our planet
moves us ever onward toward simpler and belier
ways of living. To sit down now and cast blame
on others is not a very honorable thing to do.
Most of the people who are most vocally
concerned with the environmental quaJity of
Kauiah arc themselves transplants 10 this region.
This makes it especially hypocritical for us to
blame newcomers or the simple gro~th of
numbers for the area's problems. We should
concenlnlte instead on developing a satisfying,
low impact life-style which is so atlnlCtive that it
is irresistible.
There is no percentage for us in ma.king
people feel guilty for their existence. There is
everything for us to gain in maintaining and
spreading a positive vision of humans living in
harmony with Earth and Spirit. As we work to
raise our level of conciousness. our lifestyle
becomes sustainable and our population growth
stabilizes, not as a burdensome discipline, but as
willing and joyous obedience to our own besr
interests.
,
• Will Asht! Bason

X.Otulih Jou~n4' pa9c l t

--

�PEOPLE AND HABITAT:
An Historical Overview
the entire region before white comacL
The native people manipulated their
environment with a technology based on fire and
stone tools. Even though they had developed a
sophisticated system of agriculture before the
arrival of the first white people, it is clear they
never exceeded the ability of the region to
support them. They did not interfere with the
capability of the habitat ro provide for other
fonns of life; quite to the contrary, the native

by Chip Smith and Lee Kinnaird Fawccu
This is a first. The Kan1ah Journal is
reprinting one of its own articles. This article
first appeared in a longer fom1 in Issue 25 (Fall,
1989) and was the seed rhar developed into the
current issue on carrying capaciry. lss11e 25 is
sold 0111 and no longer ll\lailable, and this article
provides valuable links in denumstrating how
carrying capacity works in our region, so
we are running this shortened and revised
version of the original piece to give a
complete treatment ofthe topic.
While many view the pastoral scenes
and remote majesty of the Southern
Appalachians as all-enduring, trends in
human population migration and unrelenting
resource extraction have had monumental
effects upon wildlife and the diverse flora of
their native habitat. Today little remains
unaltered by the effects of human activity.
The landscape we view today is a threatened
glimmer of what was once, but it srill exists
as one of the most diverse ecosystems on
the North American continent.
A historical perspective of human
manipulation of the Kauiah province will
help raise the question of the proper
carrying capacity for human beings in our
bioregion - the level that allows for the
preservation of wild habitat.

people relied on that capability for their
continued existence.
The arrival of the first Europeans,
however, changed conditions drastically. The
first immigrants represented the overflow from a
land already subject to conditions of dire
overpopulation. The Old World represented a
vinually inexhaustible well of humanity that
flooded over the new frontier. After the

Early Inhabitants and First lmmigrants
The Cherokee lndians and the indigenous
people before them lived in balance with their
world, utilizing the offerings of their Eden. Best
estimntes give the native population as anywhere
from 22,000 to 50,000 individuals throughout

mountain highlands were first penerrated by
DeSoto in 1540, the question of access was of
paramount importance in the development of the
Southern Appalachians.
The native culture, tied to the land and her
offerings, was rapidly overrun by the streams of
white-skinned senlers that moved m along the
major Indian trails through the Shenandoah
Valley and from the Atlantic Tidewater area,
widening the trails into roads as they went so
that others could more easily follow.
The first small communities sprang
up along the river valleys and larger coves
of the Watauga, French Broad, Little
Tennessee, and Hiwassee watersheds.
Although few and far between, their
presence was marki:d by the agrarian need
for cleared land. The bottomlands and
wetlands were cleared or drained first,
and then trees were felled on the side
slopes to make room for more fields and
pastures. As the first settlements became
towns, the clearings spread deeper into
the mountains following small and muddy
roads that wound along the river and
stream tributaries.
These first settlers lived largely off
the land, much in the manner of their
native predecessors. Like the Indians
'" before them, the white settlers annually
burned off the forest floor. However,
because of their greater numbers, this had a
much greater effect on the forest than it ever had
before. Even so, until the end of the 19th
century most of the mountain highlands
remained an impenetrable wilderness.
Daunted by the richness of the New
World, the Europeans regarded the productive
capacity of the land as limitless, leading them to
farm ard hunt carelessly and without regard for

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HUMAN POPULATION
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1840
Summer, 1990

�also arrived on the rails, and sanitariums and
luxury hotels offered all !he comfons a ~ and
ailing flaLlandcr could desire.
Commerce was the primary reason for
pushing through the railroads, and in the
Soulhem Appalachian region, commcrce meant
timber. Large tracts of land, often
30,000-200,000 acres in size, were opened up
to exploitation and soon surrendered their
bounty. Temporary company towns were built
at the base of major watersheds and railroad
lines extended into the highest coves.
The early timber barons were
industrialists, not foresters, and !hey neither
knew nor cared about the ideals of sustained
timber yields and forest regeneration. Their

the future. Because they were completely
ignorant of ecological balances, they
exterminated game species of animals and birds
and slaughtered the native predators so that their
domestic livestock could free-range in the
woodlands. Hogs and turkeys were particularly
well-adapted to the forest environment and
thrived on the fall mast provided each yea.r.
Once fattened, these were gathered into large
"droves" and walked along the "drovers' roads"
to markets in the piedmont.
Mountaineers also traditionally foraged
for medicinal roots in the forest. As commercial
demand for these natural remedies began to
grow, medicinal roots became a prime baner
item in town and at the crossroad country stores.
As wagonloads of ginseng and other
potent roots and herbs began to roll
down the twisting mountain roads to the
eastern ciries, the rate of trade began to
threaten the survival of ginseng and
other herbaceous forest plants.
The Industrial Era
Grinding mills and small saw
mills were the height of industrial
production in the highlands until the
mid-1800's. The baner system was the
usual means of exchange. The US
Census estimated the population in the
18 western counties of North Carolina
at 200,000 in 1890. The lifestyle was
still based primarily on subsistence
agriculture, hunting, and foraging.
However. in 1880. the first train
into the mountains pulled into
Asheville, and the Southern Appalachians were
changed forever. The railroads represented a
new degree of access. and they brought
exponential population growth, absentee land
ownership, and industrial commerce.
The population of the city of Asheville
(which today is only somewhat greater than
65,000 people) mushroomed from 2,000 in
1880 to more than 10,000 by 1890. Tourism

rainfall. and severe flooding occum:d in J896.
1901, and 1909, and periodically into cbe
1940's.
A mountain native, the Reverend A.E.
Brown provided first-hand insight in an
interview in lheManufacruru's Record in 1910:
"•.. these mountains were full of sparkling
brooks and creeks which required a rwo or three
week rain to make them muddy; today a few
hours of rain will muddy them.... Many of the
mountain streams are dry throughout the
summer and fall, while in winter. the waters
descend in torrents and do vast damage
rendering wonhless the bottom lands... The
sides of mountains have been denuded of their
topsoil and bottom lands h~ve been overflowed
and swept away ...
Shonly after the end of World
War 1, most of the timber barons had
rom up their tracks and moved on to the
Pacific Northwest. By 1930 only a few
companies, such as Champion
Corporation, were left. In the wake of
the timber rush, and at the onset of the
nation's worst drought and the chestnut
blight, litLle was left for human or beast:
T he Present-day Forest
or
(What You See Is W hat ls Leh )

mastery of the new steam technology gave them
access to the most remote reaches of the
mountain forest, and the destruction they
wrought there was unprecedented. The damage
to the species composition of the forest was
irrevocable, as was the damage to the soil. By
the early I930's 80 percent of the mountain
landscape had been burned over. Lmle was left
to shield the soil from the area's high levels of

Between the 1940's and the
1960's the population growth of the
Kaufah province slowed. The mountain
binhrate remained high. as it had in the
past, but many young folks left the
mountains to find wage work in the
cities of the cast and the midwest. The bumpy
roads offered a way out of the mountains to seek
the American Dream.
During the l 960's and the l 970's,
however, a change took place. The isolation of
the "backward" Appalachians began to look
appealing to flatlanders sick of noise, crowds,
and pollution. and perhaps sick at hean at the
(conanuod on page 32)

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Summer, 1990

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�When we design our human systems, we need to
assure that we are not disrupting this flow of life,
which is integral to our own llie.

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,

Designing with the Whole Life Community in Mind
by Mamie Muller
The solely human&lt;cntercd approach to design in which the
environment acts as in.1mmate baclcdrop lo human activity is n9 longcr
possible. It has resulted in disruption of the wider life community of the
planet and has begun threatening our entire biological life support systt&gt;m.
We in this Euro-culture .ire finally beginning to realize that we al"t'

of the Earth. Advances in tht' scit'nccs are bringing to us the information
th;it we arc literally in the planet not on it and that our human activities
are intimately interwoven with the water cycle, tht' air cycle. the carbon
cycle. We al"t' beginning to rcahz.c that the way we form our :.culcmcnts,
our transportation routes, our commt'l're, and other hum.in functions not only
affect hu1rJ1n culture, but the whole ecological community of which we arc
a part.
At present. our contemporary capacity for accclerallon and
cxpont•ntiali1..:ition has brought the question of human impact on the
natural world out ol the rc:ilm of "a ni&lt;e thing tu consid(·r· in dl'Slgn and
placed it squarely in front of u~. asa qul'Stlon 0f sur11h•al. Yet, our ability
to rL'-&lt;.'Onstcllate our human systems m response to dirL'Ct fceclti.1ck falls
short o{ what is required.
One consideration In understanding this dih:mma ts to rcJlize that
wens n culture may not be fu/111 ugzstering the fccdb:lck wc arc n.'« 1vmg
as to the dcllllstation of the planC't. The mformatton coming in m.1y be
octually outpaang our oomprchtns1.0n of 11. It may also be th.it our
perimeter&amp; of rcahty have become so limited that we arc not fully
"hearing" the natural world ~peak to us about this cruoal information.
Our insular patterning of urbamzat1on. including concrete pathways,
processed nutrihon, and televised m1lity m;iy bi! blocking us from this
information. We may simply be recording ~·hatcver is coming in a5 "noise"
or "static" and may not, in fact, be fully not1dng the drasllc d1m1rushmcnt
in quality of life.
What now-Those of us who arc catching ghmmcrs of the vibrant,
!unctioofng life communuy that surrounds us and co-exists with us need to
revive our capacities to sec, hear, taste, fccl ...beyond the "broadcast1xr

Kati'mh Jou!nnL PC19C 11

boundaries of the rontcmporary world. We need to discern what is
supcrfioal to our hfe support system and what is elemental We ncecl to
Ix-gin insisting on design models that describe to us the full reality of our
situation-both human as well as IX'Ological.
In our modclhng, we nl'cd to ac:knowlcdge natural boundarit'S, not ju5t
human-m.1dc boundancs, and to lillc.c into full account ecological systems
suc:h as watersheds, wind patterns, gcologiCll formations, etc. Our models
ncecl to incorporate ecological prindpf('!; such as entropy, renewal,
biological exch.1nge, canying cap.1dty, and appropriate scale in an
integral way We ncecl 10 be factonng m rra/ costs o( projects not just the
"set prices-. Rc.11 costs include environmental considerations, hc.ilth
considerations, as well as cumulahw affects and long·tenn conscqut'n&lt;X?S.

A primary asp&lt;&gt;Ct of th&lt;.&gt; ecological modd is oni:? of orculatio11. The
cll'$1gn of hum11n routes needs to be done in the context of other kinds of
routes and patterns of orculation. The water cycle, the air currents. (even
the Eiirth m ll5 orbit, and the moon in us orb1t)".all circulate and h.wc a
tX'aring on each othl.'r. /II ignition routes or animals; routes of :5(.'(.&lt;ds m the
wind, pathways or the sand-sharing dune s~k'ltl; animal route:, for Bl"CCSS
to water, tocxl, and for returrung to br&lt;"Cdmg grounds; routes of bees
p(lllin.-iung flowers, etc. arc all ilspc&lt;"ts of the ctmil:itory p.ittcm of thl'
\\id~ Life community. Human route~ arc ill tht context of thb symphony of
movement.
In this culture we tend to think ufthc farth nsa "noun·, but in
act1L1hty, a grt'at deal of Earth functions as "verb" And our models need to
reflect that. \\'hen we clcsign our human systtms, we need to as~mrc that we
arc not disrupting this flow oi hfe, v;hich is mtt'gt'al to our own life.
lntercstmgly, with our culture's sencral overall design promoting cxcc:;sivc
mobility. our chihzatlon is bl'\."Omlng "verb" as well, whether we like 11 or
not. Our nc:ccss to work, school, social ach\~tics, and so forth requires th.it
we "circubtc". The fact is that many of us arc conung to "dwdl" m our
automobiles as well as our homes. Poor or non-existent urban planning as
Summitr, t 99!1

�well as other physical and psychological factors have created forced
mobility and diminished the quality of life not only of humans but also the
rest of the Ufe community.
When conditions reach such proportlons as they have now, in tenns

of the welfare of the planet as well as that of humans and its other
inhabitants, what is required in our modelling and our problem-solving?
In order to develop comprehensive models, we need to be in touch with
what values we want to nurture as a culture. No culture is value-free. Form
informs. The forms that we craft to encompass and facilitate our human
activities inform and shape us at every tum. Form reflects values whether
we itttenlionally ascribe to them or nol IL is important that we bring into
consciousness the values we want to nurture and let them become an integral
aspect of our d1?Sign of human systems.

It is essential to understand what is elemental to the life support
system and what is superficial. We need in a public way to acknowledge
our community priorities and encourage policy-making and incentives to
support these priorities. We also need to develop comprehensive indicators
for ecological health.

In this culture we tend to think of the Earth
as a "noun"... but in actuality, a great deal of
Earth functions as "verb".
Also in our modelling. it is essential that we employ more than 1ust
linear logic. Linear logic gives us solutions such as "add a lane"' to deal
with population increase and the rise in motor vehicles on the highways.
Relying on this kind of logic, we end up with the solution of "44 lanes of
interstate traffic". Multi-dimensional logic is required. logic which

encompasses questions of scale, cumulative effects, appropriate use,
multi-level interplay of factors, etc.
And logic is only D7U! facet of our neurophysiological capacity for
perception and problem-solving. We have available to us whole ranges of
perception and creative interplay for interacting with the Life community
in which we live. We have the capacity for in-depth perception and
imaginative reflection as to how our human designs would interact with
and affect the whole...both spatiallyI physically, developmentally, and
psychically. We have the capacity to kinesthetically perceive rhythms
as well as the disruption of rhythms, and we have the imagination to
envision restoration.

Design can serve to obfuscate or reveal the natural world to us. It can
heighten or reduce our capacity to synchronize with other life rhythms
besides our own. A culture can actually design for symbiosis, CXH&gt;peration,
mtegratton, and inclusion with the wider ecological Ufe community.
What is important in design is the reliance on fresh, attentive perception
regarding the nature of our multi-dimensional reality rooted in the natural
world.
This is a pivotal time in our planers history. We have the capacity
to witness whole ecological systems at work and to design our human
systems to comprehensively interlace with these wider processes. It is up to
us to renew our inherent capacity to "'listen" to the natural world...and to
act in concert with it. Only when we let its full reality be present to every
aspect of our senses are we capable of designing for our own well-being in'
relation to the rest of the Life community.

This paper was part of a presentation by Thomas Berry and
Marnie Muller at the Third Biennial International Linear P11rks
Conference held in Asheville, North Carolina, Katuah Prouinct, ~
~t~

~

Steady State
The Economics of 'Biophysical Equilibrium and Moral Growth
by Jim Houser
"Ecology means the study (-logy) of the home (eco-), while economics means the
management (-nomy) of the home. Accordingly, economics is merely a branch, or
discipline, of the larger study of ecology."
The coming of Spring makes me realize the KatUah region is quite
probably one of the last few paradises left on Earth. Perhaps, it is one of
the few places on Earth that have ever been paradise (or as close as we
on an earthly plane can get). Whatever the case may be, it is
undoubtedly a paradise now. The air feels clean to the lungs. It is crisp
and soothing. and fills one with a strength and a sen~ of well being. The
wat&lt;.'r Is abundant and clean, making the soil rich and fruitful. The
flowers bloom everywhere in the Spring; a wild panorama of colors and
sublime beauty which I don"t quite understand why we deserve. But then
1 realize that we don't "deserve" it. It is just here, and so arc we. It ts
part of us, and we are part of ll There is no question of whether or not we
deserve it, we are simply here. The question 1s whether we can hve on
this land "'lthout ncccssanly destroying it. As Wendell Berry says in
the Gift of Co()J Land,
To live we must daily break the body and shed th!! blood of
creation. When we do this loVlngly, skillfully, reverently, it is
a sacrament. When we do it ignorantly, grccd.ily, clumsily,
destructively, ii is a desecrallon. ln such dcsccration we
condemn ourselv1:s to spintual and moral lon&lt;?hness, and others
to want.
There is a new group of C&lt;"onomists who decry the lack of moral and
c!thical judgements in modem economics and cite this ddicicncy as one of
the reasons for our current economic: and ecological d~tenoration. They
arc led by Herman E. Daly, an economics professor presently employed in
the envtronmcntaJ section of the World &amp;nk.

S"'mmcr, 1990

Daly maintains that modem economic thoory docs not concern itself
with ultimate endS- The standard textbook definition of economics states
that it is "the study of the allocation of scarce means among competing
ends, where the object of the allocation 1s the maximization of those
ends." But modem economic scsence has taken on the guise of an exact
science, like physics, and has, accordingly, made itself devoid of ethical
questions, focusing all of their attention on what Daly refers to as
Intermediate Ends, hke food, warmth, and education. Jn current economic
thinking, success is attained by achieving these goats, regardless of the
means employed, whether they be a tolilhtarian state, environmental
degradation, or destruction of life.
Daly likes to point out, however, that economitS began as a branch
of moral philosophy. T.R. Malthus m htS classic work the Pnnriples of
Politiazl Economy wrote, "Political Economy bears a nearer resemblance
to the soence of morals and politics than to that of mathematics." For
the early economists like Adam Smith, who wrote Tht Thtory of Moml
Sentiments, the most important test of economic institutions was thcir
effect on moral character.
For economists to cut themselves off from knowlcdgt' obtainC'd
through introspc-chon 1s a perversion of their dlidpline. What has
happened as a result is that economists have li\'ed up to the observation
of Oscar Wilde who pointed out that "an economist i5 a man &lt;sic&gt; who
knows the pnce of everything and the value of nothing".

In h1&gt; three books, Strady-State Economics; Economics, Ecology,
Ethics: Essnys on iz Sltady State Economy (which he edited); and For
tht Common Good, wnttcn with theologian John Cobb, Daty attempts to
bring economists, and everyone else, back to a realm where they can
(ClOllllnll&lt;d on ncitt pegc)

Ju.u.\+nh Journ~ ptUJC IS

�(oonlinued &amp;om page IS)

discern the true value of things. He calls this realm the "steady-state
economy;" an economy consciously directed according to the laws of
ecology, as all economies should be, since ecology 1s the basis for
understanding the conditions under which economics and humanity must
function. Ecology means the study (-logy) of the home Ceco-), while
economics means the management (-nomy) of the home. Accordingly,
economics is merely a branch, or discipline, of the h1rger study of ecology.
Orthodox economists do not realize this, says Daly. He cites the
futility of considering a rise in the Gross National Product (GNP) as an
indicator of a healthy society. Obviously, any theory which espouses
unlimited growth in a finite biosphere 1s absurd. Modem economists get
around this by claiming that GNP is a measure of value. while ignoring
the physical aspects of this value. As Daly points out, the fact that
wealth is measured in value units (dollars) docs not negate its physical
dimensions.
We could place a higher and higher value on anything for an
infinite length of time, but the actual supply of any material is clearly
finite. To give raw materials "value" we must use energy, and, according
to the second law of thermodynamics, that total pool of energy 1s always
decreasing. As Daly points out in Stcady-Stalt Eco1wmics,

Daly calls the flow of production and consumption "throughput."
"Steady-state" implies equilibrium, in which the rate of inflow is equal
to the rate of outflow. A balanced rate of throughput is the key to
maintaining the equilibrium or the "constant stock," (the life support
capability of the natural world).
Daly uses the analogy of a lake to make this point clear. In order to
maintain the level of a lake, the amount of water flowing into the lake
must be the same as the amount flowing out. Ir more water flows out than
nows in, the lake would eventually dry up.
A constant water level can be maintained with either a high or low
rate of flow. However, a high rate of flow runs a great amount of water
through very quickly. Daly points that at the present time our rate or
throughput should be as low as possible, so we at the same time conserve
our resoun:es and minimize the amount of refuse. M&lt;?asuring our economy
by GNP encourages mmumization of the throughput flow.

'A'hile the human household has been rapidly grow;ng. the
environment of which it is a part has steadfastly remained
constant in its quantitative dimensions. Its size has not
increased, nor have the natural rates of circulation of the basic
biog&lt;.'&lt;X:hcmic;il cycles that man e&gt;.ploits. As more people
transform more raw materials per person into rommodihcs, we
experience higher rates of depletion; as more people transform
more commodities into waste, we experience higher rates of
pollution. We devote more effort and resources to mining poorer
mineral deposits and to deaning up increased pollution, and
then we count many of these extra expenses as an increase in
GNP and congratulate ourselves on the exlTa growth!

Thus GNP can increase every year without ever indicating a decay
of the ecological u nderpinning of the production system. That
ultima tely, is the main point: by overproducing we destroy our
production capability.
Daly likens the steady-state economy to a mature ecosystem. A
young ecosystem, like a newly growing forest, emphasizes production,
growth, and quantity (high production efficiency). A mature ecosystem,
such as a climax rorest, emphasizes protection, stability, and quahty
(high maintenance efficiency).
Daly claims that we have reached the mature stage of our system
and we need to emphasize quality over quantity, maintenance over
production, or otherwise, as we see happening today, we will bury our
life-sustaining ecosystem under a pile or our own garbage. He insists that
the flows of production and consumption must be minimized instead of
maximized as they are in the infinite growth economy.
This docs not imply, however, that Daly is advocating stagnation or
regression of human society. It 1s a grave mistake to consider a constantly
rising GNP as the mark of an advancing culture. As John Stuart Mill
said,
It is scarcely necessary to remark that a stationary
condition of capital and population imphcs no stationary state
o f human improvement, there would be as much scope as ever for
all kinds of mental, cultural and moral and social progress, as
much room for improving the art or living and much more
likelihood of it being improved when minds cease to be
engrossed by the art of getting on.

ln the steady-state economy the central concept must be the stock of
wealth (people and capital, in its widest definition which includes
natural resources and processes), rather than the flow of income and
consumption, as wealth is defined at present.
rn reality, the entire concept of generating income is an illusion.
Humans cannot "generate income", we can only take what is here. The
key is to not use up the life energy a t a rate raster than nature can
regenerate it. Obviously, we are not following that principle. In the case
of fossil fo&lt;?ls, as E.F. Schumacher points out in Small Is Beautiful, we
continue to treat an ever-scarcer resource as income rather than capital.
Ecologically, we a re burning our "business capital" even as we proclaim
the health or our "business."

I.

One of the bases of a low throughput economy is a greater durability
or goods, which applies not only to how long they last, but also to how
easy it is to put them to another use (recycle). Our current economic
system encourages planned obsolcsccnC!!, since we have to maintain a
constant market for our ever-increasing production (which led to the
downfall of Detroit).
A low rat&lt;l of capital throughput also means that we would spend
less time on production and create more leisure time. Under our current
economic system, we rear decreased production and leisure lime, because
that would mean people are out or work. Timc-int&lt;?nsive activities like
rricndship, care of the elderly and children, meditation and reO&lt;?ction,
are sacrificed in favor of commodity-intensive activities. Hence, we
ha,•c the Shopping Mall as the social center of the 90's (have run, meet
people, L.lkc the kids, and CONSUME), rather than social centers
which promote and help strengthen community and family values.
The steady stat(! economy also implies a low throughput rate for
population (the other component of the total stock), which would me&gt;an a
balanced birth and death rate, and a long life expectancy.
Our society docs not seem to recognize that an ever-growing rote&gt; of
per capita consumption for an ever-growing population is impossible. A
steady population depleting resources and creating pollution at a slow
rate is the ideal. The limits regarding what rates of depiction and
pollution are tolerable would be derived from our understanding of

ecology.
These limits address the question of how many people can live in an
area and still maintain paradise. The question is: at which point or
human population does the desecration of creation become unavoidable?
This limit is the "carrying capacity" of an ecosystem. It has been
demonstrated that when a population significantly exceeds the carrying
potential or its ecosystem, there then results a sudden die-off within
that population. So we need to reach an optimum population based on
the carrying capacity of our biosphere.
My suggestion Is to do away with the GNP and substitute a CNP
{Qlrryi~ fotcntial) as the true measure of our economies success.
CNP reflects the needs which Daly says our economic indicators
need to monitor. Rather than measuring growth Ilk&lt;! the GNP, the goal
for the CNP would would be to maintain the population;CNP ratio at
one. In other words, H the goal is to maximize our population while
preserving ecological integrity, t he ideal would be to keep the
population as close to the determined carrying potential as possible.
(connnucd on page 29)

..

.

)(.Qtuah Jourrml. J&gt;"ge 16

..

\'

... ~

--

Summer, 1990

�Hoedad
I throw my hoedad
into sandy loam, thinking
of my children's children as I
bend to plant a tree.
I throw my hoedad
into a rock and experience
more fully the pain in the
swollen joints of my right hand.
I throw my hoedad again
and again and again and again and again
in the strange and savage
dancing of the mad treeplanter
leaving lines of pines across
the hills of Tennessee

Eagerly i press my taproot
firm into dark moist
slit
gumbo, sand, rock, and churt
duff or dust or just plain dirt
Slam Barn Cram and jam
I throw my hoedad, stomp and scram.
I grit my teeth and throw my hoedad and
place a wimpy little pine tree in what
was recently a hardwood forest.
Covering a little piece of grid and a
bureaucrats ass for him.
Making sure there will be cellulose
for adult pampers for aging
baby boomers.
I throw my hoedad, pull
back on the handle and
am brought to my senses by
the powerful brown smell of wild
ginger and Here i am
on this Sunlit mountain in the
early Spring
I throw my hoedad and pray
the people will re member Earth
I plant a tree and p ray that
We will all remember.
Will Ashe Bason

Slimmer-, 1990

Compost
I'm composting my past
empty rinds of just deserts
broken shells of old barriers
the coffee grind
I'm composting my passed
bullshit raps and
chickenshit fears
111 throw them to the microbes
let lhem bum a little quicker and
hotter in the flame of living and
dying. Fork it all, i'm chunking
funky pumpkin headed notions on the pile and
turning over a new
leaf mold. Leaving my leftovers.
I'm composting my past.
Free carbon now!
break down all cellulose walls.
I'm not for getting it
i 'm just for letting it
rot
and when it's cool and
dark and doesn't even
stink, i'll shovel it up and
use it in my garden. I'll
grow roses and rootabagas in
re memberance that Here
i come, back again.
Will Ashe Bason

�I

1).)1
I

D~gn IJltd calligraphy l1y Marnie Muller

�•

l

'

I

�(l'bcseare !he words ofa traditional Olerolcco medicine person.)

Archaeologists estimate that the Cherokees first migrared into the
Southern Appalachians 6,000 years ago. They figured this by carbon-dating
potrcry that they found at the Old Echota village. The poucry was tempered in
the southern way, but it was lroquoian in design. That showed that it was
Cherokee. The Cherokee have lived here for a very long time.
Our population was always expanding. but very slowly. It was told to
me that there were about 50,000 Cherokee when de Soto came through. If
the white people had waited 200 years to make it over here, they would have
had to deal with just two lribcs in the east, the Cherokee and the Iroquois.
I think the people's effons to limit their population were quite
conscious. We weren't troubled by plagues, and life expectancy was better
than that of the white people when they fLCSt came here. The Cherokee chief
Junaluska, for example, was way up in his nineties when he died. We were a
healthier people than we are now. If children got past their first three or four
years, they generally lived to an old age.
There were several methods of birth control. Dodder is a
commonly-seen fungus. It grows in long, yellow strings and wraps itself
around other plants, because it's parasitic. As a contraceptive, it was given to
men. When it worked. it worked; but it wasn't that dependable. I wouldn't
trust it. But they probably had more faith than I do.
There was another method. When a woman had .a baby and the man
took away the afterbinh, he would cross one ridge for every year he didn't
want to have another child before he buried it But l wouldn't trust that
either. Thar's why it wouldn't work for me. Magic comes when all doubt is
cleared from the mind.
They had no sex when the women were in the moon lodge (during
their menstrual period), and a man would always fast from sex before
hunting and war. Those things helped. Every time people were involved in a
spirirual ceremony, they would fast from sex for three days before.
Young people got married any time after puberty. Girls could get
married after their first menstrual period. And they didn't wait long. But I
think that attirude made a difference. The native people didn't have all the
sexual taboos that arc a part of the white culture: that sex is wrong, diny, evil
and bad, and that a person has to have a piece of paper and a preacher to do
it. The native people had a different attitude about sex. And I think that made
a difference in child-bearing as well

It seems that people who were closer to the Eanh had natural
population contr0ls. Their populations always seemed to hold steady. That
usually hinged on food availability, but a.round here food wasn't a very good
control. The people grew crops, and there was a lot of game and wild foods
in the woods, like berries and chestnuts.
OC course they still encountered hard times when their crops were
short and there was no game. There could be late floods lhat would wash out
the com, or a late frost would kill a lot of the acorns, or it would be dry
when the chestnuts were supposed to blossom. Such things would happen.
Times like that would trim off some of the marginal people, some of the old
people and some of the babies.
The people had a different attitude about death back then, too. They
accepted it when it came. They didn't cry to hang on to life or to people they
were close to. When it was your time to go, it was your time to go.
In our tradition it was said that the spirit wasn't fixed in a child until it
was three or four years old, and no one was surprised when a young child
died or an old person died.
The clan system was an important pan of our culture. There were
seven clans in the tribe, and there were strict sexual taboos about marrying
within the clan. I was told by my grandfather that the tribe had capital

punishment for two. n:asons, and incest was one of them. 1!1cest meant
marrying anybody within your clan. Clan members were your kin.
You could travel to a small village 300 miles away, and even if you'd
never been there and none of your people had ever been there, if there was
one family of your clan there, you would be taken care of. Tho~c peopl.e
would not be biologically related to you, but they would take you m ~ thell"
family and treat you like family. But you sure couldn't mess around with one
of the girls. That would be like fooling aroun~ with your cousin. ~d ~ou
had no desire to ... well, maybe you had a passing moment, bur you d think
about that capital punishment and said, "Naaah."
The clan system didn't slow anybody down from getting married, but
it did keep everybody's genes spread our, so thar people could live in small
groups without becoming inbred. It made possible a smaller gene pool.
The people had different ideas about technology, too. It's like my
grandfather said, "We knew about the wheel, but if you make a wheel, the n
you have to make a road. If you make a road, then you have to build bridges
and keep it all up. So why bother to put yourself to all that trouble?"
He would always make that remark to me when I would tell him Lha t
one of the white people's justifications was that "we never used the land."
He was amazed by that. He was always quite upset about that, because the
native people used the land as much as the white people did, but they used it
in a different way. They left much less of a mark on it. But the white people
thought that the land was not being used unless it was used with the attitude
that it was for the humans, instead of seeing the humans as being a part of it.
We did slash and burn agriculture. We would use a stretch of
bottomland until it was poor, and the com wouldn't grow big anymore, then
we would move down the river to another patch of river cane, bum it, and
live there. Meanwhile, the first cane patch would grow up, and in a few
years we'd move back to that fLCSt cane patch. This is how we used iL
Passenger pigeons were part of our diet, and we'd eat as many as we
wanted. Even so, when the white people came here flocks of passenge r
pigeons still blackened the sky. We had bufffalo and elk and large animals
like that in the mountains and they were plentiful, and we had what we
needed. But we don't have any of those now.
Today, if your com patch gives out, you can't just move dow_n the
s
river, because somebody else owns the land downstream. Now there 1 the
concept of private property and so many more people.
It's hard to explain about a culture with a "non-propeny attitude"
toward the world. Trying to explain our attitudes toward dying, birth control,
and population control is like crying to explain the fourth dimension in a three
dimensional language. It's the same with the attitudes behind the taboos
about not pissing, vomiting, shitting, or throwing your trash in the river.
When I was a kid, going down the mountain roads I could sec outhouses on
logs out over the branch.
I'm pessimistic about the fate of the human race. It's hard to be an
optimist when I sec that no one is willing to give up anything. Our future is
going to require sacrifice.
It used to be that people didn't sec themselves as creatures that were
superior to narurc; they saw themselves as part of nature. To move evenly
with everything was the ultimate goal of the Indian's personal growth
spiritual and physical, and to be out of harmony meant that you weren't
moving with everything.
If you killed a deer, you said prayers and apologized. There was no
hostility. It was no personal thing. If a bear killed you, it was the same way.
The idea was to move in hannony with the planet instead of seeing it only as
your personal resource or as an enemy that you had to conquer.
Keeping the ceremonies was important to maintaining that relationship
The ceremonies were a way to pull the community together, and they wer~
also a means of seeking hannony with the environment

Summer, 1990

�{continued from page 6)

KJ: Do you think zoning
could be significant?

GM: I! seems 10 have
worked everywhere else it's been
tried. Unfortunately the people
here are notorious for opposing
zoning as an option for limiting
grow1h. Their general reaction is,
"Don't tell me whal 10 do with
my land," and that's where the
argument ends. There is generally
never any extended debate, and
there is generally never any
opponuni1y 10 consider voling in
something like this.
In areas of the country
severely impacted by growth and
development, people now
recognize that ins1i1u1ing zoning
is the only way that they are
going 10 reduce growth to sane
levels. Without zoning,
everything is done in a hnphazard
way, and industrial and
commercial sites grow up next 10
housing. and so fonh.
Florida is now making
zoning mandatory in almost every
community. Other states that have
experienced large increases in population in the past now use
zoning as an effective way to control development and to protect
cnvironmencally sensitive areas.
KJ: Another factor in 1he whole equation is loco!
transportation. Being an essentially rural area, the mountains lead
to a lot of vehicle traffic.

GM: Yes, that is correct. This terrain does not lend itself to
car-pooling or mass transit. because 1he population 1ends 10 be
somewhat dispersed. There are rew easy-access, straight-line
transpona1ion corridors, which means that mass tronsit is difficult
tO SCI Up.
KJ: On the other hand, 1hough, the s1eep terrain has made
it difficult for industrial developmen1.

GM: There is always going 10 be limited industrial
development here, because the region just isn't favorable for thn1.
In that sense our steep terrain is a saving grace.
We might be ove~m by shopping malls or hamburger
stands - we might be "Pigeon Forged" · but I don't think that we
will be over-industrialized.
KJ: But in 1erms of habitat destruction ...

GM: ...Having second homes and malls is 1he same as
having an industry. There will be continually more strip
development, de-centralized shopping in all directions.
KJ: As far as reacting to out-of-control growth and
supporting maximum habitat in the mountains, what do you think
people can do?

GM: It is going 10 be dirticull to do anything abou1 it,
because usually all the people in power arc growth boosters. My
suggestion is, if people want 10 understand the dynamics of 1he
politics in their area, they should look into the backgrounds of 1he
Jl'Ople who hold public office. Check out the people on the water
boards, on the sewer boards, and see if there are corporate or real
es1a1e affiliations. Voters should look at the people on the town
councils, on the county board of commissioners, see who lhey
are, and ask about their environmental agendas before returning
14em to office.
Summer, 1990

a

The next thing people
should do is to encourage people
with views similar 10 their own 10
run for public office and then
work hard to have them elected.
lf people want to decrease the rate
at which growth is tal&lt;lng place in
their area, they need to seat
candidates representing lha1
viewpoint on the governing
boards of the sewer districts or
the water authorities {or the
transportation depanment at the
state level), so that biodiversity is
a priority for those key agencies.
At present virtually all the
infrastruc1ure boards arc
controlled by pro-growth people.
Those people who want to
expand this area's role as a
sanctuary for biodiversity need 10
ge1 cracking politically a1 all
levels, because right now their
message isn't getting through.
KJ: One of the reasons the
message isn't gelling through
politically is because people are
thoroughly convinced that our
economy is based on growth, and
1ha1 the success of our sylilem is
Phoio by Rodney Webb
measured by the amount of
growth, rather than by water quality, clean air, and ample habitat
for all species.
What kind of opnons do we have in a situation like that?
How can we change people's consciousness about ii?

GM: In this coun1ry we do not have mnny good models of
communities or regions that have a long history of no-growth
development.

So l guess 1he thing to do is to point out examples where
communities - even entire regions - have ta.ken the "grow at all
costs" direction and have ruined what were fonnerly nice places
to live. Florida and Sou1hem Calirornia are examples of large
regions lha1 once had exceptional qualities which were lost in a
very short period of time. That is why Floriclians are now
moving here, and Californians arc moving to Oregon and
Washington.
Tl all goes back to 1he whole mind-set tha1 says we have 10
keep growing, growing, and growing. Somehow people believe
that growth is for everybody's good.
Yet in thiny years people look back and ask, "What did T
loser'
The answer is, "You lost everything."
"What did I gain?"
"You gained one problem arteranother."

Dr. Gary Miller has been director of the Environmental
Smdies Program at U11iversil)' of North Carolina Asheville since
the fall of 1983 Ar that rime the program had one majoring
smdent; now it has almost 100.
Miller holds a BS in biology. a masters degree in
botany/zoology, and he received a doctorate in plant ecology
from the Uni\'ersit)' ofNorth Carolina at Chapel Hill.
For 15 years he lfred in New York State where he was
primarily interested in research on vegetation in freshwater
bodies. lie still spends his summer months exploring rlwtfield of
research.
lie and Ids wife have a daughter, who gradumed with a BS
in biology from UNC-CJiapel Hill, and a son. who is majoring in
biology and chemisrry in his last year at Chapel Hill.
• lnttrvlew rtcordtd by Doi# \Vhttltr

I

\

�TRANSPORTERNATIVES
By Patrick Clark
NaturaJists Henry David Thoreau, Ralph
Waldo Emerson, and John Muir all knew the
secre1 long ago. They saw the senselessness of
going around in motorized vehicles, when the
feet do just fine, thank you.
Why spend time cooped up in a box on
wheels when you could be our 1hcre gcuing
around by foot, with the birds and fresh air, and
getting good exercise? These words of Thoreau
from Walden arc as true today as they ever have
been: "We do not ride on the railroad, the
railroad rides on us ....If we stay at home and
mind our business who will want
railroads....Why should we live with such hurry
and wns1c in our life?"
Automobiles give the illusion of being a
fas1 means of cransporration, allowing users
more free time. Yet after considering the time
spent to finance, operate, and maintain an
aiu?m~b~e (nor to mention time for building and
mamtammg roads and traffic regulations), rhe
automobile doesn't seem to get us anywhere any
faster than our own two feet.
The auto has been and is a needless waste
of the environment and rhe human spirit, bur
we've gouen ourselves into a fix. Our entire
economical system is built upon fossil-powered
transponation. Roads have desecrated the "land
of the free". Noise. pollution. accidents, and
vi~ual decadence (i.e. America's transponarion
system) are woven into the fabric of American
society.
The need to get around will always exist,
but perhaps our society travels more 1han is
necessary. There arc ways to i;1ruc1ure our
communities and lifestyles to eliminate much of
the traveling we do. Where do we go? Work,
s~hool, rhe sto~. library, movie. pany, dance,
fnends house, Sierra Club meeting, conference.
the beach. What 1f mosc of these destinations
were closer in--lct's say biking di~tance. (The
conferences and the beach would require either
carpooling, public transponarion, or extended
time off for bicycle touring). Roads would be
narrow soips of concrete or gravel with flowers
JC.awQ(~

Journa( pca«Je 22

and 1rces on either side, raking us through
pleasant countryside and neighborhoods. No
cars or ttucks roaring by with fumes and smoke.
By slowing us down 10 a human-powered
speed, self-propelled uansponation connects us
to the Earth and 10 ourselves. It is a link to our
past and could be an integral pan of our present.
Grecnways (linear parks with hike/bike paths)
are catching on all over the country. Hiking and
biking paths arc being constructed to ger us all
around the continent
Today a person can walk the length of the
Appalachian Mountains and beyond on the
legendary Appalachian Trail. Throughout
Karoah arc numerous n:crc.ational trails built and
maintained by groups such as the Carolina
Mountain Club, including the new Mountains to
I.he Sea Trail (which has 260 continuous miles
already completed). While the tourism industry
is promoting aesthetic and recreational values in
this area, roads arc still more numerous than is
compatible with the forest Recreational walking
is fine, but it is not going to stop the acid rain,
noise poUution. and the habitat disruption/
destruction caused by the millions of vehicles
driving through the Kanlah province each day,
some of them 10 get to the hiking rrails.
The bicycle is Jess impacting than most
other forms of transportation on the
environment. With it, one can get to places
mostly unreachable without a car or a lot of
rime. And yet bicycling is still slow enough for
face to face human contact and cnjovmenr of
birds, flowers, and sky. Costs· to the
environment arc minimal and monetary expenses
are a fraction of those needed to own and
operate a car. So stress is lessened in more ways
than one.
Enlightened engineers are working on
solar-powered vehicles. These will be great, and
J'll be the first to invest in one, but the need will
still exist for walking and biking. What can a
person do 10 adopt a more self-propelled
lifestyle right now while in transition to our
bikeways/walkways society?
Getting to work is one of rhe most
imponant aspects of self-propelled rranspon·
0raWll1g by Rob Mcuick

ation, because this is a trip most people take
almost every day. There arc tricks to doing it
right such as dressing for the weather, carrying
items needed at work, and being presentable
once you get there. But once in the habit, this
commute is quite satisfying and relatively
stress-free.

I know bicycling works. ln metropolitan
areas. people commute many miles by bicycle,
contributing to clean air by reducing oil
consumption and lessening traffic congestion. I
joined them for awhile when t lived in
Washington, DC, and biked eighteen miles
round-trip through the Rock Creek Park
Greenway. There I met people who decided cars
were not for them. With sidebags and trailers,
even families were getting around without
difficulty. Some third world countries have
never had auto-caused problems because
bicycles have always been a necessity.
Herc, bicycling can be more challenging.
Bike paths haven't caught on much ye4 distances
arc greater, roads arc narrower, the terrain is
rugged. and !here are blind comers. Still, it can
be done. We need to keep pushing for bicycle
facilities and educate city planners and
motorists. (Join your local bicycle club.)
Recycling and organic vegetables and solar
energy arc fine, but wi1hou1 sustainable
transponation they will remain futile anempts a1
environmental restoration.
Resources:
Worldwatch Institute
P.O.Box 6991
Syracuse, NY 13217
For information on the Bikcways Task Force.
contaet Mary Helen Duke
(Transponation Coordinator)
Land of Sky Regional Council
25 Hentagc Drive
k;heville, NC 28806
(704) 254-8131

The Bikcways Task Force needs
volunteer help for a bike route mapping project
and bikeways legislation.
Summer, 1990

�IMAGINING THE END OF REAL ESTATE
by Hectfilre P. Condeau
There arc munncrs about, for those intuitive and sensitive enough to
hear them, that our relationship with Biosphere as in need or profound
reconsideration and even rc--invention. Many of our current attitudes about the
Earth and its capacity to sustain life arc reflected in the continuing musty
precepts or Feudal "tenants" and practices. By such methods land is to be
held as property by those in power. It can be bought only at a price by those
who h.:ive the means to pay olf others in power for the right to "own" the
land. Military service is required by the "lords" of thl:' kingdom in order to
protect its sovcreignty and to maintain obedience to the kingdom. If
Feudalism ended with the creation or a declaration that stated "all people
are created equal" why arc there still Landlords that relish in raising prices,
Corporate Castles in far-off lands, and Kings of Business that wear crowns of
excess profits on their heads while "vassals" must suffer through the best
they can· with little opportunity to get past class structures designed and
maintained by those unable 10 relinquish their grip or economic power over
other people in human society?
What is called for is the crcation of different value systems m
mediating the relations within human societies, and particularly in how
human societies rclate to the Biosphere. By maintaining systems of
lnduslrial Oass (ie; capitalist or socialist) where money and resources are
"bottlenecked" by the State, Corporations, or privileged classes, those who
arc not involved with such 'elites· are often lert out of the primary
decision-making or the society. Then a dangerous situation can develop in
which there is a lack of communication in the society, and it becomes
fragmented
This fragmentation is easily transferred onto our relations with
H~hit"'" •·thcr than our own, and the many forms or life that inhabit them;
from bears to bugs to bacteria. What would be the consequences or human
beings regarding the health or ecosystems other than their own as crucial to
the viability of all life including its own? I think ii would mean th.it
individual ownership of the land would come under intl'OSC scrutiny, and that
for human beings to be able to "settle·· or live in a particular area they would
have to be able to prove their worth as caretakers or 'friends' of the land.
This would have to be done in the context of the inhabited region, and also in
light of current awareness or lhe complex inter-relationships among many
fonns or biota that make a region of the Earth what it is.
Ultimately, It would mean that our basic models for economics,
business, industry, and even our own day-to-dny existence would change from
that of a rigid dominancc-&lt;!ulogi%ing system of Real Estate, Development for
the? sake of bloating growth, and Factories dispersing contaminants into vital
air, water, soil, and biota or the planet. The models would change into
Ecosystems· With multiply mixing long, medium, and short duration
circulation patterns, or feedback luop~. 'These cycles moving through the
Biosphere int~atc the ingestion, absorbtion, and excretion or various forms
of chemical and radinnt energy from multiple Types or organisms and the
solar wind.
We exist in a complex array of feedback loops, within the region we
co-mhab1t. The C5SCntlal inter-rclahonsh1p between organisms and
l'nvironmcnts at various SCOJ'L'S of the Earth is the basis for a difforcnt kind ot
undcrst.lncling than thl! prevailing ''bch.lve as though machines arc the only
model of reality that matters" kind of athtude that we h.:ive been fed by the
bulk of modem science. The emphasis now shifts from co~ntrating on
lnch\;dual kinds or ~y~tcms thcmsch-~ to the energy or mrormatlon that is
moving between many kinds of s~tcms.
In this spirit let's focus on the relationship between human
communities, institutions. neighborhood,, hou~holds, ramih(.'S, and
indh'lduals in the context of the broader and more ecologically diwrsc
Bion.'t;10ns they inhabit. In this century our emph.1sis ha~ been on the
mtel\Slve "h.1rVC$ting" of energy in the forms of ruel, building materi.ils.
rrunc-rals, foods, water, and other n.'-sourccs from the greah'r hfc community
or the region. Our paras1uc tendencies as a spccics have ortC'n been
ewer· looked because of ingr.11ncd habits through which "profit" ramcd m
this way from ecological .1nd geological sources became 1 HE way to &lt;'nsure
that our families or communiues would survive. This was p.uUally due to a
past of scarcity and harsh~s, and our relative 1Mbility to undcr:&gt;tand and
change the basic patterns of susta1n.1bihty in the planet. Now thb has
changed, and so h.1s our rclallon with all other living beings.
The lndustnal era with all its far reaching efrccb or cont.lminahon
and 1labitat d~lruclion has paradoxically come around to face us with a
~ery mto our own values as a 'body" or humanity. The "power" put into
mdu~~ 1s now showing a potential or rar Jess scarcity than previously
c;xtsted m the ~lk'Cllve h_uman endeavor. Yet the "price" for being able to
bve m some kmd or rdnllvc harmony with non· human Pabilats and have a
Summer, 1990

''THE IMPACT OF liUMANS
IS NOW MATC\llMG 'fHAT Of ME.TEORS''
technology th.it is able to be efficient and does not drastically interfure with
the basic morphology or health or a given rcg:on 1s this... We need to
regulate our numbers because our impact is proving unsust.lmable not only for
ourselves, but also in regard to the diversity of habitats around us which are
the source or potential well bcmg for such complex creatures as mammals. The
main predators we now have to worry about are Ourselves, colliding
asteroids, volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, some micro-organisms and
viruses, and our own industtatcd excreta such as bombs, plutonium, dioxin, and
a plethora of other toxic chemistries cookcd from petroleum. Thus we ne«! to
create ways of internalizing, with our minds and hearts, some fonn of species
population limits.
One question that comes to mind when thinking about the potential
'carrying capacity' or human beings in this Mountain Bioregion of l&lt;atUah is:
What arc we to do with thl! Feudal Legacy of economically unjust and
environmentally unsound concepts and pmcticcs that have bcC'n accepted as
the only way or "doing business" in the region? What if the "upper classes"
can afford to buy land or houses and arc unable to make sound decii;ions about
its destiny and the destiny of the people living there? Is there any real Sense
to be found In a rash of second homes being built in an area where wages are
low and there is homclcssne!.57 There will need to be some 50rt of sy~tcm of
mediation and justice m working through the relations within the hum.1n
community and th.lt o( the many communilic:. or lifo that su~tain the human
community. This appears 10 be one of the great challengl'S to the pol(!ntial
maturity of human beings Into a non-scl£ish role within the Biosphere.
To ch.:inge our attitudes about the land around us from treating ii as a
machine, deshned to be both our "raw fuel" and our scwl!r, to that of
&lt;'ClllogiC'al or inter-recycling modes, would change both our thinking and our
everyday experience of how our hvcs can be organized. Ry slowing the
overall flow of energy through our community systems~ maybe nblc to
reduce some or the conlusro ambitiousness and ch.1os that 15 b«oming the
norm for many people on the North American continent. We exert stress on
biogrogr.:iph1cal cnvironmcntS around us by extracting too much from th('m
and sluughing off too much of the energy we can't recycle onto them. This
energy takc:; th•" forrn or i;asrous compounds :.uch as carbon dioxide, nitrous
oxide, and sul(cr dioxide exhau,;tmg from po\';L'f "plants" and automobiles. It
~1kcs the torrn of finite '\lrcams of once-US(' packaging around many
"products" from foods to motor oil. It also takes the forrn of fluids such ns
solvents. rCB's, dyes, and pcst1C1dcs..
Our 'work' now seems to be that of re-Inventing our technologies and
the effect~ of our tcchnologi~ on the greater ecologies or the Earth, so that
the rollccttve and personal force of our Impact can be reduced without
continuing lo use "props" as ever more l'fl\1l'Onmcntally expensive energy
slaves such n~ automobiles and coal burning power 'plants'. Who dcadcs
what is environmentally appropriate and what ls not? Would it go to a
Global type consensus, or would the people of each Biorcg1on be nblc to fine
tune their practices in .1 :&gt;pcctrum of specific areas from Humanlcss Preserves
to concentrated human actil.-ity?
(continued on ~ell)

Cazto0n by Rob Messick

JGntimh )ournci( pcuJe 23

l

�REQUIEM FOR OAK RIDGE
Nanni World News Service

HOW BIG IS A LEGAL BEAR?
Nanni WC&gt;rld News Service

More than 350 people jammed the bleachers 111
the Smoky Moun1111n High School in Sylva, NC in one
of two bC&lt;lliogs called by the NC Wildlife Resources
Commission (NCWRC) io hear opinions on a proposal
lO raise the legal hunting limil for black bears 10 a
weight of 100 poun~. Many oC those m the gym wen:
bunters who wanted 10 keep the present 50 pound weight
limit. but approx11na1ely 50 people aucnded the hearing
In support of the higher limiL
Unifonncd wildlife offiCCIS were slBtiOllCd a1 the
enlr.lllCcs lO the hcanng. hnodtng out a s1:11emcnt by the
s1a1e chap1cr of lhe Wildlife Socic1y. a biologisis'
organiui1ion, lhat staled tha1 group's opposition 10 a
higher weight limit, and a program printed for the even1
by the NCWRC that also contained a statement saying
that such a change was incffcc1ivc, Biid lha1 habit.al was
Ille primary factor in block. bear survival Several of !he
speakers vehcmcn1ly sugges1ed 1hnt 1h1s acuon
compromised the impaniali1y of Ille NCWRC 111 the
hearing.
Discussion at. the hearing wa~ heated, fueled
mostly by dwigrcemcnt about the si1,c and statu~ of the
bbck bc3r population.
Proponent&lt;; of 1hc higher weight lunit argued 1ha1
at the prcscm 1ime 1he black bc:it population was
reproducing cilher just a1 or below the minimum lc\•cl
ncces"'1ty for continued viabili1y. They s:iid that an
occurring o:ik dcxlinc, atmospheric polluuon, and the
advcn1 of Ille gypsy moll! "'ouJd put further pr~sure.~ on
the black bear popul:11ion, p~urc.s 111:11 the bears could
not ~usl3in . Raising the weight limi1, they said, would
ulklw female bears more years m which 10 breed nnd odd
lO the populauon
Humers defended 1hcar ethics and pracu~ ;,ind
S3id, "Besides, there'~ hclb of~ ou1 lhcrc.•
h wns no1 ~urpnsang to those who attended the
llC:ltlng tha1 one momh later the NCWRC voted ll-0 10
!'Clain the pound we1gh1 l11ni1 ror Ille black bear.
Paul Gallamore of the Sou1hcm Ap113lachian
Bl.lck Bear Federation. wh"h lud been a major force
behind lhc we1gh1 change proposal, said, "This as
d1scouragmg, however. considering 1hc runount or mpu1
1he commission rccch·cd. We know 1ha1 they go1 more
than 1,000 lcu.ers m favor of r.usmg Ille hm1L"

so

Xatuaf1 Journat

pn~

24

11 was a damp dawn 1uming slowly into a mis1
y
Sunday morning - Earth Day, 1990. Seventy mourners
gathered and held hands in a circle at the ga1es of the
Y-12 N11Clcar Weapons Componem Plllnt in Oak Ridge,
Tennessee. The sad strains of Moian's "Requiem•
played in Ille background.
"We begin Earth Day with a time of mourning
for the Enr1h in O:ik Ridge. Beyond this fence. in these
buildings, the brightest of human minds have overlooked
Ille most profound and obvious iruth • that our place in
creation is 10 be p3t1 of it. in rclntion.~hip 10 the Earth
and all crcatwcs, and to care for Iha! which susuins us."
the Rev. Ralph Huichison told the black-robed circle of
friends with foces p:ain1ed whiic.
"This morning we acknowledge that the
rclmionship be1wcen humankind and lhc Earth is broken.
Jn this pbce we have abused the Enrth from which all life
comes-· twisting the gift of life into forces of death. In
what was once the gentle f:itming communi1y of Whe:lt.
we have beaten ploughs.hares into swords. Md we have
lost our priorities.•
Following the brief ceremony, a young maple
tree was planted in front of the Y -12 sign. Ney Pinedo, a
Pcruvirul Indian in 1hc United SUllllS raising support for
the Amazon rain fores1, spoke "in Ille nnmc of 2,000
tribes" and gave a blessing 10 the sapling. "This is a
symbol of life away from death." Pinedo said.

REPRIEVE FOR ALARKA
Nanni World News Service

The NOrth Carolina Dcpar1mcn1 of Environmenllll
f\.13nagcment (DEM) made a political compromise :ind
decreed that the waters of Alarkn Creek arc no1
"Ouisl31\ding Resource Waters." as biological tesis show.
but •High Quality Waters." a sligh1ly inferior
classification. However. that ruling was still enough to
hold off developers inicrc.~tcd in turning the well-known
na1urnl area inio a golr resorL The developers decided not
to citercisc their option IO buy the propcny. and Alarka is
safe· temporarily.
Opinion in lhc three counties coniiguous lO Ille
property was mixed. At a public hcnrmg in Swam
County in November of 1989 the reaction was
overwhelmingly m favor of the dcvelopmenL Of the
lcuers received by the DEM, however, I IS were for
prolccting lhc crcclc, while 25 s1ood opposed. Two
hundred and eighty-seven people signed petitions
supponang proLCCtion and 195 signed agains1 ii. Most of
!he opposition was cenlCted an Swain Coun1y, •vherc Ille
Citizens Against Wilderness group has organized voters
io oppose any fedcrnl or suic land protecuon programs.

WHAT WOULD THE TREES SAY?
N11un.J World NcwJ 5.,.....,

Two hundred acuvists from the soulllcasl and
01hcr regions across the conuncnt came ioge1hcr f\.by
2S-27 10 131k aboul S3\ ing Ille 1hrcatencd l'orcsts or this
land.
Tiic fifth · Nnuon:il Reform lhc ForeM Service
Pow-wow" mc1 a1 Camp Green Co,·e an Tuxedo on 1he
Green River in North Carolina.
A maJOnl)' of 1he group agreed on a statcmcm
called "The Green Cove Pl;itform" lha1 outlined wa~s to
return native d1vers11y 10 1he fore.\! and create mccntivcs
for a more ecological rcla1ionsh1p wuh na1ural
forc.&lt;llanch.
Ned Frit1. of Texas. 3 leading elder in the
movcmcni to resist clearcu1ting, :&lt;p&lt;&gt;ke to 1hc conference
:ind led discus.&lt;aons.

Jeff DcBonis, a founder of the Association of
Focesl Service Employees for Environmental Ethics,
which agiuuc.s for ecological forest practices from wilhin
the Forest Service ranks, spoke about the sllltus and
program of the AFSEEE organization.
Dr. Roben Zahner, professor emeritus or forestry
at Clemson University, outlined the steps necessary 1
0
restore the eastern old-growth forest; Walton Smilh , a
retired forester and membeT of the Western Norlh
Caroli na Alliance, spoke abou1 lhe system of
uneven-aged forest management he has developed al his
Waldce Forest in Macon County; and David Wheeler
urged auendccs to approach forest Issues from an
ecologically realistic rather than a politically •reatistic"
standpoinL Bun Kornegay, a wilderness expedition leader
lllld president or the Bartram Trail Socie1y. offered
valuoblc insighis as he considered what Henry David
Thoreau would think aboul today's environmental
movcmena.
Bill Oliver and Glen Waldeck rocked the house
with their songs of Ille movement that were al once
inspiring and emcrtaining.

FREE THE FOREST!
FREE THE BEARS!
NAnnt World New1 Service

In a daring daylighl raid, six nmja commandocs
from the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). lhe Kaulilb
chapicr of the group Enr1h Firs1!. rescued and released
Smokey the Bear from the Nantahala-Pisgab National
Forest hcadquan.c:rs in Asheville on April 17
The rescuer$ approached lhc building and rc1umcd
with the Conner hosuge, who, when asked about his
condi1ion, said, ·rn be alrigh1 when l get ou1 of these
damn panis. • before 1clling of the horrors of captivity and
Ille brainwaslung techniques used in a vain effort to erase
his innntc mcmoTics of hfe in Ille wild.
Not to leave the Forest Service wilhout 11 mascot,
I.he group inuoduced the prcn to Stumpy, lhe paper
mach€ stump. their cllJ'ldidatc to more accur.iicly rcprcscm
Forest Service policies 10 the public at latge.
As black-su11cd commandocs esconed Ille bear to
safety, Ran,gcr Fred and Rangercltc Fredericka came on
the scene, evidently io pacify the crowd and 10 1um the
unscttling event to the advanlllge or the govcrnmcnL
Ranger Fred fim gave a discourse on silvicultural
economics for those present: "We in the Farce Circus
manage the nauonal forests in a muUiphtudc of uses 10
maximize profiL Got a question? Keep 11 '1il Inter.·
He then regaled the nudiem:e with folksy, friendly
siones m the warm, caring manner of a Ir.lined publicisL
"Some day you here arc gomg to take your young
ones out inio the fonner forest slump communi1y, and
you will be able to impress lhcm wnh your knowledge
of woodslore. 'Now that over there; you can tell them,
'is a popl:ir siump. And over !here is a hemlock s1ump.'
And they will listen for hours to en1cr1nining and
educauonal stories abou1 our r1:11ional stumpland.•
Jeff Smllh then re;id the "Ecological Manifesto
for th~ Katliah Province" (5CC Kt11UJth Journal #26).
which "'as complcicly ignored by 1hc media, who focused
!hear coverage on the more frivolous pans of Ille action
and tttillatcd their public w11h occnsional mention.~ of
"trcc·~p1king" in relation to 1he ELF group.
One month la1cr, on May 21 , in ano1hcr vain
a1tempt to focus media aucntton on the ecological needs
of 1hc fores1 hab1ta1, 1he ELF group and members of n
new group, Rescue Rangers, returned 10 the Forest
Services. Two members of Rescue Rangers, Da,·id
Wheeler and Rodney Webb. posted copies of 1he
"f:eologacal M;imfc~IO for the Kaufah Province• and !hen
ch3incd themselves 10 the orricc doors, complc1cly
blocking them for onc·h:!lf hour unul taken into cus1ody
by federal marsh;ils. Dcmonslr:ltors on the sidewalk sang
3nd charalcd.

Swmmcr. l 990

�"Stop the logging! Close lhe roads!
The hardwood f~t has to grow!"
as lhc two resistors were lllken away.
"The US Forest Service has lost 11S mandate."
Wheeler told lhe press. "It has shown itself incap:ible of
caring for lhe forest lands entrusted IO 1L The ngcncy sees
iL~ mission as representing human interests in lhe
forests, rather lhan serving the ecological nctds of lhc
forest 11.SClf.•
The "Ecological Manifesto for lhc Ka1uah
Province" calls for lhe public lands in the Southern
Appalachians 10 be cons1i1u1ed as an evoluuonary
preserve IO keep nauvc species from exunclion as a result
of the present ecological crisis. All further logging and
roadbu1lding would be prohibited in the evolu11onary
preserve, and human use would have 10 confonn to 1he
nctds of habitaL
The program also calls on the people of the
province to stop atmospheric pollution. 10 adapt their
lifc.~1yles to fit within the carrying capacity of the rci;ion,
and 10 cultivate an ou11udc of respect for the natural
world.
For their act of civil disobedience, Wheeler and
Webb face 30 days in jail and a S50 line, and an
additional S5,000 fine under a special government law.
Cont.1CIS:
Rescue Rangers
Box 282
Sylva, NC 28779
Earth Liberation Front (ELF)
Boit 171
Alexander, NC 28701
For copies of the "Ecological Manifesto for the
Katunh Province," write 10:

KmUahJournoJ
Box 638
Leicester. NC 28748

CLEAR CUTTING:
WAY TO GO? OR GO A WAY?

RETURN OF THE RED WOLF

MIDDLE CREEK FALLS

Nanni World Ncwl SCl'licc

Natural World News Service

In March, I990 three pai~ or red wolves wen:
released on the Tennessee side or the Gre:u Smoky
MountaiM National Park. If this rein1todueuon IS
suecc.~sful. n permanent population of SO 10 100 woh·es
will roam this pan or the red wolf native hab1U11.
Just over ten years ago lhc red wolf 11.·as extinct
in the wild. Forty wolves along the Gulf coast were
captured by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and placed
ll1 captive breeding programs. Originally the program
was at Point Defiance Zoological Park m Tacoma
Washington, but it wa~ later expanded IO include six1ccn
other facilities. By 1989 the populauon had grown 10
105 animals. However, it is only through reintroduction
10 a free eitis1ence that they can regain the vigor as a
specie.~ that millcnia of evolution hnvc given them. The
Fish and Wildlife Service released a drnf1 Red Wolf
Recovery Plan in 1989. which aims al establishing a
tollll populauon of 550 animals, v.•ilh 200 animals living
m wild rar"s and other protceted areas. The Great Smoky
Mountains National Park 1s considered a pnme
inuoduclion site.
By reintroducing the wolves 10 the Smokies it is
hoped that the smaller coyote. which has migrated 10 the
Smokies since 1985. will be driven out. This logic is
somcwruu skewed, however, since the coyote, through
the process of interbreeding, was considered one or the
major thrcais 10 the small surviving population of red
wolves on the Gulf coast. Why this phenomenon would
not occur again is not uplained.
If the first release proves successful. a second
stage will be implemented in which twenty wolves will
be released in the more remote areas or the the s17.000
ocro part.
The last wild wolves in the Smokies were killed
m 1910. A shy animal, the loner red wolf, which docs not
hunt in packs. is absolutely no thrcal IO humans.

The Middle Creek Falls lie n0t far from lhc rood
between Scaly Mountain and the town of Otto in Mlcon
County, NC, but not many h:ivc seen them. However.
they arc well·known :ind wclf.Joved by those who ha"e
clambered down 10 visit them. Since 1916 they have
been public propc.ny as pan of the N:intahala National
ForesL
Now Dudley M:inning. a resourceful developer
who has acquired property around the falls, wants lhcm
for the crowning jewel and main selling poml for a
residential development he is planning for the site.
The US Forest Service h;is a practice called
land-swapping, in which they publish 11 list Of private
lands that they f.:el are stra1cg1cally important 10 the
completion of the national forest, and offer 10 swap for
these parcels with other Forest Service land of equal
value but less Slrotegic imponance.
Manning has bought 1wo parcels of land on the
Forest Service swap list, one a 1.252 tract along the
French Brood River m Madison County, and 1he other a
157 acre traet along the Blue Ridge Parkway in Jackson
County. He is offering IO trade both these properties for
the 665 acre~ comuinmg the Middle Creek Falls.
Local people are upset. Jonathan William~. a
writer and publisher from Highland~. t\C, says, "There
:ire sacred phlccs here and there on the Earth, where a
person can develop depth of feelings . and this is one of
lhcm ... I want ii left alons. Change around these pans too
often mcansrumation.· And Keith Day. a member or the
Bartram Trail Society, has begun an active grassroots
campaign on behalf of the falls.
These people and their neighbors arc asking
others lo write to Gary Benneu; lligblnnds Ranger
District; RL 2, Box 385; Highland~. NC 2874 1 asking
that the US Forest Service raise additional funds IO
acquire necessary lands and not uade off beautiful scenic
places like Middle Creek Falls.
NATURAL WORLD NEWS continued p.26

Nalllral World News Service
Three recent announcements by the US Forest
Service give a comment on lhe agency's forest
management policies.
On April 23. the day after Earth Day, Forest
Supervisor Bjorn Dahl announced 1ha1 as a part of the
revised forest management plan for the Nantahaln-Pi.~gnh
National Forcsis clearcutting would be dc-empllllsizcd as
the Forest Service method of choice for timber cutting.
He cited public opposiuon 10 the prac tice and
instructions from Forest Service Chief Dale RoberlSon in
his remand of the Nanlahala-Pisgoh I S-ycar management
plan.
"We can change, and we are changing." Dahl said.
There is good reason for skepticism. Less than
one month after this dcclaralion, 1he Forest Service
announced anol.her timber sale, called the Bee Tree Sale.
in the Pisgah National ForcsL E:o:ccp1 for a ~moll area
close 10 a creek, the entire sale tract is to be clearcut and
hauled out by cable-logging equipment, which L~ rc-.crved
for work on steep slopes.
Envtt0nmcnt.11is1S arc up in arms about the sale,
and the We.stem North Carolina Alliance, which has led
1hc oppos11ion 10 c:lcarcutung in the mountain province,
plans lO appeal the sale.
The Forest Service made ilS own comment on its
ctearcutting policies when it revealed that clcarcuuing 111
the Nation:il Forests in Nonh Carolina had cost lallpaycrs
S2.64 million in bclow-cos11imbcr sales in 1989. The
losses in the N:uuahala·Pisgah National ForcsL~ were
grc:ucr th:m that, bealuse the Uwharrie l\'a1ion:1l l"orc~t in
the piedmont area milk.cs a profit on its timber sales.

Summer, 1990

b

~Limh

Journm Pa1J"- 25

�(ocmlinucd &amp;om pege 25)

on them the invisible stress and reductJon in lifcsp:in
continue to be a plague and consequence of our excessive
human over- depe:ndancc on fossil fuels. rubber, and
mined metals from far away places. From this we
structure our socicocs, from this they may also become
dcsUucl~

IT MUST HA VE BEEN THE
ROSES
Narural World News Sc"'ice

Orawmgs by James Rhea

EASTMAN CO.:
WORLD-CLASS POLLUTER
Nanni World News Savicc

The Tennessee Eastman plant, ~dqWlltcn; and
the largest production plant of the Eastman Chemical
Corporation has been r:mkcd as the l(&gt;p air polluter in
Tennessee and 14th in the Uni1ed Swtes in a study
recently released by the Environment.al Protection
Agency and the cnvll'Onmental group Citizen Action.
The Eastman plant rtlC.'.lSCs 40 million pounds of
1oxic chemical~ into the air each ye.v. 1l1e chemical
ace1one makes up 80% of the annual COilie release. Kodak
reported tnfornuuon nbout its polluung ncliv1ues in
accordance wuh lcgist::uion en11llcd 1he Emergency
Planning and Communi1y Right 10 Know Act.
The Kodak plane employs 11,000 people and
makes fibers, chemicals, and plas1ics. II has been caJlcd
co cask bcf&lt;&gt;tt by cnvironmenlal groups who documented
tha1 plant emucn1.s were also polluting the Holston
River.

CAN WE SA VE THE DEVIL '?
NllUral World New. s~.,.,

On Marth 14th 1990, the TruSI for Public Lands
(fPL) decided to purchase 828 acre.~ in Macon Count)'
known locally as the Devil's Courthou;;e. which is
loca1ed on the upper wa~ed of the Chattooga River.
The Devil's Courthouse as composed of sheer granite
cliffs which drop from the height~ of Whiteside
Mounlain to the cove below. Al~o an this upper
watershed 3.l'Ca of the Chatcooga River are =kb und a
wnter fall named Silver Slapper.
This upper aru of the river (five miles west of
Cashiers, NC) ha.~ been thrcaccned by developcmem for
some ume. The lower pas..&lt;:;iges of the ChaltOOjµ are well
known and tm1·elcd by river raftc~. who paddle and slosh
throug)I what is dc•ignaled by the federal government as a
"Wild and Scenic River."
The US Forest Service attempted 10 acquire the
lands 111 the upper water \hcd or the Ch:mooga earlier this
yenr for inclusion in the Nantahala NatJonal Forest.
Fund.~ for protecung this enllle wa1crshcd have not bocn
fonhcomrng from Congress. The area has now become
the cop priori1y land acqui~ition of the USFS. The Tru.&lt;t
for Public Land~ is encouraging the public to support
Congressional fondrng necessary lO conscrvc thi5 viwl
11.-:ucrshod. By 5paring u from the ravages of the l'C$0rt

Xatiuih Journa( pll!JC 26

market. perhaps its bcau1y and integrity can still be
enjoyed by ooming generations.

LIFE IN THE OZONE (revisited)
Nanni World Ne~ Scrv""'

Most of us do it every day: get in the car and
drive to the store, or to work, or to drop off the kid~
somewhere. The effects or doing this are generally not
apparent to our senses, except for perhaps the smell of
exhaust or a p:lUl in the wallet when the car needs rcpall'.
Bui the foct is that every tJme we ignite those
flaming engines of au1omotive "progress" we create a
brew of gasoous cxhnust thm ha~ far more effcet on the
current atmosphere than we at first rcali1e. One of the
gases created in the "ake of the.~ comb1m1ve cauldrons
is ozone • a deep blue, explosive, poisonous, and
pungent gas th:l1 exists as three combined oxygen atoms
(OJ).
The existence of 01.one in the outer "1rnle&gt;5phcrc
is essenual 10 screening excessive ultraviolet radintaon
from the surface or the Eanh. Yet iL~ cooccntmuon m the
inner atmosphere causes rcsparruory problems an
mammals, and mh1b1ts the growth or sortwood trees and
flowering plants. For human bcmg.s 11 is the elderly and
the young that are the mOlil adversely affcclCd by life in
the 01.one. 1lydrocarbons and nitrogen oxides, which are
emitted from puttering cars and trucks. come into
chemical rc~c:tion in the presence of sunlight and create
these insidious tt1unc molecules. Cnrs and truck~ arc the
primary source of o~one in these mountains.
Summcmme can find us with levels of this molecule
exceeding the 113tion.:il ~L:lndards of public health.
A nauonal study mto the sources and effects of
OlOne contam111a1ion wa.~ ordered ten year ago by the
Congress or the United States. As the study nears
completion, it has cost 5 million dollar~ and included
over 1,000 sdcntJsts and engineers. Final rcpons on the
01one in the air of the inner atmosphere over western
North Carolm3 are due later this year. What the rcpon
found 1hus far 1s tha1 ozone 1s the worst form of air
contammataon an the Katuah Province. Acid rain, a
related problem, affects higher clevauons primanly, and
according to James Mahoney 11 as the concentration of
acid~ m wa1cr..hcd soils and forcsL~ at these elcvauon~
thJt i~ currcnuy causing the gn:.-ucst concern, The lower
elevations have yet to show damage as seven:.
Our strCCts and highways appear as s=t trac:ks
of 1numstve chcm1cal conversion and d1Spcrsion. For the
pcclesu'iln moving across them, or the passenger passmg

A rcpon recently released by the Swte of Nonh
Carolina showed that the Champion paper mill in
Canton, NC is responsible for some of the dirtiest air in
the enure swte. From January 10 June of 1988 the
concentrations of particulate.'\ in the air of the area
exceeded state standards five times. These cases account
for all but one of the major violations of air QW1l11y in
1988. Suspended particul::ucs or this area were the hig)lest
of 74 site.~ studied statewide.
The state standard for these aerial molecules is
150 micrograms (mg) per cubic meter. The average at the
Canton site was 78 mg, but it reached heights of 216 mg
during that y&lt;::Jr
A spokesman for Champion International
attributed the increase or partieulmcs to a new road built
for carrying lime thnl was not watered down tO keep ll1e
dust from nying off. A tack or rain that year also
incn:a.o;cd the potential for moving dusL They claimed
that the problem diminished when they increased effons
to keep the lime powder down. Since then the ambient
air conditions have cleared somewhat and the slate now
consider,; Champion to be an compliance with the Stllte
Slalldartl.
The dan:ctor or the Western North Carolina
Rcgioru:il Air Pollution Control Agency, which is an
independun1 group that monitors air quality for State
officiaJs, claims 1hat conunucd hii;h levcls of particulllte
would be a "nuisance· anJ did not ncceS!&gt;arily indicJtc o
danger to anyone breathing it. However, the report they
produced also claimed that extreme exposures to
panaculate-fillcd rur c:ll1 cause aggmvation of heart and
lung dascru;c, and e&lt;m increase the likelihood of cancer and
other respirn1ory problems.
A broken filler ma ltme kiln at the Champion
plant was also cited :is a concributing factor to the
increased concentrations of particulate. As complaints
"filtered' m from local residents the lime kiln was finally
rep:ured in 1989. How muc:h airborne pollution is IOO
much? Ask not for whom t.he smokestack fumes. n
fumes for thee.

TURNTI\G DOWN THE POWER
Nanni World News Smlicc

The board of directors or the NC Electrical
Membership Corporation (NCEMC) voled on May 29 to
drop all plans to construct a diesel-powered peak
generating system a1 Deep Gap in Watauga County. The
board also made it clear that it would not undertake any
further plans for building diesel-generated power
St:ltions.
The board cited licensing delays, public
opposauon to the project. and "respect for the wishes or
the BREMCO (Blue Ridge Electrical Membership
Cooperative) board." which in a face-saving gesture had
requested an end IO the prOJCCL
ln spite of a loud public outcry. NCEMC had
been aggressively pressing ahead with plans for the
generating stauon until the Rural Electrificauon
Adm1nastra1ion. which had yet to approve the proposal,
made a public announcement that it had questions as to
the Stalion's effect on the local environment
Oppo:;1llon to the Deep Gap swtion was led by
the group Mounutan People for Clean Mountain Atr and
the Blue Ridge Environmcnt.ll Dcfcno;e League.
Summer, 1990

�SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN
NlJl"f.7 Ai lD Tl..J:E B10SPFJEit.:E !PROGRJ11Vl
The Man (sic) and the Biosphere
Program is an international program started by
the United Nations Educational, Cultural. and
Scienrific Organization (UNESCO) in 1971 to
work in particular habitat areas "to build a
harmonious relationship between man (sic) and
the environment on a scientific basis." The
international MAB program has identified a
network of biosphere reserves in characteristic
biomes (natural regions) around the world.
Each biosphere reserve is based around a
core zone, a wild landscape which contains as
much of the representative diversity of the
region as possible. Outside the core zone are
various special use areas to promote
preservation and study of rraditional land use
techniques of indigenous people, in-depth
rcsean:h into the ecosystem, and demonsr.ration
and study of habitat restoration methods.
Surrounding these inner areas would be a
multiple-use zone, or what is called an "area of
cooperation," where sustainable human use
would be practiced.
The project is regional in scope. This is
shown in the Southern Appalachian Man and the
Biosphere (SAMAS) project, which has
outlined an area almost identical to the Katuah
Province as the Southern Appalachian Biosphere
Reserve.
SAMAB was created by the agreement of
~even government agencies in 1988. Southern
Appalachia was chosen by UNESCO as one of
the first biosphere reserve areas because of "the
region's unique and globally significant
ecosystem" and because "the Southern
Highlands, like many other regions of the
world, have been subjected to largely
uncontrolled growth in population and auendant
development, particularly in the past two
decades." UNESCO recognized the Southern
Appalachians as "one of two areas in the United
States which best exemplifies biosphere reserve
concepts."

The SAMAS organization already has
several projects already underway. Among these
are:
- developing a computerized ecosystem data
base for the region,
~ training specialists to inventory biological
diver.;ity (planned are links with Latin
America to monitor migratory bird
populations).
- detecting and chaning climatic changes and
ecosystem responses,
- developing environmental education programs
for elementary schools,
- encouraging an environmentally-compatible
tourism industry,
- and creating a coordinared resource managrnent
plan that could be offered to developing
countries.

The basis of SAMAB is cooperative
regional planning. While the regional model
being promoted by the organization is excellent,
and the project goals arc largely laudatory, the
project now consists only of the regional
divisions of six federal agencies - the National
Park Service, the USDA Forest Service, the
Southeastern Forest Experiment Srnrion. the US
Fish and Wildlife Service. the Economic
Development Administration, the Department or
Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency,
and the Tennessee Valley Authority - the same
federal agencies now watching over the rapid
degradation of Kattlah's natural habitat
The SAMAS concept is still in its infancy.
Optimistically, the organization could renect a
new outlook and a new commitment on the pan
of its member agencies and the organizations,
public and private, who join subsequently. The
possibility is there. But SAMAB could just as
easily be "business as usual" under another
guise, if operating policies and power
relationships remain unchanged throughout the
region.
~

The organization is also interested in
beginning a program to tally the botanical and
pharmaceutical values of Appalachian plant life.

lndrdefeinr lte / " bo
f

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/
\.

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

"Multlple Use ArH
(Alea of CooP41ratoon)
Human senlements, forests and
rangelands. and other us4s m11nagad
lo ach•ove greillost possiblq hnrmony
with tha porpose of th11 biosphere

"'

Rohabllllallon Ar11
Demonstration of m11tll0ds
lo restore degraded
landscapes

\. 18591119
,
......,;.;;.:.;....:__ _ _ _ _~--_..,1

"Core Zone

1

""

Conservation or natural
&amp;eosyslams and biological
drvars•ty, baseR111&gt;
,
9COlogical monrto11ng
,)
,
Tradlllonal Us. ArH
Experimental Auearch Area
Conservation Md study ol
Manipulative rese;irch
twmomous land uses,
Ion managed ecosyslems .
1y.p.,ally by 1nd9nnous
~
,)

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~----~~~-----~---------J

HIGHWAY TO NOWHEREwnunucd from p. 9

FHA planners returned to the drawing
boards. After locating other deposits of pyrilic
rock ulong the proposed route, they reloca11:&lt;l the
roadway 10 another alignment lhat avoided much
of the acidic rock deposits. They then let ne''
construction contracts for the revised route plan.
Smee the new contracts have been h:t, pyritic
deposits have been encountered in one of the
four segments built in Tennessee and three of
the six segments in "ionh Carolina.
Where pyritic deposits have been
uncovered, they have been "encapsulated" in an
effort to prevent :mv contact '' ith water. which
brings the acidic con1ponents into solution. The
rock is excavated, placed over constructed
drains, covered with agricultural lime, and then
capped with concrete. The success of this
method is being evaluated by a research te.1m
from the University of Tennessee. and .stream
monitoring is being done on a regular basis in
cooperation with the US Forest St:rvice.
St4mmet, 1Q90

The highway project has also suffered
slumps and slides that have added to the expense
of the work. David Govus is a grading
contractor in Ellijay, Georgia who goes
frequently to the wild country below I looper's
Bnld to hunt grouse. He says, "It's an
unbuildable site...They arc hanging the road on
a very steep ridge just above Santeetlah Creek.
It's getting close to a 45% gradt: along in there.
There are places you can hardly walk up.
"They're having to gouge out the ''hole
side of the mountain, and they've already had
several major slides. Pan of the road coming
from lhe Robbinsville side just slid off the
mountain. It came 300.400 feet down and
wiped out a Forest Service road that ran parallel
below.
"This was last December. even before \\.'C
had the big rains in February."
Repair work on lhe slides are currently in
progress. and one more contract for the final

eight miles of road is due to be let this year. The
section 10 be completed passes over Wright's
Creek, known locally as one or the finest native
trout streams. The road plans call for the
highway 10 cross over the creekbcd five times.
This threatens the stream's survi\'al. as the
headwaters area of Wright Creek contains some
of the steepest slopes and some of the largt:st
deposits of pyritic rock along the entire route of
the new roadv. ay.
Da\'id Govus says. ''If somebody could
go up there and look at it, it would make them
sick enough that they would understnnd how
stupid it is. Somebody who appreciates the
Southern Appalachian Mountains and who
undernands the pressure that's on them can see
that the Forest Service land is the last bit of the
landscape that's not being totally developed.
And here is a wild chunk of !:ind lhat ~hould be
a wilderness area, which instead is having this
useless highway pu1 through it."
,
)(.Qt~

)owncal pmJeo 27

�Dear Sirs.
Your spring number is a bi1 difficuh to accept as good Ecology.
I refer to Snowbird's illustration and write-up on edible wild
flowers! We need to protect them - as they are disappearing as
development and poor foresU')' practice ruin their habilllt and areas of
growth - Why eat wild flowers? • Better way to conserve.
•
Yours truly.
Miles L. Peelle
Brevard, NC

DRUMMING
LETTERS TO KATUAH

To Whom It Concerns:
Howdy there! I mec1 David Wheeler at the Environmental
Summit at UNC-A Saturday. He mentioned that Kat1u1h JC1urnal had
a write-up in your last issue on the black bear in regards to the White
Oak Communi1y and landfill.
This community is my home. I've been working real hard to
stop lhis siting. I gave David information regarding this. My concerns
are grnve as r feel the noise will ~isrupt the nesting pil~at~d
woodpecker and other birds ·the red-tailed hawks, etc. that reside m
my mantre hardwood forest that will never be disrupted.
I love the sounds of the birds. I really feel for the black bear,
the ones 1hat will be poached and the young who will learn an
un-natural way of being. The situation was o~e of politics. If th.e
bear could vote instead of people, they would wm. My community 1s
remote and small · only 90 households. The black bear will be
severely affected and the damage permanent. We need help from all
who love this wilderness species. I do know without help from the
outside, our politicians will win. They're determined. We do have
. .
people allying with us now, ~ut we need ~verybody. .
Enclosed is money, of which l would hke the last issue pertammg
to my concerns with the siting of a landfill in White Oak. I'm very
active in the light to stop it, your resource might should of sought me
out. The rest is for the cause. Thanks.

Editors' Note: People on th~ editorial staff had some questions abow
this initially, bm after smne discussion we decided to go ahead and
prillt tire article. Thank yo11. though.for voicing your concern.
WIU7t Snow Bear tells us is:
"\Ve certainly don't want to drive wildflowers to extinction.
Tire particular plants I chose co write abolll grow in large numbers
where. the\' occ1tr in this area.
"I also ga~·e specific instr11ctions for gathering the plants ill a
respectful ll'a)' The whole point about writing abo11t the wild plams
and their 11ses is to com·ey a respect/or those beings.
~1 think that people lfring their lil'e.1· i11 harmony with rite
mo11111ains. knowing rlre edible and medici11al uses ofthe native wild
plants. would be more inspired 10 preserve the plants and their wild
habirat. I don'1 tlii11k that the number of people who go inro wild
areas and pick a salad are going 10 mean the end of the wild native
plants. b1u if a species becomes rare, we certainly should not gather
it. The major threat is in the wholesale destruction oflzabitac."

?lie Sinners

"ITU sun gives tfie 'East a ji111J{ slupy norf
am{ slips away 6eliina a rosy fii[f.
'IHiife I, at peace for once, suting on my [1".rcft,
'lfien, 'Listen,· a cric~t sfui{(y calfs. 'Listen!'
.?l.na tfte evening gossips 6e9m.

Sincerely,
Carolyn Gann
Rt. 4. Box 191
Waynesville, NC 28786

'?(aty tfU{, • a malicious tattfttak si119s out.
·x..a1y aU!n 'tr a wyalf nemt replies.
'?(p.ty aitf.' '?(p.ty aitfn t.' '1(.aty tfit{.' ''])itf11't/'
Cfiarges am{ counter ones tftstur6 my soul
'Ofi, Lori{,' I 9roa11, 'ls tfrere no e111f to si11?'

Dear People.
.
I discovered your fine journal while staying at the Hot Spnngs
Inn last weekend.
T was so taken by your issue on "Children" that 1 intend. to
incorporate some of the ideas into the environmental educau&lt;?n
curriculum of my school · The Montclair Coopcrauve School 1n
Montclair, NJ.
... Also (please send) a back issue on "Forests". I became
concerned with the clearcutting visible from our hike on the
Appalachian Trail and would like to get your views.
Thank you,
Lora Cooper
Berkeley Hts, NJ

'Stop it!" I sliout into tlie noisy crowtl
'/won 't liave s(anaer in my own 6ac~arti.'
Yet as I speak_! 6fusfi for ptrfuly
Jts my tfissem6lin9 mina ~eps wontfering too ·

'!JUI s(u.?

· Marie 'Woori

Dear Kauiah Folk,
I live in the New River Valley, which ha5 become grist for the
DEVELOP • DEVELOP • DEVELOP mill, indiscriminate and
insntiable. A green Conservancy has sprung up, but oh so tentatively.
unfueled by the real estate busine$$. I hope for ideas from Ka11lalt, as
well as good company. Many Thanks!
Sally Spangler
Rt. 2. Box 4
Christiansburg, VA 24073

Union Acres
An Alternative Community
-SrrwJr;y Mcnmtain living
Ulilh a focus on spiritual and te0logiC11/ 1JOluts•
Acreage for sale/ Beautiful lrnCIS of prh'lllC land available for
homeSICllding. Approxim:ucly eigh1y :ic~. surveyed into 24 lots
of ooe. two. or four acres each. ~vcn acres of common land
including cn:dc, meadow. playground, and scenic views.
Common property managed by communily conSCl\SllS.
Eartb sttwardsbip/ consensus democracy( organic gardening! noopoUuling
ttebnolocia/ atttrnalhe children's schoolf rttyclini: «Dier/ retrtalS and
.. orkshops/ aod other rooptrali"t tndtu·or~ 5uch as food co-op, etc.
For more infonnauon· C. Gmnt. RL I Box 61 J, \\'hittier. NC 18789 (704) 497-4964

•

The editorial staff would like to extend a special thank
you to Thomas "Breeze" Rums for his donation of a 10%

lit11e lo Ka11ialz Jownal.

P.Jd AdvcrtlSCmCDI

JCnltmh Jatnnul P"9C 28

Summer. 1990

�STEADY STATEcon11nucd from p.9

CNP also satisfies the missing ethical
component in modern economics which Daly
foments. The CNP of an ecosystem can be increased
depending on the amount of care, concern. and
respect the indinduals within tt m;imfcst for
their hfc community. Carelessness, dii.dain, and a
lack of respect lower CNP.

The Spirit of the Wild
James Rhea's artwork that was the logo
for the "Restoring Biodiversity in the Southern
Appalachians" conference and the cover of Issue
25 of the Kaulah Journal. is now available to all
as conference posters and T-Shins.
The posters are beautiful, four-color 11" x
1 renditions of the native species portrait with
7"
conference information below and are available
for $2.00.
The T-shirts are heavy-duty, all-couon,
silkscreened by Rldgerunncr Naturals. Only
large and extra-large sizes remain. They are
available for $10.50.
Prices include postage. NC residents
please add 5% sales tax.
All proceeds fror;n the sale o_f these .itcn:is
will support rescue acuons for nauve habitat in
the Southern Appalachian forest.
Order from: KfllflNU
Box 282; Sylva, NC
Ka111ah Province 28789

Ultimately. all of lids investigation and
discussion has to do with choosing a quality or life
in Katuilh. However, as Daly writes, "quality
involves difficult judgements. and imposes
self-definition and respons1b1ht;-•.. quantity (the
CNP measuring stick I involves merely count mg and
arithmetical operations that givt' everyone the
s.Jme answer and impose no responsibility". It is
easier, but not necessarily more accurate, to
measure progress by the quantity of concrete,
buildings, parking lots, people, and/or dollars in
an area.
But is this real progress? Cannot progress of
society occur without physical growth of structurus
and/or people? The building of a home, or of a
community, is more than just the erection of
structures.
It is the creation of a living
environment which will help meet, in a
sustainable way, the needs of those people who
live there. Arc not improvements in the quality of
food, air, water, justice, and community relations,
progress? Could not the successful maintenance of
ecological diversity, and the support systems
which are the foundation of this diversity, be
considered progress?
This is the supposition of the steady state
economy "Progress" is the maintenance of the
"best" conditions - in a word, quality. In the
growth economy, "progress" is the ever-increasing
growth in quantity of physical goods and services,
leading to the destruction of production capability
and life support potential.

(cost) $24 milhon in state and students money, and
promote the growth of the univer:&gt;ily. An increase
in the quantity of dollars to an areil is by
ddinit1on .1 ~good" thing for that area.
But would the present supporters of lhe
construction project still be clamoring for the
government money if the dollars were being
offered to build a radioactive w.Jste storagc
facility? Of course not. In th.JI instance they could
easily see the difference between quantity and
quality.
John Stuart Mill put it \'cry simply and
clearly over 100 hundred years ago when he spoke
of a steady Stille economy:

If the earth must lose a great portion of
its pleas.1ntncss which 11 owes to things that
the unlimited increase of wealth and
population would extirpate from it for the
mere purpose of enabling it to support a larger
but not happier or better population, I
sincerely hope for the s.ike of posterity that
they will be content to the stationary long
before necessity compclls them to it.

,

RESOURCES

Berry, Wendell. 1987 Tht Gift of Good Lo11d. Nonh
Poinl Press, San Fransisco
Daly, Hcnnan E. 1977. Steady Stott Economics. W.H.
Freeman and Company, San Francisco.
Daly, Herman E., editor. 1980. Eco110mics, Ecology,
Ethics· Essays on a Steady Stott Eco110my. W.H.
Fn:cmnn, S::111 Francisco
Daly, Hcnnan E.. nnd John B. Cobb. Jr. 1989. For the
Common Good. Beacon Press, Bosion.
Schulll3chcr, E.F. 1973. Small is Bca111iful: Economics
os if Ptoplt /ltartertd. Perennial Library, New York.

MOO N

D ANC I NG

The proposed regional activities center at
Appalachian State University is a good example
of this conflict between quantity and quality. In
the minds of many, the proposed coliseum is
"good" because it will increase seating capacity for
events to 11,000 people, create a number of jobs
(mostly temporary) for local workers, bring in

Gift• of Cdebrauon
(EARTll WA\1 bOOKSTORE)

&lt;!

Books • New Age MU$ic
Wildaafted Htrbal Product~
Gmutones • Unrqul' Card.i
Maga~mcs

• &amp; Mort

(704) 264-7242
1 IOB Wc..&gt;!&gt;t King Street, Boone,

NC 28607

by Jomes Profitt
Down in Sylva
bear claws haunt the while clapboard town
~rung briefly between two mountains,
and the breathing or wild Appalachia moves
m and out of the mill's steam spirals
up into the sky.
A creek dribbles half-heartedly
through the edge of this pince.
Cherokee lies twenty miles west.
There, a hundred Indians ride the bed
or a red Chevy pickup with a cooler of beer,
lawn chairs, and ancient, laded Levis.
Al lhe trading post a small, stunted bl.Jck bear
p.1ces his days evenly.
Oh-God-am-l-immort.11-never-to·melt-my-bonesand-fur·a nd -hot-brca th-into-I he-stone-of· thisplacc?
cries a wee; disgruntled bear soul into quiet hillsides.
In the summds fading. men move into those hillside~
carrying nfll'S and trailing dogs
lhJrsting for blood in the ho.trsc,
secret l.mguilgc of hounds.
S\&amp;mmcr, 1990

e1ti11ae ,At11p111ttl11re

WILDLIFE

"'

Jlerbp/gl/I e1i11it

T-SHIRTS. SWEATSHIRTS

'l\iage, 'JWfl~I 'Nat!Jraj_s
'''"
~~
~o'~ ~ C/~~ 130

ILC IAAJEBE. I.I. S, Ac..O
UC~T

v•~
0

,

vo'f.t,·,;p'&gt;

~~:C,o·"

Dept. K
N Main Street

Waynesville. NC 28786

(704) 4~~3..Q03

,.~

........ ~·"

�Review:
Cohousint A Contemporary Approach I• Housing Ourselves
This is a book about bringing tile small community back to
modem society. The authors, Kathryn McCamant and Charles
Durrett, are a husband and wife design team who visited 46
cohousing communities in Denmark. the Netherlands and Sweden
before writing this book. They lived at many of these communities
for days or months and this gives their book depth and autnenticity.
This is a nuts and bolls guide to gathering a group of like-minded
folks :ind building a community.
The communities the authors studied in Europe were all quite
different from each other, but they also shared important features.
The groups were all democratic, and there was a refreshing absence
of charismatic leaders. They all had various amounts of resident

participa1ion in !he design process. AU of the communities provided
private dwellings for families as well as common space for group
activities. Some of the groups were cooperatives, some had owned
units, some rented units, some had both owners and renters, and
many had ownership similar to condominium arrangements.
The communities varied in size from 6 to 80 households.
There was a scrong consensus from both of these extremes as well
as from the middle ground that groups in the range of 15 to 30
households is optimum.
Some of the communities were buih entirely by hired help
while in others the residents did various amounts of the cons1J'Uction

work. Some of the communities were very poUlically-mindcd, some
very ecologically-minded, some didn't seem to mind at all.
lbe advantages of a small community are almost too
numerous to mention, but lower cost of housing, children's
playgroups, music ensembles, protection from crime, teenage
music rooms (Most of the communities had them!), greater energy
efficiency, laundry rooms, saunas, soccer fields (or baske1ball
courtS), workshops, walk-in freezers, darkrooms, and any other
resource one can imagine being shared profi1ably, make a good
beginning of a list. My own favorite advamage is enelly efficiency.
Through a cen1r.1l heating sys1em and co-generation, a small
community can have wannth and power at a small percentage of the
ecological and monetary cost 1hat a comparable number of
independent houses would use! Small communities can take
advanrage of the solar, wind, and water resources which would be
beyond lhc reach of one family and beneath lhe notice of a 1own or
city. Efficiently congregating humans in small communities leaves
much of the land for other species.
All of this makes basic good sense. The quesuon left is
"how do we get there from here?". Colw1ising is a very good guide
for this journey. It is a beautiful as well as a practical book with
plenty of color photographs and thoughtful architectural drawings.
It is published by Habitat/fen Speed Press and well wonh the
$19.95 it costs. If you are interested in living in community, you
~
should read this book.
·reviewed by Will Ashe Bason

Cl-ONA conlinucd !Jom p. 7

China's remaining 12% of forest cover is threatened by population
pressures and by the demands for wood of the industrialized areas of the
country. (One day I saw a 100 foot long log of Washing1on State
Douglas Fir being caned down 1he street by straining peasants!)
Modernization and rising expectations funher threaten this evolved system
by polluting the supplementary sources of protein foods found in the
waterways, by acid rain, and by the loss of prime arable lands to urban
sprawl, rural industry and private house building in the countryside. The
lure of modem lifestyle now projected on millions of TVs is a powerful
destabilizing force throughout China.
Dut the lessons of China seem unequivocal. If we are to avoid her
terrible mistakes and if we are to find harmony with the Nature of our
own continent, we can learn from intelligent observation what the Chinese
have had to learn by dire desperation. We can avoid China's plight by
applying the solutions the Chinese (far too late perhaps) have developed
to deal with the ecological challenges they face. We can ignore China (or
Ethiopia, Mesopotamia, India, Egypt, etc...} nt our peril.
Consider then for a moment what life in Kaniah would be like if we
could emulate the present resourcefulness and humility of the Chinese.
The intensively farmed prime lands of a few valleys around Asheville
could feed the entire population without strain. Thousands of acres of
pastures could be returned to forest/woodlot, since we would be eanng
soybeans and grains instead of beef and pork. These could provide fuel
for home heating and cooking (not to mention vigorous exercise for axe
wielders). Since we would be a low energy society, we would have to be
doing crafts, farming and domestic arts close to home. We could dispose
of our automobiles.
Noise, carbon emissions from fossil-fuel burning and the mental
stress of the modem lifestyle would deminish. Our communities would,
of necessity, be closer knit and less mobile and would thus be stronger
sources of social solidarity, so lacking in our ultramobile, treadmill
"American life". We would require less things to have as we begin to be
farmers, craflSpcople, musicians, artists, woodsmen, poets. Our forest
lands would become less accessible and therefore more wild. Old growth
forests would come into their own again, since our economy would be
one of sufficiency, not cancerous growth. Nature could move closer to
us, even as we become more natural people at home. The artificial
demarcation between the Wild and the Civilized would fade and the two
would intermingle and fuse. An economy of small farms, sm.111
businesses, and mutual interdependence would blossom.
People would look on their surroundmgs with a keener eye to the
deeper rhythms, functions and mystery. Like the Chinese. we would
11lways know at a given moment which way is nonh and which way is
south. We would be closer to the we;11her and be in tune with the seasons
at a deeper level.
XRtt".nh Journot pnl)G 30

Summer would last longer in our minds and be sweatier. Autumn
would be more poignant and festive with community harvests. Winte1
would be leaner, more intimate and contemplative. And Spring would
simply mean more.
When Spring came to Jiangsu Province! It meant an end 10 the wet
and cold with no cenrral heating. nn end to 9 layers of clothing, 1
0
jumping jacks and pushups at dawn, to sponge baths. to turnip soup, to
grim faces. Spring meant new life, hope and comtort. The first
cucumber never tasted so good as ii did in Jiangsu Province.
Let's try to avoid the kind of situation where someone will have to
ask this question, "Whose ducks are those?" Let the ducks remain wild in
a healthy wilderness. Let a lone hiker ask permission to kill it and give
thanks for eating it. Let the mystery of isolated bears return to our
psyche, as we tend our gardens of plenty gazing at the distant mountai ns.
The Way. the Tao, exists. Let us follow it.

Stephen Barrleu c1urefllly lives on the campttS of Warren Wilson College
in Swamwnoa, NC where Ire leaches and directs the International Smdent
Program lie and his family plan to move w land they have purchased in
the Dominican Republic, where they will farm and encourage rural
development.
~
-

....

· ~

:'litm 1r1

I

.,,. ,, , ,,,JCf'IU

704·264·!)210
200W. KlngSt. Boone. NC
3 Blocks Crom Campus

Sumn~cr.

1990

�END OF REAL ESTATE coru.inued l'rom p 23
CurTCntly, much human attention 1s put into designing ever more
effective ways of killing each other. In many governments this approach has
proven disastrous to the ecology o( their regions and to their own economies.
By diverting even a fracbon of the now of human 'money', attention, and
concern involved with 'destructo-tcchnol9gies' into those forms which work
with the timing and material energy cycles of the sun and livmg bJO'Phere it
is possible that we can d~1gn basic humAn scale systemS which fulfill the
needs of housing. food, he•lth care, travel, tcachtng. and rommunicauon
without thrusting our energy discard'! he; pollutants) onto the hfc sustaining
environments around us. It means our new "job~ will be to monitor the flow of
many fonns of energy •nd make sure 11 is ~cLlble or reusable "ithm the
human community, and that what 1s released into the habitat of other
animal, plant. and microbial communities is d1Scstabll' by thl'm. PCB's for
instance are vl'ry difficult for bacteria and fungi to decompose, while some
other chemicals such as organic 50aps are degradable. II would mc.1n
adopting a similar kind of energy respos1bihty as we would find in a forest, a
creek, pond, or meadow - not allowing a valuable form of energy "go to
waste". It would mean de5igning stores and industries with systems and
containers that are re-usable. Also worth considering arc food producers that
work directly in a villagl' or town in which foods arc made fresh and the
need for wrappers and containers would be minimized. Our
"ncw~mploymcnt" would also mc.1n finding and using 11\dteri.als that arc
more organically digestable by the rest of the biosphere, or at least
digestablc in a more reasonable time range.

The utterly ironic process of going away from the home or homestead
to earn money from someone else to be able to purchase land and housing that
some great day m the future you hope to live in and enjoy (perhaps with a
family) is a sad •nd telling story of the lack of clear prionhes in modem life.
ln a region where Real Estate was NOT long (or queen), there would be
encouragement in finding a "house and land" for people who are, or are to
become good stewards. One responsibility of the Village would be to keep
track of lhe turnover (le; births and deaths) of lhe population of the vlllage
and relay this informabon to young couples for example, who are awaiting
ho~. Within local Village agn.'Cmcnl!i about the canymg capacity of a
farm or pan:cl of land their payment would be in the eifort and skills they
applied "on sight". It may abo be appropriate In such contexts to have LETS
trading 5)'5tl'IT\S (sec Katllah Issue 22) far goods and services not e)!Changed
through cuh or precious metals..
Banks charge "intCl't$1" to thO!&gt;e who 'have not' now for the chinc:e
that the)' may possibly 'h3ve' later. This *interest" has traditionally been
coming from the workings of the Sun and 81o~here through pLtnts, animals,
rung;, and bacteria Now we have replaced these renewing forms of Interest
with numbers and the Earth's storage of fossil fuels- which were placed
there inadvertantly by the death of living organisms - perhaps in order to
keep carbon atoms from contnbuting to the over-concentTation of greenhouse
gasses in lhe atmosphere.
Could a system be created through which land or a house would be
"worked" and taken are of by a person or a family and "paid for" by the
work they actually do while living at the residence? It would certainly
assist the effort in reducing the now of harmful and mundane molecules (such
as automobiles spitting out their weight in carbon-dioxidl' m one year) which
is creating an enVJronmcntal crisis for many of the larger multi-cellular
organisms like ouselves. The overarching context of the present economy
prescribes that there must be a middle person involved to retail, or scoop-off
some extra money m the transaction between a human family and the land.
Most of lhe "monitary profit" from someone actually living on the land they
are trying to acquire goes off to someone else wllO is free to walk off with it,
through the craft of law and Instituted customs. By giving value to what the
source of wealth is; the know-how, plants and animlls, materials, tools,
hulTWl and other than human relations, and the capacity of human bciilgs to
be adequate stewards in this process - we could possibly find ways to g;ve
back to the land the attenhon that is being taken away from ii l?.Y 'Working
Jobs' that •re often meaningl~ (or ha\•c htllc to do with actual hfe support)
and become nearly purpo$Clcss to the attempt of finding harmony in human
relations. and within the relations of the region they inhabit.
Mind you. there would h&lt;l\'C to be some stnct prohibitlons to people
that would abuse such a woy of "eamfog a living". No ultimate guarantee
exists that ways of hum.ln fundamentalism. trickery, commcroahsm, and
"nus-m.11"1gcment• that have been C\idcnt In our past will not find l~ wny
into such a Re-'"ISiomng or the basic pnnciplcs of Real Estate. At the same
time, how could we prevent such regulation from becoming too rigid and
burcacratic7 One s11ggcs11on comes from Anthropological studies showing that
groups, or etrclcs, of "primitive" people numbering only as many as 40, were
able to communicall' about b.151c assumptions mtlsl clearly and clfoctivcly,
e\-en though the ways they organizl'CI their affairs were not always linear or
Summer, I 990

'rational'. Perhap; this kind of organizing in the context of non-lethal
technologies would aid in decision making more than large, overly
cumbersome 'bodies' of people haggling over agendas and policies for long
periods of ttmc, •nd insi5ting on rigid heirarchical fonns of order.
There would be hard work involved for those choosing to be a ~rt of
such an ecologically minded approach to human hre support in the greater
contCl&lt;t of H•bitat rreservatlon. A justice syMem that involved inhabitants
other than human, along with the repo0$ib1lity or human caretakers And
the carrying capacity of the land would be one very different from the
primanly urban and l'llCdlJlmainy mdustnal slate as it exists now. Such a
system would involve biology as a cruelal aspect of such an intcr-spcoes
JUStire. The main problem With this would perhaps be find mg Agreements
about what such a fonn of justice v.ould ~n. and how offenders to it would
be dealt with. Would we samply rccapttulatc our CWTent shamefully
inadequate ways of "lmpnsoning" people an an Ecological State, or would
there be community service penances?
An l'COnomk system of accounting the direct work done on or from a
"peace" Of i.nd for housing. or the ability to hve ma given plare and obtam
life suppprt in a VJllage ronk'ltt, ls also quite foreign to our way of life now
(though II has rc-ci.1~ted many tim..'5 through the human past). Instead of
proving you are Worthy to an employer, perhaps you could prove 11 to a
council within a community or village &lt;or group of villages). Would such
villages be patterned afkr collccllve socictil'S m which crucial lands, tools,
and foods arc distributed more l'Venly among the populace? Or would it be
fashioned after market l'COnom1cs 1n which what a person or fAmily is able to
create and sell on a market dl!tcrm1~ their wealth and status in lhe
community? The collective notion seems to prove too uniform in character with a sti!fiing of diversity and often of helpful innovations as well.
Capitalistic notions appear to be too diverse - the markets fill with multiple
products that require specialized means of repair and the pooling of capital
becomc?S paramount to overall ecological health. I thtnk there will be some of
both ol lhesc ways of cultural organizi!ll; involved 1n an ecological approach
to human commumhcs, much as in th~ practice of Land Trusts (see Ka!Uah
lsue 20). In a Land Trust the foundcn determine 'guidelines' whlcb
pcrchascrs of land in the rommunity must agrre to in order to '1nJy" anto IL
The land is removed from lhl' "frre market" of busmess. and IS open to the
decisions of loCal residents who are in rlttd of maintaining the land's
integrity ~or their own survival.
Our current lnduslrial Chaos in ~l contributes to the stiffHng of
human CMrgf cs and experiences in finding collective and perso~I ways of
M&lt;lture (or climactically stabalizing&gt; ecological relauol\lhips with the
many cycles of energy and form found in the ·nch" and rare environments of
this Uving Planet. To find an order now, that is not a throwback to a
supposed order of long ago, is our current challenge. An option for ecological
in~ty, an which industries would perhaps become Tnl '"plants", is not an
absolute proposition, however. An astcrlod rould collide with tliC Earth and
throw the Earth's living systems into a chaos far more inteMe than what we
are doing with our bombs and industries now. Can we retrieve from the
self-Initiated chaos and fear from whicli we have been building Into
"mlhtary industrial complexes" for hundreds of years? C..n we create a
polity that does not seek to manipulate and scavenge the lives of the
•common people" thay proport to support?
The expericnct' of human corruption. greed • .and power struggle5 for
social positiorung cannot be left out of consideration when. imagining
ecological villages. Yet if the bulk of Non-roal estate societies revesred
women, m1nontics, relative honesty and ea&gt;logical health, apprenticeship.
•nd non-partici~hon in militarism more than It does the previou!lf
mcn11oncd "attributes", the chances or more JUSI social ~ems rould have a
greater potent1&lt;1I of cof!Ung Into existence. In ~· there ili now a.c1oler
mutual ronsistcncy brtwecn our own ~II being .and that of the enVlronmcntal
context of the Earth
Unpredic;tabillty and tunnoU arc likely to percolate in human
societies. Even (r we can design villages that are ecologically sound there arc
no guaranl1?6 that OUT social and personal Ills "'ill be cured. Such secnunsly
"fmrretenal" concerns as conflicts of assumpuons. violent behavior, drug
addiction, croWding. lying and dcrual, romantic relatio~ gone sour, ~ge
rebellion, disfunctlONll famihcs, ond other maladies of the human coru:huon
are os mbmatcly ln\•ohro with these so called 'Green Technologies' as the
design of the systems themsclvcs.
It may be true that by Cl'l'attng a more healthy context between
oursdn.-s and the blola uf 1hc rq;lon we Inhabit :;ome or ou~ current social
malaise C'an find a plare to heal old wounds, yet it is too easy to think that
there Is some •fix" that we can put on our soctelli.'S that will heal this once
and for all. There must also be an nccompanying inner ab1hty of the
personality to become 1nll'g1'.tll'CI into a group larger than Itself, v:·h1le
.
rcuunmg the self-assertiveness nl'Cl'SSlry for identity and protc&lt;:non. , .

JCatUah Journat pa9e 3l

�PEOPLE ANO KABITAT ccnlinued &amp;om p.13

manner in which they earned !heir wealth. The
very isolation that bad protected the mountains
fro!11 induslrializatio~ for ~ long now proved
their strongest attracoon. City-dwellers realized
that they could "have" that isolation - all they
lacked was a way to get there. Thus began the
era of the four-lane. The Appalachian Regional
Council brought in federal money to help state
governments upgrade old roads and build
modem expressways.
. During th!s same period agriculture
dcclmed sharply m the mountains • and with it
declined the traditionally high birthrate that had
always characterized Appalachia in the minds of
outsiders. With the construction of new roads
in-migration became the driving force in th~
population growth of the Katuah province.
Today the rate of biological growth (the ratio of
the bmh rate to the death race) remains at flat
zero or in fractions of a percentage point (0.07
percent in 1984), while the rate of in-migration
continu~ to rise dramatically, putting the overall
populauon growth of the Southern Appalachians
we.11 above the national average. The number of
reurces tr3nslocaling to the mountains raises the
percentage of monality and skews the biological
growth rate somewhat, but a look at the figures
shows the dominant influence of migration on
the regional population.
Lack of access has always been the
limiting factor on growth - the growth of human
popul~tic:&gt;ns'. ec&lt;?nomic development, and
mdusmahumon • m Appalachia. Lack of access
protected the wild nature of the mountain
habitat. Now the cork is out of the bottle. The
sporadic stream of in-migration has turned into a
flO&lt;?d. As ov~r-populatcd Europe once offered
an mexhausnble supply of humanity to fill up
the New World, the large eastern cities now do
the same for the mountains. as the interstate
highway system offers an easy means of travel.
Along with the increase in new residents,
there has been a tremendous increase in demand
for recreational opportunities in the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park and the
national forests. Today. human management and
hullllln use penetrates to the deepest reaches of
the forest on 4,900 miles of forest roads and
touches every aspect of life on vinually every
acre of the mountain forest habitat.
Meanwhile, wildlife has been pushed
back to the most remote areas of the forest in
search of food and safety due to the clearing
necessary for roads and development and the
associated noise.
The Norlh Carolina High~ay Bill
(or Come One, Come All! )
. l n 1989 the North Carolina state
legislature passed a $8.8 billion Highway Bill.
Go~emor.Jim Martin's plan is to place "every
resident m the state within 10 miles of a
four-lane road," build by-passes around seven
urban centers (including Asheville). pave
10,000 miles of ~e~ondary gravel roads by
1999, and the remaining gravel roads in the state
by 2006.
To hear the road boosters talk. the new
roa?s are g?ing to bring in all 1he good aspects
of 1 n~ust~al culture and none of the bad.
There s big bucks in it for everyone, we are
to!d, an~, because we live in 1he mountains,
thm~s will be as nice as they always were. The
Envaronment Committee assures us th:it all this
development can proceed with no impact

k:otMm ) 0 1.0 ·\iQL pJ9 e ~i

whatsoever on the "beautiful mountain scenery
that is so important to all of us" • in fact, it'll be
even better, because there will be m()re people
here to enjoy it with us.

THE FOURTH TURTLE ISLAND
BIOREGIONAL CONGRESS
(NABCIV)

In reality, the greatly increased volume of
traffic that will pass over the new highways will
h~ve a tremendously damaging effect. New
highways mean more use, more commerce
more in-migration, and more human demands
on the already over-stressed habitat.
Since the 1960's the word "access" has
taken on a new and more sinister meaning with
the widespread use of the television set. The TV
has had a rapid and unprecedented effect on
mountain culture. With a TV in almost every
home, the cultural isolation of the mountains is
at an end. The greater society comes right into
the living room almost every night of the week.
The cultural model is no longer local, but is
broadcast from New York and Los Angeles. and
the image now permeating the minds of the
mountain people is the same as that being
received by the rest of the population of the
continent, wherever they live.
There are no regional distinctions in this
model, it is bland and homogeneous. It is also
urban in nature. as most of the dominant culture
is urban-based, and it causes dissatisfaction in
the minds of rural viewers, who begin to feel
that they are being left out of the American
Dream when they see urban consumpuon
patterns and urban lifestyles on the flickering
screen. The TV has caused great changes and
great contradicrions in the Appalachian way of
life. With Lhe powerful weapons of the TV and
the automobile, the cultural conquest of the
mountains is nearly complete.

will be held August 19·26
at Lake Cobbosseecontee, near Augusta,
Gulf of Maine Bioregion

As access opened the mountains to the
ravages of unrestrained technology at the cum of
the century, so now is it bringing in an outside
culture and unrestrained numbers of human
beings. We are the greatest threat to habitat in
the Southern. Appalac hians. Rampaging
development will be our greaiest local concern in
the decade ahead.
We long ago overshot the capacity of this
region to support the weight of our population
and our induslrial technology. Now, rather than
manage the forest to meet our unending
demands, we need to manage ourselves, our
numbers and our way of life, that the forest may
continue. In the long run, this would be the best
for all the inhabitants of the mountain
forestlands. ourselves included.
This process requires values that arc at
once new and at the same time very, very old.
These values are the subsmnce of the bioregional
vision. We need to learn/remember them and
pass them on. Only then will we be able to
approach a reasonable carrying capacity of
human beings in the Katuah province of the
,,
Appalachian b1oregion.
S pecial thanks to Tersh Palmer a nd
Karen Lo hr for their contribulion.

The fourth continental Bioregional
Congress is convening to plan strategies and
share energy to meet the challenges of the
coming decade, which is shaping up to be a
crucial one in the development of the present
world culture.
The species of life on this planet are being
hard hit by the weight of human numbers and
human technology. The future of planetary
evolution is at stake, and we cannot waver or
hesitate in defending the other creatures of the
world and their habitats. They are disappearing
rapidly, and once gone, they are gone for good.
But our actions would be in vain if we did
not establish new and different cultural styles ways of living that are specific to the natural
regi?nS that support them ... ways of being that
tap m10 the deepest roots of their natural living
plaee...these are what will endure.
The potential of the next ten years is
tremendous. Let us come together for the sake
of the world and all that is wild.
If you arc interested in at!Mdiog NABC lV from
lhe Katuah Province, conl.3Ct the K a1uah Journal (Box
638: Leicester. NC; Kalu3h Province 28748) to
coordina1e transponation and consider how we will
represent our region at the Congress.
Rcgis1rn1ion for NABC IV is SJ75 for odults,
SIOO for children. Mrul Congress queries or rcglstrntions
to:
Turtle lsland Biorcgio113I Congress
Gulf of Mnillc Books
61 Mainc SL
New Brunswick, ME

Gutr or Maine Bioregion 04011

.r!!J'

,te:.-'

WNC ALLIANCE
HIGHLANDS-CASHIERS CHAPTER
A new chapter of the Western North
Carolina Alliance has been formed in the
Highlands-Cashiers dismct, the uplands of
southern Jackson and southeastern Macon
Counties on the Blue Ridge Divide.
This area comprises the headwaters of
some of the most important water sources in the
southeastern quarter of Turtle Island. The
Cullasaja, Cha11ooga, Tuckasegee, and
Whitewater Rivers rise here, as well as
Tessentee and Middle Creeks, important
tributaries of the Little Tennessee River system.
The new Alliance group states its purpose
as being an effective grassroots organization
promoting a sense of stewardship and caring for
the mountain environment. Their goal is to
protect and preserve the quality of the land,
water, forests, and air through education and
public participation in policy decisions at tll
levels of business and government.
For more information about the group,
ca!J the WNC Alliance office at (704) 2588737.
.,(4m'mU, 1990

j

�27-29

JULY
SWANNANOA, NC
Vision Ques1 wi1h Morgan E:igle Bear.
Offerings. Those wishing to paruc1pa1e, write Morgan
C/o The Earth Ccn1cr Sec 6123-24.

HOT SPRINGS, NC
~ Cherokee Law and Holy Land: Leaming
About Row to Live in Nonh America..• Woricshop with
Dr. Robert Thomas, raised in a traditional comunity m
the Eas1em Ozarks. Storytelling. fasting, discussions,
Sacrifice to the Fire, Salu1c to the Sun, Pipe Ceremony.
$95. Pn:-regis1cr. Southern Dhanna Reuca1 Center. sec
7/13-15.

4-8

12-15

Asheville Anisis' Markel &amp; Fes1 on Lexington Ave
Downtown Asheville. NC. Thru 1he summer on Fri,
Sal, &amp; Sun, 10 am • Sunset Exhibi1or.; will include
local anisL~. environmental, educational, &amp; social
concern groups, food. Local musicians pcrfonning and an
open slllgc daily. For info. call (704) 251-2313.
in

Full Moon Sweat Lodge every Saturday closest
to the foll moon at the Eanh Center, Swnnnanoa. NC.
Call (704) 298-3935.

JUNE
21

SUMMER SOLSTICE CELEURA T ION

23-24

SWANNANOA, NC
Drum-Making Workshop with Pal Slark.
Building a medicine drum. S150. supplies included. The
Eanh Cemer; 302 Old Fellowship Rd.; Swannanoa, NC
28776. Call (704) 298-3935.
24·30

TOWNSEND,TN
"Teacher &amp; Naturalist Weck.• "For classroom
tcachen, nar.uralists, and anyone intercs1cd in learning
3boul the natural world." With Doug Elliou. Eustace
Conway, music by Lfa and Lynn Shaw. Sl50. Contacl:
Great Smoky Moun1nins Ins1itu1c al Tremont;
Townsend, TN 37882 (615) 448-6709.
U..27

KNOXVILLE, TN
Economic Dcvelopmcn1 as ir Women Maucred
Conference. Co-sponsored by Levi Strnuss Foundation,
Tennessee Valley Authori1y, Episcopal Diocese of Eas1
1N. Info: Vicki Creed, Community Aff3ll'S; Levi Strnuss
&amp; Co.: P.O. Box 15906; Knoxville, TN 37901.
27-7/1

tu GH LANDS, NC
"Landscape Photography in the Blue Ridge
Mountains" with Gil Leebrick and Dan Rohn.
Dcmonsuations, field trips, and darkroom session.~ S200
includes lodging. Appalachian Environmental Arts
Ccn1er; P.O. Box 580; Highlands, NC 28741 (704)
5264303.

30-July 8 CELO, NC
Rural Soutticm Voice for Peace Office Building
Workcamp. A specu1I week for volunteers. skilled and
ull$lt1llcd, 10 come help build RSVP's new orrice
building on the Celo Community Land Trusl Info:
RSVP: (704) 675-4626.

\I

LI NVILLE, NC
35th Annual Grandfather Mountain Highland
Games and Gathering of Sco1tish Clans. Pag3entry. pipe
bands, Scottish athletics ceilidh. For more informa1ion,
wruc Box 356: Banner Elk, l\C 28604 or call (704)
898-5286.
HOT SPRI,GS, NC
"Po1n1ing at the Sun; Holding Up the Moon:
The Five Ammal Frolics" w1rh Jay Dunbll' and Kathleen
Cusick. Workshop on ancient exercises from China used
to prepare mind for both martial arts and meditation. $70.
Pre-register: Southern Dharma Rctrea1 Center. RL I, Box
34-H; Ho1 Springs, NC 28743.

26-8/5 FOLKMOOT PERFORMANCES
Folk Performers from Austria, Bulgaria,
France, Greece. Hunmgary, Indonesia, Ireland,
the Ukraine, Phillipines. and possibly Haiti.
Performances in Haywood, Buncombe, Macon,
Henderson, and Madison Counties. Call the
Folkmoot office for schedule and prices: (704)
456- 3021.

13-15

14 15

SWANNANOA, NC
"Women's Ceremonial Mask-making"with
AniLD Maloney. teacher wuti the Bear Tribe. Free
per.;onal power through the use of ceremonial masks.
S 100. The Eanh Center, see 6123-24.

AUGUST
2

SWAfliNANOA, NC
Buck Ghost Horse at the Earth Center. Open
talk. Love offering. See 6{23-24.

2-4

HELEN, GA
"Mountains or Imagin:uion" Puppet
Fesllval Helen Festc Halle Pavilion For info.. call Pat
Minnaugh (305) 925-6833.
3-5

16-22

WILLIS, VA
WOMEN'S WELLNESS WEEK ·
Nurture and Heal Your Body, Mind and Spirit.
"Womerls Wellness Week gives us the time,
energy, and gifts of our sisters and the E.anh to
help us heal ourselves, our species, and our
planet home". Pre-register: $350. For more
information write or call: lndian Valley Retreat
Center; Rt. 2, Box 58; Willis, VA 24380
(703) 789-4295.

WEAVERV ILLE, NC
The Golden Rod Puppets perform! with
friend Hobey Ford. Weaverville Library 11 am.

SWANNANOA, NC
"Sacred Teachings of the People." Buck
Ghost Horse (uadluonal Sicangu-HunkpaJD Lakota). The
Coming or the Sacred Pipe, Pipeways. Arrival of the
Seven Sacred Ceremonies, HlstorY of the Sioux People.
SI 00. The Eanh Center. Sec ~3-24.

19-26 LAKE COBBOSSEECONTEE,
GULF OF MAINE
The Founh Nonh American Bioregional
Congress to be held this year in the Gulf of
Maine Bioregion. (sec facing page)

19

22-27

HI GHLANDS, NC
Workshop on "Sexism and Peacemaking"
featured as pan of "Mountain Great Escape" wcck a1 the
Mounlnin. Pre-rcg1stet in advance for wcrk.&lt;hop or fer the
whole week. See 7/1·6.
26

WVTHE\'JLLE, VA
The Golden Rod Puppets pcrfonn! wilh
friend Hob&lt;.:y Ford Wylhc·Grnyson Libraries. 11 om.

Drawings by Suwn ~

24-26

LOUISA, VA
"Celebrating Our Diversity• • Women's
Gathering. At Twin Oaks Community. Sliding scale
S35-S95. Info: Women's Gathering, Twin Oaks, Louisa.
VA 23093. (703) 89-1-5126.

SEPTEMBER
11-12

UlGHLANDS, NC
"The Political Landscape" with Roben
Dawson. An with a purpose - the photographic image in
the environmental movement. $200 includes lodging.
Appabchian Environmental An:; Cen1cr; sec 6127-7/1.

�wwrac~~.~O~
unused can,·as. 6 fL wide. Enough ror a full· size TIPI or
very large tenL Cost S380. Will sell for $220. 298-7639,
Asheville.

Living Wheel Herb Company.Ceremonial and culinary,
wildcrafted and organically grown herbs. Send for a fn:c
cat31og. P.O. Box 427 Tonasket. WA 98&amp;55
WOODSCRAFT - Seeking to correspond with petSonS
mterestcd in primitive woodscraft skills such as.
bow/dlill fire-making, u-.ick.ing, snan:/dc:Utlfall uupp1ni;,
etc. Have attended Tom Brown's basic class. J.T.
Garrison, RL 4, Box 667. Spring Cuy, Tn 37381.
Wicker Worker. Wicker fomilure restored. Cane. spht.
and rush sealS woven, ba.~keL~ repaired Experienced SC3l
weaver. "If you can't, we cane." Andrea Clll!kc: 27 MaJt
SL, Asheville, NC 28801. (704)253-624 l.
MOCCASINS, h311dcrafled of clkh1de in the tnld1tionsl
Plains Indian Style. Waicr resiSlant, resalable, and rugged
• great ror ltilcing! Children's and infant si7.C.~ available.
Wntc: Earth Dance Moccasins; Bo-.. 931: Asheville. NC
28802, or call Patrick Clnrlc at 254-8116.
The Infinite Light Fellowship is opening a Meditation
Center which will offer mid-day medi11u.1ons, as well as
evening and Sat. worlcshops on spiritual growth, dreams,
healing. Open IO all. Ant Iron Bldg., 20 Bauery Parle
Ave., Asheville, NC. Info: Al Bouchard, (704}
254-2080.

CIRCLES RETURNING • a new cas~cttc by Bob
Avery-Grubel! This 1s music to touch the soul and heal
the hcalt. Lyrics included. To order send SIO per casseue
to: Bob Avery-Grubel: Rt. I Box 735: Aoyd, VA
24091.
Sl&lt;lNFOODS • ftelih, hand-made hcrtxll skin prcpar.11.ion~
at n:a.o;onable pnces. Send for pncc hsc 106 E. Main St.;
Johnson C1ty, 11'1 3760
RSVP is building an ofllcc home of our own and asking
for your help. Half of the S25.000 cost already raised or
pledged. Solar design and help wnh appropriaic tcch :iJso
doll3tcd. Labor will be by Volunteers for Peace and
regional voluntccrs. Please join us in making big ~tcp
into future.
CREATION SOAP· hand-crafted h~rbal soops from II~
Blue Ridge Mountains. Rose and lavender soap$.
mob1ur1&lt;.ing bat, •hampoo/condi1ioncr bar. Comact
Anna; RL I, Box 278: Blowing Rock, NC 28605 (704)
262-2321 .
Wanted: Home &amp; Shop Space for Light Woodworking.
(400 sq. fL+). For rent or exchange: would prerer within

IS miles of A~hcv1llc. NC. Needed 9/90. We are
responsible and caring. Md would love C3J'lhconscious
neighbors. Brce1.c Bums, Janc1cc Ray &amp;. Silas, Rte.l.
llo1188-J. Quincy, Fla 32351, (904) 442-6474
I AM LOOKING FOR A POSITION with an
cnvironmcnl.'ll awarcnc,s/acuon organi:i.alion m the
Katfuh region located m A~hcv1llc or nearby. Prerer
pan·llme, beginning 1n summer or fall 1990. A
writer/ncwslencc editor by trade, I have cxpenence in
lobbying, rccruttmg and tr.umng volunteers, leading and
organi7.mg cvcnis. Please contaet Janc1ce Ray, Rt. I,
Box 188-J, Quincy, FL 32351. (904)442-6474.
J(.Qt®h Jo,muaf. pa&lt;]&amp; 34

SPIRITIJAL PERSONAL ADVICE. Concspond with
your Nauvc Grandfather. All qucsuons addressed from
Medicine Perspective. No clurge ever. SASE with letter
to: Blue Sky, Box 5387, Largo. Fla. 34649.
ADVENTURES FOR EVERYONE • Backpacking,
canoeing, llama trekking m the NC mountains, SC
barrier islands, Congaree Swamp. Families with young
children and seniors welcome • llamas will airry your
gear. uam MINIMUM IMPACT

rr.chmque.~.

r.cology,

plant and animal identification, rockchmbmg, whitewater
C311oemg. etc ... Emphasis on perlOllal growth. For more
information write: Magik Trek~. P.O. Box 6876,
Columbia, SC 29260.
GRE.ENll'G CARDS • correspondence and advocacy
cards for people who care. Onginal an reproduced in
color. (I 091: of proceeds donated to proJCCIS for pc.ace wid
justice.) Write IO Ginny Lco12. LovEarth Creations; Box
1445: Black Mountain, NC 28711.
ENVTRONMEl\'TALLY SENSITIVE l..Ai"IDSCAPL'lG
SERVICE- Lawn maintenance, trees. shrubs, Oowcrs &amp;.
edibles. Organic. Patrick Clark. 254-8116.
WORK FOR PEACE. STOP PA YING FOR WAR! For
informauon about conscientious resisl3occ to war Ulllcs,
including resources. local contaCts, phllosophy, how-1o·s.
and consequences, contact the National War Tax
Resistance Co-ordinaung Commill.CC, P.O. Box 858 IO,
Seattle, WA 98145. (206)522-4377.
MOON DANCE FARM HERBALS • herbal salves,
unctures, &amp; oils for birthing &amp;. family health. For
brochure, please write: Moon Dance Farm; Rt. I, Box
726; HWTlpLOn, TN 37658.
Spiritual Knowledge shared. advice given 10 those who
are seeking or m need. Always personal and strictly
confidential. Contnbutions acccptod, but never required.
Send SASE 10: Circle Communications, Boit 412,
Dillard. GA 30537·0412
NATURAL CH1LDBTR1ll CLASES speciallLlng in the
Bradley Method. Clas...cs are small and include nuDition
physiology, consumerism, parenting skills, and
rclaxauon and labor support techniques. For more
informa11on call or write Maggie Sa.ch~: 808 Florida
Ave.; Bristol, TN 37620. (615) 764-2374.
NEW AGE COMMUNITY FOR~IJNG on 57 acr~ of
land. Located on sacred Cherokee Stone Mountain.
Visions or hc.:iling the c.:inh &amp; our chi ldren. Parcel~
avadable. All Southern Exposure, strong creek runs
through middle, with little creeks on either side. Many
springs. gentle land. Contact Sue Ann Rmcr, Rt. 2.
Box 314, Vila~ NC 28692.
SKYLANO • log on 10 the computer bullcun board of
the Smokies. Networking, plus news on the
cnv1ronmcn1, nature photography, games, computer
ullhtics, much mate. Contact M1ch.:Jel Ha,·chn, sysop.
(704) 254-6700.
ASTROLOGICAL CHART with a.~ct grid and key to
astrological symbols. Send SIO, SASE, and btnhda1e
(mo/day/yr), b1rthtirne (00:00 AM/PM), and birthplace
(cny, Sl.3.te) 10 Star Charts. P.O. Box 18205, Ashev11le,
NC 28814-0205.

HAWKWrND EARTH RENEWAL CO-OPERA11VE is
an 87 acre primitive retreat and working community
farm.. Located in the Northern Alabama mountains, just
115 miles northwest of Atlanta. Classes on altcmauve
tifcstyles and Nau"e American philosophies nre available
on a regular basis. A schedule or events is 0\'311.lblc upon
requCSL Healing Arts and Ean.h Renewal gatherings arc
planned on a quarterly basis and facitilJCS are available for
private organizational use. For infonnntion or catalog of
Native crafts &amp; products. call (205)635-6304.
MOUNTAIN DULClMERS • made of black walnut, red
cherry, or maple. To~ available in wormy ches1nu1.
buttcmut, swcc1gum, sassafras, western cedar and olhcr
woods. Contact: MU.e Dulcimer Company; Rt. 2, Box
288; Bloumvillc, TN 37617 (615) 323-8489.
SPECTRE OF THE WITCH • Call for slides. Artists
within a 200 mile radius of Asheville, NC arc invited 10
submit work exploring images of the Witch, from
goddess power through feminism. Deadline for reception
of slides is September 10th. Send to: "Spectre of the
Wnch:" 37 Baltimore Avenue: Asheville, NC 2880 I.
ORGANIC BONEY • Tulip Poplar, Sourwood and
WildOower. From Patrick County, Virginia. No
chemicals, no white sugar, no heat, ever. Strained
through cheesecloth and p:ickcd in heavy glass ammng
jars. For a 4-ol. sample of our premium sourwood and
our catalog, send S4 10: Wade Buckholts &amp; Meg311
Phillips; Rouie 2, Box 248: Stuan, VA 24171. (703)
69-i-4571
STIL·LIGllT THEOSOPlllCAL RETREAT CENTI:R •
a quiet ~cc for personal mcchtallon, group interaction
through study, and communuy work, and spintual
seminar.. Contact Leon Frankel: R1. I, Box 326;
Waynesville, NC 28786.
Let MEDICINE WIND blow through your mind! Exotic
handmade Bomboo FlutcS. rare scales. fine tuned. Free
hrocurcs. Wntc: Mcdicl!IC Wind Music: 86 NW 55 SL.
Gainesville, FL 32607.
RHYTHM ALIVE • Handcrafted African· Style Drums,
workshops, learning tapes, drumbags. 311d accessoncs.
PIC.1SC send SASE lo Rh)thm Ali\'c!: 85 Phenix Co\·c
Rd.: Wcavcrv1lle. NC 28787 {704) 645 3911.
V..'EBWORKl?l:G is frtt Send submL~sions to:

Ora"'1ng by Rob Mu..ck

Kat1illh Jour110/

P.O. Box 638
Lciccster, NC

Kattlah Province 28748

S"mmu. 1990

•

�Tire Katuah Journal wams ro comm1111icme your thoughts
and feelings to the other people in the bioregional pro,•ince Send
rlzem to us as /euers, poems, stories, articles, drawings, or
photographs. ere Please send your co11tribwio11s to 11S or: Katuah
Journal; P. 0. Box 638; Leicester, NC; Ka11iah Provillce 28748.

"Water is life" is a priflciple with which we are al/familiar.
Issue 29 of 11te Katuah Journal will concem i1self wil/1 wa1er and
watersheds in 1/ie Sowhern Appalachians - the blessing of water,
how it affects 1/ie lives of all of us who live here, and what we can
do to protect it. Ariicles deadline - July 20: Edi1orial meeting August 4; i.A)•oUJ - September 8 until...

"Jobs" IS a word tha1 is ust!d like a club to silt!nce dis.uni and beat dO\\n
tht! impulse for creutivl! living. In tht! .~ense of "right l1velilwod," worJ; ho~ on
important place in our lives, and we nud 10 acknowledge its role while
questioning how it is used as an instrument of oppre.rsion by the dominant
culture. The regional economy is the physicol /oundalion of the l:&gt;ioregionol
vision. /low is it being realized?

BACK ISSUES OF KATVAH JOURNAL AVAILABLE
ISSUE THREE- SPRING 1984
Sustainable Agriculture • SunOowcrs Human
Impact on the Fo!C$1 · Cltildrcns' Educa1ion
Veronica N1cholas:Woman 1n Politics • Liulc
People - Medicine Allies

ISSUETEN-WINTER 1985-86
Kate Rogers - Circles of Stone • Internal
Mythmaking - Holistic Healing on Trial
Poems: Steve Knauth • Mythic Places · The
Uktcna"s Talc - Crystal Magic ·
'1)rcomspcalUng"

ISSUE FOUR SUMMER 1984
Water Drum • Water Qualily • Kudi.u • Sow
Edipse - Cliwcuning · Troul • Going 10 Watet
Ram PwnJll Microhydro Poentt: Bennie
Lee Sinclair. Jim Wayne. Miller
ISSUE FIVE - FALL 1984
Harvest - Old Way• in Cherokee Omscng
Nuclear Waste
Our Ce.Ilic Heritage
Bioregionali1m: Past. Prescn1, and Future
John Wilnoty - Hc.alutg Darkness - Poliuc:s of
Paniclpation
ISSUE SIX WINTER 1984·85
Wmtcr Sobticc Eanh Ceremony • Ilorsc!""'lutc
River • Corning of the Light • Log Cabin
R00te - Mountam AS""ul111"'; The R1i;ht Crop
• Willi= Tl)llnr . The Furur&lt; or th~ Fore.-i
ISSUE SEVEN SPRING 198S
Swtamable EconomK• Hot Spnng• Woikcr
Owmmh1p • The Orcat Economy - Self llclp
C"rcdn Union • Wild 1 urkcy • Respo1U1ble
Investing • Working m the Web of life
ISSUE EIOIIT · SUMMER 1985
Celebration: A Way of Life - Katliah 18.000
Years Ago - Sacred S11A:S • Folk Alu. m the
Schools - Sun Cycle/Moon Cycle Poc1m:
Hilda Downer ·Cherokee Hcntagc Ccrucr
Who 0wm Appd111:hi11
ISSUE NINE· FALL. 1985
The Waldec Forut - The Treu Spe.ak
Migr&amp;11ng Forests - HO&lt;$C Logging SWhng a
Tree Crop - Urban Trees . Acom Brc.d • Myth

ISSUE El.EVEN SPRlNC 1986
Community Planning • Cities and the
Biorcgion.al Vision • Recycling - Community
Gardening· Aoyd County. VA - Oasobol Two Bion:gional Views • Nuclear Supplement
Foxfire Carnes - Oood Medicine: Visions
ISSUE THJRTEEN Fall 1986
Cent.er For Awakcnmg Eliu~th Callan - A
Oentlc Death - Hospice • Ernest Morgm
Dealing Ctcauvcly with Death Home Burial
Box • The Woke • The Raven Moeltu Woocblorc and Wildwoods W1..tom • Good
Med1cmc: 'Ilic Swc:.it l..udgc
ISSUE FOURTEEN · Wm1er 1986-87
Lloyd Carl Owlc • Boog= and Mummers • All
Species D•y • C•hm Fever Un1vcrS11y Homcleu in KatUAh - Homemade Hot Water
Stovemakct's Narrahve • Cood Medicine:
lntenpec;11!r. Communic:1tion

ISSUE FIFTEEN Sprmg 1987
Co•crleu • Wom1111 Forester - Susie McM""4n
Midwife
Ahcmauvc Conuaccpllon •
Bio..:xuali1y • Biorcg1onah•m and Women Good Medicine: Mattim-chal Culture · PCtJrl
ISSUE SIXTEEN - Summer 1987
Helen Wlitc • Poem: Visions in 1 Carden •
Vision Quut • First Flow - IJlitlalion •
l..caming in the Wildemcss
Cherokee.a
Challenge "Valuing Trus"

ISSUE EJCIITEEN Wintu 1987-88
Vernacular An:hitcc:ture Drums in Wood and
Stone . Mountain Home Elll'1h Encrgiu
Earth-Sheltered Living - Membrane Houses •
91U5h Shelter Poems: October Dw:s:k • Oood
Medicine: "Shelter"

ISSUETWENTY-TIIREE-Spnng, 1989
Pisgah Village • Planet Art Crccn City •
Poplar Appeal • "CIClll" Sky" •A New Earth"
Bio.ck Swm - Wild Lovely Day.t • Reviews:
Sacred Land Sacred Su. Ice /\g«' • Poem:
"Suddai Tendrils"

ISSUE NINETEEN - Spring, 1988
Perclandra Canlcn - Spnng TonK:S Bl114bcmcs
WildOowcr Gardens - Ormny Httbllis1 •
Flower Essences · "The Origin of the Animals:
Siory. Good Medicine: "Puwcr" - Be A Tree

ISSUE TWENTY-FOUR· Summer, '89
Deep l..is1cning - Life in Alorruc City • Direct
Action! Tree of Peace Communily Building
Peacemakers • Ethnic Survivll - Pairing
Project - "Baulcsong" • Orowing Pc111:c in
Clllllll'Cll Review: TM Chaliee and IN 8/4de

ISSUE TWENTY • Summer, 1988
Pr_..., Appabcli1.,., Wildcmcs:s Hight.nds
of Roan Colo Community 1..and Trust •
Arthur Morgan School · Zoning luue • 'The
Ridge' - Farmcrs md lhc Farm 8111 - Oood
Medie1nc: " l..md" • Acid Rain • Dukc"s Power
Play · Cherokee Microhydro ProJl.-.:1
ISSUE TWENTY ONE - Fill. 1988
ChcsUluts: A Natural Hmory - Rcstorin&amp; the
Chestnut - .. Poem of Preservation and Pr.uc"
Continuing t11c Qu.:.st • Forc•ts and Wildlife
Chestnuts in Rcg1oruil Diet • Chestnut
Resource' • Hctb Note - Oood Med1c1ne:
"Ow&gt;gc• to Corne" • Review: W}we vgpiJs
Uw1

-

- - - - - --- - -- --- - --- - -- -

Box 638; Leicester, NC: KatUah Province
For more info: call Rob Messick at (704) 754-6097

Nrune
Regular Membership ........ $10/yr.
Sponsor.........................$20/yr.
Contributor.....................$50/yr.

Address

City
Area Code
Summer, 1990

State

Phone Number

Zip

ISSUETWE.NTY.SEVEN • SPRIN0, 1990
Tr1U1Jformohon - llcahni; Po11.cr • rcxc to
Their A•hes • Hcalins in K111uah P~m:
''When left to Crow" • Poems: Stcphrn W'm&amp;
Tl&gt;&lt; Belly • Food from the Ancient f'arcst

ISSUE TWEJIITY-TWO • WintcT, '88419
Global Warming • Fi"' ThiS Time • Thomu
Berry on "BiorcglOI\•" • EaJ1h Exctcuc • Kod
Loy McWhiru:r - An Abundllncc oCEmpttness
LETS Chronicles of Floyd - Oany Wood
Th&lt;&gt; Bear Clan

rune

~UAH JOURNAL

ISSUETWENTY.SIX WINTE.R, 1989.'90
Coming of Age in the Ecoro1c Era • Kids
Saving Rainforest · Kids Trcccycling Compau~
. ConOict Resolution - Dc•clnping tl1c Creative
Spirit - Birlh Power • Binh Bonding The
Magic or Pupp:uy H&lt;&gt;m&lt; Sci-ling • NllllUllf
Ceremony Mother Earth's aassroom •
CardC'ning for Children

Enclosed is$
to give
this effort an extra boost

I can be a local con1ac1
person for my area

28748
Back Issues
Issue#_ .@ $2.50 = $ _ _
Issue # _.@ $2.50 = $_ _
rssue # _ @ $2.50 = $ _ _
Issue#
.@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue# ~ _@ $2.50 = $_ _
Complete Set (3-11, 13-16,
18-26)
@ $40.00 =

s__

postage paid

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                  <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to&amp;nbsp;&lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;,&amp;nbsp;was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name,&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah&lt;/em&gt;&lt;span&gt;, 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.&amp;nbsp;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; 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.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This digital collection is only a portion of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah&lt;/em&gt;-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 &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;. 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.</text>
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                <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, Issue 28, Summer 1990</text>
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                <text>The twenty-eighth issue of the &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt; focuses on "carrying capacity:" growth, development, and population of human systems in relation to the environment. Authors and artists in this issue include: David Wheeler, Stephen Bartlett, Rob Barron, Will Ashe Bason, Chip Smith, Lee Kinnaird Faween, Marnie Muller, Jim Houser, Patrick Clark, Hectáire P. Condeau, D. Goode, James Rhea, Marie Wood, and Susan Adam. &lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt;&lt;em&gt;Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians&lt;/em&gt;, later simplified to &lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, 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.</text>
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                <text>&lt;a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"&gt; AC.870 Katúah Journal records&lt;/a&gt;</text>
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                    <text>ISSUE 33 WINTER 1991-92

$2.00

�Drawing by Rob Messick

~UAHjOURNAL
PO Box 638
Leicester, NC
Katuah Province 28748

ti}

C,

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Postage Paid
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ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

�Fire's Power..................................
by David Wheeler

3

What Is Natural?..............................

5

by David Wheeler

Do Clean:uts Mimic Fire?....................

6

Smokey and the Red Wolves................

7

Fire in Jeffreys Hell..........................

8

by Vic Weals

Poems..........................................
by Barbara J. Sands

9

Fire and Forge................................
by Jan Davidson
and David Brewin

11

The First Fire..................................
A Cherokee Legend

12

Hearth and Fire in lhe Mountains........... 14
by Barbara Wickersham
Good Medicine................................

15

Midwinter Fires...............................
Poems by Jeffery Beam

18

Natural World News.........................

20

Who Will Have !he Power?.................
by Veronica Nic/10/a.t

22

Litmus Lichens................................
by Rob Messick

24

Reading the Inner Tree.......................
by Charlo1te Homsher

25

Review:
Where rite Ravens Roost.....................

25

Around the Fire...............................
by lee Barrres

26

Drumming.....................................

27

Poem: "Sky Mangler"........................
by Mike Wilber

29

Review:
The Sound of Light...........................

31

Events..........................................

33

\Vcbworking..................................

34

Wlntcr , 1991 -92

Fire is one of the four Great Beings, the
elements !hat move Creation.
Fire is the catalytic spark of the life
essence. Living, we are warm and moving;
non-living, we are like ashes, cold and dead.
No wonder ancient wisdom associated Fire
with the directed passion of the will. It is
fitting that through the ages the spirit of life
has been depicted as "the sacred fire."
Fire radiates all around us in the

life-giving energy of the Sun.
Fire is at the center; in the slick and
sweat of love a spark is ignited between a
male and a female and life is born anew.
Fire in its many forms powers the
movement and the production of our societies.
The hearth fire is the center of the home.
Fire cooks the food, warms the dwelling, and
from the fireplace the old stories spring alive
into the family room.
In the heart of every green plant cell the
sunfire drives the process of photosynthesis,
upon which life on Eanh depends.
But ftre is also the changer, lhe
destroyer - a demon of voracious appetite that
gobbles indiscriminately all it can ignite.
Fire unleashed destroys the house it
warmed.
Under the power of drought, forest
becomes desert.
Fire is the nuclear terror, shriveling all
life to ashes.
The most terrible punishment the
bishops could imagine was to bum a witch
alive at the stake.

Fire in the hands of the invaders torches
Lhe village huts and razes the crops in the
fields. Old cities are bombed and guued by
Fire.
Wildfire, the major force of change in
!he forest around us, is capable of overturning
in a matter of hours vegetative associations
that have stood for centuries.
The four elemenml beings circle in the
Great Round, the world we know.
Fire needs earthy fuel 10 eat, oxygen
from the air to breathe. Fire and water are
complementary - at firSt look they seem in
total opposition, but upon a second glance
they are seen to be in a careful and delicate
relationship. There is fire on these mountains
only because there is water to grow the wood
that bums. Born of the union of fire and
water, life is forever suspended in that
balance.
But what is the role of fire in our human
lives and in the life of the mountain forests
that surround us? Where is that balance?
Fire flickers and dances...too quick, too
changeable, 100 close to the essence of life
itself for us to ever expect definitive answers
to those essential questions. But it is
worthwhile for us to begin the process of
understanding.
We need to know Fire, one of the great
powers that shape our being in these
mountains, on this Earth.
The Editors

Drawing by Rob Messick

XAtuah

J~mat PQ9"- l

�EDITORlALSLASH:
Heather Blair
Emmeu Grcendigger
Charlone Homsher
Richard Lowenthal

Rob Messick
James Rhea
David Wheeler

EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:
Acasia Berry
Christine Detweiler
John lngruss
Billy Jonas

Bill Melanson
Mamie Moller
Donna Stringer
Rodney Webb

Thanks again IO Mountain Gatdens for hospiUllily and inspiration.
Thanks to Larry Tucker for able computer assiSlBIICe.
As always, thanks to JH.
Thanks 10 Gene for the car, we couldn't ruive done ii without you!

COVER: by Rob Messick ©1991

PUBLISHED BY: Kattlah Journal

PRINTED BY: The Waynesville Mountaineer Press

EDITORIAL OFFICE THTS ISSUE: Billy Home and Gardens,
WRITE US AT: Katuah Journal

Asheville

Box 638; Leicester, NC; Kauiah Province 28748

TELEPHONE: (704) 754-6097
Diversity is an important element of bioregional ecology. both natural
and social. In acxord with this principle Katuah Journal tries IO serve as a
forum for the discussion of rcg.ional issues. Signed articles express only the
opinion of the authors and are not necessarily the opinions of the Katuah
Journal editors or staff.
The lnlCmal Revenoo Service has declared Katuah Journal a non-profit
~anization undu section 501(c)(3) oC the lnu:mal Revcnoo Code. All
contributions IO Katuah Journal are deductible from personal income tax.
Articles appearing in Katuah Journal may be rcprinltd in Olher
publications wilh permission from the Katuah Journal staff. ConLaCt the
journal in writing or call (704) 754-6097.

'LNVOCA'Tto'.N
When my skull lies with yours,
Will you sing for me?
The long sleep heals.
We will find new life in the spring.

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Here,
in the Ka1uah Province
of these ancient Appalachian mountains
where once the Cherokee Nation lived in freedom
berween the Tennessee River Valley and the Eastern Piedmont
between the Valley of the Roanoke and the Southern Plain
on this Tunic Island continent of Mother Ela, the Eanh
Here,
In this place we dedicate ourselves to remembering our deep
connection to the spirit of the land.
We bring this connection inro 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 limiis 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 diminfahed as well.

Katuah Journal sends a voice...
with articles, stories, poems, and artwork
we speak 10 the spirit of all the living, breathing
inhabitants of these mountains
in hopes that we, the human beings,
may find our place in this Great Life.
The Editors

Doug Peacock - Criuly Years

Border by Ja.son TudlCf

KATUAH JOURNAL wants 10 communicate your thoughts and
feelings to the other people in the bioregional province. Send them 10 us
as leners, poems, sroriu, articles, drawings, or photographs, etc. Please
send yoiu contributions 10 us at: Katuah Journal; P. 0 . Box 638;
Leicester, NC; Kattlah Province 28748.
OUR NEXT ISSUE will be concerned with "Sustainable
Agriculture and Regional Diet". We need your input on topics including:
sustainable agriculture (alternative ag., low input, appropriate ag.,
permaculture, biodynamics, etc.); seed-saving techniques; wild-foods
and medicinals; regionaVcommunity food production and marketing;
Xatimf~ )ournot J&gt;°'Je 2

seasonal diet and recipes; food preservation; green manures and
composting; agroforescry; and especially recommended resources,
guides, and contacts. Send all material by January 30th, 1992 to Lee
Barnes; Box 1303; Waynesville, NC 28786. (704) 452-5716.
THE SUMMER, 1992 ISSUE will be involved with the continually
controversial topic of Councils, and how to create more viable methods
of decision-making in the ful\Jre. Possible topics include: Native
American sovereignty, the State of Franklin, Town Meetings, Council of
All Beings, Regional Rainbow Gatherings, Grassroots Groups, Conflict
Resolution, and more? Submit all material by April 30th, 1992.
,.,lnur. 1991-92

�FIRE'S POWER
The Influence of Fire
on the Evolutionary History of the Southern Appalachians
by David Wheeler
Thunder rumbles over the old hms. Ir is
just after dusk, and the nwtmtains steam in rite
humid air ofsummer. 011 the somlrwestem
lrorizo11 great cloudbanks roil up i1110 tlte sky,
arching over tlte land like a pouncing beast,
blotting ow the stars.
High in those clouds, invisible to the eye,
thermal fron1s meet and clash. creating turmoil
in the skies. The collision of hot and cold air
creates violent gusts and downdrafts of wind.
The clouds become enonnous electrical
generators. Humid air condenses into raindrops
then into ice crystals within the whirling
confusion inside the cloudbank. The electrical
forces generated by the clouds become
polarized. In the space of only tens of
milliseconds, there is a branched discharge of
energy within the cloud called the
"stepped-leader" that moves first horiwntally
and then downward at one-third lhe speed of
light.
The Eanh is also electrically charged. As
the tip of the stepped-leader approaches the
Eanh's surface, an answering discharge rises
from the Eanh. The two join and cause a "return
stroke," a surge of intense ionization that moves
back up the leader channel toward the cloud in
the brilliance ,~e see as cloud-to-ground
lil?htning. The whole process has 001 yet taken a
whole second, but there has been an elecaical
discharge of, on the average, 40,000 amperes although discharges of 340,000 amperes have
been measured. The temperature within the
leader channel reaches 30,000 degrees Kelvin.
After 40 10 80 milliseconds a new leader is
l.&gt;i.ntcr, 1991-92

D,awmg by Jomes Rhea

formed and again the process is repeated. Most
visible lightning consists of two to four return
strokes. The rapid expansion of the
super-heated air around the lightning channel
produces a shock wave, so that shonly after
seeing the glare of lightning arcing through the
sky, we hear the booming sound of thunder.

Lightning strikes with awesome power. 011
a l11gh ridge a sta11di11g dead snag is seared by
the blast and explodes imo flame. leaves 011 the
ground ig11ire from the hear ofthe blaze, and the
fire is 011 tlte move, traveling uphill.fanned by
the wind.
The experience of a thunderstonn with
lighrning is intense, but it is a common and
completely natural process. There are about 40
million cloud-to-ground lightning saikes in the
United States each year. It is esumated that
around the world there are 50 10 100 lightning
discharges every second, although half of these
remain in the clouds. Lightning is one of the
great powers of nature.
In the Southern Appalachians lightning
saikcs are frequent during the summer storm
season, which lasts from April through August.
There are usually between 40 and 60
thunderstorm days/year. A review of the records
of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park by
Lawrence S. Barden and Frank W. Woods
showed that between 1940 and 1969 lightning
caused 77 fircs wit.hin the park boundaries.
During the course of an eleven-year study they
recorded six lightning fires per year in their one
million acre study area.
In the conifer forests of the West. with their
dry summers, lightning strikes often start raging
holocaustS that climb into the high 1JCC1ops and

sometimes bum off thousands of acres. Our
image of lightning fires is based on that model.
But in the Southern Appalachians lighcning
saikes during the summer rainy season when
the deciduous leaves arc green and full of
moisture and the fuel on the ground is damp.
There are few dry lightning strikes in the
Southeast, and lightning fires usually are soon
extinguished by a drenching rain or subdued by
a steady rainfall. It has been estimated that the
average lightning fire burns five to 10 acres of
forest. Thus, the effects of ligh1ning fires seem
10 have been small, irregular dis1urbances,
localized on south-facing slopes and ridgetops at
higher elevations which would show the driest
conditions and be most prone to lightning
strikes. The deep coves and nonh-facing slopes
were so moist as to be vinually fireproof.
But if the effects of lightning fires were
limited, there was another source of ftre in the
southern mounm.ins that unquestionably had
more impac1: the human beings. The best
archaeological evidence we have uncovered says
that the first humans were present in this area
12,000 years ago. These were
hunting-gathering people. Fire was
unquestionably pan of their technological
toolkit.
Geographer Carl Sauer says in his essay.
"Man's Role in Changing the Face of the
Earth," "Speech, tools and fire are the tripod of
culture and have been so, we think, from 1he
beginning. About the hearth, the home and
workshop are centered. Space heating under
shelter, as a rock overhang, made possible
living in inclement climates; oooking made
palatable many plant product~; industrial
(oonunuod annul P'&amp;")

X&lt;ltuan Jouri!"f p ~ 3

�(c:onunued from page 3)

innovators experimemed with heat treatment of
wood, bone, and minerals. About the fireplace,
social life took form, and the exchange of ideas
was fostered. The availability of fuel has been
one of the main facton. determining the location
of clustered habitation."
Besides using fire in the village, the human
occupants of the Southern Appalachians during
the Paleolithic period also set fires in the
surrounding countryside 10 encourage the
growth of grasses and forbs and thus improve
the range for the grazing animals that were the
foundation of their diet The humans also used
fire as a hunting technique to drive animals
either wward waiting spear-throwers or over
steep cliffs.
Around 10,000 years ago the life of these
Paleo-Indians began to change as they moved
into what is called the Archaic cultural period.
As they became more familiar with the land and
itS inhabitants, they began to settle more into
sedentary villages. As we are told in the ''Good
Medicine" column (see page 17), they burned
the area around their villages to keep out pesrs
and for better defensibility, and burned up the
mountain slopes in the fall of the year for
hunting purposes, to encourage berries, and to
make nut gathering easier. Light burning every
year also kept down fuel loads, thereby
preventing the possibility of large, hot fires that
would harm the forest and destr0y their villages.
Keeping the understory clear greatly facilitated
travel, particularly on the ridges and along the
riversides, where the fires helped the beavers to
clear the bouomland meadows.
Between 800 and 1,000 AD the Cherokee
tribe adopted maize agriculture and became
firmly established in a mixed agricultu-m.1/
hunting lifestyle. They practiced a rotating
"slash and burn" agriculture, burning their fields
off annually and continuing lO fire the
mountainsides every year.
Unlike lightning, humans could start fires
in any season of the year, wet or dry. Autumn,
when a fresh layer of light, dry leaves covered
the ground, was the preferred season for
burning off the forest floor; spring was the time
to bum over the fields. Thus, human-caused
fires were of greater frequency, often of greater
intensity, and covered larger areas than lightning
fires. To be talking about the prehistorical
impacL of fire on the SouLhern Appalachians is
to be talking mostly about human impac1 on lhe
mountains - through their main tool for change:
fire.
Fire was the the most imponant disturbance
fa~tor i~ th~ Southern Appalachians; through the
rrullenma since the retreat of the last glacier it
has been a major shaper of the highland forest
communily. In general, the light bums caused
by lightning and the primitive people thinned out
young trees and opened up the forest floor.
When trees got to a certain age and girth they
became less susceptible 10 fire damage, so that
on fire.prone sites they loomed over an open
forest noor that struck the first white explorers
as "park-like," reminding them of Lhe carefully
tended parks of Europe. Generally, it was the
moist coves and north,facing slopes had the
shrubs, the herbs, and the ephemeral flowers
that we associate with the deep forest.
We will never know many of the ways 1ha1
fire ha.c; influencc.:d the forest around U5. It
changed the chemical and te,ctuml composition
of the soil; it altered lhe microbial populations of
Xat1&amp;aW-Jou.rn«l ... p"4)v '-f ',

p~sJ genlo,...,--

the forest: it killed insect
and
infestations of parasites and disease where it
was present. Yet Lhere were visible signs of the
force of fire's impact.
Because of the abundant rainfall in 1he
southern mountains, the forest cover
recuperated quickly from burning, but openings
remained to testify to fire's passing. Professor
Kenneth L. Carvell of West Virginia University
wrote, "When the first trappers and traders
penetrated the Southern Appalachian
wilderness, they discovered scattered treeless
areas. These forest opemings were of several
kinds; some natural. some man-caused (sic). In
cenain localities these made up a considerable
acreage. Treeless areas could be grouped into
five categories: sphagnum bogs, resembling the
muskeg of the nonh country; grassy glades,
dominated by tall grasses; upland meadows, of
debatable origin, but perhaps the result of Indian
burning; "old fields," areas formerly cleared by
the Indians for agriculture and now starring to
grow up; and finally the high elevation balds,
dominated by shrubs and stunted tree cover, but
not a true tree line. Although obscured by the
dense forest. these openings were discovered
readily, since the first trappers and traders
followed animal trails, and these often led from
one glady area to the next. These openings,
particularly the grassy glades and old fields,
were sought out at an early date by the
homesteaders and settled first, since they were
spared the difficult task of clearing the dense
forest cover to provide crop and grazing land.
"ln spite of these scattered openings, more
than 90% of the land was forested, and in the
Southern Appalachians 90% of the forest was
hardwood."
The early European explorers spoke of
grazing animals like elk and a small woods
buffalo roaming the forest along with an
abundance of deer. Deer are leaf-browsers that
like forest edges; elk and buffalo eat grass,
which grows in the open, indicating that.
particularly in the bottomlands, there were
substantial areas that were open and clear.
The grassy balds were found at the top of
the highest ridges (see KattW, Journal #5).
They were thought 10 be created by extreme
climatic conditions during the last Ice Age, but
they were apparently maintained largely by fire
since the climate warmed. Since fire
suppression has caused natural succession to
overtake the open balds, they are returning to
forest cover. These bald areas con1ain species of
grasses more commonly found in grasslands
1hat fire ecologist E. V. Komarek says "did not
develop wilhout a history offire."
Fire has changed 1he species composition
of the tall tree canopy, exerting strong selection
pressure among tree species on dry si1es. There
are species of trees living in the forest today lhar
are completely dependent on fire for their
continued existence. There arc other tree species
that 1hrive on di:aurbance and are thus
pamcularly adapted to fire.
Dr. Roben Zahner, formerly professor of
forestry at Clemson University, tells us, "Most
of the oak and pine forest stands in eastern
North America were fire maintained. Oaks and
Pines are not climax type species. Without
d1s1urbance, they would have been displaced by
maples. basswoods, hemlocks, beeches. and
other cove hardwood species. In an area with
rainfall as plentiful as the southern mounuuns,
1~ese 'cove· species would do well on anr good
sne. However. they are not at all fire tolerant. so
they were restricted from the dry south slopes

.

•

I

I

~

ano ridgetops that wire liable 10 burning.
'The mature trees of fire tolerant species
can survive burning. White pines are the most
fire tolerant trees. White pines have a thick bark
and can withstand any kind of fire except a
crown fire. They can survive when every1hing
else is burned. Their seed requires an exposed
mineral soil to germinate. Burning creates a
good seedbed for them, so that when they drop
their seed the following season it regenerates
and produces a strong stand of natural white
pine.
"White pine does not have serorinous cones
that pop open in the presence of heat, but the
pitch pine and the Table Mountain pine do have
serotinous cones. These species, too, require
exposed mineral soil for seed germination. They
like a crown fire that climbs into the trees, kills
everything, and opens their cones with the heat
of the names. Within a week they send down a
rain of seed onto the newly cleared ground.
Pitch pine and Table Mountain pine are
completely fire-dependent for their germination,
and since fire suppression has become the
policy in the national forests, their populations
have been diminishing.
"Oak trees' reproductive strategy is to set a
lot of young seedlings and saplings in the
understory. The young trees are relatively shade
tolerant, so they just stand beneath the canopy
and wait for a disturbance to open up a hole for
them to grow into.
"Oak trees have tough roots, and are less
likely to root-kill than most other species. When
a fire comes through, it will kill the young and
medium-sized oak trees right back 10 the
ground, and then - with much of the competiuon
wiped out - they will resprout into vigorous oak
stands.
"Yellow poplar has a lot of weedy
characteristics and is another species that does
well in areas likely to be disturbed by rues.
Poplar has two major reproductive strategies.
First, the tree will sprout at almost any age.
Secondly, each mature cree will put out tens of
thousands of seeds every year. Leaves fall and
cover the seeds up. This process continues year
after year making layers of seed underneath the
leaf cover. Poplar seed can remain stored in the
litter for 8-10 years. When a fire - or a
disturbance of any kind - does occur, it strips
off 1he layers of leaves. Many seeds die. but the
seeds on the layer left exposed genninnte and
begin to grow.
"Black locust trees are not fire tolerant, but
they are dependent on disturbance for
regeneration. Locust seeds are generally not
viable. The tree has become so effective at
regenerating from root suckers that it has
virtually lost iri; ability to reproduce by seed.
But it doesn't need to seed itself. The extensive
root system of a locust cnn recover a
burned-over site almost immediately.
"Sassafras, too, is an early succession tree.
Like locust, it is a good sprouter, but it also
sends out lots of viable seed.
'The ericaceous plants, such as
rhododendron and mountain laurel, are also
fire-dependent. Like the pines. they actually
encourage tire by the fuel in their leaves.
Rhododendrons can survive for 3 long time in
the forest understory, but they can't bloom or
set seed in the shade, so they drop their leaves
each year and wait. When a fire does occur, it
bums fast and hot on the depo~ited fuel and kills
everything. including the rhododendron i1self •
but also opens up the canopy overhead.
(cor11111ood on pite 30)

,.,ultct,

1'!19 f.l-02'

�WHAT IS NATURAL?
The Fire History of the Mountain Forests

The

usual strategy for bioregionnl
reinhabimtion is to restore the narural life
processes and native species of a region while
simultaneously working ro change human
living patterns and limit the human presence to
lessen the impact of our species on the land.
We are largely unaware of the many
subtle relationships that maintain the life ofa
biorcgion, and we are usually ign_orant of_1he
nature and imponance of the mynads of uny
organisms that live around us and are so
necessary in keeping up !he vitality of the
community. In our ignorance, all we ca~ do to
heal a place is 10 restore the macro- species
and macro-processes of life support and allow
enough space and freedom from h:1nun
interruption that the land can find 11s own
natural equilibrium.
For rhe Kaufah Province this poses a
problem: what is "natural"?
It was hardly a "forest primeval" that the
first European explorers encountered on the\r
arrival in the New World. What they found JO
eastern Turtle lsland was actually - at least in
part - a managed landscape. Yet, particularly
during the ninereenth cemury, wrirers
continued to purvey the image of "a foresr so
thick that a squirrel could travel from the
Atlantic to the Mississippi without touching
the ground." Francis Parkman, writing in
1892, described a scene beneath an
impenetrable foresr canopy where "all is
shadow, through which spors of timid
sunshine steal down among legions of lank,
mossy trunks, ... maued bushes, and rotted
carcasses of fallen trees." While scenes like
!his did abound, today we tend to see rhe old
forest as a mosaic of different types, doued
with openings, due largely t0 the presence and
use of fire.
At anolherextreme was forester llu
Maxwell of the US Forest Service, who wrore
an article on the "Use and Abuse of the Forest
by the Virginia Indians" for the William and
Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine in
1910, when foresters were coming 10 see fire
as an unmirigated evil which had no place in
the forest
Maxwell had a decidedly
uncomplimentary view of the First People and
their fire habits. ''Though white men are rated
high as destroyers of forest, they arc not JO Lhe
same class with Indians," he stated. "...They
are wasreful and destructive, as savages
usually are, and the word economy had no
place in his vocabulary...The Indian \s by
nature an incendiary, and forest burning was
the Virginia Indian's besetting sin."
Maxwell described "open, park-like"
forests unencumbered by undergrowth. He
described lands cleared for agriculture along
the riverbanks, and also spoke of damage
done by unextinguished campfires. He quoted
William B&gt;Td, who surveyed the
Virginia-Nonh Carolina line in 1728-29: "On
their way, the fires they make in their camps
are left burning, which catching the dry leaves
which lie near, soon pu1 the adjacent woods in
a flame."
i.&gt;lnt«. 1991 -92

The 1n1th about the ecological impact of
burning by the First People lies somewhere
between the extremes of viewpoint contrasted
above. A multi-disciplinary research team
from the University of Tennessee, which
included archaeologists Jeff Chapman,
ethnoboranis~ Andrea Shea and Patricia
Cridlebaugh and paleoecologists Paul and
I foz.el Delcourt, investigated the environs of
old O,erokee village sites in the valley of the
Little Tennessee River, and found seeds and
pollen in stralified soil samples that enabled
them to deduce some of the narive people's
use patterns.
Samples taken around the village of
Tuskegee showed heavy use and burning of
the bottomland and the low- and mid-elevation
terraces by the Cherokee 1,500 years ago.
Samples from an upland site near the village
showed that the higher elevations surrounding
the Little Tennessee Valley were under
continuous forest cover for 3,000 years - fires
may have burned Lhere, but they did not .
pennanently thin out the forest canopy · unul
400 years ago, when weed seeds began to be
regularly deposited in the soil.
The team's research seems 10 support
rhe general conclusion made by retired
forestry professor Roben ?,aJtncr. "In valleys
like the Little Tennessee River Valley there
h.ad been conlinuous large se1tlemen1s by early
cuhures since Jong before the Cherokees.
When white settlers came into those valleys
they found the land already largely cleared of
forests by the lndian~. _The vall~ys and the
!ow!lr slopes surrounding the villages w~re
heavily and frequently burned. but the high
mountains were not, as a generJI rule. Some
balds \\Cre burned 10 maintain elk habitat, but
deer and turkey were largely found 31 lower
elevations, so that is where the bulk of the
burning occurred."
So what is the "natural" vegetative
,, .
pattern of growth in the South';_ffl
Appalachians? In !he sense of . natural _a.., ..
"growth unaffected by human mtcrvenuon,
Dr1w111g by J:«a1 Tuclla

we will never know. Twelve thousand years
of continuous habitation is a long time span.
There have been major climate changes during
the time the Fll'St People have been here.
Evolutionary adjustmenrs have been m~e in
that time, which must have included adJusnng
to the presence of the humans - and their fires.
Although their numbers were few, it
seems that the native inhabitants, primarily
through !heir use of fire, had a profound
impact on the natural history of the Southern
Appalachians. They did not dominare .
evolution in the mountains, but they did
influence the composition of the native flora in
certain areas by opening them to the sun and
encouraging fi~dependenr and fire-tolerant
associations. They influenced predator/prey
relationships by enhancing habi1a1 for deer,
elk, and other game animals, encouraging
their populations and thereby providing fo~
greater numbers of the other predator species
who also hunted them.
We will never be able 10 replicate the
conditions of 12,000 years ago, or the
changes that have happened since: But _we
know that, in spite of human modaficauon, .
this was still a magnificent land.i;cape when 11
was first encountered by the whites. The
human inhabitants were clearly a factor
influencing the process of change, but they
were only one factor among the many that
created the diverse mosaic of forest
associations scattered throughout the
mountains. While there were disturbed areas
that supponed the early-succcss1on, shade
rntolernnt trees, there were also nonh-facing
coves 1ha1 went without a major disturb3ncc
for hundreds of years at a time.
Fire was an influential force in this
region. Fire-dependent tree species have been
(cominocd 011 ,,. ., Jll&amp;C)

Xat,101' Journm paga 5

�(canunued hom pqe S)

maintained in these mountains for many
generations. The grassy balds, that were
created during the last lee Age but were
apparently maintained by fire and grazing
pressure since, arc only now falling 10 forest
succession. The power of the element fire can
still be fell in the forest, even after 75 years of
fire suppression.
The Firs1 People, largely through their
use of fll'e, exened a strong influence on 1he
regional life community, but not a debilitanng
one. The First People found a balance, a
niche, within that community that 1he natural
life suppon systems could maintam. Unlike
the Europeans, the native inhabitants did no1
render their environment dysfunctional, but
only moved it 10 a different point of balance.
The region still had itS integrity; it still was
operating at full capacity.
Since it is impossible to recreate a virgin
mountain landscape, how then do we restore
an optimally adapted ecological community?
Clearly, fighting every fire is not necessary or
advisable. Lightning fires have been allowed
to bum for all but the last 75 years of human
habitation. They are a pan of the natural
landscape and should be allowed 10 return.
But do we have to bum off the
mountainsides every year 10 mimic the ruuive
influence? If so, how much should we bum?
How could we maintain the precious layer of
humus 1ha1 contributes so much to 1he growth
and health of 1he forest?
On the other hand, if we let narural
succession run its course, are we going to lose

DO C LEARCUTS MIMIC FIRE?

.

The current policy of the US Forest
Service is to clearcut lI"dCts of up to 43 acres
where all the vegetation over one inch in
diameter is removed and the cleared area i~
either replanted to ruws of monocullured
while pine (around which is sprayed ht.-rbicidc
to prevent competition from any intrnding
native hardwoods) or allowed 10 regenerate by
natural sprouting and seeding. This n:suhs in
large areas of ''even-aged" tree s1andli that are
easy and economical 10 cu1 when the loggers
retum to "harvest" the adolescent regrowth
60-80 ye:m; later.
~
This method "mimics natural processes
of disturbance, like fire." claims 1he Forest
Service.
But that is a hotly disputed claim.
"Simply put, clearcu1ting docs not emulate
nature in mixed hardwoods," declared retired
Forest Service silviculrural researcher Leon
Minckler in a recent anicle. "Oean:utting
advocates argue thal clearcurs replicate
wildfire bum parches. This statement is
questionable in the arid Wc:;t ond almost
irrelevant in the humid East where large.
high-intensity forest fires rarely occur.''
Minckler is reinforced by all the environmental
groups working in the Southern Appalachians
today.
"To begin with," says Haywood Greer.
a local activist, "fires don't bulldoze 15 foot
wide system roods that tear up slopes; cause
erosion and siltation in ~trcams: and open the
forest_ forever after 1 poachers, picnickers.
0
arsonists, campers, hunters, ORY'ers, and
whoever else has st.renglh and commitment

..

XotunI1 Joumot pCUJr. 6

..,

•

9

t

I

r t,

f

t.,fJ

valuable diversity and endangered species?
Can we afford that?
Two examples illusl!'llte the dilemma
posed by this uncenainty.
The first case centers around a concern
that communities of Table Mountain pine
might be eliminated from the moun111ins
because of changing conditions due 10 fire
suppression. Table Mountain pine occurs in
association with mountain laurel and galax.
All three species are fire adapted, and the
Table Mountain pine needs fire to survive.
The tree has serotinous cones. meaning that
intense heat causes them 10 open and spill their
seed. The species of the Table Mountain pine
association encourage fires hot enough 10
"crown," to bum into the tops of the trees.
Crown fires are hot enough 10 kill some large
trees, bum the cover off the forest floor down
10 bare mineral soil, and cause the serotinous
cones of the Table Mountain pine 10 open.
Those fires would regenerate the Table
Mountain pine association. which would then
work to perpe1ua1e itself by making ilS habi1a1
area more flammable.
Ftre suppression is clearly causing the
demise of the Table Mountain pine tree.
Existing stands are becoming old and decadent
and there is little regrowth of new stands.
Should we set intentional prescribed bums 10
preserve this fire-dependent species?
That depends on whether we consider
this species to be "natural." Lightning fires (as
we saw on page 3) tend 10 be small in area and
low in intensity. Lightning fires seldom
produced the crown ftres necessary 10
regenerate the Table Mountain pine.
enough 10 pul a vehicle in gear and gas
enough to make it up the hill.
"A fire doesn't come in with a chain saw
and a skidder cut all the tree~ and haul them
away out of the woods. Fires in the mounrnins
- depending on the time of ye:ir and the
dryness - arc usually cool and run lo,.., 10 1he
ground. burning off the leaf cover and 1he
underbrush. S11;all sarlings ;md understory
trees are someumcs killed. hut unless a lot of
fuel· like Jogging slash· h:i~ built up on the
forest floor, fires seldom get large enough 10
kill 1he biggest trees. If the big trees are ktl led,
they s1and n long time as dead snags, offoring
1he finest kind of den location for
over-wintering animals. 1l1e forest biomass
stays in the woods. Eventuallv the dead trunks
rot out and topple over. and their bodies
decompose 10 enrich the soil for the next
generations of trees.
"Also, fire~ around here don·t bum
everything in a 20 or 40 acre area. Most fires
hip-hop around and bum at random • maybe
heavily here, but maybe only slightly burned
over there. Fires tend m create mosaics of
disiurbance on these steep ridges."
Robert Zahner. formerly a forestry
professor at Clemson University. talks more
specifically about regeneration. ''The species
that rclllm after a fire arc somewhat different
than what comes back after a clearcut. l\aiural
eanh-healing species sprout up after a fire weedy planL~ mostly. 1ha1 gro"' from :;eed that
had tx.-en stored in the soil under the litter until
the liner was burned off and 1he seed was
exposctl. Most of the herbaceous seed that
germinates following a fire is quite different
from the seed th:il would grow follm, ing a

We do not know about the fires set by
the native inhabitanLS. There probably was
great variation in the intensity of the fires 1hey
sci, but generally, since they burned certain
areas often, it would seem that they would
keep the fuel loads down and have light, cool
fires every few years.
The great conflagrations occurred in the
mountains after the logging era. The loggers
left great piles of slash in the forest that, when
ignited, caused hot, destructive fires that
burned the whole landscape.
The Table Mountain pine could be only
minimally sustained by lightning fires. In the
moun1ains, the tree inhabits only the driest
sites or reclaims badly degraded areas. It
seems very likely that, while it has long been
present, the species came into its own through
1he over-burning of the white mountaineers,
and expanded its influence due 10 the logging
boom. h does not seem reasonable 10
perpetuate abuse in order 10 maintain a species
that to a great extent was a product of human
abuse. h seems that 1he ecological need for the
Table Mountain pine has largely passed away,
1ha1 it is not a naturally endangered species,
and that we do not have 10 talce special
measures to re1ain it, but could lei narure 1ake
its course.
A second case is the oak tree family,
widespread throughout the mountains and an
important source of mast upon which many
species of wildlife depend greatly. As we
were told by Dr. Robert Zahner (on page 4 of
this issue) frequent, light fires are influential
in the continued regeneration of oak stands in
(continued oo page 30)

clearcut
"I-ires also release nutrients in the
residual ash which change the soil situation.
Leaf liuer and sometimes foliage is burned in
the fire. Carbon and nitrogen arc given off,
but 1hc minerals stay on the site and oc·t as an
instant shot of fenilizer, which changes the
pH and the nutrient bal:lnce and generates a
different populallt)n of herb.,ceous plants.
''After clearcuuing, some sites are
prep:m:-d hy intentionally setting fires called
"prescribed hums." In tcm1s of the site, thai's
probably a better wuy of,.., orking than
clearcumng alone - unfortunately they bum a
site to prepare it for planting white pine tree~.
Thal negates nny advantage there might ha, e
been 10 1ha1 technique.
"Right now there arc plenty of open
areas con1aining early successional species.
We don't have to create them. By way of
immediate policy recommendations. I would
suggest we let present old-growth stands
continue to grow, keeping out uny fires except
lightning fires. Lightning fires we should let
bum. Because they bum during a rain,
lightning tires don't usually burn very much,
and they give a nke mosaic of disturbance.
''Why not just let lighming do it'! If we
are trying to maintain natur.tl systems and
narural biological diver.;i1y, then just letting
lightning fires bum would be the best and
easiest way to do it. Mo~t of this forest is so
disturbed. beat up. and cut over anyway. It\
a long. long way from being a natural syscem.
t would prefer 10 let lighming-ignited fires
burn wherever they are going 10 bum, and just
let them help the foreM 10 recover." , .
Winter, 199 1-92
- fr...

,__,, J

I

f

�SMOKEY AND THE RED WOLVES
For many years after white settlers
staned moving into the Southern
Appalachians, fire pauems changed linle from
the days of native habitation. The whites were
farmers, coming from Europe where the great
forests had long been leveled. They tended to
see the forest as an enemy 10 be overcome.
Wilderness equaled "wasteland" in their
minds, and they started out energetically 10
overcome the forest to make it produclive
fannland. But for their ally Fire, it would have
been a losing battle. The whites used fire in
clearing agricultural fields as the lndians had,
but the immigrants first girdled trees with their
steel axes, planted crops in the resulting
"deadenings," and then later felled and burned
the standing snags. Their numbers and their
steel tools made the newcomers more effective
at clearing land - and keeping it clear - than the
Indians had ever been. The forest began to
recede up the hillsides.
The white people also began to mimic
the Indians' practice of burning the forest
noor. At first they did it for identical reasons,
but as they became more settled and the
predator species were thinned out, the
Europeans began to free-range livestock in the
woods. At frrst there were only a few scrawny
cows and scattered bands of domestic pigs
roaming the forest, but as the numbers of
white inhabitants grew, they put more and
more animals out to forage on the mountain
slopes. And they staned more and more fires
to encourage grass and open grazing areas. As
old-timer Taylor Crockett of Macon County
has said, "fn those days people vinually
replaced the native wildlife with cattle, hogs,
and sheep." Firing the woods became an
annual ritual, supposedly economically
justifiable - but also exciting and fun.
The early white settlers found one
purpose to which the First People had never
employed fire: genocide. One example was
Colonel James Grant's raid of 176 I. In
retaliation for a Cherokee victory ai Fon
Loudoun, Tennessee, in which 50 white
people were kiUed, Grant was ordered on a
campaign through the Little Tennessee and
Tuckaseegee River Valleys. He rode with a
vengeance, destroying crops and every village
he found. In his journal Grant bragged that he
had torched fifteen towns (including the
principal town of Katuah): ravaged "l,400
acres of com. beans, pease, etc."; and driven
about 5,000 men, women, and children "into
the woods and mountains to srnrve."
As more and more Europeans flooded
into the mountains, the increased use of fire
became detrimental to the forest. Although fire
Winter, 1991 92

was still being used largely in the traditional
manner, its use was so frequent and so
universal that the forest was degraded in many
areas because it was not allowed time to
recuperate.
H.B. Ayers and W.W. Ashe, in their
repon on The Sowhern Appalachian Forest,
published in 1905 for the US Geological
Survey, wrote that, "More than 78,000 acres
of the region examined have recently been so
severely burned as 10 kill the greater ponion of
the timber. but the greater damage has been
done by light fires creeping through the
woods year after year. scorching the butts and
roots of timber trees, destroying seedlings and
forage plants, consuming forest litter and
humus, and reducing the thatch of leaves
which breaks the force of the rain. Evidence
of such fires is found over approximately
4,500,000 acres, or 80 percent of the entire
area."
At one study site in Cades Cove in the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park,
researcher Mark Hannon found that the mean
interval between fires on south-facing slopes
between 1855 and 1940 was 12.7 years.
Considering that observation, Peter White,
also of the Park research st.aff, said that in
Cades Cove, "During the period of
Euro-American settlement, fires were so
frequent that few treeS reached a size capable
of surviving even cool surface ftres."
The damage to the Appalachian forest
and waters began to be noticed by the late
1800's. People began to complain of the
erosion caused by the frequent burning and
the resulting decline in stream quality. A
history of the US Forest Service in the
southern mountains, Mountaineers and
Rangers, mentioned a survey of the Southern
Appalachian forestlands published in 1902 by
Secretary of Agriculture James Wilson and
Gifford PinchoL The survey said that "the
special hardwood forests of the beautiful
Appalachians were being destroyed by
lumbering, fires, and - perhaps worst - by
mountainside farming. These agents of
destruction were causing the soil 10 leach,
slopes to erode, and streams to flood their
banks with rain and melting snow."
It was not a coincidence that the tum of
the century also saw the beginnings of the
forestry profession. The Biltmore Forestry
School, the first forestry school m the United
States, was located in Pisgah Fore.\t, North
Quolina. It was begun by the German forester
Carl Schenck, who was brought over by the
Vanderbilts, and subsequently directed by

Gifford PinchoL Suddenly the mountain
forests were attracting professional imercs1.
There was a growing awareness that the
yearly burning was destroying a fonune in
timber, and, since the railroads had finally
penetrated into the mountains, there was at last
a way 10 get at it To the foresters a forest was
an investment, more than an ecosystem with
its own processes and priorities.
The newly-convened foresters saw
burning the woods as the utmost stupidity. 1n
1923, Nonh Carolina Forester J. S. Holmes
surveyed rural residents to determine the
answer to the "burning" question: why did
they ftre the woods? He fouod that some fires
were staned by ''carelessness" and others by
"negligence." "Locomolives," "hunters,"
"sawmills," and the blanket category
"matches. cigar stumps, boys, etc."
contributed their share. While the most
common reason stated for starting woodland
fires was "to improve the range," Holmes'
survey showed conclusively that by far the
greatest proportion of fires were sraned by
people "without much object, 10 see it bum,
etc."
The damage to the forest was
considerable, but the worst was to come. The
large timber companies followed the railroad
into the mountains. and the Appalachian
timber boom was on. The timber barons were
ruthlessly exploiting a resource. They lo;ged
widely and indiscriminately. Whole hillsides
were cleared. Yet the greatest descruction came
from fires that staned after the loggers had left
a site. ln their greed and carelessness, the
logging companies left behiod on the
desecrated slopes great piles of slash, the tops
of fallen m:es. This build-up of fuel caused
fierce, hot fires that destroyed the remaining
crces, burned up the organic layer of the soil,
caused massive erosion and siltation. and even
degraded the potential of the forest to recover.
1n the eyes of the foresters, and
increasingly among the general public, fl.l'C
began to be perceived as an unmitigated evil.
ln his book Fire in America, Stephen J. Pyne
quotes lines from a poem of the period.
'They are loosed from their hiding
And the red wolves are riding There is blood and blast and fury in their
eyes And their packs go a-crashing
There's a crackle and lashing
Breathing smoke and sparks and splinters to
the skies.
- Anthony Euwer, "Red Wolves"
(canunucd on next page)

x.atuar, Journat

pQCJe 7

�(continW'd from page 7)

The Southern Appalachians came to be
seen as a national disgrace, and a call grew for
the establishment of timber reserves in the
region. It seemed to be the only way to halt
the fires and the flooding.
The timber companies were agreeable.
They had already used the forested eastern
mountains. Now their sights were set on the
tall old-growth stands of the Pacific
Nonhwest. They were happy to sell out and
leave. Timber barons and politicians alike
found that it was sttategically wise to blame
the problems of the forests on fire. Fire
control enjoyed a political unanimity that
controversial initiatives to regulate logging
practices did not. "To save the forests, the
main thing is to make laws to stop the fires,"
intoned timber magnate F. E. Weyerhauser
before a congressional committee in 1908.
The Weeks Act of 1911 provided for federal
purchase of timberlands in the East, and the
US Forest Service was born to care for and
manage the lands.
The new Forest Service rangers in the
Appalachians saw their first task as stopping
fire. They consn-ucted a fire lookout system
and organized fire-fighting crews. They began
a large-scale enforcement and public education
program to convince local fanners to give up
the practice of firing the woods. Throughout
the l 930's and the I940's, as the forest
gradually grew back and began to repair the
scars of its mistreatment, firefighting and
prevention was a major focus of the rangers'
effons. In a stroke of advertising genius, they
recruited the aid of Smokey the Bear. The
national public relations campaign was
successful beyond all eitpectations, and as a
side-effect greatly enhanced the image of the

by Vic Weals
East Tennessee rivers were at their
lowest flow in anybody's memory, and the
15.38 inches of rain that fell in the first seven
months of 1925 were less than half the
normal.
The Knoxville weather station was in its
55th year, and 1925 was the honest a.nd driest
yet recorded, meteorologist J.I. Widmeyer
told the local newspapers.
The temperature for Monday, Sept. 7,
~ 925, is still the highest recorded on that date
in all the 109 years of the Knoxville weather
station. The official reading was 102 degrees.
Logging camps had their greatest exodus
of workers. Heat without letup and short
tempers had sent many a man packing.
Benha and Frank Coppenger were still
working for logging contractor Gold Millsaps
a1 the beginning of September in l 925.
Bertha remembers Saturday, Sept. 5,
1925, as a notably ominous, uncomfonable
day in Jeffreys Hell. There was smoke in the
air from the woods fire that had now burned
more than two weeks across the ridge on
South Fork.
Frank was working at scaling logs that
Saturday. He measured them as they were
brought to the rail landing, and kept a record
of 1he number and kind and size.
Frank brought Will Graves, the camp
foreman, home to the Coppenger quarters
after their work day ended in the afternoon.

~~lU\» J(!Uf~t pm.JC

8

Forest Service as the friends of Smokey and
all the forest crearures.
Smokey's massive propaganda
campaign did help greatly in the fire
prevention effon, but it also had some
negative results. Only in recent years has it
become once again acceptable 10 talk of the
positive and necessary effects of

' THEN JT HAPPENED! SOME CAREI.E55 PE.RSOIII
i'LIPPEO A LIGHTED MATCH •••

From 'TM Tr,u Story a/Smoky tM B~ar·

naturally-caused fire in some ecosystems. The
Tall Timbers Research Station in Florida, for
eitample, opened up new pathways in fire
research and for 20 years has sponsored an
annual scienrific conference on fi.re ecology.
ln 1963. the Leopold Report. presented 10 the
National Park Service, and th~ 1964
Wilderness Act both called on federal agencies
to recognize fire's role in wildlancrs. But
because of the degree of one-sided
conditioning, the general public is having
difficulty accepting the fact that fire is a
process that is natural and, in some ecological
communities. essential.
One guide to the future is the fire policy
in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park
which has the avowed goal of maintaining an

FIRE IN
JEFFREYS HELL
Frank filled his homemade poplar-board
bathtub with warm water and invited Will to
take his first bath.
Frank told him to take his time, and Will
did, soaking for maybe half an hour in the last
great enjoyment he would experience on eanh.
Benha says they had dinner early
Sunday, and right after that, about 12 noon,
the men were called out The fire was coming
across the mountain into Jeffreys Hell itself.
"Frank left with the other men to tty 10
smn a back-fire and maybe save the camp,"
Benha says.
''There was nothing fo.r me 10 do but
1alce the children and ge1 ou1 of 1hcre,"
Bertha explains at this point 1ha1 her two
oldest daughters, Sylvia and Beatrice, had left
camp only a week before for the Stan of the
school term in Tellico Plains. It was the two
youngest daughters, Bessie and Lula, who
were in Jeffreys Hell with their parents on that
fateful day.
"I got my husband's suit and draped it
over my ann," Benha continues. "I put the
Bible into his front pocket. The Bible had all
the family binh records in it"
"I had a new dress from Sears and
Roebuck. I had never worn that dress. It was
still in the box that it had been mailed in. I

ecosystem similar 10 that present before white
settlement for the purpose of human
recreational enjoyment. Flawed though the
guidelines may be from the point of view of
habitat preservation, the Park still represents
550,000 acres of (nearly) de /aero
wilderness.
Under current laws, the Park is not able
to use prescribed bums and must suppress
every fire ignited within the Park boundaries.
However, a draft policy recommendation is
being prepared which will suggest that
naturally-caused fires be monitored and, in
some cases, be allowed 10 bum.
Under the new policy, the Park might be
able 10 use fire in cenain situations - to
suppress eitotic species invading the Park, for
example, or to reestablish habitat for species
like the red cockaded woodpecker, which
once inhabited the Great Smoky Mountains.
This bird likes open woodlands, and when the
undergrowth in its nesting area grows up
more than 10-15 feet in height, it abandons its
nesting site and moves elsewhere. However,
due to complete fire suppression, there is no
"elsewhere'' in the Park and little in the
mountains as a region. The woodpecker has
been sighted in eastern Tennessee. but the las,
confirmed sighting in the Park was in 1982,
although in recent years there have been
several unverified sightings of birds that could
be red cockaded woodpeckers.
Like the red wolf, a policy that allows
narurally-caused fires to bum may be
reintroduced in the Southern Appalachians vio
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Fire has a place in the forest, of that we are
sure. We are less sure of how 10 bring fire
back into its proper place in the scheme of
things.
~

took it out of the box and draped iL over my
arm with my husband's suit
ttWe started down the railroad toward
the town of Jeffrey. It was several miles, 1
forget exactly how far.
"We walked the crossties. I couldn't
make it very fast because I wasn't used to
walking on crossties.
"And my least linlc girl, I had to carry
her most of the way.
''And it looked like every few minutes
we were going to be cut off by the fire.
''The train came up the grade, but didn'1
stop for us. The engineer motioned us down
toward the town," she recalls.
She says the locomotive had been in
the repair shed and was taken our hastily that
Sunday to go on the emergency run. The
screen that should have been in place on the
smokestack to catch sparks from the fireboit
was not in place.
And as the engine scattered hot cinclerS
into Jeffreys Hell, it set new fires behind it.
Garfield A. Milsaps also worked for
logging conttactor Gold Millsaps, and lived
in the same camp with Frank and Bertha
Coppenger and Bill Graves, the camp
foreman.
He remembers Sunday morning.
September 6, 1925.
"Bill Graves told me to get the horses
out of there while I could. We had them fine
big logging horses • Nonnans and Percberons
(continued on page 10)

loJ\.I\WT, J99J-9'2 I

�Barbara J. Sands

In Less Than Ten Moons
A message for my Brothers at Lewisburg

In less than ten moons,
the moans of pleasure in a moment's quiet passion
flow steady as the river
into moans of labor.
The blending of two spirits in sacred dance,
in less than ten moons,
the creator weaves beneath my skin
into a new life.

Karuah
for Hawk

I listen to you deny your power to change,
to rise above the habits of self devastation
that have always held you back.
You tell me that you are too weak, that il is too hard ...
In quiet understanding, l smile...
Do you think you walk alone?

In these quiet hills
the swirling mist curls skyward,
Mother Earth offering her pipe to the Great Mystery.

It is easy to feel her in these ancient mountains.
My bare toes dig into the damp soil.
The breeze plays with my hair and shoulders.
I am invisible here, part of the whole.

My brother, when you can see the other road,
the birthing has already begun.

I grow roots, deep into the body of the Mother.
Her energy flows through me,
caressing me, warming me.
I join the timeless flow of all things.

Does it help you to know
that it is useless to tell me
what can not be done?

Three times, I have felt the swelling of life within my belly,
Three times, I have birthed between my legs a Jiving miracle,
Three times, I have watched the first breath of a warm, wet, newborn
And seen with my own eyes, and felt with my own flesh,
and known with my own heart,
the power of the Spirit That Flows in All Things
to change the world ...
In less than ten moons.

I dream.
I am a mountain lion. An eagle.
A rock in a swiftly flowing stream.
A leaf floating in the breeze.
A seed, waiting in the earth.
I am everything.
I am nothing.

The day breaks.
Father paints the sky with gold.
And I never want to leave this place.

k1lntcr, Hl91-92

Dnwin&amp; by Rob Mmiclo.

�~

•

• a.

--

...

..,. '

Drawing by Rob Levacn
(cantinuod &amp;om page 8)

and ClydesdaJes and someoLhers. We had 18
head of horses.
"We tied them Logether single-file and
led them down the railroad track. Fred Allen,
George Robens, Oley Hooper and Jape
McClure (now deceased) helped me. There
might have been some others.
"We walked the horses between the rails
where the ballast between the crossties made a
smooth path. Sometimes there was a
smoother trail beside the railroad. We took to
the creeJc to get around trestles. Horses won't
hardly walk a trestle.
"We tied the horses below the store and
post office at Jeffrey. Then we all went back
up the creeJc to help fight the fire."
Walter J. Evans, wife Grace and their
first two sons, Leslie, about 4 years old, and

Bill, 15 months old, lived just up the track
from the Gold Millsaps' camp and within
sight of it.
"Me and Frank Coppenger and a bunch
of men went to the fire line along the top of
the mountain," Walter recalls. He says they
thought they had the fire controlled there.
"We got up there a linle ways and we
heard the train coming up the railroad.
"We ran back down and Frank was
ahead of me and got to the train, him and
several more of the boys did.
"'The fire cut me and a bunch of the other
boys off and we didn't get to the train.
"We had to go back 10 the top of the
mountain to where the fire had already burned
over and get out thataway," Walter recalls.
One of the people with Walter was a
young relative who was quite drunk. "He
was too drunk to be afraid of what was
happening to us," Walter says.
Walter himself was only 31 years old
but he said to the younger man, "Son, I ha~
to leave you here to get burned up. But I've
fooled with you till I don't know whether ru
get out or not. I'm going to have to leave
you."
Walter says he began to run, and left the
other man. "But in just a few minutes he
passed me running. He ran over trees and
rocks and turned somersets and outran me to
the top of the mountain.
"He wouldn't get scared until be seen

Xawan )oumat
I

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1t ,•

pQCJa

l

O JI

so
•

that I left him. He got scared then."
Garfield Millsaps, returned from leading
the horses down the valley, was caught
behind the fire in the group with Walter. The
men were running side by side when Walter
threw away his ax.
"What was that you throwed away?'"
Garfied asked him
"My ax," Walter said.
"Don't throw our cools away," Garfield
said.
"Where we're going in a few minutes
we won'c need none, and I ain't taking none
with me," Walter told Garfield.
"I was sure we were all going to die
right there and right then," Walter says. '
Everybody in that group survived,
though. And of !he dozens of men scauered
over the thousands of acres of Jeffreys Hell
that day, only Frank Coppenger and Bill
Graves died.
Fronk and Bill and the others !hat made
it to the train were able to load the household
furniture from Walter Evans' shanty car and
one other onto the train. Then they had to
leave, because the fire was moving in.
Cinders from the locomotive's stack had
set new fires down the creek and closed off
that escape. Engineer Dave Dockery started
the train on up the valley. There was no

alternative.
. Walter says there was a big, new log
landing beside the creek in a curve of the
railroad about 300 yards above the camp. The
landing was smned in March, and the teams
had been bringing logs in for six months now
and only one trainload of logs had been hauled
away from it.
Frank Coppenger and Bill Graves left
the train there. 'The men told me later that
they wet their handkerchiefs in the water of
the creek and started up over that landing "
Walter continues.
'
'They thoughc they could make it across
the mountain to Willis Tucker's camp to warn
him about the fire."
'They got up just a litde ways and had to
run out of the slddroad into a field of green
touch-me-nots. That's where they got burned
up," Walter says.
_The wind was up and updrafts were
carrying great masses of flame from ridge to
ridge by now. Frank and Bill were thought to
have died of suffocation before their bodies
bumed.
Big portions of both bodies were burned
a~ay; Frank's was identifiable by !he gold in
bis teeth. The buckles from Bill's overalls
were found under his corpse. Too, Bill had
on a hat and Frank didn't, and the hat
insulated Bill's head so that it was burned less
than Frank's was.
. All the people who stayed on the train
survived. They left the train on the first leg of
a double switchback at the head of the valley.
They were able to run to safety through a
hollow that had burned out two days
previously, Walter says.
Bertha sensed on Sunday afternoon that
Frank was dead. She waited beside camp
most of the night while searchers depaned and
returned. Her two oldest daughters came
across the mountain from Tellico Plains to be
with ~er. All four daughters, Sylvia,
Beatnce, Bessie, and Lula, were wi1h her
when word came that Frank's body had been
found early the next morning.
The watches of both victims, Frank and
Bill, had been welded by the heat and stopped
at 2 o'clock, two hours after their Sunday
dinner.
:;,
R~pri,1ud wi11t pumissi()nfrom /M Knoxville Journal
ofMarcJi 22, /979 and Marclt 29, /979.

At,: Fisherman/

(t:.~=
Fire Plevcntion Ad from 1923

Wlnur, 199 1-92

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crossroads. These men worked iron for a
trade, but it also was common for
homesteaders to have a small anvil and forge
on their farm. Just as homeowners today
usually have a power saw and know how to
drive a nail, so fanners in those times knew
how to do many of the small repairs that wcrc
always necessary.
So, although the blacksmith was
important and respected in the community by
right of his skill, he had no monopoly on the
trade. It was a common, egalitarian line of
work. In that period, labor was cheap and
materials were hard to come by. The smith
provided a service, and so took whatever the
community could provide in trade for his
work. Iron was a valuable commodity. new or
us~. ~d the ~~y was also a salvage shop.
Sm1~mg and nulling were the high points of
!he village technology; but the smithy
probably looked more like a scrap yard than a
prosperous local business.

FIRE AND FORGE
by Jan Davidson and David Brewin
Just as the fire on the hearth was the
cemer of the home, the bl:icksmith's fire was
the center of community production in the
mountain villages of the European settlers.
Before the Southern Appalachians and the
other rural areas of the country were tied into
the mass market and che nattonal
manufacturing system, a simple local
technology was shaped at the blacksmith's
forge. Upon it was based a self-sufficient
rural economy.
The guiding principle was, "Figure out
how to m~e it and hammer it out," according
to R. 0. Wilson, of Speedwell Community in
Jackson County, NC. Shelter was the first
thin~ a frontier family_ thought of on arriving
at a likely locanon. With a double-bitted axe, a
broadaxe, a foot adze, and a square, they
could put a log house together.
The next necessity was food. The
blacksmith made the tools for food
production. Unless a fanner wanted to work
with a wooden plow, he went to the
blacksmith. The smith also made equipment
for handling the draft animals, not only the
horse shoes, ox shoes, and mule shoes, but
also the bns and rings of the harness.
The t00ls to cook the food with were
also made in the smithy, as well as the
wagons that hauled the produce to market.
~ot every blacksmi~ could make a wagon of
iron and wood, but m those remote mountain
villages, where people had to be self-reliant, a
lot of them could do the job. Any good
blacksmith's shop could fix a wagon and pUl
"tires" (as the steel rims were called) on the
wheels. The whole transportation system
depended on the blacksmith.
The blacksmith made all the edged tools
lo&gt;tntcr, 199 I -92

Iron Work by David Bttwin

· knives, axes, saws - that a farmer took into
the woods when going to hunt meat for food
or to cut wood for building or heating lhe
home. The gun he carried was often made in
the same village he lived in. Guns were critical
to the early mountain families for food and for
defense, and gun-making was a branch of
blacksmithing.
The blacksrruth could make a loom. The
blacksmith could make a grist mill.
"You had to have hoes, you had to have
plows and horses, cradle blades, mowing
blades, axes, mauocks and wedges,
go-devils, all of these things," says long-time
mountain resident Mary Jane Queen.
..•And single-tree hardware, hinge
pintles, staples. naiJs, cooper's adze.-;, ginseng
hoes, bear traps, bullet molds, cowbells,
augers, barking spuds, pothooks, sickles,
post-hole diggers, froes. spatulas, ladles - all
of these were products of the blacksmith's an.
For food, clothing. shelter, and
tronsponation. almost every aspect of the
community except its spiritual life, people
were dependent on the blacksmith.
The smithy was a focal point for the
village. It was a center for the village
economy, but it also was a men's social
center. ln those days a person did not drop
something off and say, "!'II be by to pick this
up after J do some shopping." When a man
brought a job in, he and the blacksmith
worked on it together.
"They would go there, the men folks
would, if they had tools to have fixed, and
they would help grandpaw run the forge, and
they'd sit and talk· then they'd get up and
work a while, and then they'd talk awhile."
remembers Mary Jane Queen.
There was at least one blacksmith in
each town and often there was a smithy at the

Blacksmithing was always associated
with magic. For a srni!h to lake what looked
like ~lain rocks from the ground, draw out
hard iron, and transform that iron into tools
and weapons that gave their social group an
immense technological advantage must have
seemed magical indeed.
In Christian Europe when the
technology of ironworlcing had become
common, the blacksmith was still held in
some awe, but it was not the elevated stature
the smith had held in the early days of
civilization. Particularly in PoJand and Russia
blacksn:tiths ~ere thought 10 be in league with'
the devil. h 1s easy to see why. The smith's
sweaty, blackened face and torso dinied by
working all day at the sooty forg;; the forge
fire. hot and bright; the incessant ringing of
metal on metal; the showering sparks in the
smith's gloomy shop. which had to be kept
darkened so the smith could ·:iccurately sec the
color of the metal he was working: all the
images associated with Hell were drawn from
the blacksmith's trade.
The mountain story of "Wicked John
and the Devil" carried the connection over into
the New World in the tale of a blacksmith who
was "meaner'n the devil himself.~
Well-known mountain storyteller Ray Hicks
tells a "Jack tale" that relates how Jack
magically trapped seven devils in his sack.
Jack took his sackload to the blacksmith, who
pounded them 10 cinders on his anvil.
In a different tradition, iron was
supposed to defeat the magic of the fairies or
the Little People. In the British Isles some
travelers would wear an iron pin to protect
tl\emscl,ves from ~sfortune along their way.
The smithy, where iron was the stock in trade
was obviously a safe place, free of magic.
'
Other folklore followed the blacksmiths'
trade across the ocean. One custom held that
the water in which the smith quenched the hot
iron was a cure for poison ivy. There were
many others. Even today some blacksmiths
tap the anviJ three times at the end of the
workday to ''chain the devil."
In Europe, the basic tools of the
blacksmith • the nnvil, hammer, forge. and
bello~s - had all taken their classic shape by
the Middle Ages. Their design has been little
changed to this day.
.
The other primary tool of the blacksmith
1s fire. People do not usually think of fire as a
(a,ntinued OIi DCJCI ~ )

Xatilall Journa£ paqc 11

�which earned it into the forge 10 aerate the
f1re.
In the forge, lhe ore was formed into a
"bloom," a roughly spherical blob of
semi-molten iron, air bubbles. and impurities.
The bloom was beaten under the uip hammer
to remove air and foreign materials. When it
was done, it had been beaten into a nauene.d
"ham." The Hanging Dog Bloomcry Forge
turned ou1 1wo or three hams a day, each
weighing about 20 pounds.
The hams were shaped into b~ with
curved ends like sled runner,; so thnt a bundle
of them could be dragged behind a t¢.'lm or
oxe~ to local blacksmiths' shops within a five
or six county area.
This level of production me1 1he needs of
the area until the railroad came and tied 1he
region in10 the national industrial system. It
quickly became more economical to dig iron
Photo councsy of Ille Mountain Heniagc Center
(continued Crom page II)

1001 because it is no1 a solid objec1 that is
picked up and manipula1ed wi1h 1he hands, bu1
fire is crucial 10 every stage of the
blacksmilh's work. Woodworkers shape 1heir
ma1erial by removing some of it. bUL, while it
is hot, iron is a plastic me.dium thal can be
reshaped with li11le or no material being losL
The forge is the specialized fireplace that
holds the blacksmith's superheated fire. In
early times, blacksmiths used charcoal as fuel,
but shonly after the Civil War coke came to be
the most common fuel used in the mountains.
Coke is soft coal burned slowly at low
temperatures to remove the impurities., as
charcoal is made from wood. The bJacksmjth
made his own coke, healing it slowly and with
almos1 no air around the sides of 1he forge.
The blacksmith's fire was kept very hot
by the continuous ac1ion of a bellows. (foday
a blacksmi1h is more likely to use
anelecuically-powen:d blower.) For each
process perfonned by the blacksmith, the
metal must be a1 precisely the right
temperature. For some processes the metal
must be heated to over 2000 degrees
FahrenheiL
As the temperature of the metal changes,
so docs i1s color. The color changes arc the
blacksmith's thermometer, and the smi1h must
learn to distinguish the various gradations of
color in the heated metal. The iron changes
from pale yellow to straw yellow, purple,
blue, gray, dull red, sun rise red, cherry red,
light red, almos1 orange, and then white as its
internal rempe.rruure rises. More time in the
heat of 1he flames turns white heat to
incandescent white and then to a liquid
yellow, which indicates that the surface has
become semi-molten.
•
When the metal is hca1ed 10 the right
degree, the smith can flntten it or taper it, in a
process known as "drawing out." Or the smith
can "upset" the metal by drawing it back on
itself. If a tool needs holes, the smith can
punch them out. Two pieces of hot iron can be
joined together by ''forge welding,"
hammering them together on the anvil.
Blacksmiths' hammers come in a variety
of sizes and shapes. Some are swung, while
others are sci on the piece and StrUClc with a
sledge wielded by an assistant, "the striker."
In a small shop 1herc is usually only one
anvil, but it is capable of doing many different
jobs. The flat face of the anvil is used 10
hammer the metal into the various shapes. The
Xatunfl JOU-ma! page 12

horn is used in bending circles or arcs of
various sizes and can also be used to speed up
1he drawing out process, since the roundness
of the hom acts as a lens to focus the energy
of the blow.
Af1er shaping, the tool or part being
worked is heat treate.d to give either the
hardened metal of a axe head or the springy,
shock-absorbing metal of a saw. As in
forging, the color of the polished metal tells
the smith what kind of hardness, brit1leness,
or springiness the finished tool will have.
Axe heads or chisels can be treated to
vary the hardness wi1hin the tool. A cold
chisel tempered by a smith can be hard and
tough at the cuuing edge and relatively soft at
the baner end so 1ha1 the force of the blows is
cushioned and the chisel is less likely to
break.
Today the hardening and tempering of
tools is done in computer-controlled factory
ovens. Treating tools in large batches may be
economically more efficient, bul an old
blacksmith would consider the tools that we
use today to be of inferior quality.
Contrary to a commonly-held
stereotype, mountain life was not completely
agricultural and not all a matter of handwork.
Blacksmithing was pan of a sclf-rontained,
localized industrial process. Even the iron
used in the blacksmith's shop was produced
within the region at "bloomery forges," like
the two located in Hanging Dog, North
Carolina. Wood for charcoal and limonite,
iron ore, were found near 1he site, and 1he
operation was powered by wa1er power.
The ore was washed under a scream of
water and crushed to powder beneath the
weight of a 750 pound water-driven hammer
suiking at the rate of 100 times per minute.
The powdered ore was mixed with chan:oal
and healed in the bloomery forge. The forge
fire was kepi hot by the "trompe," a simple,
ye1 very sophisticated mechanism that fed a
continuous stream of air to the forge. Running
creek water filled a tank at the top of the
trompe. The water fell through rwo tubes,
which were pierced with small holes. The
falling water drew air through the holes into
the tubes. At the bottom, the water and air
entered what was known as the "wind box."
The rising level of the water forced the air
upwards and out through the wind 1ubc,

out of big pit mines, smelt it in huge blast

furnaces, and ship ii great distances.
By 1920 the local blacksmiths were
being usurped by large hardware companies
who were sending out catalogs by mail tha1
offered almos1 everything in the tool line.
Small-town country scores would keep a
catalog and make orders for their customers.
People became accustomed to purchasing
standard tools from the catalog, but there were
special tools that were never included, and
there still were people who would go to the
local blacksmith, because they did not have
the cash to order through the mail. But they
became fewer and fewer, and gradually the
local blacksmiths disappeared. When the
automobile was introduced, it was a natural
step for blacksmiths 10 move into mechanics,
body work, or welding.
Tourism provided one outlet. In Yancey
and Mitchell Coumies, for instance, 1he Boone
family succc.c;sfully made a transition to
ornamental and decorative ironwork. The
company still makes andirons, chandeliers,
flre sets, and other ornamental pieces for
customers on four continents. Their
succes~iul business means that in Spruce
Pine, North Carolina there is still a blacksmith
shop where a tool can be made or
repaired.Other small smithies still operate in
the mountains.
In recent years, 1he John C. Campbell
Folk School has been a center for smithing
instruc1ion. Students have come from every
part of the country to study there under Oscar
Canircll or the internationally known master
smith, Francis Whit1aker.
Ah.hough it may have been displaced
from itS position as the keeper of the village
fire, _the tradition of blacksmithing still
conunues.

p/a,J'

Jan Davidson is curaror of the Mou111ain
Heritage Center on the campus of Westem
Carolina University in Cullowhee, NC.
Dtn•id Brewin also works QJ the Cenrer.
bur blacksmithing is his first Jove.
The exhibit "lron.f in the Fire· is currently 011
display OJ tht MoU11trun lfrritoge Centu. Tht
prtse1110twn brings to life tht hinory of
black.smithing, shows m llll(l(lrlance 10 tlU! Europt0/1
stllltrs in the IIIOUntuins, and illustrates contemporary
app/ica11ons of the art. Tht uhibit includes a
20-minuu mu/ti-image slidt show and is open
Monday- Friday from 8 am 10 5 pm. For mare
informtJtion, call (704) 227-7129.
1.,1,n~r. t99t-92

�THE FIRST FIRE

out again at the same hole, but his 'body had been scorched black,
and he has ever since had the habit of daning and doubling on his
track as if trying to escape from close quarters. He came back,
and the great blacksnake, Gule'gi, "the Climber," offered to go
for fire. He swam over to the island and climbed up the tree on
the outside, as the blacksnake always does, but when he put his
head down into the hole the smoke choked him so that he fell into
the burning stump, and before he could climb out again he was as
black as the Uksu'lu.
Now they held another council, for still there was no fire,
and the world was cold, but birds, snakes. and four-footed
animals, all had some excuse for not going. because they were all
afraid 10 venture near the burning sycamore, until at last
Kanane'ski Amai'yelii, the water spider, said she would go. This
is not t.he water spider that looks like a mosquito, but the other
one, with black downy hair and red stripes on her body. She can
run on top of the water or dive to the bottom, so there would be
no trouble to get over 10 the island. but the question was, How
could she bring back the fire?
''I'll manage that.." said the water spider, so she spun a
thread from her body and wove il into a rusti bowl, which she
fastened on her back. Then she crossed over to the island and
through the grass to where the fire was still burning. She put one
little coal of fire into her bowl, and came back with it, and ever
since we have had fire, and the water spider still keeps her msri
bo~.
~v

In the beginning there was no fire, and the world was
cold, until the Thunders, who lived up in Ga/un'/ari, sent their
lightning and put fire into the bottom of a hollow sycamore tree
which grew on an island. The animals knew it was there, because
they could see smoke coming out at the top, but they could not
get to it on account of the water, so they held a council 10 decide
what to do. This was a long time ago.
Every animal that could fly or swim was anxious to go
after the fire. The raven offered, and because he was so large and
strong they thought he could surely do the work, so he was sent
first. Ile flew high and far across the water and alighted on the
sycamore tree, but while he was wondering what to do next, the
beat had scorched all his feathers black, and he was frightened
and came back without the fire. \Vahultu, the liule screech-owl,
volunteered to go, and reached the place safely, but while he was
looking down into the hollow tree a blast of hot air came up and
nearly burned out his eyes. He managed 10 fly home as best he
could, but it was a long time before he could see well, and his
eyes are red to this day.
Then U'guk.11, the hooting owl, and Ts/dli, the homed
owl, went, but by the time they got to the hollow tree the fire was
burning so fiercely that the smoke nearly blinded them, and the
ashes carried up by the wind made white rings about their eyes.
They had to come home again without the fire, but with all their
rubbing they were never able to get rid of the white rings.
No more of the birds would venture, and so the liule
Uks11'Jii snake, the black racer, said he would go through the
water and bring back some fire. He swam across 10 the island
and crawled through the grass 10 the tree, and went in by a small
hole in at tne bottom. The heat and smoke were too much for
him, 100, and after dodging about blindly over the hot ashes until
he was almost on fire himself, he managed by good luck to get

::!II'

Version collected by James Mooney inl&gt;tywo{llutC/iuol&lt;LeandSa.:r~
FtxmMlaso/llut CMrouu, published in 1900.
A tusLi bowl wos o cloy vt.r~I. scribed w11h o urtain design \l'ht her
was the vusel itselfor was the name of the po11tr11 of markings is n •I
known, but the IIISU bowl was o .wcred ium.
IUSU

'

1.i~nt~r. 1991-92

A Cherokee Legend

Drawings by James Rhea

�HEARTH &amp; FIRE IN THE MOUNTAINS
by Barbara Wickersham
The Highlands of Roan is a place of
spectaculru- beauty. Seven1.een miles of the
Appalachian Trail cross the massif and are
reputed 10 be some of the mos1 beautiful
stretches of the 2,000-mile 1rek. Settlers started
moving into this tumble of mountains in the
very late I 700's and discovered vast forests
filled with big timber and abundant game; plenty
of fresh, clean water, teeming wi1h trout: and
possibilities for subsistence farming, "sona hard
come by." They brought wilh them to this
wilderness a strong need for hearth and lire.
. The hearth, called "hath" by the
ol~-~crs, was the cc~ter of f!IUCh family
acnvny and took prominence m the building of a
home. Much care and time was spent in its
creation since ii was not only 1he center of
family life, bu1 essential for survival.
. While I was in Roan Mountain recently, a
fnend and I smpped by to see my friend Jim. a
mountain man of great presence who is a story
teller quintessential, a natural historian, and a
philosopher of sons. He has survived many a
harsh fire-demanding winter in the Roan
Mountain Community and seemed to be a
perfect source.
His blue eyes squinted thoughtfully as he
peered out from under a shock of grey hair, a
work-worn hand resting gently on Joe, his big
Gennnn shepherd lying protectively at his side.
He leaned back comfortably in his grea1 chair
and agreed 10 share with us some thoughts
about the use and importance of heanb and fire
during his growing up years.
"First," he explained, "You built the
chimley to a house, and you jest got big field
stones and clay mud, and you'd lay up a rock
and then you'd lay up a bunch of clay mud, then
ano'1!er round of rocks and more mud 'till you
get high as you wanted, and then you built your
hearth."
His voice trailed off as he seemed lost in
another time, another place for the moment, then
sighed, remembering, and continued.
"You hunted as big a flat rock as you
could find to make a heanh out of. Gen'ly had
to build up small rocks under it to make it level
with the floor. What it was for was to catch the
fire 'till it wouldn't get out and bum the house.
They'd be three to four fec1 long and a1 least
about that deep back. Then you got a big
backstick that was to go in the back of the
fircplace ... throwed the heat out Sometimes hit
would be 16 to 18 inches through, sometimes
bigger, and jest half it, and il'd take two to pu1 it
on.

"Sometimes you'd have 10 roll it in, but
it'd last all day behind there, and you'd pu1
smaller wood in front. Then you had a fire, and
you usually never let ii go out 'til along after
April when they'd have an old cookstove
a'goin', and hit went through the summer 'bout
all day."
Matches to start the fire were not easily
obtained. [f available at all, a box of matches
cost about a nickel and "it took sometimes an
hour to work ou1 that nickel back in the late '20s
and early '30s. l can remember well when
people would borrow fire, bring a little old
bucket, come to borrow a chunk of fire. I've
Xatuah J?14n~t J1Q9lt 14

PholO coune,y of lbe Mounwn Heriiaac Caller

even know'd 'em to take the shot out of a
shotgun shell and put a piece of co1ton where
the sho1 was - the powder would still be in the
shell - and they'd lire 1ha1 into some real dry
kindlin' or punk and it would set that co11on
a-fire. Then you jest blow'd on it and you'd
have a good fire in jest a minute."
Punk is very dry rotten, crumbly wood
found inside some hardwood trees.
"You could get it beuer out of a hard
maple and usually ever'body kepi a little around
where it would be dry. Hit wouldn't blaze bu1
made big coals, and once it was a'fire, it s;ayed
a'fire."
Sparks from soiking cwo pieces of flint
together were also used to fire punk.
All the fireplaces had an iron rod built into
the chimney, usually made of wagon wheel
ir&lt;?n. Double pothooks (S shaped) were hung on
this rod and meals were cooked in hanging pots.
.
''When Mom cooked beans or anything
hke that, she pm 'em on early in 1he mornin'
and let them cook 'till noon or she'd cook boiled
cabbage, lots of soup beans, or when she
cooked pork or beef, she cooked ii in a
three-gallon iron pot. That's what it took to do
us for 1wo meals.
"You had to have a fire, and that saved a
lot of wood and more time. Stove wood had to
be gonen in the mountains where it was dead
and dry. Sometimes, owin' to how long you'd
been livin' in a place, you'd have to go a puny
good ways to get it. You'd drag it in 10 the
woodyard with a horse, either on a sled or drag
the whole tree, and 1hen chop it
"Usually mother wanted dead locust hardest stuff in the world. You'd be three
minutes before you'd get one stick off, and 1ha1
would get a stove or a fire really hot, burnt
slow, and had a big coal with it, left coals in
there. You'd get one good fire, and it'd cook a
meal."
The cook stove had a bread oven, but in
the winter they often used a ponable, lidded.
cast iron oven that could be put among the coals
on the hcanh rock. They raked back the coals,

se1 the oven down, and 1hen covered it with
coals. The bread inside the oven cooked to a
fine tum.
"Mom could tell by the smell when it wns
done. Now tha1 was good cornbread!
Sometimes she made pone wheat bread, and I
have eat some rye bread made that-a-way."
Family life centered around the heanh.
The room that housed it was called 1he ftrero0m
(our present living room), and the mantle was
called_the fireboard. It was generally the largest
room in the house and held at least two big
beds.
Sickness was a real problem. since there
was little medical help available. and it was not
uncommon for a woman to be "sittin' under the
(sick) baby" by the hearth all day. Toothache
was trealed by putting hot ashes in a rag on the
jaw to ease the pain. Smoke was blown in the
car to soothe an earache.
"Hit worked. Hit was jest something 10
git it warm, I guess. rve had it blow'd in mine
many of a time when l was little. They'd jes1
puff it in their mouth, put their mouth right up
close to your ear, and blow right slow. When
they'd quit, you could see that liule curl of
smoke comin' out"
Colds were a menace; treatn)ent was
simple. Water was boiled in a cast iron 1calceule
and poured in10 a pan. Vicks salve was added
and the person with the cold leaned over this
with a quilt covering both the person and the
pan. It worked magic! Babies and small children
often had what they called croup. Ir was treated
in much the same way.
"Kids'd completely choke up and that was
the only way they had to break it They'd jest
quit breathin."
A person with rheumatism clid wha1 they
called "bakin' it" by putting a quilt on the hearth
and scooting as close to the fire as the intense
heat would allow, thus lcilling the pain.
A baby animal, unfonunate enough to be
born on a cold winter night or just rejected by its
mother, was brought in by the hearth and hand
fed.
Wlnter, t 99 t -9Z

�"We'd bring liule pigs in a lot of times,
and lambs, and I have brought calves in by the
heanh. I remember having baby pigs in a
confined place close where they could keep
wann when they would come unexpec1edly in
the cold time. If they could ever get to suck a
pig or lamb, you couldn't freeze it 10 dea1h. But
a weakly pig, sometimes you'd have to bring it
in and boule-feed it, or a weakly lamb that
couldn't get up. Once you fed it a time or two,
you bad a pet, and hit was a pest - a sheep or a
pet pig is the biggest pest in the world. An old
pig would trot after you all day long and squeal,
and it not a bit hungry. You've heard the sayin'
'Aggravatin' as a pet pig' - that's whur that
come from."

Before the advent of kerosene lamps, the
room was lit at night by bundles of small pieces
of knots from black pitch pines.
"They'd go into the mountains whur 1he
old black pine had fell over and the wood rots
out and leaves them pines a-layin' there. They'd
take a 10w sack and gather a big sack full of
knots, and they'd be about 1hree inches
through."
They wouW talce pieces a bit smaller than
finger diameter, split them to length, and tie
them in bundles "aboul what you could hold in
your hand." Rawhide ties were placed at
intervals down che 12 to 18 inch long bundles.
When needed for light, a bundle was carefully
secured in a hole among the chimney rocks and
lit. As it burned down, a tie was removed and
the next one down held the bundle together.
Some people had what they called pitch holders
which were made at a black:.mith shop. It, 100,
was stuck back among the rocks in the chimney.
Kerosene ushered in a new era wilh lamps
and lanterns. In the beginning, many of the
lamps had no globe and were made 10 be used
with wool rags pushed down into the lamp, then
covered with kerosene. A bit of the wool rag
was pulled through the opening and lit, sucking
up the kerosene as it burned. Lanterns soon
replaced pitch torches for walking to church at
nigh1, going 10 parties, or seeking a missing or
sick animal on the mountain.
Fire wa.~ used 10 make life easier in lots of
ways. Down by the creek 1hey would have a
30-gallon iron keule hung from a rack a fool or
foot and one -half above a fire. This was filled
with water from the creek and clothes were
boiled using homemade lye soap. If clothes
were especially dirty, after boiling they would
be taken to the creek and beaten on the rocks
with a bauling stick. Dry wood was used for the
fire, beech, sugar tree (maple), oak, "old apple
tree made awful good fire," and the coveted
dead locust.
Ironing was made easier by starching
clothes with a cooked solution made of flour
and water. There were no ironing boards back
1hen, and ironing was done using a whi1c clo1h
on the dining lable as an ironing surface. Fial
irons were h1!.1tcd on the cooksiove, two at a
time in order to switch when one got too cool.
Most v.omen quilted, and ironing small pieced
scams flat with a heavy Oar iron thai wa, often
too hot or 100 cold was no easy task. Trying 10
follow a soap or chalk-marked quilting line in
the light of a pitch pine bundle or a kerosene
lantern was a challenge as well.
And lhen...mcn's work. On the mountain
farm, neither men's nor women's work was
ever done.
1.i11,rcr, 199 1-92

On the evening before hog killing, the men
dug a big hole and layered wood and big rocks
in it. Very dry kindling was placed on top.
About four o'clock the next morning, they
would "lire that up, and them rocks would get
hot, and we'd fill up a 60-gallon wooden barrel
with water, and we'd lay that on an angle, kinda
tilted, and we'd throw them big red hot rocks in
there, and when you got it whur it would burn
you, it was ready.
"They would have the hog up on a
scaffold and it would take three men to put it
down in there and then they'd keep feeling 'till
they could tell the hair was comin' off. Then
they would tum it and get that side. Usually you
scraped it afler you scalded it. They would tum
it around and do the other end. You kept your
fire agoin', and the water would be gitlin' some
cold but not much, and you hung them on the
scaffold then, and take the entrails out and hang
them to drip, and then they'd git the next 'un.
Kept your lire agoin' and kept the rocks hot all
the time. Take the rocks out when the water got
too cold and reheat them. Would have more
rocks all ready 10 put in while the first ones was
gettin' hot again."
A special smoke house was used to smoke
pork. A lire was built in either a hole dug in a
dirt floor or smouldered in an iron pot. The meat
was hung above this.
"Jest let it smoke... had a place in the roof
for the smoke to go out...smoked it auer it was
cured with salt. Smoked it with hickory or
mountain ash wood 'cause they wouldn't black
none."
Two survival-related uses for fire simply
have to be mentioned here. Moonshine was an
important source of cash for these mountain
people, and fire was essential both for heating
water and cooking mash. Another lucrative
business was the cutting and sawing of wood.
Sawmill boilers fired with wood made the steam
that generated power for the big pulley wheel
Belts ran from !here to the saw and made it
possible to cut giant logs into lumber.

M,010 lalcn 01 lhc home of C. E. Willwns 111
Rom Mount.tut. TN by Sort.a Wickcrr.hun

There were for 100 many other uses for
fire to recount them all, but one more important
use was for agriculture. ~New ground" had to
be cleared for a garden about every chrce ~ Everything was cut from as close 10 the ground
as possible on rhree 10 four acres of land. The
brush was put in a big pile, and the log~ were
left for a big "log rollin'.
"This was a git-together, jest one man
a'helpin' another, have 10 or 12 men. They'd
roll the logs and the women would cook.
You've heard that expression "Jest like cookin'
for a log rollin' ...that's what it was. Now they
really cat!"
The logs werc rolled into piles and set
ablaze, burning sometimes four or five days.
Once "Old Man" Wes Miller got impatient
and decided 10 bum his logs by himself. He
rolled the logs together and fired them. As they
burned away in the middle, he pushed them
closer together to encourage them to bum
completely. While so doing, one big log
suddenly rolled over and caught his left leg,
jamming it tightly between two burning logs.
No matter how hard he tried, he could not
disengage his leg.
His axe lay about a foot beyond his reach.
He began clawing at the dirt until ftnally the axe
slid toward him. Then he chopped off his leg,
tore his overall pants leg into srrings, made a
tourniquet, found a crooked stick which he used
for a crutch and managed to get back home.
"He hewed out a wooden leg for himself,
the straight kind, peg-leg they called it. He was
real young when this happened and he lived to
be a healthy old man. He was a rough customer,
he was. He could walk on the mountain even
and talce care of his animals....They was tough,
back then!''
Jim suddenly fell quiet, a gen1le giant of a
man, his hand once again trailing Joe. Truly,
they "was tough back then," and !hey still are.

/

�signify the arrival of the new year, the people
would strip, bum their clothes, and then put
on fresh garments to begin the new cycle. The
mam purpose of that ceremony was 10 make
the connection between all the people.

The Ancient Red
These are tire words ofa traditional
Cherokee medicine person:
Let me st.an at the beginning. This is
what my grandfather told me. The 0:eator
made the Eanh and all things, and then the
Oeator set up the Jaws of nature to govern
everything - so that the wolves wouldn't eat
all the deer in one day, and so on. And the
Creator set Grandmother Moon and
Grandfather Sun in their places.
The Sun was supposed to talce care of
the humans. The Sun, being a bit arrogant.,
thought that some lesser being could talce care
of such a petty species. So he sent the Fire to
the Eanh to represent himself on the planet.
The humans were to communicate to the Sun
through the fire.
The element ofFlfC is known as the
A_ncient Red. Ancient Red always refers to
Fsrc, although there arc several spiritual
beings who are called by that name. The First
Man on the planet, Kanati, became the
spiritual essence of lightning and thunder so
be is called Ancient Red because of that '
conn~tion. In the formulistic language there
are different words for Fire that sigrufy Fi.re as
Kanati, as lightning, as the wood fire, or as
the Sun.
The color red signified Fire and was also
the symbol of Heaven. Our concept of Heaven
is called the Sun La.nd, Beyond the Sun and it
is in the East. Red is the color of the ~ t and
it is also the symbol of success. When th~
warriors went to war, they painted red and
black on their faces; red for victory and black
for death.

1n all the medicine fonnulas, the Ancient
Red is the most powerful being a medicine
person can call. The translation of the word
for medicine people is "the sacred fire bums
inside of them."
Hel_lt _was a prime element in doctoring.
The med1cme people would rub their hands
together rapidly before going to work to
provoke that sacred fire that bums inside and
move it into their hands so that they could
transfer it to the patienL Some would heat
mud daubers' nests and put them on their
patients' bodies to cure them. Fire was
brought into the sweat lodge in the heat of the
stones for healing. Fire is for purification. A
sacred pipe is purified over a fire.
There arc several taboos about Fuc.
People arc not to piss on a fire. Even if they
arc up in the woods where there is no water
close by, and they have st0mped out their
campfire except for a few last coals, they
should not piss on it to put it ouL One does
not throw anything in the fire that is unclean.
Cedar, rhododendron, and mountain laurel
woods arc not lO be used as firewood; they are
Xatuan )o"maL

pQ(Je 16

thrown into a fire 10 change its personality. If
rhododendron or mountain laurel are put on a
fire when they are green, they scream when
you throw them imo I.he fire. The old variety
of sacred lObacco is also put into fires to
change them.
This used to be important to the native
people, but to a great extent we have lost that,
and it's sad. I have been to stomp dances in
Oklahomn, and I have seen people showing
remnants of that former attitude around the
fire. It is rare to see that any more. Today
there are people who piss in the fire or throw
irash in it witho~t giving it ~ second thought.
The most 1mponant thmg to remember is
tha! FlfC ~s a living _
being - a living being with
an ~ncredible appeme. You can be frightened
of 11, or you can be respectful of it and at one
with i~. It will_not harm you if you do not do
anything foolish. But people have to recognize
Fire as a living being.
My grandfather told me that at the
Kaniah village there was a sacred fire that was
the central fire for the whole Cherokee nation.
lt was kept alive with the sacred woods. The
sacred woods were sourwood, hickory,
cedar, locust, yellow pine, white oak and
sweet birch.
'
Cedar and sourwood trees, which are
considered very sacred to the people, are both
connected to the color red. Sourwood is the
first red-leafed tree to change. The wood of
the cedar has red in it The cedar does not
grow in these mountains, but it is really
av~able in Tennessee or southern Georgia,
so in the old days people would just run over
there to get it.
Once a year, at the time of the Green
Com Ceremony, all the fires in the whole
Cherokee territory were all put out. The sacred
fire at the mother village was then relit by a
person who was designated as the firekeeper,
and runners would take the fire 10 all the
villages in the Cherokee nation.
The old people used lO say that the flfC
was the bond that kept the tribe together. It did
not matter that the people were members of
different clans and spoke different dialects: it
did not mauer that we might have different
enemies and different friends; the fire was the
same. Wherever our village wll!&gt;, we all
cooked at the same fire and heated our lodges
with the same fire. It was the fire that held us
together.
. The Green Com Ceremony marked the
begmnmg of the new year. It was the tribe's
most powerful ceremony. It was the bonding
ceremony. When the fires were put out, the
people forgave all the crimes of the past year
and made resolutions for the next My
grandfather said that, after the sacred fire was
li~ and the runners were ready t0 leave for their
villages, the people would do a special dance
around the sacred fire. That dance had its own
particular songs about the fire-lighting. To

The Green Com Ceremony was
celebrated when the first roasting ears of com
became ripe enough to eat, sometime after the
eighth or ninth of July. No one could eat the
new com until then. In the last days before the
ceremony, it was hard LO keep the kids out of
the field. The adults used 10 satisfy the young
ones by letting them eat the com worms, and
the com smut off the ears. Com smut is
delicious! They would take it before it got
black, cut it up a.nd fry it. I understand that
among the Mayan Indians only the emperors
and the wealthy were allowed t0 eat com
smut. The com worms are good too when
they are fried.
'
'
After the Green Com Ceremony, when
the runne~ brought the fire to the villages,
they took It to the council house at the center
of the town. The grandfather of my
~n~ather told him about the ceremony at the
hghung of the fire. One person did a spider
dance and carried some smoldering embers in
a clay pot to each of the four directions in the
village because Spider had carried the FtrSt
Fire in a clay pot which she made (see page
13). Then they returned to the town house,
and the elder who was designated the
firekeeper brought the fire to a blaze with the
sacred woods.
That fire was kept alive in the council
house all year. Just as the One Sacred Ftre
was the focal point for the nation and the fire
in the lodge was the focal point for the family,
so the fire in the council house was the focal
point for the village. If a family's lodge flfC
went out, they went lO the town house, and
the firekeeper would light their fire, honoring
all the taboos around it, because Fire was a
sacred being.
The fire in the council house stayed alive
all Y:8'"· :nie _firekeeper was responsible for
keepmg u gomg and then called it up with the
seve~ sacred woods when they had council
meeungs.
James Timberlake, when he visited
Attakullakulla's village. went to a meeting in
the t?wn_
house. Although it was daylight
outs1de, tt was dark inside the building, but he
could see that the firekeeper had laid out short
piece~ of dri~ river cane, one overlapping the
next, m a spiral that stanc:d from the fire pit
and moved out in a great circle. The elder who
was the firckeeper started 10 chant a fonnula.
and at the end of each verse he clapped his
hands four times and rubbed them together. At
that, I.he fire ignited, and the cane started
burning. It seemed as though it was
spontaneous. Timberlake was amazed.
As one piece of the cane spiral burned
up, the one overlapping it would catch fire,
and the flame went around until the whole
sprral was consumed. The people sat in a
CIJ'Cle around the burning slivers of cane and
used them for liiht during the meeting. Toe
fire was also a nmer, because when it went
out the council was over.
. There was another com ceremony, but
thlS one was done at planting time. 11 involved

�Waiting;
Under the Wing of a Dark Hill
We are waiting to break every vow
We have made.
Hunting the butt-ends,
Smoking them under the trees,
Dra·wing closer to the lantern
We read
The razors
In bloodKin eyes.
We goin idle
Search of him,
Of the silver one
Who is only a flash
That crosses our path
From time to time
(But familiar
like the amber
And the spittle
Or the shadow that falls
on our dreams
Eyes wide.)

lighrning-srruck wood, which, if it was taken
from a cree that survived the blast, had the
Ancient Red in iL Before planting the com, a
large group of women would dance around
the cornfield, leaving a small group of women
at each of 1he cardinal points. Each of these
smaller groups would include an elder
grandmother who had a big splinter of
lightning-struck wood. When there was a
group in each of the four comers, they sang a
special song and rushed 10 the center of the
field. Al the center of the field, they would
plunge their lightning-struck wood into the
earth, like lightning striking the ground.
This was a powerful symbolic act. The
lightning-struck wood represented Kanari, the
First Man and also the lightning, and the
women represented Selu, the First Woman
and also the Com Mother.
That was to make the com grow. 1 think
it probably did. Com just grows beuer if the
women plant it and do things like thaL
Fire was of great spiritual imponance,
but it was also the people's most powerful
tool. Besides using it for basic cooking and
heating, I told how ii was used for healing. It
was also much involved in weapons-making.
The people used fire in making blowguns and
in flintknapping. To make arrowheads, they
heated up the pieces of flint and then poured
drops of cold water on them. And in the
earliest days, before they knew flintknnpping,
they would bum the ends of sticks and rub
them to harden them.
Outside the village, the people used
controlled fires to bum away the leaves and
woody debris around their town 10 protect it
from wildfires. When clearing new fields they
used fire 10 bring down the trees. They would

girdle a tree, and after it was girdled and
dried, three or four people working as a team
would stan small fires at its base. They would
just sit around and chat while the fires burned,
from time 10 rime geuing up to chip away the
charred wood with their axes, until the tree
fell. Jn this way they would also bring down
large poplar treeS 10 make their canoes. Once
down, the log was also hollowed out with
fire.
After the riverbonom fields were
cleared, the people would continue 10 bum
them off every year co get rid of the cane. My
grandfather's grandfather told him that he
remembered the sounds of the cane crncking
and exploding when they burned the fields. 1t
sounded like an army - Boom! Boom!
BOOM!!
They would also bum the mountains 10
gel the chesrnu1s. They would set fires at the
bonom of the mountain, and bum the leaves
off all the way up 10 the top. h made it easier
to get the chestnuts, easier to move around,
and it enabled them 10 gather honey.
Burning made hunting easier because it
100k away the brushy places in which the
animals would hide. Burning the hillsides
encouraged grass and sun-loving blueberries
and huckleberries to grow up underneath,
making better forage for the game animals.
From my grandfather, I got the
impression lha1 they burned the mountains
every fall. I think 1ha1 to a bird flying over this
area in the autumn 300 years ago, ii would
look like the whole Cherokee territory was
smoking.
Fire was an imponant pan of the old#
way of life.

fr'

We foam in the bowels
We shit and quake at the light
Of killing him.
(If we could dare
Or ferret him out,
Tell him apart
Prom us
While we slept ... )

If we could find
What we'd need,
We'd cul his green throat,
Dance on his green blood,
And bury him beneath the sodden
leaves
(Bury him in the mud and lime
Like us)
We'd bury himOnly an inch or so
Below the surface.
Mile and miles
From the black coal,
And just as far
From the

Warm,
Translucent
SKY.
David Earl Williams

Orn ing by Rob Messick

lolu1tcr, 1991-92

By God,
We cast pale omens
Into camp fire
And breath them in.

JCnti'mh )ounW J)QIJC 17

�MIDWINT

POEMS BY JI

MIDWINTER FIRES

All branches bare
Apple persimmon acorn
chestnut hazel
The peach gone
December the dying month
The cold sunken
giving up of ghost
By the fires your
moon-heat wrestling
spent harvest winds
A knock

Admit them

Admit them

Three keen-faced bulls
hindquarters manly
shaggy crouching bearing
mistletoe and holly
berry

THE HOLLY

Beads
of blue

Grieve not!
The golden bough and holly sprig
greet you!

blood
the air transfigures
crimson
A crown
of thorny

green

YULE

The sun does not die
The earth tapers
then savors

Let's make a fire
to cure poison
its shine

In the wood's gloom
a blazing
evergreen

We'll smolder a log
shoulder sorrows away
in brass buckets
of ash
Luck will be ours
The singing flint within us
Embers glowing
glowing

�ER

EFFERY BEAM

EATING THE GOD

Having been Ox
and Shamrock
Having been Queen
and Peasant
Having been Tern
and Blow-fish
This strange land
takes me
Restores my strength
The land's fleshy
length
Such was our custom
With jug and grain
I by thanks am given

SATURNALIA
I left the place l was accustomed to

COW-BORN DIONYSUS

Here you are again
Friend of the winnowing heart
Back from your far journey
I will help you work the
lath and hoop
to set the stars on
an unbitter loop
so your sacred frame
will hang low and succulent
like the eyes
of new calves

Where the rooster
ignites and hails
the sun
You find me
Agoat
with a black
beard

Drawings By James Rhea
Borders By la.son Tueller

�..... LOGGER -VIOLENCE!
••

' • ' N"1Uril W«ld Newr ~ice

On the morning of November 25 1991
Bruce Hare was in the Long Creek Ho~
Restaurant, the local cafe in the little town of
Long Creek. Hare had grown up in Long
Cre~k and presently owns the Chanooga
Wh1tewater Shop that offers rafting trips down
the nearby Chattooga River. And because he
cares about his home and the river, Hare has
also been filing appeals on timber sales offered
by the US Forest Service (USFS) near Long
Creek in the Sumter National Forest
Hare is a former president of the South
Carolina Forest Watch environmental group.
Forest Watch has been very moderate in
pushing forest management reforms, but the
group had recently assisted the Georgia Forest
Watch in filing several appeals in pans of the
Chatrooga watershed that lay in the state of
Georgia. This angem:l logging contractor
J~s Smith, who also lived in Long Creek but
did a lot of work across the state line in the
Chattahoochee National Forest
Smith came into the cafe with an
employee, David Phillips, who has made no
secret of his dislike of Hare and his work.
Smith was believed to have participated in
vandalizing Hare's business several months
before. The two loggers came over 10 Hare's
table, threw hot coffee in his face, tackled him
and started to beat him mercilessly. They brok~
a wooden chair over Hare's back and one of
the men held him while the other
hit him
repeatedly in the face.
. "Keep this up, and we'll kill you," they
said, refemng 10 Hare's environmental work.
They also threatened by name Dr. Billy
Campl?c:11 of Wesaninster, SC, a local general
pracnnoner and Forest Watch member and

:nan

Roben Alexandei- of !labun County,

GA, a

member of the Georgia Forest Watch. They
then walked out of the restaurant leaving
several shocked witnesses and a battered Bruce
Hare, who suffered multiple body bruises a
face that was described as "a mass of brui~s "
a di~located finger, a chipped tooth, and a '
spramed neck.
The two assailants were later picked up
by the sheriff's pan-ol and taken to the county
detention center in Walhalla They appeared
before Magistrate Becky Gerard on charges of
aggravated assault and battery and were
released on their own recognizance in lieu of
$500 bail apiece.
~arc's i:esponse to his bearing is simply
10 conunue his work on behalf of the forest
_"l hate 10 see this," he says. "lt's a
neganve turn of events. It's like the irresistable
force meeting the immovable object. They1I
have to kill me to stop me, and I'm afraid that
some of the loggers feel the same way.
"We're not going to get any help from the
couns or the government. It's a real world.
~hether it's Nicaragua or Ireland or right here,
its a real world we live in."
The reaction of the commercial media to
the beating of Bruce Hare has been subdued
even though the a~sailants made sure thm H:i:re
knew lha1 this was an act of intimidation.
The men who damaged Bruce Hare arc
now loose on their own recognizance. The
court's verdict on the seriousness of their
actions will be a clear signal 10
environmentalislS and loggers alike as to how

Xatuar, )ou1 not

PClCJC 20

·1-T-ENNESSEE·FIRES

'

Narural World N._,, Sc,rvice

Afl.C( lwo monlhs of unusually hght rainfall, the
&lt;bys 111 the end of lhe monlh of October, 1991 posed a
great fire hazard. Wilh lhe rising of a dry wind.
conditions became extreme. All it took was a match,
and on the western slope of the mount.ains in the
Cherokee National Forest. arsonists provided the
matches on October 23. For the next lWO weeks
approximately 40 wildfucs burned in lhc Cherokee
scorching approximately 3.SOO acres of woodlands.
The Roclcy Top area was severely burned by
several fires, the biggest or which alone burned 1,700
acres. In Greene County, a fire in Polly Hollow burned
over such precipitous terrain thnt firefightcrs had to Jet
it bum for a full day before iL reached an accessible
location where they could begin to fight iL That fire
burned over no acres before it was contained. There
was a 300 acre fire on Green Mowuain and 225 acres
burned on LiuJe Pond Mountain, also in Gn,ene

th~ po~ers-that-be view "greenie-bashing" in
this region.
Not all loggers are like Smith and
Phillips, but as the national economy continues
to come unglued, people become afraid.
Non-violent environmentalists could become
likely scapegoats for the social ills that are
making some men angry and fearful Desperate
men are dangerous.
How are violence and intimidation to be
de~? Are the couns up to the job? The
reacaon to the aggravated assault on Bruce
Hare bears careful watching.

DISAPPEARING WETLANDS
Narunl World News Scivloc

Wlul do you do if o wetland area ge1.5 in lhe way

of )'QUT bulldoze(! If you arc President George Bush~
~. US Anny Corps of Engineers, you simply say it
1sn t there and keep on pushin'.
The 1989 edition of the Wetlands Dt1l~ation
Manual. used by lhe ColJ)s and I.he Envuonmental
Protec~ ~g~y to~~ wcllands qualifying for
protccuon LS be.Ing reviScd. However, the revisions are
more political lhnn scientific.
The proposals arc coming from the highest
echelons of lhc Bush administration, and they speak
more or lhe success of lobbyists for oil, gas.
development, and agricultur31 interests than of any new
breaklhroogh~ in scientific research.
In practice, the change has already gone lhrough.
ln the summer of 1991 the US Army Corps of
EngillC.CIS was ordered to go back to using a four year
old manual lhnt has less stnngcnt definitions for
wellands lhan lhc current manual.
"The '89 manual was lhough1 to be leaning a
lillle too much toward lhe wetlands side." Roben
Johnson of the Ashe vii le Corps or Engineers office told
lhe Ashtvillt Ciliun -T~s.
The chllngc in lhc rules will result in I.he lo.~ of
10 to 3~ of the wetlands in the country, according to
the NauOlllll A ~ Society. ~ly, "it is already
mnkmg ,;ome d1ffcrtnce," said Johnson. The Corps is
a~vm_ mon: construcuon, filling, and dredging
g
proJCCts m rucas that previously V.'OUld ha,-e been
COllSJdcred wetlands.
Commcncs on the change in wcdands policy can
be direcltd to:
Grtgory Pt'dt.
En,iron~nta/ Pro1ec1ion Agtncy

County.
The fue on Rocky Top seemed LO be the worst,
wilh flames reaching six feet in heighL Some of the
fires crowned, or burned into the tops of the trees, in
stands of Virginia pine.
There were no homes damaged or dcstr0yed,
although there were seveml close calls. During the
Rocky Top fire. firefightcrs at one paint abandoned one
home to the fire, but because of a sudden drop in wind
speed. they were able to retwn and save lhe dwelling.
Where possible, bulldoi.crs coostructed fire lines
cleared areas in front of which backfucs were set 10
'
consume fuel in I.he palh of the oncoming blllUl.
However, 80 J)Cl'CClll of lhe lines were cleared by 20
person crews working 16 • and sometimes 24 • hour
shifts to clear brush in rough rerrain. They were
n:infon:ed by air tanker$ thnl flew overhead, dropping

water-based chemical fll'C relal'dant on the b ~
Helicopters slinging large warer bucketS also cooled
backfires lhal looked like they might jump their J;nc
and patrolled the edges o( the fires, guiding !hem away
rrom buildings and ~ lhat looked like potential hot
Spots.

Al10get11er, counting fu'Cligluers on lhe line and
suppon personnel, more than 1,000 people fought the
blazes.

401 MSt SIi'

\Vashmgron, DC 2046()
Ciuioon by Andrew l.A,hman

,.,inrcr, 1991 - 92

�-

.-, -.s
WASTES TO BURN

USPS IS ARROGANT

NUii World~

(TIDS IS f'liEWS?)
Nounl World New

An article in lhe Sunday, November 10
Kno:cvillt Ntws-Stntind reported lhat the US
Department or Energy (DOE) 1w requested the Si:u.c or
Tenncssc:c to accept ..tupments or mll!ed hat.ardous and
radJoocu, e waste (o, bu ming at 00 R1dgc·s 'TSCA
incinerator' (so called because 11 1,1as established under
the Toxic Substance:$ Control Act).
The TSCA 1nc1ncrator came up to full burn in
April, 1991. J~is presently burning liquid wiutes stored
in the mile-square K-25 building 81 the Oak Ridge
Reserv:iuon. It is esumatcd lh:lt the facility w,11 be able
10 burn two million pounds or waste per year 81 great
eitpcnsc ond great d:ingcr to the cnvironmcnL Within
two yClll'S the mcincrnt.Or wiU be burning the solid
wastes scored in K-25.
The DOE ha~ permission 10 import wastes from
their facilities at Fernald and Portsmouth, Ohio, and
Padooih, Ken111Cky But the agcncy is oho asking to
bring 111 7S truckloads or-te from the fac1h1y at
Weldon Springs, Missouri as well, pleading that it
should have been included in the original wa~te hauling
COllll'OCL

The Oak Ridge Enviroomcnlal and Peace
Alliance (OREPA) is calling on Tcnncsscc governor
Ned McWhcrter 10 lllkc a st,ong stance against
acccptanee or ony addiuonal wa...ics over the contraeted
amounL The DOE ha~ no comprehensive v,1aste
management pl.an, and governors in Idaho, Colorado,
New Mexico, and Nevada have cited this lack in firmly
forbidding was11: shipments into their Slates.
OR EPA staff member Ralph Hu1cl11son says,
"DOE's waste is Wee elccll'icity seek.mg 8 ground - 11
will 1alcc the palh of lc.ast resistance, and where it finds
a ground, people will get burned."
People all over the K.atuah Province would be
affeclCd ,! Tcnncssce allowed extra loading al the TSCA
lncincl'8tor. OREPA is calling on people throughout the
region to write to:
Go~r""' Ntd McWhtncr
Stott Capitol
Nashville, TN 37219
asking him to prohibit extta twardous and radioactive
waste burnings in TcnlleSlitJC.
It would also be an opponunity to ~11ggcs1
closing the TSCA mcincrator entlrely, to stop it Crom
o;pewing toxic polluUIIJIS into the lllmOsphere.

US 01,trict Judge G. Ross Andcrion, Jr. issued a
temporary n:$tr.Uning order to 5IOp won in the
long-dispui.:d Long Cn:cl umber 'wile m the Picuni.
Ranger Disuict or Soulh Carolina's Su nter National
Forest. In deciding on I SUit brought by South C.arolin3
Forest Wau:h. the judge berated the US Forest Scrvioc
for its "unparalleled arrogance" in its handling of the
su~tion. The agency cleru'ly hod been trying to avoid
tails with the environmental group and had logging
companies poised to begin cuumg. even though the
cnse was sull m ooun.
The sale gained w i ~ ottcntion when, m the
spring of 1991, 1 protc~tcr who identified hu,uclf only
&amp;s "Forest B. Green" s!OJIPCd work on the logging
project for five days by siu.ing in • tnle. At that lime
the USFS was di.rcctcd to come up with a new
environmental a.ssessmct1t 3nd discus:s 11 with the Forest
Watch group. The USFS did come up with• new
environment.al assessment· one which was complcl.Cly
unaccepmble 10 Forest Watch - nnd then piclccd up the
umber S31e cx.aclly where it had been lc!t off, directing
the companies who had previously offered the low bm
to begin cutting, meanwhile Slalling on meetings wilh
the Forest Watch group.
Thi., did IIOl lcnd credibility 10 the agency's
environmcn ta! assessment in the eyes of either the
Forest Watch group or the judge. The Gruntvi/le
News qoOICd Judge Anderson as saying, "I get the
impression your arrogance is unp81211eled. You jUSl
don't care 10 "' down and talk. 10 anyone except
yourselves.•
"I'm noi imprc.&lt;t'icd by a governmental
agency_lh:11 lends IO forget who's paying its sata,y;
the judge said later m the procccd1ngs.

!~uatij: ~ USF11lg,ced., ~ihAia.... the s:ilc
contraets 111d hold moctinil,' with FotcSI Walth
manbcrs. They also agreed to notify Forest W81Ch 30

days before taking any action on the oralc, to prevent any
olhct blitwitg Jogging raids and allow the group ample
time 10 go to coan should they deem II ncccs.ury.

CHEOAH SALE NAILED
Nwnl "'\\tor U News Service

More than 300 spikes wen: found embedded m
ltt.cS slated 10 be cut as part of the Gra.~y Gap and
W=a umber -.;iJcs 111 the Chooah Bald area the
Nantahala National ~ On Scplember 23, 1991

or

US
Forest Service employees checked the urea arier
receiving a leucr postmarked in Olarlotte announcing
the !piking.
Oieoah B.ald, formerly• 21,000 acre roadlcss
area, ""'11.1111ack.cd quickly after being dtlistcd as a
RARE n (Roadlcss Arca Rc.cnrch and Evaluation) ~ite
and reduced to 7.000 roadies~ acres. It still is the !ariest
unprolCClcd road~ are3 m the N:uuah:lla Nalional
forest and on important link between the Great Smoky
Mountains National Pan; and the surrounding fon:st
areas. The Wildtrncss Society and the Siena Club lhis
summer came to an agrccmcnt with the Forest Service
th.It allowed timber cutting but no roodbuilding m the
W=r and Gl"3liSy Gap s:ilcs.
Chcoah District Ranger Glenn McConnell w:is
qootcd in the A ,lttvil/t C11iun-Tunes &amp;s saying. "I
don't consider this (spiking) a protesl. This is
terrorism." The cry was wen up by the newspaper
1L,;clf in its editorial column. The charge was mu
because spikes can be dangerous to saw mill opcra1ors if
they arc working without safety procecuon when a 5Pike
is h11. Neithcl McConnell nor the newspaper unplic.iled
umber mmagcrs or logging company owners ,,.ho order
workers to continue cutting timber "31cs rcgasdless of
the known risk or spikes.

ANOTHER GE SUPERMESS
N uni World N •.,,

The EPA ha.~ recommended three locations in
Henderson County, 1'C for a single federal Supetfund
cleanup site - ~ith General Eloctric Corporation bemg
identified as f'C.\'J)Oll'ible for the contaminauon. GE now
has at least 48 Supcrrund sates to 11.S "credit" - more
than any OU1Cr corporauon.
GE opposes huing the lhroe locauons as a
~mgle site because, although the EPA ha~ found similar
contamination by organic compounds, PCB, 1111d
pcn:loroethylcnc (a su~I.Cd aircmogcn) 11 the various
locations, GE m1111win, lh:ll the propcrues arc not
connccl.Od and are underbid by SCIXll'3te bodies of ground
water. The cost of the cleanup, which would be borne
primanly by GE, has yet 10 be dtltrmincd since the
extent of the contaminauon ,~ sun unclear. The EPA 1s
"concerned about the potential for tong-term exposure;
and recently asked GE 10 sign a consent agreement so
cleanup or the site ll\JIY begin 1mmcdialcly, but so Car
GE has n:fuscd to do so.
Arca tCSldcnts have expressed concern lh:ll
property values m the adJOining areas will plummet ii
the site is placed on lhc National Prioritit.$ list.

Wtntcr, l99l -92

!1RTlOt'1.R. L 'FO'.KFst.S
Xawah Journot pa.c:,e 21

�Natural World News

SPECIAL REPORT

WHO WILL HAVE THE POWER?
Winners and Losers in the War to Control the Utilities Industry

At fm;r glance it looks like a dull and
confusing ''battle of initials": the war over
energy and the who, what. and why of its
production that is being waged in Washington.
If one says them aloud, the tenns FERC,
PURPA, SEC, and IPP, (or how about
EWG?) sound like body functions gone amok.
Rather, they are the initials of agencies,
processes, or classifications of electric power
generating organi1.ations. We need to include
these important abbreviations in the lexicon of
our lives.
Congressional baules or bureaucratic
brouhahas in Washington sometimes seem 10
be far removed from Ka1uah, and yet they are
of vital concern to us, because lhey often have
dircot effects on our lives. This "battle of 1he
initials" is no exception. rt is, quite literally. a
mauer of power and light, Duke Power and
Carolina Power and Ligh1 (CP&amp;L) specifically.
and how those two companies (among those
that SCIVe our urea) have wound up on
opposing sides in what appears 10 be a
regulation dispute. Their split is indicative of a
split in the power indusu:y.
The battle is over whether or nor 10
change the Public Utility Holding Company
Act (PU HCA) of 1935. CP&amp;L feels threatened
by the proposed changes; Duke feels that the
new act will benefit them.
Two years ago, Senator J. Benneu
Johnston (D-LA), who chain; the Senate
Energy and NaturnJ Resources Commincc,
ed
draf1 the Competitive Wholesale Electric
Generation Act of 1989, which was designed,
he said, "1 remove the obstacles to competitive
0
wholesale generation in the Public Utility
Holding Company Act of 1935."
This year, his "National Energy Security
Act," and specifically its Title XV, "would
open the energy generation market to a new
form of independent power producer ([PP),
called an 'exempt whole!&gt;ale generator' (EWG).
that would exclusively marker power io utilities
and that would be free from regulatory
constraints imposed by the 1935 act" according
10 Leonard S. Greenberger in the April 15,
1991, issue of the P11hfic Utilities Fnnnight/y.
At the moment, Bcnneu's bill has
suffered death by filibuster, done in by its ties
10 legislation which would have allowed
drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic's Coastal
Plains. But there is a similar bill in 1he I louse,
and the Senate's Banking, Housing and Urban
Affairs Commiucc, which normally has
jurisdiction over PUHCA, is thinking about
redesigning the bill. President Bush's National
Energy Strategy focuses on PUI !CA as well.
It is clear that in 1992. PUHCA will undergo
some changes. This bodes ill for citizens and
rntcpayers.
To under.;tand what is at stake in this
ongoing debate, a brief history lesson is in
order, The Wheeler-Rayburn Act of 1935.
later 10 be called the Public Utilities Holding
Company Act, was passed as pan of 1he New
Deal legislation designed to break up trusts that
exercised monopolies over many aspects of

.

Xntimh Joun!a ~ p n~c 22

'

'

0

American life. Chief among these was the
utilities industry.
PUHCA was successful in making the
utility companies more manageable by
dismantling the layers of ownen;hip beneath
which they hid their assets. The result, as
James Cook describes in his Forbes anicle
"Camel in the Tent," is thar although US
u11Jirics continue to operate as monopolies in
their distribution areas, they are no longer so
large or powerful as those that existed prior to
the Great Depression, and their prices are
controlled by the PUHCA regulations.
During the energy crisis of the I970's,
there was anxiety about the availability of
dependable energy supplies :ind our
dependence on foreign sources of energy. As a
result of these concerns, Congress passed th.:
Public Utility Regulatory Policies Ac1
(PURPA) in 1978.
The act encouraged anyone capable of
producing energy 10 do so - using windmills,
water power, solar power, or biomass. The
inducement 10 create these al1ema1e energy
sources was this: public utilities were obliged
10 purchase whatever energy was produced ac a
price equivalent to the amount it cost them to
produce it. If chese small energy producers or
"qualifying facilities" (QFs) could produce
power more cheaply than the utility's cost then
the difference between the two prices was the
size of their profit margin.
lt was a good deal for small operators,
particularly at a time when pettoleurn resources
were uncertain and nuclear plants were
receiving bad press and worse repon cards. fl
was unwise to build new generating facilities
when small QF's might appear on the scene 10
supply the increasing demands for power.
Besides, the competition was viewed as healthy
- so healthy that big business and even the
utilities decided to try for a piece of the action.
Enter the Independent Power Producer
(IPP), a larger scale version of the QF. Some
IPP's are owned by non-utility industries,
others are run by utilities themselves. These
IPP's generate power and sell it 10 utihues m
the same way that the smaller QF's do, but
with this difference: they are subject to
regulation by the Securities and Exchange
Commission (SEC) under provisions of
PUIICA.
There are several reasons why this
arrangement 1s accep1able 10 the utilities. First,
il is attractive in the same way that the QF wns:
i.e .. it allows the energy supply 10 expand 10
meet the public need without obliging the
utilities 10 invest their own capillll. IPP's are
also allowed to operate on higher debt ratios
(80%, as opposed co 65% for utilities).
Second, the 3JT:IJ\gcment is effective.
IPP's now make up an estimated 12% of the
nauon'li energy supply.
Third, and most imponanlly, there is
money 10 be made. Cook describes the profit
motivation this way: "Because there is no
regulatory limit on their returns. the
independent power producers have plenty of
incentive 10 cut costs anywhere they can. For
an independent producer. a penny saved is a

penny earned. For a regulated utility, a penny
saved over the allowed rate of return risks
being returned to the consumers in lower
rates."
The present attempt at limiting PUHCA,
Senator Johnston's National Security Act of
199 I, proposes to create a new type of !PP
called an Exempt Wholesale Generator (EWG)
that would fall out.~ide PUHCA's scrutiny.
As Leonard Greenberger put it in an
anicle in Public Utilities Fortnightly in March,
1991: "Anyone could own an EWG. including
today's registered and non-registered holding
companies. Facilities now under construction
could only become EWG's with slllte
approval, while affilitatcs of registered holding
companies already in existence would need a
green ligh1 from the SEC."
n ,e new ruling would point the power
companies back toward the days before
PUI fCA regulation when the energy industry
was a maze of holding companies and
subsidiaries - a confusing tangle in which ii
was often easy to conceal hidden profits and
diffuse accountability.
Power purchased from EWG's would be
sold to consumers at a price regulated by the
state utilities commissions, or by the Federal
Energy Regulatory Commission if the power
crossed state lines. But any profits realized
from the economical generation of power by
these EWG's would go back 10 the EWG or 10
the utility company that owned 1he EWG.
Savings would not have to be handed back to
the consumer.
While it was totally predictable that the
public consumers would be the last to enjoy
any benefit from this shift, there are also some
utilities that are skeprical about the impending
change - thus the squabble between CP&amp;L and
Duke Power.
Spea.kjng for utilities like CP&amp;L, Don D.
Jordan of Houston Lighting and Power states:
"Tampering with the highly evolved and
complicated s1ruc1urc of our nation's electric
industry is nothing shon of imperiling the
security nnd reliability of a vital part of the
nation's economy. The real test of reliability is
whether the power will be there when ii is
needed."
So they say. But the real issue for CP&amp;L
is the balance of power within the industry.
Some of the uLilities. like Duke Power, have
been ambitious and aggressive, acting more
like Fortune 500 corporations than service
organizations. Other:;, like CP&amp;L, do no1 share
Duke's appe1i1e for unmitigated competition.
They have relied more on the legal structure
that protected their 1erri10ry and their status as
regulated monopolies. They are afraid of being
carved up and eaten alive. They fear that bit by
bit their territory and functions will be taken
over by EWG's that are subsidiaries of
companies like Duke.
Another area of concern for this group of
utilities is the access 1ha1 EWG's will enjoy to
1he utilities' transmission lines. They fear that
the EWG's. should they be able 10 gain access
10 the public utility transmission lines and use
l,lmtc r

191Jl-92

�-··"'JI

energy that developed after the war. The
public, mindful of the burning oil fields in
Kuwait, will be willing 10 embrace Johnston's
new bill, the National Energy Security Act.
because it promises to create new supplies of
energy - a comforting notion 10 consumers v.ho
witnessed mass quantities of pett0leum energy
going irretrievably up in smoke. And it wa:;
definitely unsexy 10 join Jimmy Caner in
turning down the thermostat 11nd wearing a
wool sweater in the house.
The Gulf War may ultimately prove 10 be
our undoing - abroad and at home.

Veronica Nichnlas was formerly a cmuiry
commissioner in Jackson Counry, NC. For ten
years she lias dnne bartk with the Nantal,ola
Power and Ugh1 Company,fim 10 keep in 1he
moun1ai,is 1he henefils ofpower generated
from 11wU11111in lakes, and 1hen oi·er I~ siting
of a high-w,_lrage power line 1hro~1gh
~
Transyl\·0J11a and Jackson Counnes

r.'

NWN (con1111uedfro,n par, 21)

RATILERSENDANGERED
N:ll\lnl World New, Sc,..ice

In Scpccmbcr, 1991 I.he Biodiversity Legat
Foundauon or Bouldct, CO and IC$Cal'Cher Andrew
Wci.~burd fonnally pctilioocd the US F"ISh and Wildlife
Sernce 10 list the timber raulesn:ike (Crota!ILJ horr,diu}
3li .i tndangcrod ,;pccics unde1 the Endangered Species
Act .

them as they liked, would choose to do
business with only the most profitable
customers and leave the utilities with a base of
high-cost residential customers and small
business customers.
On the other side of the issue is Duke
Power, the leader of the coalition of utilities
advocating changes in the PUHCA and a
company anxious to gain a share of the EWG
business. In the withdrawal of PUHCA
oversight that the Johnston bill seeks, Duke can
expect a return to the good old days of
monopoly before the Great Depression when
the trusts were fTce to work their will. They
are looking for the day when once again "big
fish eat little fish."
Whatever the tum of events, we, the
rate-payers, will be the losers. Marie N.
Cooper, director of research for the Consumer
redcration of ArncriC3 put it this way: "Captive
consumers bear all the risks of deregulatory
schemes (like Senator Johnston's) that say 'let
the market work and see what happens'
because they (consumers) arc the weakest
actors in the market. If the market does not
work, it is the residential consumer who pays."
So, no matter what changes come to
PUHCA, the consumer stands to lose, because
utilities, no matter which side they choose in
the PUHCA debate, fail to understand that the
real key to their profitability lies not in
mcreascd production but in conservation.
For instance, in 1989 the 1ocassee
Wlnter, 1991-92

Watershed Coalition was organized to prevent
Duke from building a pumped storage .station in
the Coley Creek basin of South Carolina.
According to Bill Thomas. co-chair of the
group, "When we looked into the proposed
project, we rcali1.cd that energy efficiency was
an even bigger issue than Coley Creek itself."
The coalition hired the Energy Systems
Research Group of Boston to analyze
conservauon and mnnagc:ment programs that
could help reduce energy demands on Duke.
This investigation showed ulrimatcly that the
replacement of all the lightbulbs in the service
area with energy-efficient models could save as
much energy as the Coley Creek project would
produce - at about one-third the cost
If this is so. then the question is, "Why
arc the utilities persisting in their plans 10 create
more energy projects instead of pursuing
conservation tactics?"
The answer to this question is nor very
difficult when one remembers that it is the US
Department of Energy (the same people who
brought us Oak Ridge, TN and Rocky Flats,
Colorado), that is making the judgments about
our future energy needs. With this in mind, it
is easier 10 understand why utility companies
behave the way they do and why they fail to
realize that conservation can spell profitability.
We can understand even more clearly if
we put the expected PUHCA reforms in the
context of the Persian Gulf War. Energy
legislation has become sexy, in the wake of the
heightened national consciousness about

Orawina by Rob Mcssidi:

The timber raider once ranged from Minnesota to
Texas. from the Atlanlic C01$1 wes1 to the urpc1
reaches oC the MJssoun Riva. It occurred in brgc
number.; throughou1 the woodlands th:n once covcrod
the whole or eastern Turlle Island. Raum play an
imponant p.111 in the forest ecology, feeding prinwily
on ~mall rodcms. and young rauJcsnakes thcmsel,ea
being prey to hawks and owb.
The timber ratllcr was Utsa'nori in the liinguage
or the Cherokee Indian!!, who con~idctcd the aea!ul'c a
"grandfaihcr," or spintually powct(ul being. M.iny of
the naovc tnbcs coosiJcr the umber l'IIUla the guardian
or the Earth's sacred place$. The species was once so
common that the nauvc people s:ud that it ~ put oo
Earth to rem ind the humans 10 wau:h wbcsc they 51ep.
The lllllbcr rawer IS cxrn:mcly scns1bve to
human di sturbmcc and Cll'IDOt Ii vc rn I.be pro~un1ty of
human beings. The budding of roads and ORV traib
into previously isolaled snaJce h.lb1tat areas, incn:asing
resort and !ICCOlld home devclopmenr. commc:n:ial snake
hunung. I.he clearing ol bouomland forests for
agric:ulrure. and d11cet persecution ol timber nullen by
human beings in informal or govcrnmenl-sancboncd
raulcsn:lkc hunts and roWldups 1w caused the
near-dclnise or the species.
Tocby thcrc are on1 y a handful ol kx:atiom "'here
I.he bmbcr raulcsnake exists in numbers that arc
sufficient to aUow the species to SUtVivc. Most of these
critical sites have inadequate pro4«uon. Many other
popul3lions arc II a point where lddi6onal persecution
wall ~ult in ciu.irplllOO.~. In the SOlllhcm
Applllachllll\S, wnber raulets-,: n:stnctcd to the mos1
rugged and rcmoet locauons.
The F"I.Sb and Wildlife Service IS cxpccled 10
n:tum a finding on the Biodivasity Lep1 Found:u1011
pcbtion 'l0fflcumc in December.
For addition.al 1nformation, contact Jasper
Carlton or the BiodivcrsiLy Lcpl Foonda1ion: Box
18327; Bouldct, CO 80308 (303) 491).@9I.
(conllmll!d on paac 32)

�r

LITMUS LICHENS
The pages of Karuah Journal have
reponed eittensively on a well-known
indicator species known as the Black Bear.
The health and well-being of Ibis large
mammal has been shown to reflec1 that of the
mountain bioregion we inhabit. I recently
came across an article in the November 1991
issue of Discover magazine lhat brought to
light another form of life that directly reflects,
or indicates, the condition of a crucial clement
of any bioregion; namely the air. This form of
life is called Lichens, of which there arc over
20,000 species worldwide.
The article by Edwin Kies1er Jr. poimed
001 tha1 lichens have no roots. They collect all
their water and food from the air. Through
their life processes they also absorb wha1ever
contaminants are in the air. Unselective caters
that they arc, they can soak up carbon dioxide,
sulfur dioitide, heavy metals, radiation, and
dust Lichens can hold on to lhese chemical
and radioactive contaminan1s even if i1 kills
them. Yct every form of lichen is not
susceptible to 1he same pollu1an1s.
There is a spectrum of sensitivity lha1
can be drawn for each lichen species, and
among lichen species in an ccosys1em, wilh
regard to accumulations of different
contaminants. For instance, some varieties can
tolerate relatively high concentrations of
sulfur, while it may only sicken some and kill
others. By using this kind of grading system
of the known tolerances of different species of
lichen to various contaminants, scientists can
make a record of a region's air quality over
time. Pollution sources can be uaced by
plotting prevailing wind patterns for ao area
and noting whether the species of lichen that
arc sensitive to a given pollutant arc cl3maged
or not.
This sensirivity of lichen hos been used
in European countries to study the paths of
aunospheric contaminants. Lichenological
studies are just beginning in the United States
and Canada, yet there arc some telling
eumples emerging from work I.hat has been
done so far. In the Cuyahoga Valley in Ohio
greater than 80% of lichen species have
disappeared since they were tracked by
naturalists I00 years ago. In the valley called
the Delaware Water Gap between
Pennsylvania and nonhcrn New Jersey, 60%
of Lichen species that have been recorded there
in the last century have perished due 10 the
effluvia of nonhcrn industrial cities.
Lichens arc actually a composite of two
different organisms known as fungus and
algae. The united organisms fonn a mesh
called a thallus in which a fungus threads itself
around algal cells and enclose them. The algal
panicipam provides sugars through
photosynthesis which the fungus uses in
making its own nutrients. The fungal
participant in turn gathers moisture and
minerals from the air that arc used by the algal
cells. One way 10 describe this symbiotic
relationship would be to say that the alga and
fungus arc eating from each other, only they
do not cat each other fast enough or in such a
way I.hat the whole organism tenninatcs.
Lichens are found in nearly every
Xoti«lrl Joun~ j~~c 24'

continental ecosystem on the planet. from
underneath the cover of ice and snow in
An1aretiea, to tundra, temperate forest zones,
and dcsens. They cling to stone statues,
rocks, and trees in the apparent shapes of
shrubs, disks, hair, and even as dashes of

brightly colored ink. Some of them can live
more 1han 4,000 years - think about lha1 next
rime you start up one of those sulfur-spewing
devices!
Lichens can provide a way of
monitoring the potcnriaJ for ecological damage
due 10 air-borne pollutants I.hat is far cheaper
ch.an using electrical gauges. Electrical gauges
can be spread out in a given area and linked by
computer 10 indicate when cenain pollutants
pass a safe level. However, the costs in staff'
and equipment are prohibitive 10 their
widespread use. A scientist studying lichen
can collect samples from specific sites and do
tests to find ow what contaminants arc present
and in what concentrations. These
lichenologists can also transport specific
lichens, on logs for instance, from less
contaminated sites to more contaminated sites
to monitor air quality.
One method of testing lhc chemical
composition of lichen is 10 heat it in a furnace
until it convens into gaseous oxide forms.
From there this gas can be piped into a
detector to read its chemical signatures.
Another method involves plasma atomic
emission specttometry in which the lichens are
liquified with an acid and injected into a
plasma (or hot ionized gas). This process gets
the chemical elements to emit distinctive
waves of energy that can be identified on a
specttomcter. This method can record over a
dozen different chemical elements in lichens.
When lichen dies it means that it:.
chlorophyll has been destroyed, and ii usunlly
turns white. Yet it is now possible for rates of
photosynthesis in the algal cells of lichen 10 be
measured for damage long before the lichen
turns visibly white. This has been discovered
in work done by Thomas Nash from Arizona
State University. He has discovered that in
Drawing by Rob Messick

Los Angeles one major reason why a species
of lichen known as Rama/itl(J menziesii has
died out is that the lichen absorbs nitrates from
car exhaust which impairs its ability 10
perform photosynthesis.
Human beings have used lichens for
dyes, as in the tweeds of Scotland, and the
Chinese have used a fonn of "old man's
beard"' lichen as an antibiotic. One of the most
well-known uses of lichen can be found in a
species called "cudbear". This lichen produces
the chemical erythrolimum which is used to
make lianus paper turn blue or red in the
presence of alkalies or acids. Their "liunus"
use now appears to be eitpanding to include
bio-geogmphical air quality testing.
Some kinds of lichen arc even edible;
but they have a bitter taste (which may not
mauer 10 you if you were starving in the forest
but for most folks it isn't anything of a
delicacy). Some deer routinely cat cenain
species oflichen. This proved particularly
dangerous in Finland, Norway, and Sweden,
as cesium 137 from the Chernobyl nuclear
accident drifted into the food chain there entering via lichens and passing on through
the deer and on to people. The return of
heallhy lichen 10 an area, however, will be a
~
harbinger of clean airs to come.

Rob Messick
FLAMES
The: spuit, its passion.
desiring imcns,ty,
WM!ing to feel the heat,
longing to iouch, to caress
the creative spark

The same heat tha1 wanns the

garden soil, opens the rlIC pine to
birth. and runs down the largest hem lock
scarring its majesty. this now, is the: force
you wish to call your own

With cnch step
the d::inger intre3SCS,
with each movement towards
lllere 1., no lhought of turning back,
or deny mg the allunng pull.
Own the flames •
Ille only wny through
Plunging inio the inferno
The pyre now asscns dominion
Thal long ago lhough1 of harnessing
Her power now seems ridieulous,
The: flames rise. the flesh scrcams 0111. each
cell bums as on ember
Tum back, hurry
before all is destroyed.
No! D:lre 10 face Hu,
IOUCh Her, become Her,
A gasp, a sigh. a surrender,
you are Home
LyMFink

Wlnter, 1991-92

�READING THE INNER TREE
by Charloue Homsher
There are many ways to get visual clues
from the inner 1ree, 10 recognize which trees are
more powerful or have a special function in the
area. Age and beauty are detennining factors,
but not the only ones.
Last summer I hiked the Shanry Spring
Trail on Gmndfa1her Mountain with a group
that included two women who "read" trees in
very different ways. The Shanty Spring Trail is
a very old Indian trail. The treeS there seem
particularly lively and aware. as though they
have been observing humans for eons. When
we crune 10 a large red oak with long branches
hanging over the trail and roots growing into
the path, one of 1he tree readers exclaimed
excitedly that we had arrived at a gateway tree.
She described gateway trees as guardians of an
area and enirance gates to the mysteries of a
specific trail. The second woman hesitated,
remarking that it was indeed a powerful tree but
that she saw sad faces in the bark. We
examined 1he red oak and found symptoms of
disease under the bark. The tree was indeed in
severe distress, and it was probably dying.
Farther up the trail, the woman who had
recognized the gateway tree pointed out another
oak which she identified as being the elf
throne. The seat of the throne was a large, flat
rock which was auached to the tree and
supponed by the limbs. This tree reader's
primary way of seeing rrces is to recognize
their function in the devic kingdom. We found
the queen's throne nearby and also the large
auached rock garden which was supposedly the
fairy queen's nursery. This mammoth rock was
covered with dainty, miniature flowers and a
variety of well-tended mosses and fems.
Between two layers of the rock was a delicate
crystalline outcropping. The gardener in
question would be a nature spirit or one of the
Huie people. Interestingly, there was a side path
from the trail all around this rock, made by the
many hikers who have been intuitively drawn
to that special garden.
My methods of reading trees visually
have changed over the years. One of the most
profound changes in sight and attitude was
after a brief encounter I had with an old man
who had studied various esoteric traditions. He
had offered to teach me a new way 10 see. I did
not have the foggiest idea what he was talking
about at the time. I was a college student taking
art classes and I defined the visuaJ world with
aesthetic j~dgments. His idea was that any kind
of value judgment was a limited way of seeing,
and that the only way to see beyond the outer
form was to look at an object with no
preconceived notions about what it should or
should not be. We spent the afternoon in the
school cafeteria practicing the technique with
coffee cups.
By applying this technique to narure I
learned to see in a deeper way. but I was not
entirely successful. Like most people. if I
describe a tree poetically, it is in anthropomorphic terms, which. of itself i_s :1 value
judgment - actually species chauv1m~m.
Probably the tree reader who recogmzed ~es
as fairy thrones is closer 10 the truth of seerng
the inner tree, since she is able to see the tree as
having a function completely outside the
similarities 10 human existence. The best I have
done as a purely visual kind of intuition is to
l'1mtcr, 19!11 -92

Drawing by Rob Mcniel

recognize that trees do have individual
personalities which may have something 10 do
with the growth pattern. I can sometimes sense
a tree's power, calmness. or distress. But it is
still the visual judgments which give me the
quickest and sharpest clues. This way of seeing
or judging a tree is based on outward fonn.
almost like classifying body types.

The Tanaic yogis in India still worship at
holy shrines inside pipal trees which have
cavernous openings reminiscent of the womb.
These huge trees are supposed 10 contain more
of the Shakti energy or female creative energy.
The yogis also consid~r trees_ sacr~d whic~
have female-like crevices or in which the hmbs,
burls or bark have grown 10 look like the
female torso. These are called the female yoni
trees. Determining the sex of a tree this way is
purely visual and has nothing to do with the
botanical function. There are trees which are
divided in10 male and female. Among these are
1he ginkgo, Kentucky coffeetree, and holly.
I see a lot of yoni trees. l think that they
are the teacher trees of our time. The male
equivalent of the yoni tree in the mountains
would be the giant hemlock trees. The
hemlocks are the sentinels of the woods. They
are like the antennae of the Eanh. They take the
cosmic energy and shoot it into the Eanh. thus
energizing the whole area around which they
grow.

There are guardian trees, gateways,
teachers, grandparent trees, and trees in which
spiritS or fairy people live. Trees also have .
relationships to each other. The natlll1!1 world 1s
an organic whole, and the larger the p1ct11n: we
can encompass, the greater our understanding.
l don't think anthropomorphic clues cnn tell us
everything, yet using them is a valid way (O
observe the inner tree. If trees nre the scnucnt,
aware beings that I suspect they are. then they
are quite cognizant of the crutches that we
need. They communicate with us, via a crude
sign language. They give us clues by the shape
of the trunk, faces in the bark. by 1he
mushrooms or rocks that have become a pan of
the tree, the animals that live inside 1he trunk
or on the branches, or any other obvious signs
which we can learn by observation. ~

WHERE THE RA VE!\S ROOST:
Cherokee Traditional Songs of Walker Calhoun
Will West Long was a well-known
craftsperson and spiritual leader of the
Cherokee tribe in the first half of this century.
He knew the old tribal traditions were dying
and worked to keep them. He passed much
infomuuion on to c1hnologis1 Jnmes Mooney
and also taught his family and other tribal
members who garhered at his home in Big
Cove on the Cherokee Indian Reservation.
One of those he taught was his nephew
Walker Calhoun. Walker remembers tr.tiling
along after the dancers at the community
Ceremonial Ground 50 years ago. Walker,
too, saw that the dances and songs were in
danger of disappearing, and several years ago
he, as his uncle had done before, resolved 10
see that they were carried on.
Walk.er (as he told us in the las, issue of
the Katualr Journal) has revived the Green
Com Ceremony and the monthly stomp
dances at the Raven Rock Nighthawk
Ceremonial Ground. He is teaching the
traditional social dances to a group of young
people. among them several of his 23
grandchildren. who perform as the Raven
Rock Dancers.
At the first great convocation of the
Eastern and Western Bands of the Cherokee
nation at Red Clay, TN in 1988, Walker was
presented with the first Sequoyah A ward for
his service 10 his people. ln 1990 Walker was
a recipient of the North Carolina Folk Heritage
Award.
As part of his restoration effort, Walker
has recorded a tape of traditional songs (with
two Chrisrian spirituals as well) for the
.
Mountain Heritage Center of Western Carolina
University. The tape contains several of the
best-known Cherokee dance songs, as well as
short commentaries on the songs and the
stories and practices that surrounded them.
These are undeniably authentic - unbroken
traditions that extend many generations back
into the human history of this region. An
explanatory bookie~ with an introduction an~ a
complete transcripuon of the songs and stones
acoompanies the tape.
Jn Where the Ravens Roosr, Walker
Calhoun has given us an irreplaceable gift: a
glimpse at the native inhabitantS' a:ibal past
and an inspiration for 1he community of the
future.
Where the Ravens Roostfear11resflure
music composed and played by Eddie
Bushylread. Tire rape was rec~rded_ and edited
/Jy Michael Kli11e. Sou11d engmuring /Jy
Kevin FirzParrick
For a copy, send S/0.00 plus $/ .00
shipping and J,andlillg to the Mo_untain_
.
Herilage Center; Wesrem Caro/ma Unn·er.nry;
Cullowhee, NC 28723.

X.Otunh Jou.nm{.

p&lt;l{)e 25

�; ........ w .,.,.. ., ,
~

,.11

I

x ··

AROUND THE FIRE
Wood Selection and Firemaking
by Lee Barnes
Green SpiritS gift humankind with the
captured warmth of sunshine, providing fuels
for warmth, cooking, and the luxury or
campfire stories. Campfires act as a center for
our human activity, a focus forlanguage
development. socialization, and srory-tclling
(oral histories).
Having spcn1 years backpacking and
building campfires, I offer the following
suggestions for reducing your impact on the
forest First, carry a one-burner camp-stove
for cooking - a stove will quickly provide hot
foods without depicting the local area of slowly
accumulated firewoods.
If you must make fire, keep it small and
efficient. Tfind most novice campers insist on a
campfire, even in summer, suggesting that
campfires wann our deeper selves. Large
campfires arc wasteful of Green Spirits,
releasing years of harvested sunshine in
seconds. Burning plant cells robs lhc local
canh of recycled nutrients and organic bulk
which would otherwise result in improved
topsoil tcxrurc and nuoient holding ability. In
respect to Green SpiritS, try to keep fires 10 a
minimum for your needs - build small
campfires which provide light and steady heat;
use them for as short a time as possible.
While backpacking during a hurricane,
and prior tO carrying a camp-stove, I learned
how to find dry woods for campfires.
Sufficient dry wood for small personal
campfires can be found after even a week of
hard rains. Wood collection begins with lhe
gathering of dry tinder, and sufficieni dead and
dry tree limbs. Gather "squaw-wood"
(historically named for woods easily collected
and broken by squaws) from young trees,
especially lower dead branches of hemlock,
laurel, birch-bark:. and "lighter wood" (the
"fat-wood" of resinous pine and many
evergreens). Laurel (Kalmia /01ifolia) produces
poisonous fumes and should not be used as a
primary fuel source for cooking.
The best tinder-woods are the resinous
conifers (pine, fir, spruce, hemlock) or the
easily-peeled birch barks. Collec1 only woods
which snap cleanly in two. Throw back any
woods which bend or twist.
I find that I can scout the camping area
and find sufficient dry wood for cooking and
campfires without carrying a saw or axe.
Select dry branches which can be easily broken
over your knee or by elevating one end on a log
or stone, then stomping oo the them to yield
firewood of uniform length. I generally look
for dead branches which arc supported off the
ground. Search the low branches overhead for
wind-fall branches and for small dead trees.
Ct's easiest to look for wood on the high
ground around the camp since i1 is easier to
drag an armful of branches down to camp
rather than up! Look for a variety of small to
IMget" sized dead bnmchcs, seeking a larger
supply of branches in the 1/2-to- 4" diameter

size.

In camp, sort your woods by breaking
the smallest twigs into uniform lengths. A
large handful of the smallest twigs (1/8-1/4 "
in diameter and 5-6" long) should be sufficient.
Xotiiah Journot p!UJ&amp; 26

Break I.he remaining branches into longer, say,

12-20 inch lengths. I find it easiest to
progress with the smaller branches, breaking
up the same diameter branches into similar
lengths. Th.is process should result in several
piles of uniform sized twigs which will make

adding fuel to the fire easy and efficient.
Avoid collecting much "spit-fire" woods
which randomly "pop" and eject chunks of
burning coals. These woods are great as small
tinder, since they rapidly bum and ignite larger
diameter branches. "Spit-fire" woods to be
avoided include juniper (red cedar), hemlock,
fir, spruce, sassafras. soft pines, sugar maple,
beech, and hickory. Overall, the best fuel
woods for campfires arc hickory, chestnut oak,
black locust, dogwood, and ash. White ash is
considered one of the bes1 woods for campers,
since even the green wood catches fire easily.
Tulip poplar is abundant in Ka1uah Province,
but bums quickly without developing any
long-heating coals. Horace Kephan, a
well-published authority on camping and
woodcraft, suggests a rule of thumb: "Avoid
drift-wood accumulated along stream banks,
since most of the timber which grows along
streams are softwoods."
Small teepee-shaped piles of tinder arc
easily ignited. Once a small blaze is going, add
10 the it from the pre-sorted piles of dry
branches nearby. These near-vertical piles bum
quickly and provide maximum light. Build
your fires between 1wo rows of stones which
arc open on the windward and downwind sides
to allow better airflow. Staek additional wood
on the downwind side for better burning. Once
a good base of coo.ls have developed, lay larger
branches more horii.ontally over the coals,
allowing good air-spaces between branches.
Push the remaining unburnt ends of branches
into the fire so that all woods arc burnt and
only ashes remain. Before you leave your
campsite, remove lhe stones and spread (or
bury) the cold ashes so that there is no sign of
your passing. Leave nolhing but footprints !
Firewoods for modem stoves vary
greatly in their heat-values, both for absolute
stored energy and lasting heat. Air-dried
hardwoods average 5,800 British thermal unitS
(BTU's) per pound, whereby it is estimated
Drawings by Rob Mc.sick

that 10,000 BTIJ's are required to heat water
for an average sized load of laundry. The NC
Division of Forest Resources provides
estimates comparing energy equivalentS for a
standard cord of wood (a cord of wood is
defined as a stack of wood 4x4x8 feet or about
80 cubic feet of solid wood). Based oo
laboratory derived values for heating values of
wood, a cord of wood is roughly equivalent to
a ton of bituminous coal or 5900 kilowatts of
electricity or 143 gallons of#2 heating oil.
Preferred woods include hickory. oak, and
locust. Avoid softwoods such as pine. A
modem wood stove avernges 50% efficiency
whereas burning wood in an open fireplace is
only 10% efficient.
Home-grown fuel and fiber sources are
critical for the independence of au1onomous
bioregions. Homesteaders have estimated that
10 acres of Eastem Atlantic mixed deciduous
forest should be sufficient 10 provide for the
sustainable heating needs of an average
household. Sustainable fanns must promote the
production of renewable, locally produced fuel
resources, such as fast growing legumes and
other nitrogen-fixing trees planted as
windbreaks and hedges. The first step to
minimize your impact on the forest is to build
small, energy-efficient homes. It is imponant to
the survival of humans and our plant allies that
we no1 waste their wooden gifts.

12th Song of Venta the Naturalist
beneath the polished blue stone of sky
and suffering its ancient oppression
with ancestral stoicism
i slowly finger my rugged beard
and question the grass and ils idle greening
no major answers were given;
and no miracle of nanue
rolled forth on the lawn
10 bury my soul beneath mystical rebuttals
about unreachable conclusions.
beneath the polished blue stone of sky
and recognizing its ubiquitou.~ face
as a fellow freak of fate
macerated for lack of knowledge on a planet
where blue and intelligent things die.
bray
mcdona/d

t.,iotcr. 1991-92

�grabbing my old box guiiar and headmg mlO lhc forest
so nature and I could trade our songs with each ocher.
Nawre's songs arc far mo~ beautiful and comforting,
bul lhe Grea1 Gn1ndfalhcr spirit knows my healt. and
my small songs are acceptable. Often I leave the guitar
al home, so i1's one on one.
I lhough1 you mighl wan1 to consider this (which
is a form of worship lO me) os a possible iopic of
di51cussion. Keep up the faithful work, and Mr.
Messick. !hank you for the inspired and inspiring

DRUMMING
LETTE RS TO KATUAH

anwork.

Ught, Love, &amp;. Life,
Jeff Zachary
Deru- Ko1uah Family,
This pan of Turtle Island cnlled home is the
ecoione of Kaulah and the Cumberland Green
Bioregions. The divide is here on lhe IOp of the
Cumberland Plaleau. We arc fanning a community
whose drainage goes inlO Kauiah Province. My wife
Joan and I have stayed in lOUCh with both regions for a
long lime. Ka1uah is home lO us. The people, plllces,
and energies arc alive and connected. I have passed on
many copies of your joumal over the yea.rs as I have
promoted the nelwork.ing of kindled spirilS. Keep up the
grtal work. Receiving lhe journal is always an exciting
evenL You do more than you n:aliu, and J wanted you
10 know thru your voice is heard far and wide. We feel
lhal we call Kau1nh home even though we rcsl on the
far weslem edge. I wanted you 10 know that we are with
you. Bravol

Namasie,
SanfOtd McGee

Tkfollowing is e.xu rpttdfrqm o longer ltllu.
Dear Fncnds •
Five years ago, K01uah Journol published an
anicle on the CenlCt for Awakening, described as a plllcc
where people can "consciously live and consciously
die." llS purpose was 10 provide termin!llly ill people
with the suppon they needed lO make the tranSition inlO

The Medilltion project has the mission or
"peaceful conflict resolution." HSE rccognius Ihm
mediation has a greater chance o( achieving hnnnony
than docs litigation.
There arc no J)(lid employees a1 HSA. There are
no fees for clicnl scrvtCCS. The Boord members each
votun10er more than 50 hours a month, and not a single
Board member has missed any or the Board meetings
since HSA came inlo being.
Volun!UtS are welcome regardless of their
experience level. HSA makes il easy for people with
children lO volun1ocr. Janice Ayers, a long-time
volumccr, says, "By volun1eering with your children,
you can teach them how 10 care about others." If a
volunteer shows an interest m a particular area, he or
she is lralned 10 be effective in lhal a,ca. Room and
boaro are provided, and the volunLCCrs come away with a
sense of being part of something grealer lhan
themselves, of having given sorn cthing back lO life.
The spark which embodies this service
organization has resulted in HSA's recognition by
Prcsidcnl Bush as one of the Thousand PoinlS or LighL
To see this sprutc continue lO grow, Board members
would be glad lo help others SUIJt their own facilities lO
serve humankind.

dcalh.

The spa,k behind the Ccnw for Awakening has
continued 10 grow inlO a sicady. burning rue. through
five years of tranSfonnation, lO wha1 is now called
Human Service Alliance (HSA). HSA is now localed
between Greensboro and Winsum-Salem, easily
accessible from lnterslate 40 and available lO an
expanded populruion of clients and voluniurs. II serves
clients in four diffcren1 programs: Respiie Care
Program. Center for the TC11T1inally Ill, Health and
Wellness Program, and the Mediation ProjccL
ln the Respi1e Carc Program, weekend crue in a
supportive environment is offered lO physically or
developmenlally disabled children, gavmg their parents a
break from lhe Slte.SSCS of dealing wilh special needs day
in and day OUL
A brand-new 8,000 square fool btulding houses
the Ccn1er for the Tenninally Ill (CTI). errs purpose
is lO give gucslS the personal a1ienllon and Jove lhat
they deselvc, IClting them know as they approach the
uansition from life IO death that they are wonhwhile
people. One volumccr observed once thru all Ullflie
Sl01&gt;$ lO allow a funeral procession 10 pass, in essence
)Xlying tribule lO the deceased indJV1dual. CTI is here to
"stop lhc t.mflic" for a dying pen;on while he/she is still
alive.
The Health and WcUness program is alc;o housed
in lhe CTI facilily. Its goal is 10 help clients assume
responsibility for their own health. A !Cam of
votunlCCl's with a vocation or avocation an health-related
areas assists each cliem in gciting lO 1he underlying
cause of health problems, rather than jus1 ucaling the
sympioms.

lv~nt.er, 1991-92
t - t I 1. •

• ").'

Jo Ellen Ca,son
Human Service Alliance
3983 Old Greensboro Rd.
Winston-Salem, NC 27101

Dear Koruah,
I loved lhe Fall '91 issue from fron1 lO back.
"Songs in the Wildcmcss" by Charloue Homsher (p.
24) brought an idea 10 mind, one I'm familiar with.
Native music. be il nute, drums, voice,
whruevcr - and its impon on na1ure (Bild vise versa)
would be an excellent focu.\ for a future Ka1uah Journal.
All my life, pe1.1Ce of mind has been as close as

Orawin&amp; by Mane Moms
I

"

"

Dear K01uah Friends,
I think it's lime to renew my subscription. l
really enjoy all your issues, good articles and flllC
artworks. Someday I'm going to order a few of them
from Rob Messick.
WeU I'd fjlce to let you know lha1 Ills! September
I was a1 lhe "Shasta Bioregional Gathc.ring." I had a
greru time • deep feeling. I meet many beautiful people
there; from Judy and Peier Berg. Freeman House, Jim
Dodge CIC ••• and especially Ga,y Snyder, a vuy special
person. I wished to come and visi1 you loo, bul works
at home piesscd me lO jcl back early.
O.K., my daily ecoccntric practice is improving.
The llalilln Wildemcss Association has rccenlly
instituted two Wilderness Areas in nonh and south
llaly. The llallan Bioregional Movement is going fine.
Last month we had lhe "Founh Bioregional Camp." I
was there speaking for the wilderness.
Hope this lcuer finds you well and an good spirit
For lhe Eanh,

Moretti Giuseppe
ManlOva llaly

nott: lfey. Mort/Ii, don't wait t&lt;&gt;C Ions It&gt; order
ort -work. Arri.SIS don't live forevu you luww! RM

Dear Friends,
WE NEED HaP ! 11
Despiie ever-increasing protest, a dam in
Czorsnyn in the Plcniny Mount.ains in Poland has been
under COIISltUClion since 1968. Since 1989 young
ecologists and annrchists have crganaed blockndes of
the dam. A geological cawuophc lhrealCnS 10 desuoy
Pleniny National Park's hisiorical relics: castles from
1hc middle ages, manor houses, churches, lnldilional
buildings, exceptionally inieresung villages, and
valuable natural clements.
There is no rational reason ror buildulg the dam.
lnlellcclUals oppose lhe dam; among these professionals
are nwncrous well-known scicnllSlS. This year's
blockade suutcd on July 1. The police action was
exceptionally brulal. II was an exueme show of foroe
and power. The following damages occurred from this
suong-a,ming (as of July 4 injuries): a girl with
concussion. a boy with a damaged kidney. The couns
have thus fa,imposcd f"ines of 40,000 • 800,000?1 on
the young ecologists.
A hunger strike was sWled in fron1 of the
Environment Minasiry on July 6. We REQUEST
HELP through lhe picketing and bloclclde of Polish
Embassies!
Members or the bloc:k.ade in Czo~1&gt;11
6July 1991
P.S Please make these f.lcts known; ,;pread thi.~
infonnation further.
Pragowrua KulUU')' Tcay
Siowawyokeme
35--016 Kraslcow, uL Polcaiego Sf].1

Td 53- 772
I

Xatucin 1oumQ{. ooa&amp; Z7
I " I ,, IJll1 I
rn·;_.,,, •
-

�Dc.KatUllh,

To tbc cdit0r.

r have just moo articles on lhe repeated violiuions
charged agrunst lhe Champ,on Pulp and Pnper Co. and
its continued indifference toward lhe honible c:ondil.ion
or lhe Pigeon River.
We don't expect the Slate of Nonh Carolina lO
enforce laws intended 10 prevent Oulmpion's flagrant
indiffcrcncc to lhc wishes of the people, but it would
seem lh3111llhet than plea-bargain the pclUllties for
turning lhe once beautiful river inlO an industrial sewer.
lhe Environmental Pro&lt;cction Agency would apply the
full foru or lhe lnw Gt iis disposal fot lhc.,c vioouions.
Al the S111T1e lime I.hat Champion has been lClling
slorics about the great fishing in Clyde and au.empting
to beliulc lhc warnings of lhe known danger of dioxin
Lo anyone foolish enough 10 eat any fish caught in lhc
river downstream from Champion's decrepit old mill.
more and more people are becoming awurc of lhc
damage Champion bas done, and continues 10 do, IO
what could be one of God's greatest gifts co lhe people
and wildlife of this region.
I am expccung 10 hear any day that lhe famous
fish fry Champion puts on foe lhe newly decied
politicians in Raleigh will now fcalll!C fish from the
Pigeon River, probably lhe most dangerously polluied
sewer in this otherwise bcaullful area.
Because of the state of Norlh Carol.ina's
indifference to lhe Pigeon River scandill, we should all
be thankful 10 our neighbors in Tennessee for lhe
in!clliguru and courageous Stand !hey have taken to
clean up the river, from lhcoutfall 111lhc mill all lhc
way into Tennessee.
Thnnks and sinccrc appieciatiOn for lhc growing
support we arc getting from environmental groups and
lhc people in general.
Dick Mullinix
Pigeon River Action Group
Dear Ko/Uah,
We arc a group of students at the Arthur Morgan
School, and we'd like IO shllrc our feelings about lhc
milillll')' maru:uvcrs Iha! will be going on ID Yancey
County on November 4lh - 9lh of 199I. As u:enagc,s
of !his coun1.1y we believe !hat our opiniOns should not
only be IJlken into account, but should be rcspec:ICd as
well.
It's so peaceful bese. We really don'1 likc 10 have
our home turned 1mo a praclice wn, rone. I1 feels like
you arc really going to bomb us. Do you rcali7.e wh:11

you arc practicing for? Why docs lhere have 10 be a ncx1
time?
You arc crossing the line of our beliefs, because
we don't suppon the use of violence 10 solve problems.
Even if the miliwy got permission from some people,
!hey did not gel permission from us. We don't believe
lhcse mow11ains or any other land should have anything
10 do wilh war.
How is !his helping the people of Yancey
County work for peace?
Thank you foe list.cning,
David Barrett
Monrovia Van Hoose
Byron Eastman

MoUy Levin

Cedar Johnson
Rose Testa
Alice Delcoun
(The three social studi~ classes ot the Arthur Morgon
School ore studying contemporary issues. Similar
le11us were receivedfrom the rwo other closszs al tilt
school.)
DcarKotuah,
I am saying lhllnlc you to Cbarloue Homsher for
·songs in lhe Wilderness.· Again she has jogged my
inherent nature memory, awakening a beauty of my
own 1h31 s.hps inlO slumbers more often than n0t.
Among.st the many hardened facts and 1rulhs of
our reality on Earth today, it is mosi welcome and
healing to be strengthened and rcvitali7.Cd by Lhis kmd of
ruticle.
I'm looking forward 10 l110fC.
Sinccrcly,
a sister in voice
in Asheville
Dear Katuah,
Hello rrom up north! A few weeks ago a friend of
mme returned from lhc Pcnnaculture Conference in
Tennessee and brought back wilh him a copy of Kaulah
Journal, which I was excited 10 sec and read again. us1
lime I read Kauiah was in Washington D.C. a year ago
and since lhcn I haven't seen 1his WONDERFUL
journal anywhere in this Non.hca.uern region or the
sl.:ltes. I don't even lhmk a journal like ~umh exislS
here ID New H:unpshitt/Vermon1 area.
I write this !cu.er 10 you with lhMks. and wish 10
give you money for a year's membership. Thanks again!
For lhc Ennh,
Michael S1onc

Painting by Susan Adlm

Well l WIOlC "2" first drafis of a teuu 10 you all
hoping Iha! 1 could come up wilh a way 10 keep my
leuer from sounding dumb, but no such luck. So I
figured the best way 10 Lell you my feelings about
Katuah is 10 write 10 you all lhe same way you write 10
us in lhe journal. like we're old friends.
I was lucky enough to find Karuah in a used
book s1ore while my family and I were antiquing in old
downlOwn Asheville- I've never come across anything
as neru and infonnalive!
Florida jUSI doesn't seem 10 be interested in
Native American culture. l'm not sure if they're
iniercsted m IOO much more lhan m:ikmg money,
sending up lhe shuUle, and ripping our environment
apart so lhey can build more moc.els for the tourists. I
know it's supposed 10 be the mainstay of our economy
but why can't lhey leave some trees and wildlife for lhe
ones of us who enjoy them.
I guess thal's why I love lhe mouniains so much.
ll's scary to lhink !hat lhcy might be cleared off in a rcw
years too. I lhink that's why I lmve always admired the
lndiMs, lhcy used wlmt lhcy needed, and lhru was iL
Over lhe past yenr or so I've become vc,y
inlClCSted in lcarmng more about the Native Americans,
their culture. and heritage. Issue #32, Fall, 1991 was
full of great slllm Your interview about "Bringing
Back lhc rll'C" was wonderful!! Reading about how lhe
Cherokee's got so swept up in their stomp dance lba1
they went au night and bad to stan singing Old
McDonald because !hey ran out of songs was so
exciting for me! (Corning from a "stiff" southern
Baptist background, the thought of being able 10 praise
God with everything you can mUStCr malces me wan1 10
get up and do the same!)
From lhc little l know and have learned, the
Native Americans stnke me as a ru;h and beautiful
people who learned to live by faith and the simple lnlth
that God provided lhem wilh everything lhey needed
because they respected lbe earth and trusted in Him! If
we could ever stop and look at how !hey build and try lO
incorporate their ways into our evc,ydlly lives - man,
wouldn't it be great? I guess the best way IO start is
wilh ourselves. One person =hing 2 and in tum
those leaching 2 more. Maybe m time we could heal
the eanh, as well as ourselves.
I've also wondered, are there any books
comnining instrucllon on Native American languages?
Thanks for talcing lhe time 10 read I lcucr from a
young dreamer.
Peact Always!
Rebecca Hogan
Dear K01uah Joutlllll.
Last year I bough1 iwo of your issues from a
small bookstore in Ellijay, Georgia. I still have !hem
with me and they continue 10 help me understand thing$
as I guess I'm mean1 to understand lhcm.
Even though we live oversc35, I'd like to
1rubscnbe. Enclosed is money to cover a year's
subscription and the extra pos1age.
Also. th3nks foe lhe energy you all are releasing.
In spiril,
Scou &amp; Miriam R1eh:lldson
Baguio City, Philippines

l.llnUr., l00kt92

�Sky Mangler, from silver halite
Image of thy snow twisting
The template of thy helix
Formed thee when a snot-throutcd
White trash lay down your passage to
subordinate thee with bullets

No permanent dwelling did thou build
Possessing no deed - au was the soil of thine own kind
The white Earth-mover claims his machine
has a mind of lls own
On account of falling drunk on oil overland

Thou art so praiseworthy for Earth skill
Thy impressionless path was purposeful by its
appropriate scale
The fire-harnessing soldiers executed policy
And have soldierly descendants who
have yet to conceive and deliver a
successful way of coping with the cold and dark
Thy way did peris h until the rost Industrial Tribe
picked it up
The disease of O,ristian Europe, mutated
By stresses in the underpinning rock
And brains of soldiers - the rotted, broken virulence
The settlements laid to waste

But for him thou wouldst have slept on the soil
of thine own kind
But for the war for white convenience of manufacture
For lines on maps
Dottering trifOcs
At the very length of history when
We could have gone thy way .. .
Lain claim to thy sustainable homelessness

Mike Wilber

Drawing by Marte Mems

Shhh- . .Listen ...
~

FUTONS ETC. ~

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Wheat, Salt &amp; Yeast-Free Foods
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Describes more than 800 plants from
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Open 7 Days a Week

Monday - Friday 9 am - 8 pm
Saturday 9 am - 6:30 pm
Sunday 12 pm - 5 pm
Wi.nter, 1991-92

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 appointmerrt to visit
(704) 683-2014

�.,. ~r

(canunuod liom page 6)

the Southern Appalachians. A1 present, oak
species seem to be in uouble - they are
declining due to a root rot fungus and are no1
regenerating well in sites where they were
once strongly represented. Since oak lumber
is a valuable timber product, this situation has
been well-investigated.
Oak ll'CCS have always had a place on
drier. south-facing sites in the mountains, but
it is only since the demise of the American
chesmu1 that the oak IJ'Ce has become critical
as a food crop for so many species of wildlife.
Since the chestnut blight wiped om the
chestnut as a seed-bearing tree, oaks have
greatly expanded their niche, moving into sites.
formerly inhabited by chestnuts and filling at
least pan of that great tree's role as a
food-producer. Due to "unnatural"
intervention by human beings in the past, loss
of the oak species at this rime would be
devastating co the life of the forest.
What is to be done? If we were co
abruptly remove our influence without
ensuring the continuation of the oaks, we
might precipitate the loss of irreplaceable
components of the ecological community and
thus make the restoration of natural processes
impossible. This is a situation ~ degraded
that it appears human management may be
needed 10 neutralize past human mistakes.
This is a common &lt;tilert'lma. Ecologist
Reed Noss says: "Conservation ecologists
unanimously rccogniu: the necessity of
scientific management in restoring and
perpetuating natural areas. Active habitat
restoration should apply the best srate-ofthe-an management techniques 10 mimic the
natural environmental regime, keeping human
intervention down 10 the minimum..."
The first step 10 reinstate a natural order
in the Katuah Province is 10 proceed with
effons to reintroduce the American chestnut
tree with all possible speed. Until those effons
literally bear fruit, steps will have to be taken
10 maintain the oak tree. Since light ground
fires seem to be instrumental in maintaining
oak stands, it may be the oak trees that give us

the ~swer, at least for the present; I.&amp; t.he
quesuon of how much fuc is desirable. Doing
controlled bums to maintain habitat for the oak
family would also serve 10 restore the
macro-process of fire to the woods. The oak
irees could guide us to the proper balance for
fire use.
To restore natural relationships to a
community, the minimum amount of
!n~erference is the best, and only for as long as
11 ts necessary. In undertaking any restoration
policies, it mUSt be remembered that we are

"Irrespective of man's
viewpoint, change is necessary
to maintain a healthy
ecosystem."
crying 10 help the Earth heal Hen.elf. We
would be intervening to allow the recovery of
"natural" processes. Paradoxical as that may
seem, that may be our present situation.
The examples of the Table Mountain
pine and the oak family show us the level of
paradox we may encounter and the degree of
ecological understanding necessary 10 make
knowledgeable decisions. We know so little.
There is so much 10 be done.
While we can never return to a "natural"
condition as it was in a mythic past, it is still
valid as a guiding conc:epL The great old u-ees
of the ancient old-growth forest are still the
grandest testaments to the potential of this
region.
And, while ii would be fruitless to
mindlessly mimic the practices of the ancient
native inhabitants, they still can serve as a
guide for our present actions. The only
baseline we have for "original conditions" was
the landscape managed by the Cherokee
nation. lt was a beautiful landscape by all

ac~unts, and it was a stable equtlibrium, as
evidenced by the fact that the Cherokees were
able to maintain a consistent presence here for
~ore than 2.000 years. The experience of the
First People teaches us that humans in small
numbers, living respectfully and reverentially,
can integrate ourselves into a viable landscape.
Perhaps by pursuing these elusive
examples we may be able 10 anive at a new
and original equilibrium, one that will serve
the needs of the future. Perhaps by seeking 10
fulfill the unattainable mcxlel of a ··natural"
landscape free of human intervention, we may
be be able to reach an equilibrium that is
"natural" because ii proceeds from the forest's
own dynamic and follows the forest's own
needs. In aniving at that state of balance, we
would have to change ourselves so we could
live within those natural processes rather than
in conflict with them.
One way in which we could stan would
be 10 put our skills and our passion to the task
of serving the forest, deeming it an entity
greater than ourselves, that surrounds and
holds us, and recognizing that the quality of

the forest's life conuols directly the quality of
our own.
Our goal is the circle of life rejoined. We
can only sketch ou1 the elements of a
functioning natural communiry in broad
strokes, adjust our technologies and lifestyles
accordingly, and then fine-tune our
relationship 10 our environment as we gain a
deeper perception of human causes and natural
effects.
lf we are to continue to live in these
hills, we will have to strive 10 keep the life
community as close as possible to the
evolutionary optimum for this region. Our
work on behalf of the nawral life processes
and the native species as best we can know
them protects the integril)' - or ecological
wholeness - of the region. Our goal is a
community of life capable of sustaining itself
in the face of inevitable change.
~
David Wheele r

(continued from i-sc4)

Rhcx!cxlendron sproutS up quickly and in its
first year in full sun will set flower buds. The
followi.ng year the buds bloom and Lhen open,
producing an amazing amount of seed."

On rhe high ridgetcp, under new sun and
new rain, grass has grown over the charred
ground, hidfog it away from sight. It was
almosr as ifthefve never had been, except/or
the lushness of the new sprillg growth and rhe
blacuned suletons ofberry bushes and
rhod.Jdendrons reaching grotesquely imo the
air. Tiny, leafy shoots spring up from the roots.
In rlvee years, during the longest days, the
meadow will appear to blaze again in a
profusion ofpurple rlwdodendronf/owers.
later in that same s,unmer, the blueberry bushes
will bear fn1il, turning the fresl,/yfertilized soil
in10 a prodigious liarvest
Fire has brought change - and new life.

;,

--~Jo,.

-l'tr1 sorr'l Mr. J"ohnson. We found ~our
'llc.coJ'nt to be ·m arrears . "'"'

· ~1P'I

l.,intu, 1991 92

�REVIEW:

TRIDENT TO LIFE

SUPPORT CHUCK ROE!

"All nuclear stares are composed ofmaJ1y
11a1io11s, bw each is controlled by a single
nation that has the bomb. Britain's bomb is
English, not Irish; the Soviet bomb is Russian.
not Ukrainian; the French bomb is Parisian, not
Corsican; the Chinese bomb is Han, not
Tibetan; and the US bomb is White American,
not lakoran."
Each year during the Christian holiday of
The Feast of the Holy Innocents, people gather
in S1. Mary's, Georgia in opposition 10 the
Trident submarine base and in suppon of
peaceful alternatives to the militarized
economy.
This year the theme of the action is "From
Genocide to Peace: Celebrating the Conversion
of Our Economies." The marchers will
remember the native peoples who were
decimated during the 500 years of European
conquest and protest the presence of a modem
tool of genocide: the Trident submarine and its
nuclear weapons payload.
The event is scheduled from December
27-29 and will include a vigil, fellowship, a
Listening Project, and the march to the gates of
1he Trident base which will take place on
Saturday, December 28. St. Mary's is on the
South Georgia coast, so the scenery is
beautiful, and accommodations and camping
facilities are plentiful.
For more information, write:
Feast of the Holy /1111oce111s
Pla1mi11g Committee
clo Jody Howard
215 McDonough St.
Decatur, GA 30030
or call:
(404)377-7109

TURTLE ISLAND
BIOREGIONAL CONGRESS
V
May 17-24, 1992
A convocation of bioregional people from
across the continent and beyond

at Camp Stewan
in the hill country of the Great Prairie biome.
To register for this event, contact:
Gene Marshall
Realistic Living
Box 140826
Dallns, TX 75214
Upper Blackland Prairie Bioregion
hhntcr , 199 1 92

If. ' '

't

read by Thomas Rain Crowe
accompanied by Eugene Friesen, c:cllo, and Paul
Sullivan, piano

"Love is the perfect work"

Words on a page sometimes blossom into
meaning within the reader's mind. But poetry
read by the author is a three-dimensional
experience in space, time, and spirit. The
listener hears the words as they were intended
to be heard and touches the mind that binhed
them.
When the reading is accompanied by
musical instrumentation, it becomes another
experience. The woros are then the frame
supporting a work that is a collaboration of
influences altogether different than words
alone.
For those of us who were not al the
Jubilee Center on Valentine's Day evening,
1990, Thomas Rain Crowe has recorded
readings from that event and from another
evening at Furman University in Greenville,
SC on July 20 of that year. Accompaniment is
by Eugene Friesen, bassist for Lhe Paul Winter
Conson and a resident of Asheville, and Paul
Sullivan, pianist, who heads a musical
enterprise called River Music Records in the
Gulf of Maine region.
Since the recording was made live, the
quality of the tape is variable, but the meaning
and intem are clear throughout. Crowe,
formerly a Katuah Journal editorial siaff
member, lives in rural Jackson County, in the
Tuckasegee River watershed. He is a gardener
and a printer as well as a poet, but he is always
watching the interplay of opposites · sound and
silence, motion and stillness, the light and the
dark - in the seasons of time and of the human
hean. He writes of the changes he has seen honestly and deeply, yet always with hope.
The musical sounds interweave with the
verbal and offer their own meanings,
communicating with the listener on different
levels. The sensitive instrumentation adds
greatly 10 the depth of the presentation.
Together they present a pleasing work.
Nothing, of course, can match the subtle
exchange of energy that occurs at a live
performance, but the casseue Sound of light is
in itself a wonhwhile artistic statement, full of
sound and insight.
And knowing what love is, I
aw~. In this place in my body.
Full of dream 17WSic,
Full oflighJ!"

• reviewed by KO

near
Kerrville, Texas

• J

THE SOUND OF LIGHT

..

Selcctlons from lhe poem 'i1ie Pcrl'cc:1 Work" by Thomu
Rain Crowe

The Sound of Light was produced by John
lane and Tlwrnas Rain Crowe. The tape is
available for $7.95 plus $1 .00for shipping
and handling from Holocene Books; Box
10/; Wofford College. Spartanburg, SC
29303.

'- I

For years Chuck Roe worked 10
inventory and protect wild lands and native
species in the State of Nonh Carolina as the
director of the srate Natural Heritage Program.
On a shoestring budget, with linle suppon from
the state bureaucracy, Roe consolidated
resources and labor from a variety of sources
and not only kept the Natural Heritage Program
functioning, but made it into an effective force
for natur.11 preservation.
In the spring of 1991, Roe was fired
from his job by the Secretary of the NC
Department of Environment, Health, and
Natural Resources, William Cobey. The reason
given was that Roe had overstepped his
authority in writing a leuer to support Karin
Heiman, who had recently been fired as a
botanist for the US Foresr Service. The real
reason for both the firings is that lleiman and
Roe were being too effective in their jobs and
were becoming obstacles to the goals of the
powers that be.
Chuck Roe is appealing his firing. His
legal challenge is an important battle for free
speech, employees' rights, and environmental
protection.
"The costs so far for my legal fees have
been $5,000," Roe says, "which has not been
easy for my family to afford. Standing up for
principles is not only dangerous but expensive,
bm I did what was right, and I have no
regrets."
He is asking help from anyone who is
willing and able to contribute 10 his defense.
To help, send a check made our to the
"Chuck Roe Legal Defense Fund" to the
Western Nonh Carolina Alliance: Box 18087;
Asheville, NC 28814. Contributions are
tax-deductible.

FRENCH BROAD
FOOD CO-OP
• • • Consu= Ov.,wd Sinre 1975 • • •

We Sell Food that Nourishes
I Iumans and Sustains the Earth
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Monday-Friday 8:.30 AM to 8:00 PM
Saturday 9;00 AM lo 7,00 PM
Sunday 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM

(704) 255-7650
90 Biltmore Avenue Asheville, NC
2 Blocks South of Downtown

�NWN (co,uinllldfrom page 23)

HELP WANTED

amc:ndmcnl lh:il would allow logging in areas LO be
designated as recreation and stenic are.is.

CALDWELL COUNTY:

SAVED FROM THE SHAVE
Naturul World News Scivicc
A new chapt.cr of the WCSJcm Non.h Carolina
Alliance (WNCA) has fanned in ~'JIOn.se I O ~
limber sales in lhc Grandfalhcr Ranger DistricL The
Foothills Environmental Alli:ince (FEA) is lhc fll'Sl
organit.ed crron 10 appeal timber sales in CaWwcll
Counly. Hunt.crs, f1Shcf5, and ccologiSIS alike ruc
dis1wbed about loog range impaclS due IO excess
umbering.
Citing excessive cumulative cffcclS from
c lcarc:u1ting on both private lands and lhc Pisgah
National Forest, an nppc:il has been filed w1lh lhc
J"orest Service on proposed sales in the Wilson Creek
wau:rshcd. The habillll preservation group Sou1hPAW
also ~ubmiucd four appeals of sales on lhe Grandfather
District to prcvcnl foresl frogmcnuiuon. degradation of
sltC.'lm quruity, and ncg11tive imp:iclS on biodivcrs11y
from lhc logging. In November, 1991 siays were
granted on lhe proposed soles. and lhc WNCA is
prepared tO continue oppeals if R:inger Mike Anderson
decides to continue lhc logging.
In a meeting belwecn members of lhc WNCA
and lhc Forest Service, thc laucr admill.Cd !hat Caldwell
Coun1y has had more lluln its share of clC31CuUing. It is
lime to pf'Olcct Lhcsc valuable lands.
The Poo1hill$ Environmen1al Allianu mrtts al
the county library ,n unoir on ,~ ftr$t Thursday of
every monlh.

US REP. CHARLES TAYLOR:
FOE OF THE FOREST

One of the siJcs slated for release III Taylor's
so-called "wilde.mess" bill was thc Blue Valley area near
Hjghlands, NC. Taylor's acllon prompted a storm of
proccst from residents who loved lhc area and wnnicd 10
keep it as il is. In response he called an "cducaiional"
mecung in Highlands lhat con~ist.cd or a full program of
USFS personnel iclling why thcy want.cd IO delist Blue
Valley. The citu.cns who packed lhc hall were invit.cd 10
air their concerns by sending lctlet~ 10 Taylor after the
meeting. Residents howled. and Taylor bler wilhdrew
his bill from consideration.
His move agai1151 wildbnds in Georgia was
prompted by a bill proposed by Rep. Ed Jenkins
(D-OA) which would dcs1gn:ite lhe Blood Mountllln and
Mark Trail IIICa.~as wildctnc.-;.~ and add 1,100 acres to the
Bn&amp;SSIOwn Wildemcss An:3. h would also create n 36
square mile recreation area oo Springer Mountain, lhe
head of lhe Appalachian Trail, and an 11 square mile
scenic area on Coosa Bald. Taylor's amendment would
have allowed logging in lhe laucr are.is. even lhough
Jc:okins took pains 10 mention lhat his bill would hnvc
liulc effect on timber quOlllS in the Chau:ihooc:hcc.
Jenkins' bill was =enlly passed lhrough
Congress SO/IS lhc Taylor amendmcnL
ll is 110{ surprising lhat Charles Taylor is so
ddigent in the service of lhe timber indusiry. Twcnl)'
pcn:cnt of his 1990 campaign contributions ($40,000)
c:amc from individuals nnd groups connected wilh the
wood producis indusuy. He himsel f is a dc\-clopc:r and
tree farmer in TnlllSYlvania and H:iywood Counties.

flfonnl Wadel News Service

for

BIODIVERSITY LEGAL
FOUNDATION
The Biodiversity Legal Foundation is a
non-profit organization dedicated to the
preservation of all native wild plants and
animals, communities of species, and naturally
functioning ecosystems.The group is involved
in li1igadon in the biocenaic defense of the
elements of natural diversity lhat other, more
mainstream groups are typically unwilling to
undenake.
The Foundation closely monitors the
programs of the US forest Service for
sensitive, threatened. and endangered species
and their ecosystems. It concentrates on
habitats across the country that are integrnl
parts of large, natural, diverse ecosystems. The
group's legal actions always stress a multiple
species/ ecosystem approach.
The Biodiversity Legal Foundation is
looking for help in the eastern foresis. They
need activists with a strong biological interest
to develop a comprehensive review of the
status and disaibution of the eastern wood.rat
(Neotomafloridiana) and the eastern
diamondback mnlesnake (Cota/us adamenters).
Both these species are believed to be in serious
trouble and require legal advocacy.
Those interested should contact:

Jasper Carlu,n
Biodiversity legal Fowidation
Box 18327
Boulder, CO 80308

The congressional reprcscnwivc from Nor1h
Carolina's 11 lh District has been busying himself wilh
aucmpts to destroy wild h:ibi1111 during lhe past tcnn of

Congress.
Rep. Charles Taylor this summer uuroduced lhc

Craggy Mounr.:tln Wilderness Act, a "w11demcss" bill
that released I l,700acrcs of wild lands lO commercial
cxploiiation while prot.ccling only 2,400 aacs that arc
alre:ldy heavily used as a scenic auraction.
He was one or lhc 24 sponsors in the House of
lhc "Family and Forest Protection AJ:1; a limber
indusuy bill designed 10 hinder ci1i1.cns who would stop
destructive n:iuonal forest timber sales.
Taylor also tried 10 weaken a forest
protection biU mitiau:d ror lhc
Chauahoochcc National Forest by Georgia
Rep. Ed Jenkins. Taylor proposed an

flti.

Programs to encolSOge

&amp;elf aid Eorth OW01enes.1.
celebrotton. klrdhlp ond hope.
• You1h Camii- • School Programs
• Fa,my Cami,.· Teadler Training
• Commuroty Provam•
•~Sia~ Tra.,ing
• 0uldoor Program~

PO 8ox 130b
Go11r&gt;tlL&lt;g. reme- 3n3a

61~

1'otimfl JoumoC

J)n'}C 32

~\I',\

TaJJcin1 ua...a is a DlOlllhly
,JOUrUal of deep ecology, inspired
personal acuvmn rooted in earthen
sp,rirualny. Pasl i$SUC$ have
featured ar11cles by Gary Snyder,
Starllawk, John Seed, Joanna
M,cy, Bill Devall, l..onc Wolf
Circles. Bubara Mor, etc:.
Tn/Jnng
~ for the
natural wt'4'1d and for the rekindllOE
of our own wild 5Ptnt.

uo,-a

Suh:\cnpllOIIS an: S24.00 one
year/ $48.00 outside U.S.

Ta/J:JnglLm-a
1430 Willamette 1361
Eugeoc. OR 97401
5031342-2974
Dra'IVll!g by Rob Musick

REGIONAL RADIO
Featuring Crossroads music, ?\iPR news and music
programs, regional news and information
concerning health, education, government,
recreation, and the environment.
WNCW - FM

r 0. Box 804

Spand.ilc, NC 28160

(704) 287-8000
l.,L11tcr, 1991-,92 ,

�•·,I.I, I

FEBRUARY

€V€0t'S
DECEMBER
BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC
Bill Melanson, reggae rock. at
McDibbs. $4.00. I 19 Cherry S1.; 28711, (704)
669-2456.
20

21

BLACK MOUNTA[N, NC
Pini and Gaye Johnson at McDibbs.
$4.00. See 12/20.
SWANNANOA, NC
Full Moon and Winier Solstice Lodge
a1 the Earth Center. Begins a1 noon. ConlllCl lhe Earth
Center: 302 Old Fellowship Road; 28TT8. (704)
298-3935.

27-29

ST. MARYS, GA

9th annual Peace Witness at
Kings Bay Submarine Base. Program
includes Listening Project training, direct
action, candlelight vigil, and shnred meal.
Pre-regisrration encouraged; donation
accepted. Contact Kings Bay Witness; c/o Joy
Howard; 215 McDonough St.; Decatur, GA

30030.
(404) 377-7019.

ASHEVLLLE, NC
"Breaking Barrier.;, Building Bridges.•
Workshop 10 focw; on brcalcing down barriers of
racism, sexism and classism, and on cswblishing
cross-cul1ural connection:; for more effccti,e grassroolS
organizing. Al W.C. Reid Center. Prc-rcgiSlcr. SS.
ConlaCl uwra Deaton, Western Norlh Carolina
Alliance; 11 Clock Tower Square; Frankhn, NC
28734.(704)S2A-3899.
l

HOT SPRINGS, NC
"A New Years Rcln:aL" Meditation lO
welcome the new year, led by John Orr nod Man:in
Rose. Pre-register. S28S mcludes vegan meals and
lodgmg. Contact Southern Dhanna Rctreal Center; RL
I; 28743. (704) 622-7112.

27-4

VALLEYHEAD,AL
Winter Solstice Celebration. ConlllCl
Hawkwind Earth Renewal Cooperative: PO Box 11;
Valley Head, AL 35989. (205) 635-6304.

22

Winter Solstice

2

SWANNANOA, NC
Foll Moon Lodge al lhc Enrth Center.

See 12/21.

MARCH

JANUARY
ASHEVILLE, NC
Tim Abell, ·songs and s1ories for lhe
young of all ages. Bring lhe kids. SS. 8:30 pm a1
Stone Soup Cafe, comer of Broadway and Walnu1.
(704) 255-7687.
4

SWANNANOA, NC
Full Moon Lodge al lhc Eanh Center.

18

Feile Oridghe or Candlemas

(01 id"in1er)

21

?l-23

.
....

~8

GREAT SMOKIES PARK

"Environmental Education and lhe
Arts" annual workshop. Sessions on slOJylelling,
dramatics, mum, puppetry and other cmfl.s ~gned lO
inspire new ideas for ieaching aboUI lhe narural world.
Fcalured gucsl is Denny Olsen.
Prc-rcgisitr. S80 includes meals and lodging. Conuict
Great Smoley Mounl8ins lnstitute at Tremont: RLl,
Box 700: Townsend. TN 37882. (615) 448-6709.

See 12/21.

ASHEVILLE, NC
Christmas uce chippers in locntions
Lhroughou1 Buncombe County. For locations, call
Quality Forward 254-1776.
26

ASHEVILLE, NC
Tree planting in Afion Parle
co-sponsored by Quali1y Forward and lhc Ashevillc,Buncombe Youlh council. For info: Quality F«wnrd:
Box 22; 28802. (704) 254-1776.

7

ASHEVILLE, NC
Jim Magill, plays mountain music in
Lhe Celtic tradition on a varic1y of instruments,
original music, and stories. SS. 8:30 pm al S1onc
Soup Cafe. See 1/4.
18

21

SWANNANOA, NC
Full Moon and Spring Equinox Lodge

al Lhe Earth Cenl.Cf. Sec 12/21.

Get a set of 10 assorted
folding cards 1Nith
artwork you see in
Katuah Journal.

28

ASHEVILLE, NC
Girl Scoots' 80th birthday tree planting
along Broadway. Public p:lrtieipa1ion inviled. Pisgah

~~~-~-'!!!~t~G~ir,;Sco Council and Quality Forward. Sec 3/1.
; I ~ ;,:ut

(Envelopes included.)

by Rob l/.:esskk

Send $11.25 postage paid
to:
Rob Messick
P.O. BOX 2601

BOONE, NC 28607
Drawing b} Rodney Webb

whole earth
grocery

Hawk Littlejohn
Sourwood Farm
Rt 1, Box 172-l
Prospect Hill, NC 27314
(919) 562-3073

NATURAL
ALTERNATNES
FOR HEALTHFUL

LIVING
446 c.p,ukway rr~h center • suite 11

g.11hnburg. tcnnCSS&lt;"C 3n38

615-436-6967
W1Htct', l9!11-92 ' '

An Alternative

i

NATIVE FLUTES

Two styles mode of cedar or walnut
woods in the traditional manner

Union Acres

- - lscrtage for Sale - Smoky Mountain Living
with a focus on spiritual and
«ologicol values

For more information:
Cont ad C. Grant al
Roule 1. Box 61]

Whillier, NC 28789
(704) 497-4964

NATURAL MARKET
WI IOLE FOODS • BULK

rooos. VJTA!liflNES . HERBS
• FAT FREE FOODS • TAKE
OUT FOODS • SNACKS • NO

SALT, NO CHOLESTEROL

265-2700
823 Slowing Roell. Rd
Boone, NC 28607

�SAVE OUR RIVERS • CllSSClte album by Baro= and
Jolm DunC311 and Ille Foxftrc Boys. Onginal tunes by
Barb.ira DunclUI; old umll go.,pel lnllllS by the Fodirc
Bo),. S10.00 includes poswge .llld handling. All
profit\ go to Save Our Rivm, Inc. PO Box 122:
Franklin, 1'C 28734: or call (71») 369-7877, For the
Cullasaj:i.

• Webworking has changed! There is now a
fee of $2.50 {pre-paid) per entry of50 words
or less. Submit entries/or Issue #33 by Feb.
15, 1992 to: Rob Messick; Box 2601; Boone,
NC 28607. (704) 754-6097

PEN PA.LS WANTED. I am 30, single, a traditional
religious leader and Greenpeace acuvist. I live far from
town on a rivcrf'rom hom&lt;:SIC3d. Bear's.Over-Rainbow:
HCR 77. Box 382; Cosmopoli.~. WA 98537
I W\'E 'f llE E.ARTII. a ca.~uc: nxord,ng of

MUSIC BY BOB AVERY-GRUBEL awilablc on three
casscucs. Treasures in IM Stream and Circlt!T
Rerunung are folk/rOCl.·,i:lzz, and a rccenl release of
original chants and songs, l1g/11111 1/~ Wind. is a
ca~Ua Lyric sheets includ..ld Send SJO for each r.apc
or S26 for all Lhrce IO Bob Avery-Grubel; RI. I, Box
735: Floyd, VA 2409 I.
IIIGHLANDER CENTER· is a community-based
educational org;inl7.alion whose purpo&lt;;e is IO provide
SJ130C for people IO learn from each other, and 10
developc solutions 10 environmenUJI problems based
on thcir values. cxpcnences. and aspirauons. They also
put ou1 a qurutcrly ncwslcw:rcallcd 1/igh/andu
Reports. For more Info conlaet Highlander Ccn1et;
19S9 Highlandct Way; New Mnrtkel, TN 37820 (61 S)
933.3443
BODY RI/YI/IMS from Plancwy Molhets • a beautiful
and pnlCticnl clllcndar for women io ch3rl Lheir
·moonthly" C)'l:les. Send S3.00 plus S 1.00 pOSUlge to:
Plnnc&amp;ary Mothers Colloctive (c/o Nancie Yonker):
5231 Riverwood Avenue: Snrasoin. A.. 34231.

"BLOW YOUR MIND" • wilh 1hc celestial ~Ing
music of "Medicine Wind" by George Tortorelli. Also
exotic !ino-1uncd bamboo nuics in many keys aod
modes. For more informauon send 10: George
Tonorclli; 86 NW 55111 Stttet; Gnincsvillc. A.. 32601.
(904) 373-1837
WANTED: FUNDRAISER for the Grassroots LislC.nlng
311d Organizing Program or Ille Rural Soulhcm Voice
for Peace. We provide uaining end organiring
assislllllCC 10 grossroots groups 111 the South worlting
on justice, peace, and environmental issues. Localed 111
micnr.ional community m Blue Ridge Mountams.
Modest salary. 30 to 35 hrs/wit., good benefilS. Send
lcucr and rcsumt 10 RSVP/GLO: 1898 H31lll3h Branch
Rd.; Burnsville, NC 28714. (704) 675- 5933.
LAND FOR SALE • M:ignif1ce111 view wnh small ho1.1.~
111 beau1iful Spong Creek, NC. Ten males soulh of
Ho1 Springs, NC (off Route 209), and one hour west
or Asheville. $25,000 for bnd nnd house. Pcrfcc1 for
the self sullkiem life. Crul Lindn Deyo at (704)
675-9575.
SLASH YOUR HEATING COSTS· simple and
i001pcnsive method 10 locate and stop costly air leaks.
Send S3.00ond a SASE 10 M.J Olson: 816 Norlh
4Lh Avenue: Knoxville, TN 37917. Refund if
unsatisfied
JOIN US -111 lhe Olob:il CeJcbrauon oflhe um versa! day
of World Peace and Pl.lnctary Heahng Doo:mbcr 12th
1991. The universal silent rn&gt;cr begins at 12:00
noon. For more infonnation conr.act PO Box 78813:
Tucson AZ, 85703 or call (()()2) 326-7522.

.

Xntu.afl Journot P&lt;UJ'l- 34

.

'

cnvironmenial songs by lhc Oreal Smoky Mountains
lnsti1u1c at Trcmon1 in celebruuon of the 20th
annivcr.;ary of Earth Day. Includes ·scAT Rap," "The
0:lrbagc Blue.~." and more. $9.95 plus S2.50 shipping
for each ca=uc. Mail order plus check to Grcru
Smoky MounlOins Natural Hi);lory Association: 115
P-Jtl 1-!cadquancrs Rd.; G3tlmburg, TN 37738.

Alternatives ...
The Dirt:c1&lt;&gt;ry of fn1~n11onul Con1111w,111e.&lt; 1s lhe prod·

uc1 or 1wo years or 1111en..1vc n:sc.m;h, .1nd tS lhe most
compn:hcnsive and 111:turate Jircclor) a,·ailablc. IL documents lhc: vi~1on and the dally hie or more lhan 3SO
commu11111c.~ 111 Norlh America, and more than 50 on
oilier conlinents. Each community's hsung includes
name, address, phone. and a dcsc11pwn of the group.
ExlClls1vc cro-s n·fercocmg nnd ,nJ..,1ng mak~ lhc 111formation easy tn act"C$~ for a wide vancay of user-1. Includes maps, over 2SO atld1uOOAI Resource listings, and
40 related aniclcs.
328 pages
K-lnxl I
Pcrfcc:1bounJ
Ocwocr 1990
1S81' Number.
0 96()27141-4
Sl6.00

Add S::!.00 poMagc
&amp; handling for first
hook, s.:m rorcach
.i.Jd111onJI; 41l%
d1'&gt;Coum on ordc~
of 111 c,r more.
Alpha Fann. Deadwood. OR
(503) 9'w-5102

LIV(NG OPPORTUNmES • Needed, Solar
Dcmonstrnlion CC111cr CoordinalOr by Spring, 1992.
Preferred retired and/or mdcpendcm mcome pcrson(s).
Hou,ing provided w11h op110n IO own within ien
years. Expertise in Ofi.llllic gaidcnmg and/or
appropriaie iechnology required. OJ,ponuni1y IO a.«-~t
low-mcome Ccnunl APJX1lach1ans. Wn1e; Appalachm
Science in Ille Public ln1ercs1: PO Box 298;
Livings1on, KY 4().145.
DOG • a chque of Pocuy, SJ)lril. God-is-Life not
God-runs-Li fc. Art. Journeys. IMer Powe11;, Munk
review~ and Zinc review~. Anlclcs, Dislribu110n of
Gypsy Music and more. Inspired 111 Asheville area of
NC and in Southern TX. Be positive and cnioy the
world arouod you. M:ul 10 Colouf!; or Monroe: PO
Box 18752: Corpus Christi, TX 78480. Cost S2.00.

VISIT MEXICO· in summer of 1992 wilh lhe
Exchange Program between WNC and S!ln Crist6bal
de las Casas, Chiapas. The purpose of lhe exchange is
10 build world peace lhrough personal conUICIS across
national boundaries. Spend 2~ weeks with a hos1
family, receive language ansuucuon and reciprocate by
offering hospiLllily in your home community
Minimum cosl IO permi1 wide panicipalion. For more
information write: Jenifer Morgan: 2050 Hannah
Bmnch Road; Burnsville, 1'C 28714 or call Becca
(70-I) 298-6794 or Jane (704) 625-5620.
NATIVE AMERICAN A..UTE MUSIC- Richard
Roberti, a well known west TN new age nutist (M:a
Zero Otims). is now av;ulablc an the Easl Tl'\/NC area.
For relaxing aod uplifling pcrfonnanccs or iopcs
con1JC1: Richan! Robcrtli: Box 821: Noms. TN 37828
(615) 494-8828 01' Rt I, Box 136 RD; Lamar, MS
38642 {601) 252-4283.
PEOPLE OF THE WEB· 224 page book (1990) shows
how lnwan mounds, anciem ritunls, magnetic
CJtJ)Crimentation on lhc: brain, neru-dcath c.~pcrience,
ll1!d UFO obduclions are rclaled. Wilh 94 piclurcs and
illustrnlioos. St9.95 sofl.back. S24.95 hardback- Eagle
Wang Books: Box 99n. Memphis, TN 38109.
NATNE AMERICAN CEREMONIAL HERBS· we
offer a large variety of sages. sweet grass, naiurlll
resins, and evcrylhing ncccs.,;ory for smudging. Native
smoking mixtures, 0uLO music, pow-wow 111pcs, and
ceremonial songs. Esscnr.ial oils. and incenses
specifu:ally made for prayer, offering, and meditation.
For caUllog call or write: Esscncia.l Dreams; Rt 3, Box
285: Eagle Fork. Hayesville, NC 28904 (704)
389-9898.
LOOKING FOR OTHERS • fOI' mutual suppon and
encou111gcmcn1 111 sc:udl of a bcucr life. Loolung for
~ l e formru.1011 of a rcsidenr.ial community. My
1ntcres1S and strengms are: feminism, pcrmllCUIIUrc,
commun11y supponcd agricul1urc, radionics, rot111111
he3ling, and much more. Write Peggy Price; 5807
Poplar Strcei: Doraville, OA 30340 or aill (404)
447-9829.
PIEDMONT BIOREGIONAL INSTITUTE· For !hose
who live 10 the Piedmont area, !here's a biorcgional
cffon v.-cll underway. Jom Us! We would 3pproc1ll1C
any donation of umc or money to help mce1 opern1ing
expenses. For a gift of S25.00 or more. we will !iol!nd
you a copy of John Lawson's JOumat, A New Voyage
10 Carolina. Also come find out about 1he Lawson
ProjccL PBI; 412 W Rosemary Su-cet: Chapel Hill,
NC 27516; Uwharria Province. (919) 942-2581.
MUSICIANS, MAGICIANS, ACROBATS, ACTORS,
jugglers, poets, roadies, cte. wanu:d to JOlll The
Bicycle B:ind, a iribal-foU. trnvcling musical
circus/medicine show. Must be 101ally self-propelled
(no gas-powered vehicles). Conlllct Billy Jonas; 31
Park A,·c.; Asheville, NC 28801
ROOM AV An.ABLE • in exchange for small odd jobs
and some cooking. To inquire please coniact Knrcn
W,ulcins at Rt 4, Box 389; Burnsville. NC 28714;
(704) 682-9263.

,.,lurer, 199 t-92

�BACK ISSUES OF KATUAH JOURNAL AVAILABLE
ISSUE THREE· SPRING 1984
Sustainable Agricullure - Sunnowers • Human
lmpac, on lhe Forest - Childrens· Educa1ion Veronica Nicholas: Woman in Politics - Lill.le
People - Medicine Allies
ISSUE FOUR - SUMMER 1984
War.er Drum • Water Quali1y - Kudzu. Solar Eclip.,;c
· Clcan:ulling • Trou1 • Going IO Waler - Ram
Pumps· Microhydro • Poems: Bennie Lee Sinclair,
Jim Wayne Miller
ISSUE FIVE - FALL 1984
Harvest • Old Ways in Cherokee - Ginseng - Nuclear
Waste • Our Celtic ReriLagc - Biorcgionalism: Past.
Present. and Future - John Wilno1y - Healing
Darlcness - Politics of Participation
ISSUE STX· WINTER 1984-85
Winlcr Solstice Eanh Ceremony - Horsepasture
Rjvcr • Coming of the Light - Log Cabin ROOI.
Mounuiin Agriculture: The Right Crop • William
Taylor - The Future of 1he Forest
ISSUE SEVEN - SPRING 1985

Sustainable Economics - Hol Springs - Worller
Ownership - The Great Economy - Self Help Credit
Union - Wild Turkey - Responsible Investing .
Working in Ille Web of Life
ISSUE EIGHT - SUMMER 1985
Celebration: A Way of Life - Katuah 18,000 Years
Ago· Sacred Sites - Folk Arts in the Schools. Sun
Cycle/Moon Cycle - Poems: Hilda Downer Cherokee Heritage Center - Who Owns Appalachia?
ISSUE NINE • FALL 1985
The Waldoe Forest - The Trees Speak • Migrating
Forests • Horse Logging - SLBrting a Troe Crop •
Urban Trees • Acom Bread • Mylh Time
ISSUE TEN· WINTER 1985·86
Kate Rogers • Ci:cles of Sione - Internal
Mythmalcing • Hol.islic Healing on Trial - Poems:
Steve Knaulh · Mylhic Places - The Uk1ena·s Tale.
Crystal Magic - "Drcamspeaking•
ISSUE THlRTEEN • FALL 1986
Center For Awakening - Elizabeth Callari - A
Gentle Death • Hospice. Ernest Morgan • Dealing
Creatively wilh Death • Home Burial Box - The
Wake - The Raven Mocker - Woodslore &amp; Wildwoods Wisdom - Good Medicine; The Sweat Lodge

;'.

33

Ke°UA~9URNAL
PO Box 638 Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748
For more info: call Rob Messick at (704) 754-6007

Name

Regular Membership........$10/yr.
Sponsor.........................$20/yr.
Contributor.....................$50/yr.

Address

City

Wl.ntef', 1991-92

ISSUE FOURTEEN· WINTER 1986-87
Lloyd Carl Owle - Boogcrs and Mummers. AJI
Species Day - Cabin Fever Univcrsily - Homeless
in KatWlh • Homemade Hot Water. Stovemakcr's
Narrative· Good Medicine: ln1Crsp0Cies
Communication
ISSUE FIFIBEN • SPRING 1987
Coverlets· Woman Forcsr.cr. Susie McMahan:
Midwi~e • ~tcrnative Contraception - Biosexuality B1oregionalism and Women • Good Medicine:
Matriarchal Culture - Pearl
ISSUE SIXTEEN· SUMMER 1987
Helen Wai1e - Poem: Visions in a Garden • Vision
Ques, • First Aow - Initiation • Leaming in the
Wilderness - Cherokee Challenge - "Valuing Trees"
ISSUE EIGHTEEN· WINTER 1987-88
Vernacular ArchitCCtW'C - Dreams in Wood and Stone
• Mountain Home • Eanh Energies • Eanh-Shcltercd
Living· Membrane Houses • Brush Shelter.
J?oems: October Dusk - Good Medicine: "Sheller"
ISSUE NlNETEEN · SPRING 1988
l?en:landra Garden - Spring Tonics - Blueberries.
Wilctnowcr Gardens· Granny Herbalist - Aower
Essences • "The Origin of lhe Animals:" Story Good Medicine: "Power" • Be A Tree
ISSUE nVENTY • SUMMER 1988
Preserve Appalochian Wilderness - Highlands of
Roan - Celo Community· Land Trust - Arthur
Morgan School - Zoning Issue. "The Ridge" •
Farmers and the Fann Bill - Good Medicine: "Land"
- Acid Rain • Duke·s Power Play • Cherokee
Microhydro Project
ISSUE TWENTY-TWO-WINTER 1988-89
Global Warming - F"1te This lime. ThOIIUIS Berry
on "Bioregions· · Earth Exercise. Kort Loy
McWhiner· An Abundance of Emptiness. LETS.
Chronicles of Aoyd • Darry Wood • The Bear Clan
ISSUE 1WBNTY-THREE- SPRING 1989
Pisgah Village • Planet An· Green Ci1y - Poplar
Appeal· "Clear Sky"· "A New Eanh". Black Swan
- Wild Lovely Days· Reviews: Sacred Land Sacred
Sex. Ice Age· Poem: "Sudden Tendrils"

State
Phone Number

Zip

Enclosed is $ , - - - - - to give
this effon an extra boost

ISSUE TWENTY-FOUR· SUMMER 1989
Deep Listening • Life in Atomic City - Direct
Action! • Tree of Peace - Community Building.
Peacemakers· Ethnic Survival • Pairing Project.
"Batl.lesong" • Growing Peace in Cuhurcs - Review:
The Chalice and the 8/Juk
ISSUE TWENTY-SIX· WINTER, 1989·90
The Ecoz.oic Ero • Kids Saving Rainforest • Kids
Treecycling Company - Connict Resolution •
Developing Creative Spirit - Birth Power. Magic of
Puppetry • Home Schooling - Naming Ceremony •
Mother Earth's Classroom • Gardening for Children
ISSUE TWENTY-SEVEN - SPRING, 1990
Transformation - Healing Power - Peace to Their
Ashes • Healing in KatWlh - Poem: "When Len 10
Grow· • Poems: Sicphen Wing - The Belly - Food
from the Anciem Fores,
ISSUE TWENTY-NINE· FALI../WlNTER 1990
From the Mountains 10 lhe Sea • Profile of The
Lltl.le Tennessee River - Headwaters Ecology. "It
All Comes Down to Water Quality". Water Power.
Action ror Aquatic Rabimis . Dawn Walehers . Good
Medicine: The Long Human Belng - The Nonh
Shore Rood - Katuah Sells Ou, - Watetshed Map or
the Kalliah Province
ISSUE THIRTY· SPRING 1991
Economy/ECOiogy • Ways IO a Regenerative
Economy· "Money is the Lowest Form of Wealth"
• Clarlcsville Miracle - The Village - Food Movers.
Lirework • Good Medicine: "Village Economy• Shelton l.aW'CI • LETS
ISSUE THIRTY-ONE- SUMMER 1991
Dowsing - Responsibilities of Dowsing • Elearical
Life or the Earth • Kaulah and the Earth Grid • Call
of the Ancient Ones - Good Medicine: ·0o
Ag&amp;JCSSion" - Time 10 Take the Time to Take the
Time· Whole Science - Tuning ln
ISSUE THIRTY-TWO. FALL 1991
Bringing back the F"1te · A Bit of Mountain Levity •
Climax Never Came - "Talking Leaves": Sequoyah •
Wal.king Distance· Good Medicine: "Serving lhe
Great Life" • The Granola Journal - Paintings:
"Mouniain Siories"- Songs of lhe Wilderness

Back Issues:
Issue# _ _@ $2.50 = $,_ __
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Complete Set:

(3-10, 13-16, 18-20, 22-24, 26-32)
postage paid @ $50.00 = $. _ __

1

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                <text>&lt;em&gt;Katúah Journal&lt;/em&gt;, Issue 33, Winter 1991-1992</text>
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ISSUE 35 SUMMER 1992

..:··.:·'.

..

.... ··

······· ...... ....... ·..·······

·-·-:.···········

····,.

..~..

··..··,.

�Drawing by Rob Messick

~UAHJOURNAL
PO Box 638
Leicester, NC
Katuah Province 287 48

Postage Paid
Bulk Mall
Permit #18
Leicester, NC
28748

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Printed on recycled papcT

ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED

�eoNrENTs0
Consensus........................

1

by Caroline Estes

Decision-Making Process....... 4
by Joyce Johnson

Problems with Consensus...... 5
by Rob Messick

Tribal Council....................

6

by Bear With Runs

Elda................................

9

by Lucinda Flodin

The State of Franklin............

11

by David Wheeler

Where the Trees Outnumber
the People....................

14

by Stephen Wing

In Council with All Beings..... 16
by Lee Barnes

Steve Moon:
Shell Engravings............

17

Good Medicine...................

18

Natural World News............

20

A Look Back.....................

23

by caroline Estes

by Will Ashe Bason

Are Bioregions Too Big? ....... 24
by Rob Messick

Practices for Full Self- Rule... 25
by Clear Marks

Drumming........................

26

Jury Nullification................

28

by Karen Fletcher

Review:
Beyond the limits...............

29

by Rob Messick

Events.............................

32

Webworking.....................

34

Summer, 1992

Consensus is based on the belief that
each person has some pan of the truth and no
one has all of it (no matter how mui::h we
would like to believe so) and on a respect for
all persons involved in the decision that is
being considered. ln our present-day society
the governing idea is that we can trust no
one, and therefore we must protect ourselves
if we are to have any security in our
decisions. The most we will be willing to do
is compromise. This means we are willing to
settle for less than the very best - and !hat we
will always have a sense of dissatisfaction
with any of our decisions unless we can
somehow maneuver others involved in the
process. This leads to a skewing of honesty
and fonhrighmess in our relationships.
In the consensus process, we start from
a different basis. The assumption is that we
are all truscwollhy (or at least can become
so). The process allows each person
complete power over the group. The central
idea for the Quakers was the complete
elimination of majorities and minorities. If
there were differences of view at a Quaker
meeting, as there were likely to be in such a
body, the consideration of the question at
issue would proceed, with long periods of
solemn hush and meditation, until slowly the
lines of thought drew together toward a point
of unity. Then the clerk would frame a
minute of conclusion, expressing the "sense
of the meeting."

Built into the consensual process is the
belief that all persons have some part of the
truth, or what in spiritual terms might be
called "some part of God," in them. and that
we will reach a better decision by putting all
of the pieces of the truth together before
proceeding. There are indeed limes when it
appears that two pieces of the truth arc in ·
contradiction to each other, but with clear
thinking and auention. the whole may be
perceived which includes both pieces, or
many pieces. The either/or type of argument
does not advance this process. Instead, the
process is a search for the very best solution
to whatever is the problem. That does not
mean that there is never room for error - but
on the whole, in my experience, it is rare.
This process also makes a direct
application of the idea that all persons are
equal. If we do indeed trust one another and
do believe that we a!J have pans of the truth,
then ac any time one person may know more
or have access to more information • but at
another time, others may know more or have
more access or bett.cr understanding. Even
when we have all the facts before us, it may
be the spirit that is lacking and comes forth
from another who secs the whole better than
any of the persons who have some of the
pans. All of these contributions are
impo11ant.
Decisions which all have helped shape
and in which all can feel united make the
canying out of the necessary action go
Oraw111g by Rob Messick

(contirwed on page 3)

Xatimh Journat page 1

�~UAHJOURNAL
EDITORIAL STAPH TIHS

ISSUE:

Maria Abbruzzi
Lee Barnes
Heather Blair
Chris Davis
Judith Hallock
Charlotte Homsher
Willow Johnson, lheQuwcctor
Thanks to Jim

Rob Messick
Nancy Odell
Michael Red Fox
James Rhea
Rodney Webb
David Wheeler

Houser for inspiring the "Councils" theme for this issue.

COVER: by Rob Messick ©1992
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
PUBLISHED BY: Karuah Journal
Here,
in the Katuah Province
of these ancient Appalachian mountains
where once the Cherokee Nation lived in freedom
between the Tennessee River Valley and the Eastern Piedmont
between the Valley of the Roanoke and the Southern Plain
on this Tunle Island continent of Mother Ela, the Earth

PRTNTED BY: The Waynesville Moumaineer Press

EDITOR JAL OFFICE TI TTS ISSUE: Billy Home and Gardens,
Asheville, NC

WRITE US AT: Kattwh Journal
Box 638; Leicester, NC; Katuah Province 28748

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 spealcs, 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 lhe land
We give !hanks for all that is good

TELEPHONE: (704) 754-6097
Diversity is an important clement of bioreg,onnl ecology, both runuml
and social. In accord with this principle Karuah Journal irics to serve as a
forum for the discussion of regional isrucs. Signed articles express only the
opinion of the authors and arc not necessarily the opinions of the Katuah
Jounial ediun or staff.

The Internal Revenue Service has declared Katuah Journal a non-profit
organiuition under section 501 (c)(3) of the lntemnl Revenue Code. All
contributions to Katuah Journal arc deductible from personal income lllX.

Ham1ony 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.

Articles appearing in KaJuahJournal may be reprinted in other
publications with pcnnission from lhc Katuah Journal struT. Contact the
journal in writing or call (704) 754-6097.

Kattwh Joturwl sends a voice...
with anicles, stories, poems, and artwork
we speak to the spirit of all the living, breathing
inhabitants of these mountains
in hopes that we, lhe human beings,
may find our place in this Great Life.

'LN VOCA.TLON

-

Empowering the Cowu:il Feather
Great Spirit,
Divine Mother,
we know this feather
came to us from you,
we know it's first purpose
in lhe Oeation is to fly empower it
so !hat each of us
who talces it in tum
may look down as the great eagle
circling over our Council,
empower us
so that each may speak
as the wind speaks
from our own comer of lhe Creation,
looking down over the long shoulder
of the horizon

The Editors

KATUAH JOURNAL wants to communicate your thoughts
andfeelings to other people in the bioregional province. Send
them to us as letters, poems, stories, articles, drawings. or
plwtographs, etc. Please send your comriburions 10 us a1: Katuah
Journal; P.O. Box 638; Leicester, NC; Kan,ah Province 28748.
OUR NEXT ISSUE will be about the role of wood in lhe
life of the mountains. Please send anicles evaluating the present
timber industry. logging stories. and visions of ecological and
sustainable ways to cut and use wood. Please also send pictures
and drawings of trees. wood, and woodworkers. Deadline is
August 8th 1992.

- Stephen Wing/

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THE WINTER ISSUE will be an assortment including
stories for good winter reading and possibly renewable energy
systems. Deadline is October, 30th 1992.
8
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�(continued from page I)

forward wiLh more efficiency, power, and
smoothness. This applies L persons,
o
communities, a.nd naLions. Given the
enonnous issues and problems before us, we
need LO use the ways thaL will best enable us
to move forward Logether.
The above is an ucerpt/rom an essay in
Home: A Bioregional Reader, tdittd by Van Andruss,
Christopher and Judith Plant, and Eleanor Wright
(New Society Publishers, 1990). (First printed in
The New Catalys1, 1tJ. Spring. 1986)

Speaking with
CAROLINE ESTES:
A Phone InLerview - May, 1992
Kanwh: When you are faciliLating, how
do you see yourself acting in the group?

CE: As a servant LO the group; to help
them come 10 the best decision they can make
wiLh those present.
Katlltlh: And 10 do that you have to be
assiduously neutral.

CE: That's right.
Katuah: But it also goes beyond that,
because when you are working at the
Bioregional Congress, I feel you are putting
out a lot of energy to...cemer yourself
spiritually, could you say that?

CE: Yes, you could say that. The way I
put it is that when I am doing consensusmaking facilitation r try to keep myself as a
clear stream. I am noL impeding; I have
nothing in me that is directing. and yet l am
there, in the spiritual sense, LO be as much
help as l can possibly be.
Ninety percent of facilitation is
knowing your group on that level. Only te n
percent of iL is knowing the subject matter
and understanding the words and all of Lhat.
MosL of what you are working wiLh is totally
subjective and understanding the "vibes." l
don't have all the new age tenninology
down, but it's definitely true that as a
facilitator of large groups. you have to be in
tune with the group. If you're not, don'L
facilitate.
Karuah: It's not a mechanistic thing at

all.
CE: Absolutely. That's the reason I get
slightly hysterical when people say anyone
can facilitate.
Katttal1: What is the most difficult job

you ever had LO facilitate?
CE: I can think of times when it didn't
work, bu1 the one thot strained the group the
most and we actually got the group Lhrough
it, was at the second Bioregional Congress at
Lake Leelanauw, Michigan when the group
tried LO pass a spirituality statement.
A resolution on spirituality was brought
before the group. Everyone was favorably
impressed and, I think, was preparing to
Sum mer, 1992

i\...)
.

adopt it, when two people who had been on
the fringe of the Congress all week moved
forward 10 say that they blocked it. That was
very hard 10 hear because they had not been
integral Lo the Congress, and yet they had
been there, and since the Congresses are
open groups they had the right 10 do this.
They were not articulate, so we could
not figure out easily what Lhey wanted or
why they were blocking it. I asked the .
patience of the group for two or three minutes
so I could dialogue with them directly, and in
doing so after a few minutes it started 10
emerge that the problem we were looking at
was the separation of church and state, which
no one up until that point had thought about.
Once that was articulated in a way that
people could understand it. a numbc!r of
people rose. including some who had been
on the commiuee, and said that they would
withdraw the statement. Others wanted 10
sign it in order to show support for it, but it
could not move forward in the group. It was
blocked.
That was one of the most di fficuh ones
in that we had a block from inarticulate
people who "'eren't integrally pan of the
group and were holding up a group decision
that until then looked like it had a "go."
l think that was the most lenmin&amp; a
group has done on why we have blocking. h
also tested the paoence of the group the most.
It showed a lot of things. It showed that
sometimes Lhe facilitator needs 10 step in to
try to find ouL what is really going on. It also
tested the group in whether they re:illy
believed in the consensual process enough
that they allowed the time for it to happen
even when it was at the end of an incredibly
pushed day.

.

r,_

It got very emotional, but...the system
worked! We hadn't thought about that point.,
and we needed to think about it before
rushing into a decision that might have been
100 hasty.
Kattlah Whar do you think is the
imponnnce of the continental bioregional
congress doing its work by consensus?

CE: It's incredibly important. In a sense
we have been co-opted by the larger society.
Bioregionalism is now an accepted word. For
instance, California is now looking at
bioregionalism governmentally. They are
starting to look at how they could break
down the state into sub-regions, instead of
towns, cities, and counties. And part of it is,
1 think, the power that goes behind any
decision of any group that works
consensually. You just have a lot more power
behind what you say. Even if it doesn'L get
into the mass media, it intrinsically has more
power. when everybody in the group is
behind a decision.
Ka11tal1: That leads to the clincher
question: which is the most imponant., the
process or the result?

CE: (Pause) I'd say Lhe process...if
your process is flawed, your decision is
going to be flawed_
When people don't want to use
consensus it is usually because they are
attached to their position. And they are right:
if they are attached ro a position and unable to
see or allow a better position L be brought
o
Drawing by Rob Messick

(continued on next page)

Xat.uah )o"i-l'IQ[. P&lt;J9C' ·3

�(ron11nuoo from p;,i;c 3)

resen·ations. Proposal is altered after
reservation:, are considered, or it is
accepted as is.

forth, then they can't work within a
consensus process. The resuhing position is
not going to have the ~ame power. bu! that\
what's going to happen. I understand It.
And I think that a second rea.~on that
people don't use consensus. and I really .
believe this, is that they don't understand n.
Every time I teach a course, I'm teaching it 10
people who have used consensus for years,
and they are just learning what it means.
So I think that lhose are two points that
people are blank about: they're attached 10 a
position and/or they don't know the process.

,1greement with reservation recorded -

Caroline Estes is a fo1utding member of
the i111entio11ai community Alpha Farm in the
Cascadia Bioregion of the Pacific Northwest.
She lwfacilitated al/jive Turtle Island
Bioregional Congresses held co date. People
watching her ac work are awed by her
strength and clarity. It has often been said
that the ability ofthe continental Bioregio11al
Congresses 10 operate on the basis of
consensus has been due to Caroline's ability
as a facilitator, a claim which Caroline
vigorously denies. This will soon be put 10
the test, however.for Caroline has said that
next year, when she 111rns 65 years old, she
plans to discontinue facilitating the
Bioregio,1111 Congresses and begin to actively ,,#
organize in her bioregion.
j7'

Disagreement or reservations arc
considered. Proposal is altered or is
accepted, and reservations arc recorded.
Unable 10 write - If one individual is unable to
unite with a proposal and is unwilling to
stand aside, then the chairperson must
decide whether to delay action on the
proposal or to ask the individual if he or
she would be willing to be recorded as
opposed. At the next meeting, very often.
agreement is possible after more time 10
reflect on the proposal.

Recorded by DW

CONSENSUS DECISION MAKING
PROCESS
by Joyce Johnson
Purpose: The group must have a unity of
purpose and must clarify the purpose 10 all
in the group. Everyone involved must have
a clear understanding of the group's
purpose.
Members of the Group: The group must
know and trust each other. That is essential
for trust-building.
Members must be willing to listen 10
each other with open minds.
Willingness to learn from each other;
participate in cooperative problem solving
and conflict resolution if necessary.
Members must believe in the consensus
process or be open 1 the process if
0
unfamiliar with it
Proposal: An individual or the chairperson
can phrase this for presentation co the .
group. Adequate time should be taken m
order to ensure thorough understanding of
the proposal. The proposal might not be
clear at the begiMing. It is the
responsibility of the chairperson to state the
proposal so that everyone understands it.
Responses to the proposal:

Agreement - Agreement without reservation;
consensus reached and proposal accepted.

Agreement with reservations - Proposal is
generally supported, but there are some
Xotuofl Journot page 4
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f

1
I • 1

111/l,t

Possible Decisions on Proposal:

Accepted - Consensus with full agreement
reached.

Committee discussion - More information is
needed before a decision can be reached.
Those with strong opinions should attend
this discus:;ion. Sometimes a commi11ee can
be empowered 10 act. Usually it will then
bring the proposal back 10 the whole group.
Delay decision - Group not ready to make 1h1s
decision now. Discussion tabled to later
time.
Dropped - Not enough interest at this time by
the group 10 discuss this issue.
Chairpcr~on (or "facilitator" or
"clerk"): Good guidance is very
1mponan1 10 the consensus process. A good
chairperson is very often the difference
between a meeting working well or not
working at all. There are a lot of tools that a
chairperson can learn to use, but only
experience can tell a chairperson which tool
will work best in a given situation.

issue warr.ints, cspec1ally if making a major
policy change.
•
Discipline - Ask someone to cut shon 1hc1r
comments if they arc repeating themselves
or talking too long. Can also ask someone
who has spoken on an issue to wait until
others have had a chance 10 make
comments.
Diplomacy - Chairperson must be responsible
for dealing with a chronic objector. Deal
with this person considerately. This might
be the time to say that we are aware of your
disagreement, but it seems that the sense of
the meeting is 10 accept this proposal. Be
gracious but firm.
Dialogue - Members should speak 10 the clerk
and not dialogue with each other.
Silence - Allow time 10 pause after decision
before rushing on 10 the next agenda item.
Call for silence if there is need 10 pause
when there is conflict over an issue. This
gives members a chance to think of a way
to-.ephrase a statement or to cool off if
angry.
Clearness - It is sometimes important to ask
the recording clerk to read back the decision
to make sure it is clear to everyone what
has been decided.
Clearness Process - The clerk might
ask for individuals 10 meet outside the
meeting 10 resolve conflict or misunderstanding.
Judging What Is Important - Be careful not 10
be so goal-oriented that the decision
becomes more imponant than the process.
Some decisions might need more time.
After some discussion, the chairper~on
might say, "I feel that the group is ready 10
make a decision of this proposal." If some
feel that they arc not ready, this will give
them an opportunity to say so.

The Most lmporram Role of the Chairperson
or Clerk is 10 judge the sense of the
meeting. lt is the clerk's role 10 aniculatc
the unity that he or she discovers in the
community and to facilitate the formation of
that unity.
Consensus Does not Mean Unanimil):
Consensus means reaching unity or
concorda11ce. Tt has been described as a
pianist blending complemenrary notes into a
chord. It does not mean that everyone encl~
up on the same note, but 1ha1 complementary notes are blended into a chord.
Consensus is not reaching the "lowest
common denominator." It is instead the,_#
"highest collective consciousness." fr
Rt!.fources:

Judith Webb and John Olsson, A Consensus
Dccision-Makrng Model
Miduzel J. Sheeran. Beyond t\.1ajority Ruic: Vo1clcss
Decisions in the Religious Society of Friends

Responsibilities of Chairperson:

Agenda - Put issues in order; do not leave
imponant decisions until the end. Try lo set
time limits on each agenda item. Group can
aid this process.
Frame the question or proposal with
neurrality.
Elicit comments from silent members present.
Have show of hands so that those members
won't be intimidated by more vocal
members.
Poll participa111S - Go around the circle for
comments from each member present if the

Joyce Johnson is a ml!mbcr of the Ctlo
CommUJJity and the Ctlo Fritnds Mteting. She i.r
currtnily working a.rdevt!lopmtnt coordinator for tk
Arthw Morgan School. Slrt has/ocilitated many
meetings/or the Meeting and tilt! Arthur Morgan
School and help.r the students there practice the
consen.fu:r proce:rs 01 thtir sclu,o/ meetings.
Joyce conducts workslu,ps on the con.•tnsu.f
process/or inJtrt.fted groups She may be reached
through 1hr Arthur Morgan School: 1901 /JanMh
Branch Rd.; Burnsvillt, NC 28714 (7{},I) 675-4262.
Oraw.ng by Rob M~s,ck

Sum.mer, 1992

•
. • •. ' ,'J,

�Problems with Consensus
I have finally found the major beef I
have with the Consensus Process of group
decision making. Namely il revolves around
the fact that consensus can too easily boil
down to Minority Rule, and this has a
specific way of frustrating the proceedings
wilhin a group or council. When one person
or a minority can block consensus, or in
effect decide an issue for Lhe group, then that
is Minority Rule. How does this differ from
Realms, which in truth are not councils at all
but Monarchies? The struggle in human life
between inLegrity and the corruption of power
has raged for centuries, and we have yet 10
find means of reconciling the two into a
process 1hat is both just and livable for all
concerned.
Consensus is often touted as a solution
10 the many problems of Majority Rule voting
systems, such as Congresses or Parliaments,
yet it seems co me tha1 this emphasis merely
replaces one useless fonn of council with
another. It is clear 10 me now that both
Majority Rule and Minority Rule forms of
council usually result in splintered groups. Is
there any way to maintain unity among
people or various groups in the human
family? Perhaps noL
It makes sense lo me that an oppressed
individual or group would be attracted to a
consensus form of council. Such people have
surely been under-represented in the politics
of the United States of America and
elsewhere. Thus they seek compensatioR in
small groups where they can insist that their
position be adequately represented. or in
some cases OVERLY represented.
_l d&lt;? not think that rigid Majority Rule
or Minonry Rule systems of council will
work in the long run in human group
dynamics. I say lhis because we as a species
have nasty hisLorical habiLS of not being able
to share the power of decision making when
people's opinions crystallize. There seems to
be a much_ stronger potential for many people
10 ge1 behmd a mob, and get lost in it, than
there is for individuals to think for
Lhemselves or act on their own conscience.
Majorities have a tendency to disregard the
righls of minorities, often feeling justified in
de~9!uing those who contradict the majority
opm1on.
How then can people participate in a
form of Council that can accommodate the
multiple concerns that modem human beings
have? Scale becomes important to the
accuracy of the decisions being made.
Geographical size is also an imponant factor.
A council 1hat is too small may nol have
enough influence, yet a council that is too
large may be irrelevant l0 local concerns. The
village, which is composed of a limited
number of households, is one of the best
examples of an appropriate or workable scale
of human council. When Lhese village groups
are slable then larger councils can evolve that
involve a limited cluster of villages, such as a
county or shire.
Consensus may have worked better in
eras where villages were primary to a given
cultural way of life. The consensus process
may also have worked beuer when times
were not as complicated, or when there were
fewer decisions to be made. The
Summer, 1992

consequences of decision making in the
dislant pasl also were no1 as far reaching as
they have become in the industrial era;
wilness the existence of plutonium and
television.
It seems lo me that many small or
medium sized groups of today could benefit
from having a formal Mediator lo help guide
the process of decision making; panicularly
when difficulties emerge or when a group
becomes deadlocked. This form of mediated
debate would differ greatly from an ingrown
strain of politics that has stagnated due to a
few dominant inclividuals. Instead of
bec_o~~g compl~tel~ i_mmersed in battling
maJonues and nunonues, a good mediator or
facilitator would remind participanLS of their
common interesLS and emphasize the an of
compromise where it is appropriate.
Compromise is a learned skill that individuals
in a small or medium sized group can develop
to auempl to work out solutions 10 problems
in a wa~ 1ha1 does noL leave out any
responsible adult who wants to participate in
the decision making process. In the case of
family disputes a facilitator could assist in
clarifying the rights of children as well as the
rights of parems.
Issues of fairness in a setting where no
weapons are allowed would naturally become
an ongoing concern. A valid council would
not allow weapons a1 their proceedings. It is
clear lo me now, Lhrough a beuer
understanding of human behavior, thal there
are some approaches 10 forming council that
work beuer than others. Finding ways that
panicipants can let go of the spirit of
conquest and still be a pan of the group is

primary to working toward a successful
approach. There are cenainly no guarantees
that this process would work over time, yet
adequate spans of time seem to be necessary
to forming councils that link people at least as
much as they divide them. Most of the
politics of today are 100 rushed and
inconsistent to even begin to consider
susLainability or future generations.
Good facilitators would have the skill
of being able to suspend their judgements
enough, or be sufficiently impartial, to
mediale lhe vested interests within a given
group. A good facilitator would also be
skilled in ways of building truSt among
members of a group or council. Once such an
atmosphere of trust has been created the
various secret and obvious agendas touted by
people within the group can be identified,
slowly brought out into the open, and
confronted.
Even though solutions or decisions may
not emerge spontaneously, at leasl a good
faci.litator can provide a forum in which all
posilions are aired. Members can go away
from a meeting and contemplate the meaning
of these positions. which become imponant
lo dialogues in future meetings. Those
individuals who are most auatched to their
own agendas would probably balk the
loudest at having a facilitator or "outSidcr"
come into their group process. But, as is
often the case in human psychology, it is
those who refuse good medicine or good _
,#
council the strongcsl who need it most!

J!7'

· Rob Mes.sick
Dnwing by Rob Messick

X.Otunft Jouniat PIUJe 5

�TRIBAL COUNCIL

•

I n the center of each of the larger
Cherokee villages were the square and the
town house. In the larger villages the 1own
house was buiJ1 in10 a large earthen mound.
Seating areas were dug into the mound, so
1hat if you looked at ii from the top, without
the roof on it, it looked Like a spiral coming
up out of the ground. AI the bottom and !he
center of the spiral was the sacred fire and !he
seven poles that supported the building.
The visible walls were only four feel
high, and !he whole building was covered by
an immense thatched roof. Some of the town
houses at the major villages were enormous.
The town house at Old Echota, for example,
had 900 poles. Many of !hem were 18"
through. A lot of them were locus1. They
used the seven-pole construction all the way
around and made 1he building very strong.
But not every village had a town house.
The smaller villages used the square for !heir
mee1ing place. There would be seven arbors,
traditionally called ''beds," arranged around
the square, one for each of the clans. Four of
!he beds were localed at the cardinal poinis,
and !he others were loca1ed around 1hem.
During meetings, all 1he members of the clan
sat in their clan bed.
In each village there were people who
spen1 a lot of lime at the town house, in the
square, or n1 1he chunky (a popular gambling
game - ed.) grounds, which were locaied just
to the side of 1he town house. The old men,
in particular, spent a good deal of 1heir time
there just talking. Thus, 1here was an
ongoing meeting around the town house that
was happening more or less all 1he 1ime.
Sometimes the meeting got mor..: intense
when everybody came to the 1own house to
talk about some mauer of importance to the
village, bu1 01her times ii was just the old
men continually discussing the village affairs.
When the whole council met, the
meetings became more fonnal. Twelve of the
elders sat around the sacred fire at the center
of the town house. (In the smaller villages
there was one representative from each clan.}
The rest of the people of the viJJ~ge sat in the
seats by clans.
One member of the council represented
"The Unborn Yet To Be," and spoke for their
poin1 of view. II was important 10 the council
tha1 in decision-making The Unborn Yet To
Be were always taken into account. They
don'1 do that any more. I wish 1hey would.
They would talk about problems the
village faced, like a bad com crop that year
or another village which was requesting theuhelp to make war on the Creeks.
Consensus was the way decisions were
made. The old people in the center spoke
first They did not give commands. They
would make suggestions based on their
wisdom. And oflen the people would follow
that wisdom Part of their wisdom was taking
into accoun1 the Unborn Yet To Be.
Anyone could speak in the council, but
it was done respectfully. The old people
spoke firsi, 1hen the 01her people could
speak. They had to wait until 1he conversation at the center was done, then they would
Xati1nh Jo;ucnnfriP'-90i•i111X

stand and wait to be recognized by one of the
elders in the middle. They didn't scream or
wave 1heir arms, they jus1 stood 10 be
recognized. Women could speak in the
council. Even a child could speak. Everyone
had a right to speak their heart.
Once I was privileged to sit at the
ceremonial grounds wilh a group of old
Cherokee men in Oklahoma while they talked
about a problem in their village. l saw an
example of how lhe old tribal councils made
decisions by consensus.
There were 12 or 15 old men in the
group. The younges1 one, besides myself,
was about 73. These were the people who
used the Council House. They 100k into
consideration The Unborn Yet To Be.
The problem ai 1he time was not really
clear to me, bu1 I remember tha1 everybody
spoke. They sinned off with the younges1
man and went around the circle, each man
speaking his piece and saying wha1 he had 10
say.
It wasn'1 a "meeting" the way whi1e
people run a meeting. They didn'1 hammer
out a decision. In fact, 1hey did not come to
any specific conclusion a1 all. If any white
people had been presen1, 1hey would not have
known tha1 a meeting was taking place at all.
To a white person ii would have appeared
1hat some old men were silting in a circle
talking casually about a mauer of common
concern.
They just talked aboul it. Each of them
spoke abou1 the problem from his own point
of view. The world tru1h among these people
was the same, so they already shared a broad
agreement By 1he time they went around the
circle the silua1ion was so clear from every
angle tha1 the answer was obvious. and the
old men just got up and lef1. There was a
consensus. It was all over. It was decided.
I fell very fonuna1e 10 ge1 a glimpse of
something that rarely happens anymore,
With 1he advice of the elders, the
council chose the chiefs, called uku's, for
the village. There were two chiefs: a peace
uku and a war uku. A person was chosen as
an uku because he had a lot of personal
integri1y and made good decisions. He was a
person the people chose to follow and also a
role model for the young people. A chief held
his position until he made l01s of mistakes,
and the people would choose 10 follow
someone else. But if he made wise decisions,
he could be chief for life.
The war chief was probably the mos1
popular person in 1he village, bu1 he was also
the mos1 vulnerable. ff he used bad
judgmen1, his mistakes could cost many
lives, and his career would be ended.
The chief was a leader, bu, he did not
tell people what to do. h was no1 like "OK,
we'll all go 10 war 1oday," or "Everybody go
pick com." Like the elders, a chief could
only make suggestions. White people do not
know anything about democracy and freedom
until they know 1he way tha1 the native
culture worked.

by Bear With Runs

Another important person chosen by the
council was 1he Beloved Woman. She was
chosen for the same reason as an uku: 1ha1
her character, as a woman, was highly
regarded by the men and women of the
village. Like an 11Jr.u, she would have to show
in1eg:ity and personal power. At one time
every village had a Beloved Woman, un1il
after a 101 of white influence there came 10 be
only one Beloved Woman for the whole
tribe.
The Beloved Woman could no1 start a
war, but she could stop one. She decided
what happened 10 captives. She spoke up
when !he village was lllinking about moving
i1s location, and she had a say on 1rea1ies.
Other women came to her frequently for
spiritual advice and help with everyday
mauers.
The Cherokee are called a nation, bu1
the word "nation," in the Western sense of
the word, does not explain how the people
saw rhemselves. They saw themselves as
"The Human Beings" or "The People." In the
early days of white contac1, the "nation" was
only a very loose federation of individual
villages. Each village was a power 10 i1self
and could follow i1s own hean to a great
extent.
The tnbe had red villages (war villages)
and while villages (peace villages}, and there
were also special sanctuary villages. A
person 'Yho committed a crime of passion in
his own village could find safety if he could
gel to a sanctuary village before being caught.
He could s1ay in the sanctuary village without
being molested by anybody until the
following Green Corn Ceremony, when
judgments were decided, and compensations
were paid. People would have to make
retribution for mistakes they had made. They
might pay in com, or sometimes a person
would indenture himself for a time of service
to make retribution.
The sanc1uary villages and the "cooling
off period" were probably good ideas,
because they allowed people's personal
passions to wane somewhat, and judgments
were made out of reason instead of hot anger.
The Katuah village was a sanctuary.
and also 1he Nikwasi village in Franklin,
North Carolina. I believe tha1 the seven
oldest, "mother" vilJages of the Cherokee
were sanc1uary villages, although I am not
sure of the status of Echota. There were a lot
of warriors based 1here in la1er times.
While the villages were self-determining political unilS, it was the shared
ceremonies, lifestyles, customs, and world
view that kept the tribe together. And there
was also the influence of 1he clans. There
were seven clans in the Cherokee tribe
(ahhough a long time ago there were 14).
PeOple were born in10 their mother's clan,
and tha1 was 1heir clan for life. The women
kepi crack of the lineages.
Each clan had its own rules and i1s own
taboos. The clans 100k care of 1heir own
(tonhnucd on P•&amp;c 8)

Suni'ttttr, 11992 "" ,

�•

DnWllli by James Rhea

�(continued from p;,gc 6)

members. They specialized life within the
villages somewha1 and k:PI people ~rom
marrying too close 10 theLr own family. A
person could not marry within the same clan.
Incest of any sort, eilher biological incest or
clan incest, was lhe worst crime a person
could commit The clan system kept out
inbreeding. It also helped 10 govern lhings.
Besides lhe family cornfields and lhe
communal aibaJ cornfields, each clan would
also have large clan cornfields. Any excess
com from lhese fields would be given to the
old and the elderly of that clan, if their
families could nor provide for them.
The clans also had somewhat dlfferem
functions. The Wolf Clan was the warrior
clan - the military and the police if that
function was needed. The Wild Poiato Clan
was more into agriculture. The Paints were
interested in crafts. And the Bird Clan was
probably hunters - birds, deer. Each clan had
different rules and different taboos,
depending on their function in lhe
community.
While the clan system did serve to
sepanue things and provi_de some stru~rure
within the village, on a different level tt also
served 10 hold the tribe together as a whole.
Clan members were obligated to care
for each other. This was the basic rule of the
clans. A traveler could go 10 a small outpost
village up in Kcnrucky that he had never seen
before and could find clan relatives who
would take him in and care for him. lt held
the people together. Even though the dialect
they spoke might be different, they would
still be clan relatives. They would still be
Cherokee.
And 1hen there was clan justice. This is
often misunderstood. Any time the rights or
person of a clan member were viol~ted, then
everybody else in that clan was obligated to
make swe retribution was paid for the cnme.
For instance, if someone murdered a member
of another clan, all the other members of that
Xotimfl 1 ~ n l:1,.\ 'hll(Je 8 •
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clan helped 10 hunt that perso~ down and take
his life in return. If the offending person ran
to a sanctuary village. he could stay there, but
if lhe clan members caught him first, it was
au over.
This was not revenge. This was the
clan being responsible for its members based on our reality. The clans kept a balance
between each other. That kept a balance
wilhin the whole aibe.

group - but at the same time they were ~iven
tremendous freedom. There were areas m
which an indjviduttl could get glory and
personal recognition. Someone who was a
great hunter was revered. and a gOO?
provider was sought af1er by the lad1~s.
There was glory for the young males 1n
warfare.
However, if someone did not conduct
him- or herself properly, they did not receive
any approval. People would just ignore them.
In most cases, their behavior would be
modified in a very short time. Native people
wanted at all cost 10 avoid losing face and
being shamed. Depriving someone of
attention or ridiculing him or her was a
powerful way 10 get a deviant person back
into accord with the group.
The ultimate threat of force was
banishment from the village. An action that
serious was carried out by the whole village
council, because it required the support of the
whole community. In that situation,
somebody was put 0111 of the circle instead of
into a jail or prison. The idea of cagin_ up
g
somebody's spirit was a totally alien idea.
The purpose of this village justice was
not 10 punish people, but tO change them.
The Cherokee did believe in vengeance, but
only against other aibes. fn the whi~e.
people's system, people who caus&lt;: mJury are
punished. They are made to suffer m an equal
amount to the harm they have caused - either
by years of imprisonment or by ouaight
execution.
The dominant culture of today is
actually a lot of confused culrural biases
which share very little consensus as to what
is true culture. Within our culture it was
clear. There wasn't anything else. It was
either this or nothing. If you didn't belong. it
was terrible. The urge to belong was so
str0ng, it governed the people's actions.

Our consensus was based on a world
view that was shared throughout the whole
aibe. Because of that the Cherokee needed no
couns, lawyers, judges, or prisons.
We had very few laws. They were
mostly just rational, reasonable rules.based
on observation. There was a law agamst
urinating in the river. There was a Jaw against
defecating around the village. There was a
law against talcing 100 many deer, because
everybody knew thar if they killed too many
deer, there would not be any left the next
year. There were clear and obvious reasons
for laws like that They were based on
common sense rules that nature laid down in
front of us.

One of the biggest barriers between us
and the white people was that we did not
have any concept of privare property.
•
Possession meant that "when you were there
it was yours." But the white people did a
good job of teaching us differently.
The word "fndian-giver" came from the
fact that a white man would give some
Indians a load or goods for their piece of
land and the next day the Indians would be
back. The Indians had not realized they ~ad
sold their land. They had never had any idea
of owning it! They took the presents because
it would be rude to refuse gifts of friendship.

It is hard for white people to understand
our ways and how they worked, because
they do not understand how the old
Cherokees related 10 the aibe. The old culture
was holistic. The tribe was the whole, and
the loyalty toward the whole was very
strong. The desire to contribute to the whole
and to move evenly with the rest of the group
was ingrained by many generations of
cultural reinforcement ll was so much a part
of the culture that it was quite abnonnal to ~
an individual. Cooperation was t~e governing
force within the community, and m the old
days, before we were too muc~ influenced by
the whites. our personal integnty meant a lot
more 10 us.
People were rewnrcted for their
cooperation by approval and love from the

In the Cherokee aibe, spiritual life was
not split a pan from the political l!fe of the
village. It was always there. but It was not
recognized as something separate. Because of
the emphasis on character and personal
integrity, the elders tended to be te~chers and
spiritual leaders as well as leaders m the
council.
At one time there was a religion and a
priest society in the Cherokee aibe. I ~ave
heard stories about this from several different
sources. My own thinking is that in !he
tribe's early history when we first migrated
south, we encountered the late stages of the
deteriorating Mississippian culture. The
Mississippian culture "."as ~ on M_ayan
and Aztec beliefs. Tht1r pracoces, beliefs,

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(Continued on page 30)

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�O,.wing by Rob Messick

© 1992

by Lucinda Flodin

Maybe she's the reason I came to live
in the mountains. I know she's the reason I
swp when I'm near that panicular place.
Sometimes I stop nowhere near that place
because the feeling comes over me, and I
stop. After all this time I still fookfor Elda ...

In 1974 I spent the summer with
friends in Limestone, Tennessee, recovering
from a shattered romance. I would sit on the
porch watching the mountains, but more
often I would drive to the mountains and hike
through long afternoons. On one of these
hikes I became absorbed in following a liule
stream and lost track or time. When r stopped
to rest, I realized that it was getting late.
Night came quickly in the forest and I
found myself unable to negotiate the path, I
finally stopped in a small clearing only to
realize that r was now losr. Around me were
trees and darkness and ever-increasing fear.
A sound sent me into total panic. I had
visions of bears and mountain lions and
snakes and bugs! l tried 10 get a grip. I
smacked a mosquito who was definitely out
for blood. My hean started pounding wildly.
I'd probably have a heart auack before a bear
could even find me.
I was hungry ... so thirsty... but there
was no food anywhere... not a bite 10 be
found! I leaned over to drink from the
stream, but I had no idea where I was or
what the origin of the water was. I knew I
shouldn't drink any water in the wild unless I
was at a spring head. How thirsty I was and I
couldn't even drink the water!
1 sat and cried - no, yelled - at the trees
around me about the unfairness or it all.
Finally I ran out of energy and sat down. Just
then the.moon came shimmering through the
su-mmcr, 1992

ELDA
trees, and I rudn't feel so alone. As I looked
across the clearing, it seemed that if I just
walked around the big tree in front of me, I
could get a clear view of the moon's face. As
I pushed away the low branches to duck
around the tree, the Earth s11dde11/y fell away
beneath me.
There was nothing gradual about this
moment. One second I was on the ground,
the next I was in space - learning gravity as
I'd never learned it before - tumbling, falling,
rolling. It happened so quickly I had no time
10 fear as I bounced through bush and briar. I
tried 10 clutch the Earth, but I wasn't sure
where it was - sometimes above me,
sometimes below, pounding at me wherever
we met. Eternity was caught in a single
moment. Would it ever stop?
At last I became more of the eanh than
the sky, and I rolled into a resiing spot in a
patch or briars. Pain and eanh grJbbcd me
back from space. My last thought was
wondering if the spinning would ever
cease ...
Warm sunlight on my face, my bed felt
so good. The dream had been so real. I'd
never dreamt so vividly. I decided to grab the
journal at my bedstand and write it down .
before the memory faded. It was the reaching
for this journal that brought abrupt physical
pain.
I tried to open my eyes. How I hurt!
Oh, no! This wasn't my bed! This wasn't a
dream! Hope crashing, I opened my eyes to
the canopy of young tree growth above me. It

hun to look ouL lt hun to breathe. The
thought of moving hurt. Maybe I was dead.
lf not. I surely would be soon. A tear burned
down my face. I could feel my fingers. l
could feel my toes. Pain filled them all and
soon a strange sleep enveloped me.
A sense of not being alone brought me
back 10 consciousness. Was this the
mountain lion I'd feared? As l tried to move,
pain seared through my body. A voice like
music. or was it the wind through the trees,
said, "Don't move, young one, and don't be
afraid. I won't hurt you."
As I struggled tO tum toward the
sound, r felt movement around me until a
woman came into my sighL First I saw her
hands, veined like the gnarly roots of an oak,
yet wonderfuJJy supple. My eyes moved up
to a face which surprised me with itS
ancientness; somehow it didn't match those
capable hands. The face was an intricate mnzc
of lines and wrinkles - there were no flat
planes. Then our eyes met and I felt myself
falling int0 an ocean of blue clarity. Never
had I experienced eyes like those - clearer,
yet deeper, than a child's. Suddenly those
eyes and her whole incredible face broke into
a smile with more facets than a prism in
sunlighL And that music - no, it was her
voice. "You arc amazed, young one. Good,
that amazement will help you to heal
yourself."
"Are you an angel? Am I dead?"
Again that smile, followed by a laugh
that would have made me laugh, too, except
for how much it would have hun.
"No, young one. I walk an Eanh path.
Some call me Elda. I answered your
frightened call in the moonlighL"
I realiz.ed that I no longer was lying in
briars. Hadn't I landed in briars? My eye
caught a thiclcet of them a little way from
when: I lay.
(continued on ow page)
)(.Qtimh JoUf'tlat PQIJI'- 9

�(CQitinued f'rom pego 9)

"Briars don't make for sweet dreams;
soft pine needles and grass make for more
comfon. You'll rest easy in this baby forest,
and the Eanh will help your healing. You
have strong bones, none are broken. Your
muscles are strained. Only a few of your cuts
are deep. This gash is deep for it bleeds stil1,
but it has bled enough. Feel it closing and
healing in your thoughts, little one."
She reached into a pouch at her side and
took a pinch of some powder and blew it into
the CUI.
"What's that stuff?"
"A pinch of puffball to stop the blood.
It has bled enough now. You are curious?
That is good. I like curiosity. I will teJJ you
of the plants."
I grew anxious at all these answers to
unasked, sometimes uninfonned questions.
"And you are afraid. Are you always
afraid, little one? Breathe or hum a song. It
will help."
She took a bowl -1 think it was a bowl,
though it may have been a hollowed-out tree
gnarl - and with a feathery leaf began to wash
my cuts.
"This is yarrow, cooked in water in the
sunlight. It will numb your pain and let us
work on your injuries."
As she gently washed them. I could feel
the pain numbing, lessening.
"Th.is will allow us to bathe them
again."
With the numbness, I was able to move
to see myself. Everywhere I could see my
skin, it was covered like a roadmap with
scratches. The skin around the scratches was
deepening as bruises formed. I wanted to
throw up, but that would have required
movement.
"Skin mends, young one."
"I'm not that young, and my name is
Lucinda."
"To me you are very young, Lucinda."
As I looked at her ancientness, f felt
silly at having snapped at her.
Throughout the day as I moved in and
out of sleep. I felt her near me. Her words
wafted through my consciousness as she
washed my legs with chickweed, little star
woman, comfrey, burdock, more yarrow.
She helped me sip red clover from a bowl. It
all was like a confused dream. Sometimes r
would hear her talking. Actually, it seemed
that she was having two-way conversations
with the plants. / must be mad' And then I'd
doze again.
"Are you magic?" I asked in a moment
of lucidity.
"No, child... Lucinda. I am a child of
the Earth, like yourself. I've tended this
forest garden, and it has tended me, for
longer than 1 can even remember. We take
care of each other."
At dusk, a drink with a strong taste...
"Skullcap, 10 mke the pain for a deeper
sleep."
I did sleep - deeply - and without fear. I
could hear her voice as I drifted.
"You are safe under the trees, on the
Eanh, with the stars. Sleep sweetly. Dream
wellness."
I awoke to the twittering of birds. I stiU
hun, but I could move. Again I wondered a1

~~~ J?~~~. p~!Z ,10

~e.reality of Elda. then she stepped into my
v1s1on. Yes, she was really here. It was like
she was invisible one moment and there the
nexL Yet I knew she had really been there.
She was real. I was overcome by the wisdom
I sensed in her presence.
"Today you might feel hungry. I've
brought you food."
She opened a giant leaf which I later
learned was burdock filled with violets,
clover blossoms and sweet-tasting leaves and
berries. She would name them.

"It's so much. I'll never remember
them."
"You don't learn them all at once, dear
one. You learn one plant at a time. Each is
your teacher."
I contemed myself with the
nourishment I felt pervading my body. AU
that day Elda fed me and I told her of my
journey. She only laughed when 1 got to the
part of being so hungry and so far from food.
She found that delightfully funny, and I felt
foolish. But then r looked around, and I, too,
was struck with the humor of it. Somehow it
seemed that all the plants around us also
laughed, but I wouldn't swear to that.
Moving became easier as the day went
on and I was amazed at how much better all
my scratches were. Elda made a poultice (I
remember her using that word) of plantain
and elder for my bruises. I could feel the
soothing relief and the healing begin.
'Tomorrow you will be able 10 travel,"
she said as the sun was gold in the west. We
sat with a bowl of salve which tasted full and
thick as soup. "I will show you a shoner
route."
I didn't want 10 go, but suddenly I
thought of my friends, Dan and Ruby, and I
knew they must be panicking by now.
"I would like to know more about
plants, Elda."
"Well, talk to them, dear. They like to
be remembered."
I went to sleep imagining myself in
conversation with a fem and wondering
about my sani1y.
Walking down the mountain \l.ith Elda
in the morning was an adventure. It was a
completely different path, I think. I wasn't
really payiog much auention on the way. She
pointed out plants, talked to them as friends.
and treated them with re:;pect. Before I knew
it, we were at my car

She laughed, "Ah, just the friend you
need now." And she told me to pick the
sticky flowers growing around my car.
"Calendula. Make them into a tea to soothe
your wounds."
"How do I thank you, Elda?"
"You don't, dear one. You pick the
flowers and make yourself strong."
It seemed like just a moment later when
a state trOOper stanled me. I looked toward
Elda, but she was gone. My friends had
reported me missing. He had been looking
for me and had found my car.
"Did you see that woman?"
"No, miss. Just you here. No one Jives
up in these pans. I'll drive you."
I went home and healed up, though one
scar remained on my leg as a reminder of the
adventure. But 1 still thought about Elda and
wanted to see her again. Several times that
summer I returned to that area, but I could
never again find that exact spot where I had
met Elda. l asked campers and hikers, and I
stopped at every house in the area. No one
had heard of anyone sounding like Elda.
They sent me up 10 Granny Pierson
who was the oldest person around and who
reponedly became confused at rimes. We
talked. She drifted in and out of memory, a
sharp contrast to the clearity of Elda's mind.
She couldn't recollect much at first, but
finally she began, "There was this old
woman. What was here name? Something
like that, but, Lord, hooey, hit's bin since l
was a girl An old 'erb woman. She was old
when I was a child. Lord, she'd be in the
grave more'n seventy year now. J remember
her, though, but my mind's leavin' me."
My friends listened patiently, trying to
be supponive, but occasionally suggesting
that maybe I'd dreamed it. Maybe I'd made
her up to keep myself alive. I don't know.
Could I have made up the richness that
was Elda? Her wiseness? I couldn't have
made up her eyes!

Thar was sixteen years ago. I live in the
mountains now, in the same county tlwugh
miles from where I met Elda. I dan't ask
abolll her now, excepi when I meet old
people. But as I walk tliroughfields and
woods, gathering plants and learning abolll
them, Ida think of her. In fields where
flowers seem to be laughing, I sense her
presence. I feel tit.at if I could just turn more
qt~ickly, I'd see her there ware/ting me - her
wise face full oflife, giving nouris/unent. .
After all this time I still look for Elda.

#
P'

There are stories from cullurcs around the
world and from ns far back ns the Stone Ages about
lhc elderberry. UsWllly lhey involve o woman who
lives in the tree and ha~ powerful medicine 10 heal Iler
children. (I created the feminine fonn Elda for !hi.~
cho.roclCJ'.) But she con be dangerous at times when
she is not shown re,.c;pcct. Old supcn;lilions maimain
lhat cuumg elder without pennission or the plant
brings illnes,~ nnd/or death.
Lucinda Flodin lives with her family in Katuah
Province near Hampton, TN and is. among other
things, an herbalist and a Mory!Alllcr. The story "Elda"
is included oo a new audio tape cnlled Mountain
Spirits available for SI0.00 ppd. from: Lucincm
Flodin: Rt. I, Box 726; Hampton. TN 37658.

�THE STATE OF FRANKLIN
Land, Liberty... and Mastery
by David Wheeler

"A beautiful valley and the
almost boundless West lay before
them, beckoning all to adventure
themselves. The thing most worthy of
remark is the far reach and wide range
of the vision and the plans of the
people of Franklin, and the projective
power that gave them and their
descendants a very considerable
mastery of men and measures
througlwut the generations that /rave
followed."
- Samuel Cole Williams
in The Lost State of Franklin

they could hunt. They built their own log
homes, provided their own clothing, and
made their own whiskey. Work parties of
neighbors built and maintained what roads
!here were.
The presence of the tax collectors was
!he main evidence of the Norlh Carolina state
government. The settlers were poorly
represented in the state legislature. They had
to cross the mountains to find a court in

(1933)

In the years immediately following the
Revolutionary War the runnoil of the war
years continued almost unabated in the
former colonies. These were heady times the imperial power of England had been
defeated, new theories of government were
materializing, and a new continent lay open
for the taking. In !he new nation, talk of
politics was on everyone's lips, and "libeny"
was the watchword. But in the minds of
many people was the thought of land - land to
be the material basis for their hard-won right
to "the pursuit of happiness."
In spite of such lofty hopes and dreams
among the European settlers, however, the
new country was in a shambles. The
government of the State of North Carolina, in
particular, was pauperized. The war had
taken a heavy toll on !he personal resources
of the former colonists, and !here had been
much destruction and ill-feeling. The central
government was weak: and in debt for
promises made during the pressing struggle
for independence. By its original charter, the
jurisdiction of North Carolina extended west
10 the sea, but under the prevailing conditions
it was lit lie wonder that those closest to the
capital at Hillsborough received the most
attention.
The mountains of the Blue Ridge were
still a formidable barrier at that time. Settlers
following the Great Valley of !he Tennessee
River had established a bastion in what is
now the northeast comer of Tennessee.
During the war they had shown themselves to
be stalwan pattiotS, pro&lt;ecting North
Carolina's rear from hostile attacks by the
Cherokee and Chiclcasaw tribes and turning
the tide of the war in the South by surging
over the mountains to play a decisive role in
the battle of Kings Mountain,
But now, not only were the wartime
claims of these soldiers being ignored, but
Nonh Carolina was levying heavy taxes on
au its citizens to rebuild itS shattered
infrastructure and restore its government. To
the settlers in the west, this was blatant
"taxation without representation" - just what
they had fought 10 end!
This feeling was justified. The lands
west of the mountains were self-supponing,
living off the crops they raised and the game
summer, 1092

which to setlle their differences. Although
constantly threatened by hostile natives, their
state government would send no ll'OOpS
across the mountains for their protection.
But the worst blow came in 1783. In
order to capitalize its recovery, the State of
North Carolina passed a law offering land
west of the mountains for sale to setllers and
speculators. The bill put up for sale the land
from 20 miles south of the town of
Jonesborough 10 the French Broad and the
Big Pigeon Rivers, conveniently ignoring the
fact that this land had been guaranteed to the
Cherokee in the Avery Treaty of 1777.
This made the natives understandably
restless, and in 1784, largely to avoid the
expense of sending a military force to defend
the western settlers from angry Cherokees,
North Carolina passed a bill giving up its
claim to the lands west of the mountains and
ceding !hem to the newly-formed national
Confederation Congress.
Congress was too weak and 100 far
away to protect the settlers over the
mountains. Nonh Carolina had reneged on
the task. The seulers were used to protecting
and providing for themselves. A decade
before, earlier settlers had even established
the Watauga Association, the first "free and

independent community on the continent," in
the words of Theodore Roosevelt On August
23, 1784 delegates from the counties west of
the Blue Ridge gathered and declared their
area a free and independent state.
Their declaration was immediately
challenged. Norlh Carolinians were surprised
and angered at this tum of events, and when
a new legislature convened that autumn,
North Carolina rescinded the C.ession Act and
restated itS cl.aim to the western lands.
It was a vain attempt. On December 14,
1784 a second convention at Jonesborough
decided to name the new state after Benjamin
Franklin and set about the work of drawing
up a constitution. The following March, that
work was continued, and John Sevier was
elected governor of the State of Franklin and
David Campbell was chosen as its chief
justice and given the task of setting up a court
system.
John Sevier (pronounced se-VEER)
had been at first reluctant 10 become involved
with the movement for independence, but
from 1784 he was a moving force in the
history of the State of Franklin. By all
accounts he was brave, charming, and
handsome · a charismatic leader. He was a
hero of the battle of Kings Mountain and was
a renowned "lndian fighter."
Instinctively, Sevier was a consummate
politician. He knew the value of diplomacy
and the power of force. In his dealings wilh
whites he could use a winning smile and
charming words to win his way; with the
native people he was rulhlessly violent
Although he was educated and
articulate, Sevier's strongest support was
always among the rough settlers on the
frontiers of the whites' territory. These were
his comrades in arms, the mythologized
pioneers. It was moslly from these people
that Sevier drew the militia for his campaigns
against the natives. The backwoods whites
loved and trusted Sevier. They counted on
him for their defense, and he never let them
down.
For three years Sevier led the State of
Franklin. In that turbulent era the exact
powers and role of a state was unclear.
Whether the states were to be
semi-autonomous republics or divisions of a
strong central government was as yet
undecided. One thing was certain: "Liberty,"
meaning self-government, was the overriding
ideal. During the three years that the State of
Franklin existed, it set up its own
govemrncntal scructure, electing delegates
and appointing commissioners. It established
a judiciary; minted coins; provided for
schools; and, of course, designed a "great
seal" and a flag. The frontiersmen were
already organized as a de/aero militia, but
that arrangement was officializcd. The State
also began collecting taxes - frontier Style.
"Be it enacted," decreed the state's first
General Assembly, "that it shall and may be
lawful for the aforesaid land tax, and all free
polls, to be paid in the following manner:
Good flax linen,... woolen and cotton
linsey,...good, clean beaver skins,...cased
otter sk.ins, ... rackoon (sic) and fox
skins, ... bacon, well curcd,...good, clean
tallow,...good, clean beeswax,... good
distilled rye whiskey,...good peach or apple
brandy,...good, country made (maple)
(eontinucd on nc:ll page)

Xati4af1 Journal: page 11

�(continued from page 11)

sugar,...deer skins, ...good, neat and well
managed tobacco, fit to be prized, that may
pass inspection,..."
In certain instances, Franklin also acted
like a national power. The state made treaties
wilh the native tribes, which in those times
with the central government so weak and ~
id~ of self-government so strong in the
mrnds of the people, was not unusual But in
1788, when the effort to maintain their
ind~~dcn~ was falling apart, Sevier began
a ~non wtth the government of Spain.
w~ch held the mouth of the Mississippi
River. To the Spanish representative
Oardoqui, Sevier hinted that the citiuns of
Frank.I.in might ally themselves with Spain in
exchange for protection, money, and
weapons. It was almost assuredly a bluff,
but. even in those times, it was a bold bluff
indeed.

•

The foundation of the "Liberty~ of the
white immigrants was the very material
~sidcration of land. From the beginning of
its history, the acquisition of land was the
other driving force in the remarkable story of
the State of Franklin. That the native
inhabitants had clear tide to their lands that
o~ten went back 1,000 years made no
~erence. The p~ure of the migration of
whit.e Europeans from over the mountains
was irresistible. Also, disagreements over the
authority of the different states, the
Confederation Congress, and the State of
Franklin to sign treaties and ma.kc agreements
added 10 the confusion (which was no doubt
exploited when convenient).
. Always ready 10 make agreements., the
whites did not prove so willing to keep them,
and the Cherokee in vain pointed to tteaty
)CQtuQn )oumQC PQ&lt;Je 12

after broken treaty. On the Cherokee side the
Chickamauga villages, under the leadership
of the war chief Dragging Canoe, believed in
no treaties made with the whjtes and honored
none. Their disbelief was quite correct but
their actions gave the Europeans ample'
reasons for reprisals.
It was a war, 10 be sure, and each side
could point 10 outrages and depredations
committed by the other. But in this war the
treaties were meaningless; the real power was
in the superior numbers and weapons of the
European occupiers, and they would take
whatever their military strength could win.
A fine tract of land in the Great Bend of
the Tennessee (or "the Bent of the
Tennessee"), near the present-day city of
Muscle Shoals, Alabama was a lodestone to
white investors. In 1784, a company of
speculators, including John Sevier and
prominent men in Nonh Carolina, arranged a
"purchase" of the land from some of the
native residents, although the area was deep
in the territory guaranteed to the red people.
Fro~ then on Sevier's eyes were always
looking toward the south. It is felt that his
initial opposition 10 the establishment of the
State of Franklin stemmed from concern
about the future of his investment in the Great
Bend. When he came around 10 favor the
s~ssion, he began to think that the new
state could help his venture, and under his
leadership the policies of the State of Franklin
were always expansionist and pointed toward
the south.
Franklin encouraged immigration by
whites, even when the government knew that
the only available lands lay in Cherokee
country. ~igration meant profits, yes.
land speculanon was a booming industry in
the ne.wly-opened lands to the west. But,
more unportantly, immigration was crucial to

the very survival of the fledgling state across
the mountains. Cleared lands and dense
settlements were the best protections against
anacks by the natives.
The Nonh Carolina Act of 1783 had
violated the terms of the earlier Avery Treaty
by !f!OVing the boundary claimed by the
whnes down to the French Broad River.
However. the act strictly prohibited entry or
surveys by whites south of that line. But as
soon as the State of Franklin was formed,
settlers began 10 move south of the French
Broad. They were encouraged by the state
government. In fact, the State of Franklin had
a land office in Jonesborough that raised
revenue by taking purchase money for land
claims granted south of the French Broad.
Sevier felt that this siruation needed
formal recognition, so he called together a
meeting of Cherokee chiefs in May of 1785
and laid out the Treaty of Dumplin Creek,
~h~c~ moved .the ~undary south 10 the ridge
diVJd1ng the Little River and the Little
Tennessee River watersheds.
However, it was only six months later
that the United States' Confederation
Congress felt that the central government
should assert its authority and negotiated the
Treaty of Hopewell with the Cherokee. This
treaty moved the line back 10 the north . so
far nonh that the town of Greeneville, which
had just been named the capital of the State of
Franklin, was made pan of the native
territories! The treaty specifically repudiated
the Dumplin Creek agreement and the Great
Bend land purchase. It was intentionally
vague about the status of the settlers
occupying the lands north of the French
Broad River, but it clearly stated that all other
trespassers would have to leave in six months
or lose the protection of the central
government.
lt appears that the State of Franklin
simply ignored the Hopewell treaty. Certainly
their defense of the settlers south of the
French Broad was no less diligent. After
fruitless appeals to the national government,
the Cherokee took matters into their own
hands and in the spring of 1786 began attacks
on the settlements in ll)eir rightful territory.
The FrankJinites responded by burning the
Cherokee towns in the Hiwassee River
Valley. Later in July, Sevier and 250 men
revenged the killing of two other white men
by b.uming another town. They then camped
outs1de the central Cherokee village of P.chota
and called the peaceful chiefs Hanging Maw
and Tassel (Com Tassel) to make another
treaty.

Sevier minced no words. He told the
chiefs that the whole country nonh of the
Tennessee River as far west as the
Cumberland Mountains would be setded by
the whites who would take it "by the sword,
which is the best right to all countries."
Though the treaty contained ample references
to peace, love, and brotherly friendship, it
was obvious it was obtained under duress.
Wiuh such a large armed force outside their
gates, the chiefs had little choice but to sign.
The historian Williams says in his book: The
Los1 State of Franklin, "No act of the State of
Franklin is Jess creditable to her than this
Treaty ofCoyatee."
During this time, the Franklin
government was constantly pressing its case
Summu, 1992

�;

I I

for recognition as a s1a1e before the
Confederation Congress. Champion for the
cause was William Cocke, a backwoodsman,
marksman, and a fierce fighter, who had put
himself through law school and had found a
gift for inspired oratory. By all accountS he
gave brilliant. impassioned presentations on
behalf of 1he Sta1e of Franklin, bu1 it was no1
enough to shake the political support
mustered by North Carolina to block
Franklin's recognition.
By 1786 the strain of carrying on the
border wars single-handedly had begun to
tell, and the firm resolve of the Franklinites
began to waver. North Carolina cleverly
exploited this shif1 in sentimenL Under the
leadership of John Sevier's archrival, John
Tipton, North Carolina attempted to hold an
election 10 send representatives from "the
western counties" to the state legislature. The
Franklin government answered the move by
holding their own elections for the North
Carolina legislative seats. The Franklinites
won overwhelmingly, but this recognition of
North Carolina's authority proved 10 be the
first stroke of the wedge that split open the
Franklin government.
Tipton also sponsored North Carolina
couns, which operated parallel 10 Franklin
courts, often in the same county. Vigilantes
from both sides broke up court sessions and
took valuable papers. There were angry
public meetings, and some brawling took
place, involving Tipton and Sevier
themselves in one instance. The situation was
fast deteriorating into civil violence..
John Sevier made several valiant
attempts to save the faltering State of
Franklin. Knowing the unifying value of war
against the native people, he proposed one
idea that would hopefully save his
government, win the coveted Great Bend area
for the_whites (and his investment company),
and gain some respite for the settlers on the
southwest frontier.
At the time, the State of Georgia was
continually at war with the Creeks. Sevier
proposed 1ha1 in the spring of 1787 soldiers
from Georgia and Franklin join together in a
punitive campaign against th111 tribe, which
jus1 happened to control the Great Bend are-a.
Instead of cash payments, the soldiers who
undertook the expedition would be rewarded
with land grants in the Great Bend, which
they would afterward help 10 retain. The plan
never materialized, as Georgia made a
temporary peace with the natives.
Early in 1788 the sporadic hostilities
between the two factions in Franklin flared
up. John Tipton seized several of John
Sevier's slaves under a Stale of Nonh
Carolina court judgment and transported them
10 his home for safekeeping. Sevier was in
the las1 few days of his governorship and
was tired and discouraged, bu1 rhis was a
slap in 1he face that could not be ignored. The
separationists surrounded Tip1on's house in
force and, although Sevier urged restraint, a
melee erupted. Two men were killed and
Sevier's two sons were capiured. Tipton
wanted 10 hang the young men, but was
persuaded to release 1hem. Sevier
subsequently lef1 for the border wars on the
frontier, "where no writs ran and lhe rough
seulers were devoted to him," as John
summer, 1992

VIRGINIA

--------~.~~.r~ttf)lfWl~if1}r-------------..:::~-,.R-... 1-&amp;KLiN·:·,::"' ..

NORTH
.-,::.\(}iY:.:\~f{/· CAROLINA
_, ~,-- - - - ·- -.,,
- - - - - - ------7,....
'
,
'------,...
'

',,

'

',

\

' ',

11SS Map
Preston Arthur commented. This is generally
marked as the end of the State of Franklin.
It was in 1790, with more wars with
the Cherokees looming, that North Carolina
finally gave up and ceded control of Franklin
to the United Srates Congress as part of the
"Southwest Territory." Franklin was finally
admitted to the Union as pan of the State of
Tennessee in 1796. The first elected governor
of the Staie of Tennessee was, no1
surprisingly, John Sevier, and he la1er served
as a congressman as well.

appeared as I.he stubborn independence so
admired in the Appalachian mountaineers. At
other times, however, it appeared as 1he will
for mastery, whether over the land, events,
or those who would oppose them. Even
today, we still see traces of this, the tangled
legacy left by the early while seulers of the
mountain region.
Special thanks to Barbara Wickersham
for the valuable research work she
contributed to this article.

Resources:

The wild Appalachian lands brought out
both the best and the worst in the firs1
Europeans to inhabit the Katuah Province.
They were fiercely devoted 10 ideals of
freedom and justice; they were at the same
1ime greedy and ruthless. A deep-seated
detennination drove them. Sometimes this

Gerson, Noel B.; Franklin: Atrurica·:r Lost
State: Crowell-Collier Press (New York, 1968)
Williams, Samuel Cole; Ilistory of the Lost
State of Franlclin; The Press of the PiollCCIS (New
York. 1933)

Cornstalk Dreams
Poverty is living in a shotgun house
with chimney bookends
Listening to rain tapping on a cheap tin roof
Huddling around the fireplace
like a dark medieval clan.
Poverty is running barefoot
through a maze of corn fields
Splitting open a watermelon just for its heart
Worrying until payday if we would be fed
at least with butter beans and cornbread

- Sandra McClinton

-

..

X.Otimh )ournnt page 13

�WHERE THE TREES OUTNUMBER THE PEOPLE:
I&lt;atuah's Regional Rainbow Gatherings
In the Mtigical U1nd of the Rainbow, a neo-tribal culture is teacl1ing and learning the
arts of Cooperation and Commu,1ity

by Stephen Wing

"Welcome Home!"
The implications arc enormous.
Somewhere back in the mythical mists
of the Scvenries, a tribe of multicolored folJc
called the Rainbow Family began to hold a
"Gathering of the Tribes" every summer deep
in the wilderness, where the trees oumumber
the people. They were "Family" because they
considered all people brothers and sisters;
they were ''Rninbow" for the harmony of
their many colors; and they called out
"Welcome Home!" because wherever they
gathered on the Mother Earth they were home
again. Every Fourth of July lhey observed a
silence, praying for Peace and Healing, each
in their own way. They fasted and prayed
and danced and drummed, and many magical
stories have come down 10 us.
In the nco-Plcistocene Eighties, our
tribal ancestors founded the Katuah Rainbow
clan and began to bold a solstice gathering
every summer in the meadow below Sam's
Knob. Because pan of their inspiration was
lhe 1980 Rainbow Galhering in West
Virginia, it became one of the first of many
regional Rainbow gatherings. It carried on
the Family consensus to be free and
non-commen:ial, open to everyone, dedicated
to cooperative, ecological living, without
leaders or rules. It grew and flourished, and
Xatuah Journal Pac.Je 14

was known as one of the strongest and most
spiritual in the land of the Rainbow.
Now at age 21, the Rainbow Family
has grown into a large-scale, long-term,
worldwide experiment in living out the ideals
of the mythical Sixties: a full-fledged
al temative culture, woven of many different
spiritual, political, and philosophical strands.
Outwardly. perhaps it imitates the Nntive
American tribes; mwardly, it taps the
biological vestiges of one million years of
oi baJ ancestry.
Everyone involved in Rainbow has
their own vision of what it is and what it
could be. The vision that is crystallizing for
me lately is of a school.
Everyone has something 10 teach in the
magical land of Rainbow. And somcLhing to
learn. Many of us are teachers of something
already, perhaps, or know a special craft or
skill or even a livelihood worth passing on.
You learned your first rai chi step or
bcadworlcing stitch from someone. Why not
bring it 10 the gathering _and offer a free,.
informal workshop? Think of the gathenng
as a kindcrganen, not as a university. Even if
you feel you have nothing 10 learn there, each
of us has something 10 pass along to those
following in our footsteps.
But there's a deeper level of learning.
0..wUl&amp;J by Rhea Ormond

Running away like a bunch of kids playing
hooky in the woods is like school turned
inside out - a space in which we can a.U enter
a kind of second childhood and re~ate
ourselves. We heal ourselves instinctively by
re-imagining society in a sane way, becoming
each other's long-lost extended family,
learning how to love and accept each other,
and feel loved and accepted in turn • some
for the first time our lives. It is incredibly
therapeutic just to be in a place where it is
okay to love.
But in order 10 maintain this magical
healing space, we have to work together 10
feed everyone, deal with sanitation, medical
needs, children, authorities, parking,
drinking water, and camp security. We have
10 make decisions that acknowledge
everyone's poinl of view, including the trees,
the streams, the wildlife, the genemtions 10
come. This is a yet deeper learning. We are
learning to come together as a community, a
circle, a tribe - rather than a collection of
self-centered individuals - and act for the best
interest of the whole instead of our little part.
Few of us had the benefit of a tribal
upbringing. Ninety percent or more of the
ordinary families out there arc dysfunctional,
studies now say, producing dysfunctional
people. Our tribe is made up of refugees from
that world; we cannot create World Peace
without some healing. Most of the problems
that plague the "national" Rainbow Gathering
are problems of scale. But a few stubbornly
show up al regionals, too. They are the
chronic dysfunctions of the dominant culture,
"Babylon": abuse of alcohol and drugs,
scamming, inflated egos, male-female
imbalance. These arc the things that we
cannot leave behind when we leave our cities
and cars.
l ust4 to worry about them. But then l
realized that it is okay. Rainbow is a school.
These are our assignmenrs. That is why we
leave all the civilized disu-actions behind: to
focus on what counts.
At the scale of a regional gathering we
can do that - but not without a conscious
commitmcnL I have seen miracles happen
when the wisdom and the will of the people
have been summoned to a serious council.
Through the magical ans of passing a feather
in a circle and listening, of communication
and compromise, I believe we can learn 10
resolve any conflicL But we have to practice.
And the presence nnd guidance of people
who have done some of the inner work
themselves is invaluable to those who might
otherwise stumble over the same mistakes.
Becoming a Tribe may not be an
idealistic fantasy from the mythical Sixties
forever. We are learning how to live without
money, lawyers, governments, police· even
gasoline - because it may soon be necessary.
We arc learning it, 1 believe, because the
future of our families down 10 the seventh
generation depends on our learning 10 live
together as a functional Family.
I hope we are learning it in time.
For dirtetioM to tM Ka11,ah Rainbows-,
Solstiu Ga1hviltg, JUM 12-22, son~p/ace where the
trees OUIIIUl1IMT IM people, coll the A1/a111a Rainbow
Ughllillc: (404) 662--6112 or write 10 /IOI. address
below.
To help out In adllOIICe, contact Katu.ah
Roillbow direc1/1 clo l.ulit Wagenheim: 996 Yellow

Breeches Rd.; Cosby, TN 3m2 (615) 428-4633.

Summu, l!IN

�warp ancl

"We Call It a Gathering..."
At first sight, it seems to be pure
magical anarchy in the woods. But there are
levels you learn to see.
Just under the swface is a layer of hard
wolk: people who are not immediately vi~ble
because they are in the kitchens, out hunnng
firewood, al the parking lot, on a supply run.
They carry lhe whole thing literally on their
shoulders, often to the point of straining. As
soon as we realize we are the tribe and
volunteer, the whole thing is easy.
Underlying everything we do is the
consensus of the council, a periodic circle to
pass a feather and listen 10 each person's
perspective in turn. Daily councils are a
chance to share what makes us different and
what we have in common. When something
comes up that requires a decision, we enter
that siate of unified undersianding called
consensus much more easily if we have been
practicing. (If ~ere is no co~~cil,just ~u.t up
a sign. "Main crrcle at noon 1s the tradit,ion.)
Invisible everywhere are the Shann
Sena - all of us who are conscious of health
and safety and alen for trouble, who have
learned to keep the peace in loving ways, deal
with emergencies, communicate with
authorities - and anyone willing to learn. You
can pretend the gathering is a free ride or a
carefree utopia; you can avoid the problems
and still have a wonderful time. But "sister"
and "brother" really begin to mean something
when you accept responsibility for the
well-being of the folks around you.
Then there are the people who are
praying. Our circles before meals, sweat
lodges and Sufi dances, ceremonies at
equinoxes and solstices, etc., carry the
natural sense of community one step higher.
Participating in the Divinity of each moment
helps focus the natural srate of awareness
called a tribe.
Underneath it all is the root-system of
our friendships. Slogans of peace and love
do not make us brothers and sisters; a Family
forms out of time spent together, real time.
Year after year we work, eat, council, and
celebrate together, between gatherings we live
and travel together. We gather in the parks
back home. Travelers come through. We
grow 10 know and to trust each other. The
Rainbow Family is a vast network of
relations. a fabric woven by the physical
s,unmcr , 1992

..
, 1 ,
~pfrhtlal ~efi-of our•~n&amp; tOgethet.

.

ruo ~!1-nrr . .-.- {·n· ~ rr·,77-,v.z

We have over a generation of history
between us now. We are much more than just
a "counterculture.'' Traditions have
developed, a slow evolution of consensus
agreements, along with a tendency to keep
evolving. Naturally we have our elders of the
tribe - but in this tribe each one of us chooses
our elders. Listen for the voice of experience.
But don't take anybody's word for iL Look
under the swface, and watch who's doing the
work.
People will be noticing the same about
you. To some of us baby-boorners it's news,
but work is necessary to survive anywhere.
Babylon sacrifices the daily labor of millions
to feed a privileged few; a tribe shares the
work equally out of Jove for one another, so
no one has to do too much.
The people who created this magical
village in the woods are working hard,
making sure you will be safe, warm, and fed.
But many of us grew up in middle c~s
households where that much was a given we were the privileged few. Don't take it for
granted in the woods. Join the dinner circle,
pay attention to announcemenrs, spread the
word! Go to council; remember to listen
before you speak. Say your peace. And if
you want to join the tribe, just find a place 10
piteh in and help.
As for the panhandlers at our gate, the
ego-wrestling and ripoffs, the truckloads of
rrash, the bliss-ninnies and rainbozos - it's
helpful to remember that compared to most
tribes we're still in our awkward
adolescence. Most of us weren't born in the
Rainbow Family. We were,bom in Babylon.
A lot of us got pretty messed up out there
before we found our way Home. A lot of
Babylon's mess got tracked in on o~r heels.
Much of our effort to heal the Eanh 1s an
ongoing struggle to heal ourselves and our
relationships - to learn how to really be a
"Family" - and to raise truly.healthy ki~~Meanwhile for better or worse, Its our
Family. As Einst~in's mother put it,
"Everyone is a relative." Getting to know o n ~
another over twenty-one years of gatherings ,,:
has tended to substantiate the theory.

Council Fire
Pilgrimage to the old
power spot, our abandoned
council circle I meet all
the pilgrims packing out
their tents and trash-bags
I find
a giant fire-pit dug here
since we counciled
hard for three hours in the sun
to move the council closer
to the center of camp
Three pilgrims
rest here on a log:
they too casually join
the council of all vanished
tribes around the coals
of the original fire

- Stephen Wing
(E.xurp1ed. with "visions by the awhor.from
110!. a ~wsllove /mer to the Rainbow Tribes of the
Southeast, Spring 1992 iss~. Contact llO! at Box
5455; At/0/lla, GA 30307)

Sun, evening shadows, mist
that drifts to rain:
the food is ready and we join hands.
It's only the clear day's light
refracted through the wet nights
that makes this Rainbow on the
ground.

Our circle makes a hole in the
ground spirit rising like water in a well,
falling like the light on a po11d,
the round earth and the rolling sky
joined
in a circular kiss ...
The Circle makes us Whole.

Oraw,ng• b)I Ray Ramcs

Poems wriuen by Stephen Willg at tire
16th a111111ol Rainbow Garhering, Nanw/,a/a
National Forest, Kataoh Province, J11/y,
1987.

~ti1nfl )durnat pnqe IS

�In Council With All Beings

;,· , -,r,~ :: •. 3TE

by Lee Barnes
Human(un)kind's ability to council
with All Beings is limited by our human
egos, our historical fall from Oneness-WithAJJ. Several "en-Lighten-ments" have aided
my personal path towards council with All
Beings, including accumulated personal
experiences and insights from several books.
Council comes to me when I rest my
active brain and allow thoughts from All
Beings to enter my mind. (Term this as you
may - telepathy, insight, second-sight, etc.)
We humans have not evolved in limbo from
All Beings; rather, we have become
insensitive and unconnected from our
relations with the great Webs of Life which
sustain us.
From long experience, I realize that my
thoughts (and deeds) do not remain restricted
within my bony skull - we can and do touch
other Beings with our thoughts. managing to
interconnect, apparently without regard to
time or distance. Time, mauer, and space
appear to be complex illusions created by our
physical and spiritual perceptions, historical
and modem cultures, mammalian senses, and
personal experiences.
l totally accept the iraditional beliefs
that all things (All Beings) a.re alive and
interconnected. We can relate to the other
Beings of the world with either an expansive
or contractive "attitude." With an expansive
"attitude," we can expand our consciousness
and encompass All Beings within ourselves.
A series of physical and spiritual
experiences while hiking over 4000 miles in
Katuah forests (and in other regions) has
auuned my personal council with All Beings.
Usually after about three days in the forest,
away from modem "civilized" life, I find
myself more in tune with the "real" world. l
more closely follow changing day-lengths;
more carefully realize the moonlight's effect
on animals; better understand the words in
the wind; hear the many voices in falling
waters; feel the energy of metamorphic and
igneous boulders; and recognize the
individual tree within the con1ex1 of the
forest.
I am an unashamed tree-hugger, for
trees, especially the forest giants ("wooden
Grandfathers") do share energies, and focus
Earth energies (although l have felt
"indifference" from some trees... ).
I have (infrequently) attuned with
animal energies by watching hawks soar
above, and suddenly becoming "one" with
them, glicling over the valley. This was not
empathetic daydreaming, but rather I was
there in the sky, soaring on wings! I have
shared the scene of the land through the eyes
of another, equal Being!

A specific experience that occurred
within a guided group workshop influenced
my insight into council with All Beings.
During an early morning circle and council
based on guidelines from the book Thi11king

Like a Mountain: Towards a Cou,rcil of All
Befogs (by John Seed and Joanna Macy,
1988, New Society Publishers), I was
Xatuah Journnt pnge 16

greatly moved and led 10 a greater
appreciation and communication with All
Beings.
Tllillking Like a Mountain is an
inspiring collection of meditations, readings,
and most imponan1ly, a guide 10 interspecies
communications, which has led humans to
greater empathy and union with All Beings.
The workshop is usually led by a facili1a1or
who guides individual participants 10 "voice"
their (telepathic/etc.) thoughts from
whichever Beings enter their minds.
Typkally in these guided workshops,
specific Beings are allowed to voice their
cries and frusira1ions wilh human destrUction
of their environment and 1be lack of human
care about their council. In this particular
circle, a "Talking Stick" (brought by a
reacher and missionary from African cultures)
was passed and used 10 designate each
individual speaker. ln council, we heard from
several Beings · circling hawks, lowly slugs.
and even the voice of the Mountain bcnemh
us. 111ese Beings were in anguish, voicing
their ~uffcring at the hand of modem human
"civilizations" - spoiled waters, fouled air,
and their pained existence due 10
human(un)kind's actions.
This council would have aroused great
disgust towards our human selves, except for
the positive counsel offered as 10 how to
rcconnec1 with All Beings. While each

instance of this method is unique, depending
upon the specific seuing and the different
panicipants, it remains a powerful personal
experience.
We two-lcggcds muse seek better
council with the universe and with All
Beings. We must open our hearts to council,
reduce our wasteful over-consumption, and
halt the destruction of our fragile planet.
Live simply; use only what you need;
recycl~ and in all decisions think how the
next seven generations of All Beings will be
affected. Give thanks 10 the water spirit.~:
thanks to green spirits; thanks to the living
soil spirits! Give prayer and thanks to All!
And then you may learn through council witl1
AH Beings.
I encourage all of the two-leggeds,
especially the city-shocked brothers and
sisters, 10 go simply into the the depths of
your existence, leaving your egos (and every
restrictive training) behind. and 10 seek open
and unrestrictt.'&lt;I council with All Beings. Be
open 10 new insights and experiences: be
rcspec1ful of all other Beings (whether,
stone, fire, water, air...); and offer thanks for
council with the rest of Creation.
Voice prayers, offer thanks, and
continue 10 seek council with All Beings.j - '

#

Drawing by Mich11CI Thompson

Ho.
Sum,ncr, J 992

�STEVE MOON

·1

,

"
SHELL ENGRAVINGS"
The Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, a distinctive
culture of the native First People, flourished from the east
coast to Texas between 500 and 1600 AD. The culture was
marked by mound building and elaborate rituals and
ornamentation. Among the primary items produced were
carved ceremonial drinking vessels and gorgets (chest
ornaments hung around the neck) made of shell. Designs
were often engraved on the concave or inner side of the
shell, which is naturally smooth and glossy. They were
sometimes rose tinted. These anifacts are now highly
prized by collectors and many of the old mounds have
been looted by avaricious grave robbers.
Steve Moon is an artist and a defender of the native
grave siteS. Descended from a Cherokee-Shawnee
great-grandmother, he is proud of the native branch of his
bloodline and works in the spirit of the ancient native
artisans. He creates museum-quality reproductions of the
old shell engravings and also creates original designs
based on traditional motifs.
"I just sit around and things come to me sometimes,"
says Steve. "I don't know why, but things pop into my
mind, and 1 draw them on the shell and carve them.
"It's like closing your eyes and letting the tool do the
work. There's really no way to explain it. I just go down
into the shell until the color looks right, and r don't go any
further. Sometimes rcan control the color all the way
around.
"I may pick up a shell and it will look like an
ordinary mussel shell; another time I will be able to
acruaJly feel with my mind down into the shell.
The shell gorgets and drinking bowls found in old
grave sites were ceremonial objects carefully placed by the
body during burial.
'They are sacred objects,'' says Steve, "and it's
wrong for people to dig into graves to go after them. The
old people were put in their graves to rest. They were not
put there to be excavated.
"On my father's side, 1 had some ancestors who
served in the Civil War. I would be real mad if someone
went to Flat Shoals Baptist Church and staned digging
them up 10 get the buttons off their coats or something.
"In Spiro, Oklahoma during the l 930's, grave
robbers dug up a burial site. They were taking stuff out by
the wheelbarrow-load to sell to the private collectors.
When they found out that the State of Oklahoma was going
to stop them, they packed the central burial chamber full of
powder and blew it up. The chamber was made of cedar
logs, and it had preserved cane mauing, textiles, even
textiles made from woven rabbit fur. All of it was blown 10
smithereens.
"I've talked 10 looters who went in with burlap bags,
and I've talked to looters with doctor's degrees. What's
the difference? They arc doing the same thing.
'The bowls and ornaments from the ancient mounds
were grave goods. They were not lying around in a
plowed field. TI1ey were taken off a skeleton. I think they
should be left alone."
For Steve, this is a hean-felt commitment. Ile offers
10 donate his work 10 collec1ors who will acc~pt
reproductions in return for replacing shell artifacts in their
original burial silcs.
Steve Moon's reproductions and original carvings
arc things ofhl!auty. They shine with a luster and a depth
that photographs cannot convey. Their varying textures
satisfy the hand that touches them. They truly are
representations in tangible form of the spirit that moves
Steve Moon 10 his creative work. the spirit that inspires his
sense of mission.

Stev,· Moo11 can /,c co11tacte,J at
Rt. 1, Box 256; Cm,011, CA 30520.

-DWA'

~

Original from Moundville,
Alabama.
Carved in the shell of a lightning
whelk.

Originals with this design were
found in Tennessee, Missouri
Arkansas, and Oklahoma. Carved
in the shell of lightning whelk.

Original from Carthage, TN.
Carved in the shell of a lightning
whelk

Orig111al from Spiro, OK. (The
design y, as also found at sites
across Tennessee, Alabama. and
north Georgia ) Carved in Mankillcr
pearl shell.

�visiting my grandparents occasionally.

"MEDICINE TRAINING"
(PARTII)
These are the words of a traditional
Cherokee medicine person.
My gr.mdfather would direcl my
training by saying, "You need 10 go spend
some rime with this guy. You need to go see
him."
I would go sec that person. and he
wouldn't even know I was going 10 show
up. would have no idea at all why I was
supposed to be there. I would show up, and I
would jusl stay 1here for awhile. I would
learn just by being there. It w~n·l at all
structured, like lhis guy had Course Three for
me or something, but after awhile l could tell
when they were aclually going out of their
way to teach me something. Some people
were more theatrical than others, and they'd
make me do crazy things.
The strangest one was lhe chicken
house. J had gotten 10 where I thought I was
real special. I felt that I was really imponant,
thal everyone ought to bow and scrape and
just be honored lhat I was near them. J was
making an ass oul of myself, and. ahhough I
never recognized il, everyone else did. And
my grandpa 1old me il was time 10 go stay
with a man named George. He said that l
would have to stay there for awhile.
When I got to George's, I asked him,
"Where am I going 10 stay?" and headed
toward the house.
He said, "Hey! C'mere."
And I looked and said, "What d'ya

want?"

He said," You can't stay in the house.
We've got lots of guests, and lots of people
come by, and we need room for them. We
should give 'em the best we have. You stay

there."

Xatuah Journat page

to

And he pointed toward a funky old
sway-backed chicken house that had a
patched-up roof and was about to fall down.
r just looked on past it. All f could see was
lhc rhododendron thickel behind it, but I
thought maybe he had ano1her cabin or a
building back there.
He said, "Righi there. Goddamn
chicken house. Yeah,"

"Chicken house?"
He said. "Yeah. Lislen. that's all I can
do."
We walked over there. ll was about l5
feet long and about 10 feel wide, with big
cracks between lhe boards, and chickens
running all about
He said, "These chickens are renl
1mponant lo us, we get eggs and meat from
them, so I want you 10 use that pile of old
lumber out in back, put up a partition, and fix
up a room for yourself in the chicken house."
I just couldn't believe it. A person of
my caliber, my standing, in these conditions!
Then I thoughl to myself, "They're trying 10
teach me something," but it was nol until a
couple of months Inter that I actually realized
what it was.
Nobody lold me I was egotistical. I
found out myself that I was egotistical. r
found out after r had dug tons of chicken shit
out of there, put up a wall, split shingles,
fixed the roof, got lice. I was absolutely
inundated by lice. Sol made lye and covered
the whole chicken house with it to kill all the
lice. I fixed that chicken house up beuer than
it had ever been before. Heck, I didn't have
anything else to do.
In lhe process of fixing up the chicken
house, I became the world's greatest expert
on chicken conversation and habits. No one
knows chickens any beuer than I do. I spent
more than a year in that chicken house,

I did chores and helped out, and rhat
was the way I paid for my keep. Then people
started asking me 10 doctor - small things like
wounds and scrapes. After awhile, though,
they would ask me questions like, "Johnny,
he's off someplace, do you think he's okay?''
And I'd say, "Well, I need to think
about this.'' And J staned to give them
advice.
I had seen the other men do it. 1 had
seen Owl do it. I had seen how lhey lalked lO
people and consoled them.
I soon learned to separate true
knowledge from knowledge that you pick up
just by hearing things. True knowledge is
something that you intuitively know from
inside. My grandfather would call it "true
knowledge magic."
Knowledge that you hear on lhe side like you might have heard some other people
lalking about how Johnny was al some
whorehouse or in the county jail - thal klnd of
knowledge I call "side knowledge." And I
knew how Owl took that information and
used it to make himself more powerful. He
said that he only used medicine in one percent
of his work. He said information is much
easier to come by. He said that the more
knowledge, lhe more magic, and the more
power you have, lhe less you use it.
When the elden; who had been training
me thought I was prepared, they sem me out
10 spend time alone in lhe woods. When I
relurned, they beld another nnming ceremony
and gave me my true name, my medicine
name, my spiritual name, that l never have
told anybody.
It was done at a campfire way out in the
mountains, at sunrise on the new moon, a
beginning time.
We rook the black drink, vomited, and
then we plunged in the creek. They collecled
the woods and set the fire, smoked
everybody who was 1here, then they sang
songs and did different things.
Then my true name was whispered in
my ear, and I walked to each corner and the
elder called the relatives. They would come 10
me, and I uttered my new name in my mind.
It was hard lo remember, and I had to get
used 10 it.
These were men who had hand-raised
me. They were all of lhe same generation.
They were all old. I think the youngest
Sumrm:r, 1992

�pi:rson of th:it group was .50, and he was ai
I think that in anybody's hfe there is a
the bouom in the pecking order t)f age. I le
~en!ie that things arc se1 out for you. The
\\ns a fc1d1er and .i carrier.
people who raise you have cenain
They were very spiritual in the sense
expec1a1ions of you, and if you have a
that they followed the t.rndition. They lived
loving, caring. nurturing, mutual son of
everything that they believed. They had their
relationship. you want 10 do everything in
own son of reality, like they would leave
your power 10 meet their expcc1a1ions.
food for the Little People here and there, and
You might have long fingers, so mama
they talked 10 the spirits regularly. They
thinks you ought co be a piano player, so she
would all be holy people compared 10 the
drives you to the piano. If she goes about it
Cherokees of today, but they weren't like our
in a good way, you might end up to be a
Hollywood concept of a medicine man at au.
concen pianist. But you may have been belier
They were not what the anthropologists
suited 10 be a plumber than to be a pianist.
called "priests." They were a different group.
You could go on until you are 50 years old
The "priests" and famous medicine men lived
and srill playing in honky-tonks before you
closer 10 town. But these old people were all
realize that the piano is not your calling.
members of the Katuah Medicine Society. I
received a lot of my understandings about
Katuah from them, things that l am not ever
at liberty to talk about.
Because they were in the society, they
considered themselves better than most
people. They were actually arrogant about
tha1. They considered themselves the true
Ka1uahs, and there's probably pans of me
that still feel a lirtle smug, because I grew up
,-: - with that cenainty.
They had signs. Back then, everybody
~
wore a little feather in their hat. But the
\ \
~ )
Karoah people would take the marrow out of
1'
::,J\..... '•
the feather, so that when they walked, the
(
.r,,.,
feather would make a fluttering motion. That
-\.
was a sign.
\.,
\\~.
Another sign was a linle silver snake.
Owl said his snake was made by Sequoyah.
It could have been. Several 01hers had little
\.
silver snakes. They frequently wore old suit
coaLS, welfare clothes donated by white
people, and would carry the snake under the
lapel. When Karuah Society people from
Olclahoma would come, I would see old Owl
lift his lapel for the briefest second and let ii
fall back. And the other people would make
an acknowledgment with their eyes without
winking or doing anything obvious. I can't
tell you how they did it, it just was
I
acknowledged.
'
Then, without any other invitation, we
would go back to the creek. and soon four or
five of these people from Oklahoma would
just show up I.here. They'd talk and smoke
pipe and do Katuah ceremonies together.
This would go on all night. I would
usually fall asleep, because I was young
then. But l am amazed about how much I
learned by just hanging out.
"Be invisible," grandpa would say. "Be
invisible."
When I look back at the good and the
bad in my life, I always feel incredibly
fonunate and content. Despite the pains and
sufferings that everybody goes through in
Life, I have aJways believed that I have
affected my own destiny more than most
people do. Sometimes l interfered in the
process, and other times I just let the process
happen to me. 1 give credit for that to the fact
of my growing up experiences, all the things
I learned from that strong circle of elders.
If the spiriLS had not had another
intention for me, I probably would srill be
living near my childhood home among the
offspring of those old people who raised me.
I would either have been an alcoholic or
struggling inside the system.

'-I ·)

i''\,-,

~mmcr, 1992

Drawing:, by Troy Sc,ILlc:r

Jn my case, my grandfather saw ~omc
physic.11 signs and m:1de an interpretation
based on the sign5 and his knowledge. But it
was still someone else's in1erprc1.1rion.
Back when r was 10 years old, my
grandfather taught me how 10 carve little
animals out of soft basswood. I can
remember that l was fascinated with that for a
year or so. Then I went on to other things.
That was the extent of my early carving
career. The figures I made were crude, but a
seed was set for something 10 come.
The seed lay donnant until a few years
ago when ! saw a carving on a shelf in a
house I was visiting. I picked it up and held
it. It didn't feel right. It seemed
disproponionate and out of shape.
The man said. "Can you carve
anything?"
I said, "I used to fool with it when I
was a kid."
After I left the house, I said to myself,
"I can make something better than that."
And so I made a bear. It was 001 very
good, but it still was a little bener than the
figure I had seen. I fooled around making
different kinds of animals for a year,
experimenting with different styles and
expressions. The animals I made then aren't
anything like the animals I carve now. They
were somewhat similar in design, but not in
quality.
I went through the whole process. A lot
of the techniques I learned were already
known by people all over the world. I
probably reinvented the wheel several times
over. But I also developed a couple of ideas
that, as far as I know, no one else has
thought of.
And when J finally made an animal that
looked like it was alive, it just blew my mind.
I said, "Look at this!"
The next one I made came alive in my
hands, 100. ! said, "Look at this! 1 did this!
Mc! No one else! No one set me down and
taught me 10 do this. No one told me."
Now I am staning 10 get thunder from
my carving. Thunder is when other people
acknowledge your ability, and it's absolutely
wonderful.
But what has made all the difference is
that r feel an inward drive and detcnninarion
10 do this that I have never felt about doing
anything else. I have been detennined 10
accomplish other goals before, but this is
purely an expression of myself. II is a force
coming from inside of me. This was not/
preordained by anyone; this is the real
-:
person.

Xatuah Journat JIOIJC 19

�BAD NEWS AND GOOD NEWS

The j9b of t ~ government o(ficials is to
protect the health or citiuns and or the environmenL
At best. they have displayed an attitude or unconcern
about their responsibilities. Al worst, they have
wilfully misled lhe public about a matter of grave
danger. Such disregard or Ille lives lhey arc supposed
10 protccl is unconscionable. This 1s a Sillllltion thnt
needs to be thoroughly investigated at both the state
and county level. Such flagrant irresponsibility must
not be allowed to conunue.

Nanni World New, Service

The Burlington Industries CIIIJlCI plant at the
hClldwaa.ers of lhe Little Tennessee River in Rabun
County, GA is closing iis doors. That is bad news
and good news.
The plant employs about 425 people in Rabun
and Macon Counties. The plant closing is bad news
for~ people who will be summarily dismissed
and left wi 1h no means of li vclihood in an
increasingly competitive job marlccL
However, &amp;ho Burlington pbnl has long been a
major polluter of lhe Liu.le Tennessee River, and Ille
factory's demise will mean beuer heallh foc lhe river's
aquatic ecosystem.
'"The plant has been a severe, but not an acute,
polluter," said aquatic biologist Dr. William
Mcl.amey. '"There have been no fish kills, foe
111s1811CC, but cit tensive sampling of both fish and
insect populations have shown that the plant has
definitely had a negative effect on the river."
If another company buys lhc Burlington plant,
it will be regulated by stricter environmental laws
than lhosc in effect when Burlingion staned
diacharging into the river. Also, a newly-initiated
citiun's monitoring group will be traclcing lhe wat.er
quality al lhe planL
"We will continue to lake samples above and
below lhe Burlington plam until there is no
noticeable difference between them.· said Mcl.amey.
As long as our industrial system operates
environmentally destructive means of production, Ille
closing of worlcplaces will be at once bad news and
good news.

RAPE PREVENTION
Natural World Newi Scrv,cc

For the first time in the Southern
Appalacluans, a federal lawsuit has been filed on
behalf of biological diversity, challenging the Land
and Resou= Manngerncnt Plan proposed for the
Cherokee National forest by lhc US Forest Service.
Representing a blood coalition of conservation
groups. the lawsuit nled by the Southern
Environmenl3l Legal Center (SELC) contcstS the
Forest Service practice of below-cost timber sales.
The suit also contends that Ille Jogging progrnm
outlined in the pbn would do urepruablc domagc to
native habitat and result an a corresponding loss of
biolog,ical diversity in the Cherokee.
D:ivid Carr or the SELC rcporis that the
CWTCnt plan opens up 60% of lhe national forest to
logging and ro:ld construction • much of it on steep
slopes and mac=iblc terrain. By FOfCSI Service
estimates, there arc presently 80,000 acres of
potential wilderness in the forest; more than half of
this vital lnnd b:lsc is open to desccr.mon under the
plnn.
By promoting rood building and cle:ucuumg,
the Forest Service 1s practicing t.hc ecooom1cs or
extinction. Peter Kub)', regional director of the
Wildcrnc!..s Society, note~ lhat the Chcrolcc Plan
threatens the extraO(dinary natur.il diversity or the
foreM. Kirby points out that tl1e Cherokee Nauonal
forest 1s home to 1,000 ~pccie., or flowering plants,
400 species or vcnebr-.uc,, and appl'oxm1atdy 13.S
sp&lt;lC IC$ of (hh,
"[Ilic fore:,1 plan) calls for the logging of over
one-hair of the cove h:lrdwood forcsis. an ccol&lt;'lg1cal
treasure trove in the Southern Appalachrnn,; he said.
The new Fore.,t Plan wuuld also va.,tly
mcn:..1~ rood density (which already exceeds lc(:111
guidelines) providing OC.CC.'i.~ for o greatly mclC:l.&lt;cd
amount of commcrci.il and recn:;itional :ict1vi1y - not
to mention illegal poaching.

Th~ Asheville Citizen-Tunes and Green Line
- ~ r s provitkd ,nfor""11ion for this ortk~

USFS TO STOP APPEALS
Nanni World News Service

BUNCOMBE LANDFILL SCANDAL
Nanni World News

Environmental sleuihs from lhe Blue Ridge
Environmental Defense League blew the cover olT
what was apparently a conspiracy of silence among
Sl8tc and local governmental officials about leaking
contamination from the Buncombe County landfill.
In October. 1991, investiga10rs from the
Environmental Protection Agency sent a rcpon io
Buncombe County saying th:11 u:st results showed
"elevated coneentmtions or numerous volntile organic
compounds and metals" in lhe groundwater around the
Buncombe 1.nndflll.
TheAshcvll/c Citiun-Timu reponed that
monitoring wells showed six to 3S times Ille legal
limit of live indUStrial solvenis - tnchlorcthylcne,
benzene, dichlorelhane. methylene chloride, and
dichloropropane. Water quality cxpen Richard Maas
of the University of North Carolina Asheville told the
newspaper lhat the contamination levels were "higher
than several Supcrfund sites in the area. In my
experience the.~ levels are surprisingly high."
An estimated l,125 people living within four
miles of the landfill site drink wnter from wells. Yet
neither the State nor the county government made any
public announcement about lhe landfull lenk or
possible hazards to residents' drinking water.
At an April 10, 1992 press conference,
BREDL activistS dlSJ)layed papers they had dug out or
state liles 1n Raleigh that proved that the l:mdlill wns
leaking. This W$ the first word given to the public
that anything wa~ amiss.
Why did government officials not inform
residents about the groundwater conUlmination1
County Manager Steve Metcalf blamed 11 on
M.uvin Waddey, who w:is Director of County
Engineering Service:. al the time. MclCOlf srud that he
ju.~t pas.scd on Waddcy's assurance that there were no
problems at the l:andlill. W:lddey has conveniently
moved out or ~cue.
Stale hydrologc.t Bob Lufty said that the ,utc
h.id not informed anybody of lhc trouble&lt; because of
undcNtnffing. He wW Grun Line ncwspapcr that 1hc
st.1tc hrul a two-person hydrology \taff to monitor 150
landlills, Half or thc.sc on: leaking wor;c than
Buncombe's. he said, and the re.,idcnts of those
commumues do not know nbout the danger.;. either.
Now the ch~rn1cals arc moving toward the
Fn:nch Broad R111i;r. 'The C,11:en-lim,•., stated lh:n
l.ulty s:ud lh:11 lhe subl,unccs would reach the nvcr,
· 1,c diluted and evcntually dcSU'oycd."
llle solvents 111110l11cd are deailly and per:;islCIIL
It may be hundreds of yc;tr.; before they nre
·eventually de.woyed."

The US Forest Service has chosen to sell more
and more of the last remaining virgin and old-growth
fOl'CSIS to the timber industry. But concerned citizens
have bad the right to challenge lhese sales through an
adminis11'8ti..e appeals process.
Many people have fe:irs that to continue
ovctCUlting our forests will mean irreparable
ecological harm. The appeols process has helped to
bring some measure of accountability to the
management policies and practices of the Forest
Service.
However. on Morch 20. 1992, Agriculture
Secretary Edwnrd Madigan announced that the Forest
Service was proposing to eliminate the appeals
process. In ltne with the Bush administration's
announced plruls to eliminate "unnc.cded" federal
regulations, these appeals were deemed too time
-cor.swning and costly, and it was decided that lhey
would be replaced wilh a toothless •30 day
pre-decisional notice and comment period.·
The Forest Service is trying to ignore the fact
that most of the appeals filed have resulted in
improved dccisons, better management or the fOtcSts.
and often citposc inodequat.e environmcnllll analyses.
TI1e agency seems to think that any decisions it
makes should go unchallenged, and the public should
have little or no voice in how Ille Mlional foresis arc

managed.
ForesL~ arc more than vettical logs. It is insane
to continue to cut our last few old-growth stands of

timber and destroy native habitat communitlcs to feed
the ever-hungry saw mills. The Forc.,;t Service often
needs IO be remanded or this.

PROTECTING
AQUATIC HABITATS
Nmural World News Service

April 23. 1992, the Nonh Carolina Wildlife
Resources Commission (NC WRC) held a public
hearing in Boone, NC to consider a proposal
origill3ting within the agency to dc.~ignatc 33
wawrshcds m IO of Nonh Carohnn's miuor river
ba.~in.~ as critical habitat for species of mollusks and
fish endangered m the Slate.
The plan would offer protection a.s "High
Quality Waters" 10 portions or the New. Watauga.
Little Tenncs,;ce, Johns. and Linville nvcrs and the
Warrior Forl; 111 the mounlaln area of the si;uc.
Env1ronmcnt:1I acti'lsts present at the hc:iring
IO support the mca~urc, commented that 11 was a
pl~surc IO appear at a hC'..mng to compbmcnt the
m1ua11vc of a ,1a1c ngcncy tn\lC.'ld or nJ1P(Xing iL
llic comment J);nod on tl11! WIIJhfe
Comm1ss1on's proposal extends until July I. Lener.;
of suppon may be sent m:
North CtJro/1fld ll'i/dlife RcJo:,ru; Commimon
512 N Salisbury .St.
Raleigh. NC 2760-I

..

.

S11111111cr, lll!IZ

a

6 t

t

I

I

8

�.,. ..

• WOLF' FLUNKS PILOT TEST
Na.tural World News Service

One of the four led wolves (Canis rufus)
released in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park
in November, 1991 was recaptured and penned,
according to Park spokesperson Bob Miller.
Red wolf Male (#219) was recapwrcd in
JanWIJ')' because he showed undue tameness towards
humans, and because he caught and killed a chicken in
Cades Cove and several domestic turkeys just north of
the Park. The livestock owners were reimbursed for
their losses from an indemnity fund created
specifically for such contingencies.

Male #219 may have been a poor choic.e for
release s:inc.e he had spent seven years in zoos, where
he had become unnaturally tame. He was selected
because he was sterile 10 ensure that a bl'eeding
population was not established in the Park prior to
the completion of the iniual study. He w :J most
likely spend the rest of his life in captivi•y.
Two new adult wolf pairs arc cum:ntly being
acclimated to the area by being held in large pens for
the next six months, and may be released in the Park
in November.

Members of the IVesttr11 North Carolina Alfiance gagged by the US
Forest Service. The Alliance prot,:sted removal qJ the Forest Service's appeals
process at a press conference held outside the USFS Ashevitte offices on April
Phoio Laura Dcaton/WNCA
17.1992.

ONE H O NEST MAN
N.i1ural World Ncv,,s Sen ice

When Dr.William Reid signed on as
oncolog1st (cancer specialist) at tlic Mcthodi!il
Medical Center in Oak Ridge. 1N early in 1991, he
knew little about the production procc.-.scs al the
Department of Energy\ nuclear weapons plants and
less about the nuclear politics of Oak Ridge.
But he did know a sick p:iticm when he saw
one, and he saw four Cll'iC.'&gt; of a rare kidney c:inccr, an
unusual concentration for such a small popul3tion
sampling. I le also saw a ~ignificant number of people
exhibiting auto-immune system disorders. Exh of the
p:mcnts wilh kidney disease h:id ~n exposed to
·major radiauon." Dr. Reid rcponcd. and the p:itients
with auto-immune deficiencies showed "n consistent
p.,ucm of blood irregularities."
In August, 1991 Reid approached Dr. Daniel
Conrad, the medical director for Martin-r-.1:uiCU3
Energy Systems, the priw1c conlJ'3clor for virtually
all the opcrauons at the Oak Ridge Rc.'iervauon,
1uking for access to c.lal.l about pos.~ible metal toxicity
al the Oak Ridge plants.
"Th&lt;.,rc are no problems wuh Mattin-Marictl3
employee~." Reid was told 1111d 11,~1~ ahruptly shown
out of the olfice.
The young doctCII' wa~ surpnsed ut the
brush-ofr he n:cc1ved from Conrad, t&gt;t11 he was more
surpnsc-d ,;everal months btcr m December, 1991
when he w1Ls called before a medical review board at
his 1nsu1uuon for "treuung pauent~ 100
aggressively," •spending too much money in the
treatment of cancer patients." and :illcgcd complaints
of incompetency.
A&lt;; a rcsult of the review, Dr. Reid WIL~ served

ummcr, 1992

an ultimawm: either to pack up and leave Oak Ridge
or have his name entered on the national medical
black list known as the "National Pr'.icutioncr Data
Bank for Adverse Information of Physicians and Other
Health Pracutione11&gt;."
Since the review hearing. the hospital has p:iid
to have another physician monuor all of Dr. Reid's
cancer ueatments.

Instead of caving in lO this blatant blackmail,
Dr. Reid filed a lawsuit challenging the allegations
agamst him and comc.~ting the consmutionaluy of
the National Pr'dctitioner Dalll Bank.
"Tilesc actions arc a ~ham," said Lewis Lcvm,
Reid's attorney, of the hospu.1J's measure.~. "The)'
were perpetrated again.,1 Dr. Reid only aft.er he refused
to be intimidated by threats."
And in the te.lt of I.he lawsuit, Levan st:ucd,
"He (Reid) opposes the prcvuilmg lct-them-d,e
attitude toward cancer puticnts. lie oppo5es dcni.31 of
treatment even when 11 1s nOt fully covered by
insurance payments. He oppose.~ those who refuse to
seek the c.auscs of bi7.arrc patterns in the quality and
quantity or cancer seen in Oak Ridge.•
The lawsull goc, on to say, "The physicians
and hospi111I who benefit from 1he generosity of tlJC
Martin-Marietw health c:irc pl.ln 11.ant him to lc:ivc.
1hs p31icnts want him to st:ly. •
Reid reports that he has nxc1ved many
fate-night pl1one tj1lh from anon&gt;mous supporters.
Other caller.; have offered mfonn:iuon lo help llllCk
down people suffcnng from health problems clue to
radiation and heavy metals tox1C1l)·, His work· and
the late-night lips. have shown results. Dr. Reid has
found pockets of 1mmuno-supp,cs~ive disorders in the
Oak Ridge area and even downstream as far as
Kingston. TN.

A NOTHER ONE
FOR THE GOOD OL' BOYS
NawnJ World News Service

Yet another example of govcrnmenrav
bureaucratic arrogance and insensitivity: the North
Carolina Dcpanmem ofTranspocuuion (NC DOT)
decided in May to postpOne public hearings scbcdulcd
in May on the 1 Transponation Improvement
992
Program (TIP).
While this mecis the leuer of the law requiring
public hearings, it keeps citizens from having any
input on 1992 transponation priorities - in effect
canceling any value the hearings mighl have.
Without public hearings, citiuns arc
effectively blocked out of the decision-malcing
process. This becomes even more dist.urbing when
one realius that lhe Board ofTransponation iS
appointed by Governor Jim Martin on the basis of
political favors. It is the plum of state political
appointments. Noticeably missing from the Board of
Transpoltlltion arc tranSit advocateS, individuals with
rail background. environmentalists, and
reprc.senrativcs from communiLy groups,
neighborhood associauons, and minorities.
Perhaps the reason lhe DOT has decided to
dispense with public hearings is that the importanl
decisions have already been made. Journalist Barry
Yeoman has produced a thoroughly researched s1udy
publi.shed in the lndependem thal shows a close
relationship belween the sources of large political
contributions and where highway construction
projects are built in the Srate of North Carolina

Do you want the NC Department of
Transportation to hold public Juuuings? Write to:
Larry Goode: ChiefEngiuer (Programs); NC DOT;
Box 25201; Raleigh. NC 27611.

Reid ha.~ nlso received support from the 03k
Ridge Envll"Ollmcntal and Peace Alliance (OREPA),
which has accumulated experience in dealing with the
authorities and tmcl.ing tOxiC emissions nt the Oak 1
Ridge Rc...crvntion.
Stc,·e Smith ofOREPA and the Foundation
for Global Sustain1bili1y. said, "This is the first lime
a medical doctor within Oak Ridge ha.~ stepped
forward 311d begun to identify :idvcrsc h~th cffCC1S in
and around the Oak Ridge facilities.
"When Dr. Reid first saw these pntu:ms
emerging, he was acompletely di~inten:.stcd observer.
He had no axe to grind with the DOE. He had no
conccpuon of what he was getting mto when hc
~tarted work 111 Oak Ridge."
Under pressure from the St:ltc of Tennessee,
the DOE 113.S funded a panel of health e.\J)CttS to study
cxpo:;urc to radiation among people Ii ,·ing around the
Oak Ridge facilities. Dr. Reid has been appointed to
that P3ncl, and will reveal hi~ tull fi11ding.q in the
cour:.c of that invcsllgnti()n.
Hiscao;e i, also under scrutiny by Sen. John
Glenn's Government Affairs Commmcc and Rep.
John Dingle's lnvcsugauon Subcommlltcc m the US
I louse of Rcprc.'iCntJllvc.~. A rccC11t anicle in 1,me
magazme c•uvmg H11ppdy ~eat a NuclearTr.ish
Hc.ip," 5/l lfl2) ten1'ring on Dr. Reid nlso called
aucnt.ion to the situation al Oak Ridge.
Now thai the hd of secrecy 1s orr I.ht\ lode
history 01 the Oak Ridge Reservation, 11 seems likely
that dccJ)CI' probing will n:~ cal more c:uimplcs of
abu!iC of the health of hum:ins 11ml the envllQnmcnL II
L~ startling lO think that tl1is whole furor began
because one person v. 1th true compa..sion entered
unawwes mro the heart of the sordid nuclCJr we.1pons
industry. It shows the pov.er ol one honcsl man.

XGtuoh Jounmt pnqe 2 1

�REGION O'RAGIN' ,:

,. ..

•,

Nanni World News ServiClC

April 21st brought not only a healthy dose or
rain io 1.he region, but also a healthy dose of reality people in K:m1ah are outraged with the US Forest
Sc,vice! As p:in of a national Earth Firsll effort
honoring John Muir's birthday. protCStS organiz.cd by
the environmental grollP SoulhPAW and il.S cohorts
in Asheville, NC, Atlanlll. GA. and Oevel:md. TN
were among lhe more than 30 prou:sts held
ruitionwidc.
Activists at the Forest Service Regionnl
Hcadquaners m Allant.a mllied behind a 4S f00t banner
that read: "Environmenlol Assessment of the US
Forest Service- Finding of No Significant lnl.Cgrity."
Twenty-five dcmonstraoors gathered outside lhc
Cherokee National Forest HeadqumterS in Cleveland.
while in Asheville 50 people chanted and hollered
ouLSide the Pisgah/Nanlllhala National Forest offices.
In each city, the message rang ou1. loud and clear:
decision-making proc:essc$ which destroy thousands of
aaes of habitat come from little cubicles inside
concreie and Slecl office buildings.

//'you'd liu to wim your frusuaJions with IM
Fores, Service in a concerted effort, conJJJcl
SowhPAW: Box 3/4/; Asheville, NC 28802.

SENATOR WAFFLES
Nau,,al World News Scrvia

SenalOI' Terry Sanford is threatening lO give in
the mauer of
the Fontana road, the famous "Road IO Nowhere" in
the Great Smoky Mountains National Palk in Swain
County.NC.
Sanford bas ptOp0.5td legislation I.hat would
include aSl6 million payment to Swain County and
allow consuuction of the comrovcrslal road. The road
would destt0y the possibility of wilderness
design:11ion for the southern end of the Parle and open
the isolated area up IO possible (ulllrC developmenL
Sanford stalTer Alan Thornbwg said 1h31. the
Senat0r "just wanLS to pol lhis ITlllller behind us. He
is willing lO do w~ver lhe county commissioners
dcs1te in lh is local issue.•
Sanford apparently does llOl undel'Sland that it
is not jost a local issue any more. The s111tus of
several thousand acres of h3biw and an imp0Clllllt
wildlife migration routc are at stalce, and there are
many visilOrS co the Parle who each year apprcciatc
the qmet and rcl:ll.ive isolation of the north shore of
Lake Foruana.
Sanrord's move seems LO be an election year
ploy to brcalc Helms' enclave or powct in Swain
County. That he would scll out I.he future of a critical
habitat area for a palll}' handful of VOies shows a
skewed sense of values.
lO Senator Jesse Helms' inll'BllSigcnce in

To con1ac1 Stlllltor Ttrry SOft[ord abou, his
proposal, write him QI 716 llart Senate Office
Building: Washington. DC 20510.

WE PAY FOR CLEARCUTS!
Nlllnl World New• Serv~

Once again the U.S. Forest Servicc has issued
a report stating the amount trutpaycrs pay tO subsidize
timber sales on North Carolina na11onal foresLS. In
1991 U.S. citi7.ens paid $2.4 milhon ID order lO have
roads buih and plOIS of national forest land clcrucut to
the state. Even though less limber was harve.~ted in
1991 l.h:m m 1990 (there was a loss or S2 million in
1990), we paid even more to keep Congress nnd the
timber IDlcrestS happy.
Xnt(iari lournnt ,.,- r, l Z2
nmm lf ll
f •
If •r 6
t

=

• ~-WHEELERS ~AT POR&amp;ST
Nanni World New, S&lt;tvicc

All-terrain vehicles (ATV's) are a pcoblem in
lhe region's national forcsLS. In lhc view of the US
Forest Service. the desires of different human inteteSt
groups lake precedence over protcetion of the rorcs1
ecosysiem. Thus, ATV joyriding is seen as a
legitimate "mulitple use· of the forest, and the little
bull-bouncers are permitted whetc no mot0ri2cd
vehicles should be allowed co chum.
Case in point: lhe Wayehutta (locally
pronounced •worry-hut") Creek watershed or the
Nanlllhala National Forest in Jackson County, NC is
riddlcd witlt A TV irails. Sixtccn miles of old logging
roads have been given over t0 the mud-slingers for
their fun.
But that is not cnoogh for the wheel jockeys.
Now the Forest Service is considering a plan to add
20 more miles of ATV trails, pcneuating two more
water.iheds.
Internal combUSlion engines, especially
obno11iously loud ones over four knobby-treaded tires,
are incompatible witlt deep forest habiw needs. The
acres that woold be impacted by the noise, debris. and
massive erosion from ATV's are needed much IIIQle
desperalCly by wild animal and plant life as
homespace.

or

However, Uie ltanquillily lhis JX)rtion of
wild land is tltrca1encd. Adjnce.n1 lO the city uact is
the CliITs of Gla.\sie development, a 1,000 acre golf
rcson. The Cliffs wants to buy 134 acres of 1bcciLy's
propeny 10 expand their domain. The Greenville City
Council was agreeable to the sale. but when local
conservation groups he:lrd of the proposed transaction,
tltey unilCd in vehement opposition. The local
Bartram Group of the Sierra Club described the
property and revealed the details of the sale in a
televised press conference. The land had never been
inventoried, said the group, and lhey insisted 1h31. a
sludy of lhc area be done before any sale was
considerod to dcterminc if it was habilat for any rare
or endangered species.
The TV broadcast provoked a flood of letterS
from local citizens apposing the proposed sale. Under
I.hat pressure, the city council bacud off. TI1ey agreed
to inventory the 134 acres proposed for sale.
Moreover, they have decided to study the biology of
the whole watershed to consider a mnnagemcnt plan
for the entire traeL The city might still try to sell tho
area when the study is completed, but public pressure
has proved co be a powerful LOOI.

The Highlands Ranger District is scliciting
commurls on the proposed A7V trail expansion.
Write them 01: Rt. I, Box 247; Highlands. NC
28741.

BUYING BAD AIR
Namral World New. Scrvice
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is
baying 10,000 cons of coxic nitrate and sulfaie
compounds rrom the W l ~ Power and Li&amp;hl
Company co release inlO lhe air over the Tennessee
Valley and the Soulhcrn Appalachians.
Docs that sound LOO bimrre to be true? Not at
all. Under a clause or the much-toulCd Clean Air Act
or 1990, companies that are in •over.compliance"
(companies that exceed the minimum smndnrds for air
cleanliness set forth in the act) can seU "pollution
credits" to polluting companies who don't want to
clean up their operations. This provision is a
safeguard bw11. into the law ID see that the air does
not get cleaned up beyond a minimal level apparently on the theory lhal if air geLS too clean iL is
bad for business.
Money can buy off the legal system, but it
cannot bring dead lJ'eeS back to life. nor can it make
polluted air any hcallhicr for those organisms who
have lO breathe u. "Pollution crcdiLS" may make TV A
think that it has license tO pollute, but 11 will only
worsen lite situation in the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park where 96 plant species ore already in
doclinc from niuogen•gcnerrucd owne and other
atmospheric pollutanl.S.
The grealeSl irony may be that rai.epaycrs
puchasing power from TV A will now know tltn.t,
instead of investing in air pollution controls, they ore
buying themselves an extra helping of air IO~ichy.

Comnu!nls may be stnt 10 the Ttnntssu
Valley Aulhoriry; Norris. TN 37818.

GOLF DESERT OR WILD WOODS?
Nanni World New. Service

The City of Greenville. SC own.~ 25,000 acre.\
of land in nonh Greenville County. The ll'3cl is a
rugged and beauuful alC.'.l at the foot or the Blue Ridge
CSClllplll(nL Bought bad ID lhe l 920·~. lhe land has
not~ a bulldo1,er or a chain saw in 60 years.

i4

D

ACTIVISTS RALLY FOR CLEAN
AIR
N11unl World News Service

A raucous crowd of about 50 people and one
coswmed bear demonstralCd beforc the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park's Suga.rlands VisilO( Center
in GatJjnburg, TN on May 18. 1992. This time the
activists or the group SolllhPA W were not protesting
government actions, but ~ galhcrcd IO support lhc
Dep:inmcnt of the Interior's policy of opposing any
new insl.allations within 120 miles of the Great
Smokies lluu would add lO air pollution -particularly
low-level ozone - in the Park.
Signs welcomed curious visitors lO the "Great
Smoggy Mouniains" and decl3rcd "We Support the
No-zone!• The dancing beat grophically demonslt3llld
what happens when wildlife take on overlo:ids of air
pollution. Atlanl.8 folksinger Robert Hoyt serenaded
the Monday morning crowd with copical songs about
the state of the environment and our society.
The Soul.hPAW ac11v1s1.S wcce JOined by 20
eighth grade s1udcn1.S in the KARE (Kids Agamst
'Recking lhe Environment) Club at Bridgepon School
m Newport, TN. The studcnl.S, who live in the
watcrShed of Ilic Pigeon River, knew lin;tband about
lite effects of waler pollution, but came 10 learn what
air pollution docs co C(()~i.tems. They m:ide tl1c
connections quickly and were soon parudpat mi;
cntltus1asucally in 1.hc dcmonst.111tion.

Su mm.er,

){192 uu

�The first building constructed at
Sycamore Branch was the community center.
It had a large kitchen and dining/meeting area
upstairs and ample bathing and laundry
facilities downstairs. The next project was a
complex that came to be called "the
apanments." These were twelve good-sized
rooms, each with a couple of sleeping lofts,
arranged in two tiers going up the hill above
the river. Many families lived for several
years in the apartmenrs while they worked on
their houses. Today the community rents
them out to young couples, the elderly, and
visitors.
The people decided that most of the
houses were to be built in a cluster near the
community center. These houses were built
by the homeowners who organized
themselves into a masonry crew and a
carpentry crew. Some homeowners hired
replacements for themselves because they had
jobs that would not allow for the necessary
rime off. These clustered homes were
connected by a common water, electrical, and
sewer system. They were arranged and
landscaped for maximum privacy, set into the
hillside, and turned a little this way or that so
that each home could have a small private
garden. There were many outdoor decks and
patios. Another eight homes were built in
various places around the property. These
homes were simple and designed to be
low-impact, most of them lacking in
conveniences.
There was widespread unemployment
as the old international economy collapsed.
Many families who lived at Sycamore Branch
lost their livelihood and the community
started businesses to help. Soon after
forming, the village started a cooperative that
owned and ran a sawmill, a woodworking
shop, and managed the community's garden
and kitchen. People could belong to the
cooperative that ran the garden and kitchen or
they could buy meal tickets. Many people
from outside the immediate community
bought tickets and some joined the
cooperative. Members of the cooperative are
currently required to work 14 hours each
week. In practice, about one fourth of the
people chose to work these hours
themselves, one fourth chose to pay, and half
chose a combination, doing farmwork during
the planting and harvest seasons. This
arrangement allowed some people to make a
liveli.hood almost entirely from farm or
kitchen work.
The Village Cooperative kept a small
herd of cows and ran a small dairy that also

A LOOK BACK
by Will Ashe Bason

processed milk from local farmers. A village
bakery supplied fresh bread that was sold
locally. Tofu and tempeh were made from
beans that were obtained in trade from a
community in a neighboring county that had a
better season because of lower elevation.
Twelve acres of blueberries were cultivated
and most of the berries were dried and sold.
There is a blueberry festival at harvest rime,
and the entire community helps with the
picking. One hundred fifty acres were planted
to a mixture Lhal included chestnuts, black
walnuts, black locust, and bramble fruits,
and this has proved to be a very valuable
asset over the years, with chestnut flour
becoming a major source of income. Many
local farmers and landowners planted blight
resistant chestnuts that were supplied by the
village and brought tons of dried chestnuts to
the sheller and mill.
Toe village woodworking shop
produces drums, harps, dulcimers, guitars,
and flutes. These products have gradually
gathered a fine reputation among musicians
far and wide, and the shop employs about
one third of the people in the village.
Sycamore Branch was of vital
imponance to Floyd County during the
economically unstable rimes of the late '90's
and the primary years of this century. It
helped formulate the plan for the
decentralization of the county's schools and
social services. The community has set up
four small band saw mills in various parts of
the county and organized a crafts collective
that markets area crafts on a mail order basis
through the satellite communication network.
The community has provided blueberry
plants, nut trees, shiitake mushroom spawn,
and vegetable StartS at low cost (and
sometimes free) to local farmers.
Sycamore Branch gave technical
assistance to many local communities that
were creating their own power systems after
the breakdowns of the late '90's. They
powered several other villages directly and
gave assistance 10 many more. There were
many economic refugees in the late '90's,
and Sycamore Branch offered a plan by
which these folks could mostly house and
feed themselves. They were influential in
Habitat for Humanity's decision to build
ecovillages with their own economics instead

of isolated homes. The community produced
a video series tilled "The Owner-Built
Village" which was used by thousands of
new cormnunities.
The goals of Sycamore Branch, as
stated in their by-laws, included not only
being of service to the larger community in
Floyd County but also reaching out on an
international scale. This was accomplished
through a sister community program that
linked the village to other small communities
around the world. Especially close tics were
made with the Mayan village of Yonin.
Young people from the communities were
exchanged every year and sometimes older
folk would go down for a year or so.
Sycamore Branch marketed xylophones,
weavings, and dried fruit from Yonin.
Sycamore Branch has cooperated from
the beginning with the UN's efforts lo set up
international community-to-community
trading and cultural contacts. The village has
for years sponsored a team ofteehnicians
who work to help upgrade poor communities
by providing better water sources, waste
treatment, and health care. Villagers from
these communities are trained to run the solar
satellite link and to access weather, health,
and technical information in their own
language. This gives them access to world
markets within the limitations of the
distribution system. There is an emphasis on
self-sufficiency and the development of a few
trade items that can be transponed to the
nearest world irading center for shipment to
irs ultimate destination through the UNPS
network of freight dirigibles, trains, vans,
and donkeys.
The village of Sycamore Branch was a
leader in the move by small communities to
take over the economic role of the
corporations. We now take it for granted thar
small communities work together
economically for their common betrermcnt.
and we forget that there was a rime when this
was an unusual pattern. The breakup of the
corporate economy in the '90's left a vacuum
that was naturally filled by small
communities. The pauems developed in
Sycamore Branch and similarcommuniti~#
were a vital part of this process.
fr

Reprinted/rem Tek:iah newsleuer,
which is available from the ln.sritwe for
Sustainable Living; Windswept Fann; Rt. 1,
Box 35; Check.VA 24072.
Will Ashe Bason is a farmer and
visionary who lives in the Floyd County,
Virginia community.

Mountain Counsel
Blackberry bushes, heavily leaved,
Bow as I approach;
Offer bounteous gifts
Deep black, soft and sweet.
Yet remind me of the need
To pick with gentle care
Or else be pricked by thorns
That spring from everywhere.
And so it is with friends.

- Taylor Reese
DnlWUl&amp; by Rob Mcs11ck

Summa- , t 992

Xatoofl Journa!

JIQ9C 23

�BUlTERFLY

In a lazy larval state
I ate
Everything
Fresh and green
That lay before me
Until I could consume
No more

DRUMMING
Dear KaJuah,
This is the sound of Nonh Carolina. ll
is the voice of Kilmer Forest - it is the New
River Gorge - it is the Haw River - it is ML
Mitchell and the Black Range. Little
Santeetlah Creek and the French Broad River
also speak here.
I am Native Choctaw-Scot-Nonh
Carolinian and l dare speak in their names.
From the mountains to the coast, I see areas
rendered unrecognizable due to overdevelopment and misuse. It huns - the street
lightS that ruin night vision, the litter, the
washed out sides of previously pristine lakes
due LO motor-boating. This is not the state I
grew up in. What was attractive then is now
the money maker of the day.
Why do those who come here to "get
away from it all" need LO "bring it all" with
them?
Back LO Nature? My family raised me
that way - my grandfathers and greatgrandfathers fanned • a Choctaw greatgrandfather was a proud man in his
community here in the Piedmont I still have
the land he farmed.
At age 37, I still practice what my
ancestors left to me - a guardianship of
property and the knowledge or how to do it.
I love this state, but not what it is
becoming. It needs help, and l feel we are
losing.
Last year I was a volunteer for the
Kituwah Festival here in Asheville and will
be there agnin this year. I would also like to
work wherever possible for your staff on
representing Katuah Journal - it has a place!
Thank you,
Nancy Odell
Dear KaJuah,
While I have enjoyed the Journal more
than I can say, I have not sent in my
subscription renewal because J feel you could
help me a bit more than you have tried lO in
the past.
My Llfe's goal is to help re-establish
the American Chestnut in the mountains, and
to that end I've been trying to locate acreage
on which to do this. I wortc with devotion on
anything undertaken, but my problem is lack
of money for purehasing the size acreage or
farm needed to plant, nunurc, and monitor
these seedlings to maturity. I sincerely felt
there must be, among your readers, someone
intersted in seeing this tree again reclaim our
forests: some who may not have the time or
inclination to do the work needed, but who
may be financially more able and who would
be willing to help. I would gladly give full
accountability for any funding offered.
I looked at Land last Saturday near
Spruce Pine. Bui I would need some
$26,500 to acquire it. along with giving some

inherited fine jewelry 10 make up the
difference. I'm willing to give everything I
have, bu1 cash is something I don't have,
unfonunately, and tha1 is what sellers wanL
Truely. l felt your interest in this was as
deep as mine. l am not some scam artist,
simply a person with a limited amount of
assets that will gladly give for the finacial
help l need. Some of these assets are quite
exciting, for instance, r have an original
printing of the very first meeting of the
Continental Congress (authenticated by the
old books department of UNCC); an original
copy of Washington's Farwell Address and
many very old deeds, etc. l'm not wanting
something for nothing, you see. I have quite
endless energy and much determination. This
determination would go into the raising or the
chestnut If you do wish to help me get
started (I'm looking at land from the Spruce
Pine area west through Madison Counry),
you will be proud of what l'II accomplish.

Fat and sleepy
I slep1 deeply
Safe from a hungry world
Alone in my own
Silk cocoon bed
That trembled and twirled
Suspended by threads
From slender limbs
Overhead
Waiting
Until the warm suns
Of summer come
And I summon the courage
To emerge
Transformed and renewed
Wings brightly-hued
To carry me
Free

• Rebecca Wilson Hicks

Sincerely yours,
Dorothy Dickson
113 Autumn Lane
Harrisburg, NC 28075

!f\ "he. 5UMe Y-

-th e -fiowe.YS
b\,oOM f- he beo.Y"
w i 11 'rOMe

VJ ; f\

'f"'e 5qVi1TelS
1 e ()\ t WQ'f K

°'WO\ifi "~

Wi "t e r
Cold

+or
C\

T\d

We+her

l'llolobyR.-lyBall

tre r 5

P\ in re~ Of

Jee cl ".f'or
the bi ue
TS v\ nJ
--fo'( -r~e

crow

-t~erf

Cor Y\ Pl , n teu
0-f +1'.o.-1-·
J
(poem by Tiyo)

age 9

Dear Karuah,
I'd like to subscribe to your journal,
finally. We love it most abundantly cover to
cover. Couldn't bear to slash the graphics on
#34, so I send this sheel of paper wilh this
message.
Beyond the garden, consensus decision
making, and bioregionalism, my interest and
vocation arc renewable energy systems and
sheller. Our house is off the grid and soon
our income will be, tOO. Please conac1 me if
you ever do an issue on renewable energy in
Ka1uah.
Blessings 10 ya'II Star and Otter
Summer. 1992

�Dear Kanwli,
Thank you for the flood of pleasant
!Demories evoked by your Spring, 1992
issue. As I pored through your pages, I could
see my father pointing out things as we
walked through the woods. I learned of wild
onions, greens, mushrooms, persimmons,
and beechnutS. Berries grew abundantly
where I was raised - strawberries,
blackberries, raspberries, and gooseberries. I
was fortunate enough to live close to a small
wooded area, an ecosystem all its own. To
this day, I can tell an Oak from a Maple from
a Birch from a Willow, etc.
'
I'm still fascinated by the life forms in
even a small creek. The fish, crawdads,
leeches - I even learned to make suckers into
a very fine substitue for salmon/mackerel
patties.
Thank you for bringing it back when
I'm ready to see the deeper meanings of the
Earth's give-and-take relationship with man.
Keep up the good works, Mr. Messick.
Stay on the Path,
Jeff R. Zachary

Dear KaullJh,
This is still the best bioregional rag I've
seen! Thanks for keeping me in touch with all
the real news from home.
Gene Dilwonh

Dear Friends,
I send to you all my thoughts of peace
and well being... I hope that this Jen.er finds
you all enjoying happiness and good health!
I appreciate all your hard work in
producing Ka1uali Journal and including
Stil-Llght in your calendar of events. ll helps
to keep us before the public eye. Thank you!!
I am writing to comment on your
recycle logo on the Spring, 1992 issue:
"Recycle or Die." Recycling in and of itself
and one hundred percent population will not
solve our problems and create a sustainable
economy. Recycling is at best a stop gap
measure, something easily understood and
do-able by the masses. Until we stop

consuming and u111il we stop having so 1111Jny
babies (especially in the more afj111e111
countries) we will continue 011 our collision
course with exrinc1io11 as a species as we use
up all our nomral resources.
I agree that we should continue to
reri:ind people to n;cycle because it helps, but
crying wolf and usmg scare tactics hns never
wo~ked. people only do that which is in
their own selfish best interest. .. a sad
commentary on human nature, but the truth.
Just a few thoughts ...
Your Friend and Brolher,
Leon Frankel
Summcr, 1992

Dear Ka11W1,
Well, they've done it to us again! Praise
be to the "Gcxl Squad" for overiding the
couns and sentencing more forests out west
10 lhe saw? The sponed owl may be
protected, but only by the edict of loggers
and the Almighty Gospel of the U.S.
Congress. r thought there was supposed to
be a balance of power between the three (to
name but a few) branches of our government.
Where is the justice in taking a case to coun
and then have the "Gcxl Squat" (sic) come
and say "Praise the Lord. we gonna Lord it
over every forest we can"?
Constance Birch
From the Groun d Up
"You gotta start from the ground up ... "
- That's what they've always said
- and lhat's it in a nutshell
- where civilization's gone wrong
"If you don't have yo~ feet on the
ground...
Then where are you?
How do you get sustenance without roots?
"We're all going so fast we're gonna crash"
- where?
- on the ground?
The Ground?
We've put that in the hands of
MEGA CONGLOMERATE

ii-?tJ~~Wo.MILLIONAIRE,
20TH FLOOR HEADQUARTERED farmers
- Who probably won't touch the
ground
even when they die
But are buried up to lheir necks
in their financial statementS
- the only thing they care about
And speaking of lhe ground...
From the Earlh's point of view
it must think we're made of rubber
for that's all that touches it when we move.
We're Gods of power...
We have bulldozers to move
mountains.
A river can't flow
without our permission
We've gOL landfill expens
- like our mission is to fill the land
"Landfill"
- like a free lunch for the Eanh!
(ns if it liked the encrees)
Many of the Earth's peoples
worship Jesus, a man's
creation of the universe
(or Gcxl, if you will...)
Who gave unceasingly
of beauty and healing...
even as he died slowly and painfully
in the hands of the Earlh's people.
If such as he were still alive
would we try 10 save him?
Or, would we treat him
as we do her, lhe Earth?

Dear Karuah,
I read awhile back the article on the
!-,ETS sy~tem and sent for the preliminary
mformanon. lam real interested in seeing one
get sra.rted in the Karuah region in rural
mountain areas. At this time I have not the
time, energy, and resources 10 start one by
!11YSClf - l wonder if you know of other
interested persons you could put me in touch
~th who have the whole study course who
might let me borrow it.
In the meantime I am starting a simple
bancr networking newsletter in this local area
(Bryso~ City, Sylva, Franklin). Perhaps you
would like a ,~·rue:-up for the summer journal.
The Spnng issue of Kauiuh Journal is
by far the most interesting one to me in a long
time - great articles intended for the already
some~hat informed. Erbin Crow's pissing
poem 1s a real gem.
Airin Green
P.O. Box 382
Whittier, NC 28789

Dear Karuah,
I have enjoyed recieviog your paper,
but there is one matter of deep concern l
have. I have noticed several times in recent
years the theories of Buckminster Fuller have
been mentioned in a positive light, as if he
were a worthy mentor for ecology-minded
people (see John Ingress in Spring 1992).
I recently went back and looked a1
Fuller's opus Critical Path (St Martins,
N.Y., 1981), and was alanned to find it was
even worse than I had remembered. In the
preface he introduces lhe notion that human
beings are so smart we can easily provide
an "unprecedented higher standard of living
for all Eanhians," and claims that "four
billion billionaires" would be a worthwhile
and admirable goal. Can you imagine how
shredded to ribbons the Earth's ecosystems
would with "billions of billionaires," a
concept Fuller warmly endorses throughout
his book?!
The rest of Fuller's thesis is well
known. High technology is the savior we
have been waiting for. lo the future, humans
will live packed in floating cities, space
platforms, nnd so on, in fully automaied,
controlled environments. On page 297 he
claims "lhe power of the Amaz.on warershed
will be harnessed and considered by
designers as an integrated moving assembly
line."
On page 251 he gets so carried away
he proclaims that man has now taken on "lhe
competence of Gcxl."
I could go on with such examples, but
perhaps the point is made. I disagreed with
the late Ed Abbey on some things, but in his
evaluation of Buckminster Fuller, l lhink he
was right on lhe money. ln the meantime
there are lOLs of other writ tings on technology
out lhere worth reading, such as Lewis
Mumford, Jacques Ellul, or Jerry Mandcr's
new book.
Best Wishes.
Bill McConnick

• Breeze Burns
Xorunfi Jottn«i( p09c 27

�Jury Nullification:
Democracy at Work
M ost of us have noticed that our rights
arc being whittled and chopped away as
surely and relentlessly as our foresis. But
there is a little known right which can be a
defense against an offensive government.
II is a right we have because we are
entilled to a jury trial. The Fourth Circuit
Coun of Appeals in U.S. v. Moylan (1969)
put it this way: '1f the jury feels the law is
unjust, we recognize the undisputed power of
the jury to acquit, even if its verdict is
contrary co the law as given by a judge, and
contrary 10 the evidence."
People on a jury have the right to free
people from laws they wouldn't want
imposed on themselves. The right and the
responsibility.
Jury nullification, as this almost-secret
right is known, goes way back. Back to
ordinary men. Some of the ordinary men
were the 12 who served on William Penn's
jury in 1670. The British king proved beyond
a doubt that Penn was "guilty." He had
broken the law against preaching a religion
other than that of the Anglican church in a
public place.
But the jury didn't wane to punish
William Penn. They thought it would be a
beuer idea to punish the law itself.
The king's agent was furious and tried
co convince them that the law was more

imponant than their conscience. The judge
did his convincing by imprisoning the jurors
in the Tower of London until they agreed to
convict Penn.
But pubUc opinion - possibly related to
the expense of imprisoning the jurors - forced
the judge to let them go, and to admit that a
jury had the right to decide not only whether
someone has broken a law, but whether the
law is just.
The right of jury nullification bas
consistently been upheld in British and
American courts. According to Alan Sheflin
and Jon Van Dyke in law and Concempory
Problems 43, No. 4 (1980), 'The repeal of
(prohibition] laws is traceable 10 the refusal
of the juries 10 convict those accused of
alcohol traffic."
And Hagbard Celine points out in
Trajecl()ries newsletter that "the anti-pot law,
the silliest of all our drug laws, could not
survive in a nation with at least 70 million
pot-heads, if juries knew that they had the
right of nullification."
So what's happened?
Back in the 1890's, the U.S. Supreme
Court was about as freedom-loving as our
current robes. They upheld Lhe right of jury
nullification - but simultaneously ruled that
Lhe judge not only doesn't have to tell the jury
Lhey have this right - but can prevent the
defense attorney from telling them that they
have ii!

power.
Only Maryland has a state constitution
which requires a judge to inform the jury that
they may acquit if the facts prove a defendant
technically guilty but the jury believes the law
is wrong. (Lots of states, though, have
elected judges.)
There is a movement in many states to
pass Fully Informed Jury (FU) Amendments
to state constitutions. For more information,
you can write to FUA; Box 59; Helmsville,
MT 58843.
Jury nullification is a secret that needs
to be told. I asked my son if he knew his
rights as a citizen. He looked at me and
exclaimed, "Mom, I'm in school."
Isn't the power of juries a fundamental
part of how democratic government - of the
people - works?
I wonder what would happen even
without an amendment if people knew that
juries have the right to judge not only people,
but laws? If the people knew the power of
juries, and the power we would have a
grassrootS movement - towards democracy?

I am indebted to Robert Anton Wilson
and Trajectories newsleuer (Vol. /, No. 8;
Awwnn /990)/or m11cli of the infonnation in
1/iis article. Trajectories covers many spheres
of interest. Write to them clo The Pennanenc
Press; Box 700305; San Jose, CA 95170.
- by Karen F/etc71er

All juries have the power 10 nullify any
law, but any government judge can do
everything in her or his power to prevent
them from knowing that they have this

I:

Reprintulfrom IM AuJumn, 1991 ,ssue of /.
green light, Mwsleuer of the Cumberland-Grel!II
Bioregional Counril; 2513 Essex Place; Nashville
TN 37212.

The Story of the Man Who Wanted to Become Moss
He tried very hard
he wore himself like French lace
and went to the core of cells
where the green lives
and pulled out chlorophyll
trying to reinvent his structure
to take in the sun
When he kissed his mother
that lay in the moss
When he washed his belly
that lay in the moss
When he sat outside himself
that lay in the moss
lay in the moss
lay in the moss
in the moss
in the moss
the moss
moss
moss

- Jenny Bitner

Sumtm:r, 1992

�BOOK REVIEW

BEYOND THE LIMITS:
Confronting Global Collapse
Envisioning a Sustainable Future
In I971 , a book was published called
The Limits 10 Growth by Donella and Dennis
Meadows and J(lrgen Randers. It was a
landmark in ecological thinking in many
ways, causing many people 10 debate and
question the whole idea of unlimited growth
in industrialized societies. The notion of
growth as a cure for economic problems is
deeply ingrained in many people, and this
book questioned the very basis of such an
assumption al its root.
By using the Systems Approach to
problem solving and taking a long look at
trends in escalating human numbers and the
subsequent pressures put on the Earth's
resources, these three scientists proclaimed
that if present trends continued within the
next one hundred years there would be a
steep decline in lhe ability of human societies
to sustain themselves. This catastrophe could
be changed, they argued, by creating a kind
of steady-state where human populations and
material needs would level off and a new
balance achieved between binh and mortality
and between extremes of wealth.
It's twenty years later, and these same
three folks have been working on the
Systems Approach regarding the choices we
have in creating a future that does not depend
on growth as a means of propping up our
economies. Their new book, Beyond the
Limits, states clearly that human societies
have already moved beyond the limits of
what ecosystems of the Eanh can handle. Il

does not make excuses in order to go lightly
on industrialized countries. It radiates respect
for the diversity of life in the world and
offers some much-needed perspective about
the human place in it. The authors are deeply
moved by the severity of the problems we
face, and yet in many ways they offer hope
by providing paths we can follow to ease
away from the trend toward collapse and
simmer down into a mode of human
economy that actS within the limits of Eanh's
sustainability.
I find that it is much clearer to use a
Systems Approach with thorough
explainations of feedback, exponential
growth, overshoot and collapse, and
planetary sources, throughputs, and sinks
than the ambiguous notions surrounding
human carrying capacity (as seen for instance
in Issue #28 of Kat(wh Journal). Human
beings are not exempt from limitS to material
growth or the perils of overpopulation by any
means, yet it is high time we recognized that

we have exceeded many of the regulatory
limits 1hat exist for other mammals and that
we clearly have the capacity to overshoot this
carrying capacity at any time.
Cultural knowledge may not be enough
to restrain our frenzied pace, but it can offer
us some of the wisdom necessary co pull
back and keep from overstressing life support
systems. Whether we will paractice this
wisdom remains to be seen. yet Beyond The
limits offers some hard-earned distilled
knowledge and should be read by those
interested in learning how we can panem
human societies within limits. We humans do
have the potential to be effective problem
solvers. Unfortunately we rarely choose the
right problems to solve.
Beyond The Limits is pub/is~ by Ch,!lsea
Green Publishing Company: R1. I 13, Box 130: Posl
Mill.f. Vf 05058. Please ccn1ae11km aboui ~

,P"

informtUion on the book.

Rob Messick

B~byJll!OIITucllct

"I
told
the

Prograns to encourage
self and Earth awareness.
celeblollon. kinship ond hope.
• Youlh Camps • &amp;;hool Programs
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Md I"m 11n ~ I did kMw u..m 1-lclnt
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Summer , 1992
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�(cootinuo,d from P"&amp;C SJ

and decorations were very sunilar. They
carried out the same kind of sun worship. I
think they were priest-ruled.
The Louisiana nibes showed that
influence strongly, and there is much
evidence of that among the Creeks and
Cherokees, probably more among the
Cherokees. Because of that influence, we had
a priest society for awhile. We became more
sophisticated and more warlike and gathered
up more territory and more people.
But the priest society among the
Cherokees became so arrogant and so
barbaric that the people rose up against them.
I think it must have been about the time
when the clans dwindled from 14 to seven.
The revolt centered in the Katuah village. The
priest society was ovenhrown.
After that episode, the spiritual
functions of the nibe became more
decentralir.cd. There were ceremonial
medicine people, song keepers, and the
chiefs of the ceremonial grounds. There was
a medicine man who could give hunting
formulas, and that's all he could do. Another
one who could give fishing formulas. And
women who lcoew how ro deliver babies, and
soon.
The medicine people still had influence.
but they were not almighty. There were
,
definitely people who shone among those
groups, and they gathered some degree of
power, but that was because of ability, not
because of their office.
The people also gave more power 10 the
village councils and balanced the influence of
the clans within the villages. so that no one
clan became dominant. Thus, it came about
that when the white people came, they found
us to be a loose federation of villages, more
lroquoian in our government than most of the
tribes around us. But our power was
growing. I think that if the white people had
waited 100 or 200 years they would have
dealt with one or two governments in the
Southeast. We were definitely influenced by
the Iroquois.
As it was, we were eventually forced
by bitter expenence to adopt the white man's
system of choosing one civil leader who had
ultimate power. Then we got chiefs like John
Ross, who passed a law saying no Cherokee
could sell land. Until that time. each village
acted on its own, and we were overwhelmed.

/

In spite of his droll pen 11ame. Bear
Wirh Runs is a full-blooded member of the
Cherokee cribe. He Jives in quiet a,umymity
offthe Cherokee Indian ReservaJion.

FREE CHEROKEE
from Ahwi Brown

What is a Free Cherokee? That's an
honest question, and ru try ro give an honest
answer. Most often a Free Cherokee is a
person with a family legend about an
"Indian" grandmother or grandfather. While
these legends persist in famiUes throughout
the land, the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
has made it virtually impossible to enroll
these Free Cherokees on federal rolls. The
Free Cherokees are seen by many of these
Xotuah JPurnat page ao

people as a way to go "home." We do not
seek BIA recognition or any other benefit not
available to other citizens. We do appeal to
our BIA "approved" cousins to join with us
in keeping our heritage strong and in
resurrecting Tsalagi as a spoken language.
It is the hope of this Free Cherokee that
the more affluent of the Free Cherokee people
talce advantage of the current recession and
low interest rates to acquire land parcels in
the Cherokee homeland, Katuah, with the
intention of establishing Tsalagi kibb1uzim
within the borders of the homeland.
To explain the meaning of the liebrew

word kibbwzim: the Jewish people used this
same method to reacquire their ancestral
homeland. It took them about 100 years to do
it. I hope we can beat that!
. . This idea may sound crazy, but so did
Z1on1Sm 100 years ago. J reel that this is an
idea whose time has come. I release it to the
Ancient Red.
Allw18rown

Chic.kamaugan Band of Fru C~ro/cus
19/SBudleySt
Clialtunoogo. TN 37404

Summer, l 992

�:BUN M-OU'.NTA.'L'.N
(b. 1979 • d. l 992)

It was over a dozen years ago that a
man named Jerry staned cooking small
batches of tofu in the back of a food co-op in
downtown Boone, NC and distributing it
around town. This effort was passed on to
others who tried to expand the tofu, tempeh,
and sprout market to the rest of the state. The
soy dairy was small, but it had a wide
distribution within North Carolina. A series
of owners found it difficult to manage, and it
was passed along until John Swan bought the
business in 1987. He sought to make Bean
Mountain into a viable business by moving it
from the slowly dilapidating building it had
been housed in for years to a new building in
Weaverville, NC.
The hope was that with bcner access to
distribution routes and better facilities, larger
contracts could be gained and the business
would nourish. We have recently learned,
however, that Bean Mountain could not
make enough money to survive in today's
market.
Bean Mountain tofu and tempeh have
been legendary not only in the southern
mountains but also in many towns in the
piedmont. h will be sorely missed by many
people.

Hats off 10 you, John Swan, for your
gal/am effons to revive this most useful of
services to the community. Thanks also to the
men and women who put in their sweat and
blood 10 keep it going. May the memory of
all that good food linger in our hearts forever.
- Rob Messick

SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN
BLACK BEAR
REHABILITATION AND
RELEASE CENTER
Or. Michael Pelton, a wildlife biologist
from the University of Tennessee who
specializes in black bear research, frequently
receives calls from people who have found
orphaned bear cubs. Panicularly in the spring
when cubs are young and inexperienced, they
are at risk if they are separated from their
mother by poachers, free-ranging dogs, a
flood in their den, or any of a number of
other causes.
Until now, there have not been
adequate solutions for this situation. But a
dream long held by Dr. Pelton seems about 10
mnterial ize.
Under the auspices of the Dragonette
Society for the Preservation of Endangered
Animals, work is proceeding on the Southern
Appalachian Black Bear Rehabilitation and
Release Center. a facility specifically
designed to renccustom and relocate
orphaned, injured, or starving black bears
into the wild. The Center is certified as a

non-profit organization and has established a
board of directors. Backers have donated a
site for the project in Townsend, TN near the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Architect Tom Caldwell volunteered his skills
to draw up a plan for the facility, and the
Oragoneue Society is now preparing for a
fund-raising effon toward a $350,000
construction budget.
The institution's primary focus would
be 10 temporarily house and r.reat bears in
order to re-establish 1hem in the wild as
quickly as possible. "We want to do what we
can in a confined situation to enhance the
possibility of survival in the wild," said Dr.
Pellon.
Bears would be held for their protection
only with as little contact with humans as
possible. When they become strong, healthy,
and acclimated enough to function in their
natural habitat (a maximum of six to eight
months), they would then be released 10
remote areas of the mountains or possibly in
black bear reintroduction projects, like the
one proposed for the Big South Fork area in
Kentucky.
The Dragonettt: Society
for the Preservation ofEndangered Animals
Box669606
Mariella, GA 30066

to"'°'ifka. IOO'U
~t\~S

\ I

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by Rob M,
..
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Lenoir, NC 28645

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�JUNE
12-22

AMONG THE TREES
Katuah Rainbow Tribe Solstice
Gathering. Somewhere in the national forest.
sisters and brothers will gather 10 create a
magical village of love and light. Location to
be announced. For information, write to HO!
Newsletter; Box 5455; Atlanta, GA 30307; or
call Atlanta Rainbow Light Linc at (404)
662-6112.

€V€0t'S
BLACKSBURG, VA
Soc1e1y for Conservation Biology Annual
Meeting. Symposia on biodiversity issues. Contact
DepL or Fisheries and Wildlife: VPI &amp; SU;
Blacksburg, VA 2A061

27-7/1

HOT SPRII-.GS, NC
"Jndcpcndcncc Week 7.en Holiday." wilh
Genlci Snndy Stewart. Medi1ation rcU'C3t held in
s1lcnce, culminating ma walk up lhe moum.am.
Pre-register: S225 includes lodging and vegan meals.
For info on lhi.~ and other rctreais, contact Soulhcm
Dharma Retreat Center: RL I. Box 34-H; Hot
Springs, NC28743. (704) 622-7112.
27,7/4

IS

FULL MOON/
STRAWBERRY MOON

19

ASHEVILLE, NC
• AFSEEE's Vision for N:lllon:il Foresis in
the Southeast," a public meeting with Jeff DeBonis,
founder of the Associalion or Fo~, Service
Employees for EnvironmcnU!I Ethics.
7 pm at Humanities Lccwre Hall, Univers11y of
North Cnrolinll • Asheville. For info, C31I Dr. Gary
Miller, UNCA. (704) 221-6441.

28

BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC
"Sunday m the Park," a moveable reast of
emenninmcnl, will be at Lake Tomahawk today at 2
p.m. Performers will include Jerry Read Smith, Lisa
Smilh, and Bonnie Blue's puppcis. For info on this
and other Sunday evcnis, call Quali1y f-orward. (704)
254-1776.

JULY
(INTER)NATIONAL
Day of Action for the 07.one layer. Don a
"radiation suit" and demand a ban on CFC's and
HCFC's NOW! Picket your nearest EPA office.
Local eoniacc John Johnson (615) 26S-67t3
ContincnUII comacc Rhys Roth (206) 943-7259
l

3.9

19-21

WILLIS, VA
"The New Dance." an exploration of
changing sexual identities with Dan Chesbro. Friday •
workshop for men and women IO hcal old wounds,
restore Ille balance of power and shnre our spiritwll
oneness. SaL, Sun.• a l'CIICal for men wilh music,
bodywon:, ceremony. Indian Val~y Rctrcat: RL 2.
Box 58; Willis, VA 24380. (704) 789-4295.

ASHEVILLE, NC

·wise Woman Tradition: Apprentice

W~." will explore herbal knowledge and women's
wisdom. For info, contact WhHewolf; Box 576:
Asheville, NC 28802.
LINVILLE, NC
371h Annual Highland Games and
Galhering or the Sc«lish Clans 01 MacRae Field
beneath Ornndfalher Mo11ntain. Scottish games,
dancing, uilidh, bagpipes, more. For information.
call Orandfalher Mountain Highland Carnes 01 (704)
898-5286 or write to Box 356; Banner Elk, NC

WASHINGTON, DC
First National Carrying Capacity
Issues Conference. Discuss the basic issues
underlying the CWTCnt environmental crisis
with leading thinkers such as Gaylord
Nelson, Herman Daly, Anne Ehrlich, Garrett
Hardin, Hazel Henderson, and others. $100.
Carrying Capacity Network; 1325 G St. NW
(Suite 1003); Washington, DC 20005 (202)
879-3044.
20

SUMMER SOLSTICE

GREAT SMOKIES PARK
Naturali51. nnd Educa1or Week is for
anyone who wanis 10 team more abou1 lhc outdoors
nnd pass lhc knowledge along. Hiking, natural
h1~tory, music, swunming... and Free Tune! Spce111I
gucs1 will be Doug ElboU, storyu:ller/ naturalisL
Prc-rcgisu:r: S200 includes lodging and meals. For
more info about this and other programs, contact
On::11 Smoky Mounlllins lns111111e at Tremont; R1. t,
Box 700; Townsend, TN 37882. (615) 448-6709.
22,27

"'1tt'1afi JournnC. pa9(" 32

18-19

GREAT SMOKIES PARK
"Great Pandas in Chma and Wildlife in the
Smokies" wilt use field lrips in lhc Park lllld group
discussions to mnlcc ecological, cultural and
conservation comparisons be1wccn Chinn and lhc
Smokies. For info about lh1s nnd olher courses,
con13e1 Smoky Mounlllin Field School: 600 Henley
Su-eel, Suite 105; Knoxville, Tn 37902.
1-800.284-8885.
18-19

SWANNANOA, 1'C
Anciem Sw Walke.rs" class led by Page
BryanL Included will be 1hc m:iking or a stnr bundle,
a Stnr Dance, 111lditional Native American siories nnd
sky watching. Pre-register. $85. For info about lhis
and other programs, eon1.1c1 The Earth Center. See
7/11.
19-25

SWANNANOA, NC
"Old-Time Music nnd Dance Week" of the
Swannnnoa Onlhcring 01 Wnrrcn Wilson College.
Weck-tong instructional workshops on old-time liddle
and guitnr, clogging and conu:i dancing, siorytelling,
and more. Ralph BliZ7..ard and lhc New Solllhem
Ramblers, David Holt, Don Pedi, and others. S220 +
Sl40 meals 311d lodging. Sec 7/12-18.

20

ASHEVILLE, NC
"Planetary Acupuncture: Power
Points and Sacred Sites and the Healing of
the Earth." Breath-taking sUdes and spirirual
insights by anthropologist/photographer
Martin Gray. 7 pm at Laurel Auditorium,
Asheville-Buncombe Technical College. $10.

9-12

28604.

19-21

W-ESSER, 11.C
ACA Open Canoe Nolionnl
Championsb.ips will feature racers from nll over the
U.S. in slnlom and wildwau:r courses on the
Nanlllh3!3 River. For info on these and other
whitewater evcnis. eoniact Nam.ahala Ou1door Cenu:r;
41 Hwy 19 West; Bryson City, NC 28713. (704)
488-2175.
15-17

10

BLACK MOUNTAJN, NC
Robert Hoyt, a radical voice for a New
Soulh, and The Billies, rhythmic harbingers or
post-mdusuial living, play 31 McDibbs; I 19 ChClT)'.
For more info, call (704) 669-2456.

MARSUALL, NC
"Toolmaking for Woodwoiters" is a class
for lhosc intuesled in u-aditional woodwor1cing
lechniques requiring IOOls no longer commercially
available. SIUdcnts will team IO mnke and modify
IOOls, including forge work, uiught by blacksmith
Frank Turley. Pre-register. S390 includes meals and
camping. with donn aceomodalion available. For info
on lhis and olhcr woodworking workshops, conU1c1
Counuy Workshops; 90 Mlll Cree.le Road: Marshall,
NC 28753. (704) 656-2280.
20-24

SWANNANOA, NC
Full Moon Lodge is a monlhly eveni;
begins 111 noon. Fo, info abou1 panic1pa1ing m
the sweat. conU1C1 The Earth Cenier. 302 Old
Fellowship Rood: Swannanoa, NC 2377g_
(704) 298-3935.
11

12-18

SWANNANOA,NC
"Scouish/Bluegrass Week" oflhc
Swannanoa Orubcring 01 Warren Wilson College.
Week-long instructional workshop on Scottish and
bluegrass music styles with Brian McNcill, Z;in
McLocd, the Lynn Moms Band, olhcrs. $220 + $140
meals and lodging. Wnu: The Swannano:i Gntbcring;
WWC: Box 5299: Swannanoa, NC 28778.
14

PULL MOON/UUCK MOON

Summer, t!l92

�.:!0-:!6 WILLIS, VA
Seventh Annual Women's Wellness
Weck. Sacred spat:c and mual, movement.
sound, storytelling. more with Jane

20

Avery-Grubel, Katherine Chantal, Louise
Kessel, Ise Williams. and mhcrs. Conmct
Indian Valley Retreat; Rt. 2, Box 58; Willis,
VA 24380_ (703) 789-4295.

-pericarp
--seedcoal

UUNCO\IBE COU:O,.TY. NC
Organic SmaU Farm Tour w1fl provulc an
orponunity to soc orgnnic producuon technique,,
green m.murcs and pc$! control~ on working farm, m
the al'l!a. Sponsored by Carolina Farm S1t:w:udship
Ass«ia11on. For info, call Allison Arnold :it (704)
255-5522.
FRANKLIN, NC
Cnmping. canoeing. rafting. hiking. first
aid instruction with a small group of bomcscboolcrs
in the Nnntaha13 Mountains wilh the Hcadwntcrs
Homcschoolcrs Outdoor Camp. S275. For more info.
contact He.id waters at (704)369-6491 or write lO 68
Lakey Creek Rd.; Franklin. NC 28734.
23-29

ASU1'; \'ILLE, NC
Broom Making Workshop. Go tic one
on with instructor Cnrt~n Tuule. For info on this
and other craft workshops, contact Folk An Center:
Box' 9545; Asheville, NC 28815. (704) 298-7928.
21-23

CULLOWII EE, NC
•1..nndscaping with Nauve Plants"
conference will offer lcc1urcs Md worbhops by
landscapers and horticulturists. Pre-register: S50
+ meals and lodging; rcgislCt separately for optional
field trips on 7(22. For info, call Sue DcBord at
West.em Carolina University. (704) 227-7397.
23-2S

23-8/2

SEPTEMBER
Fmuru: 2. -Cn•lot1rn dc11tato, Amoricnn ch•olnul: lonld·
ludinol ~ectlnn throu~h " nut, I.H x.

WF,STERN NC

Folkmoo1 USA brings folk dancers and
mus,cinns from Hungary, Jamaica, Belgium. MCllico.
Moldova, Panama. Sardinia. Ponugnl, Taiwan and
Uzbcldst:111 to perform m various locauons in Kauiah.
For schedule and price information, contact Folkmoot
USA; Box 523: Waynesville, NC 28786. (704)
457-2997.
CELO COMMUNITY, NC
RSVP Summer Celebration. Picnics,
tubing, hiking, dancing with Katuah's homegrown
pc:icc networking journal. For trove! directions or
more info, call Joseph Heflin a1 Rural Southern
Voice for Peace. (704) 675-5933.

7-8

ELIZABETHTON, TN
Appalachian Folk Medicine Symposium
will include lcc1urcs held al Sycamore Shoals Staie
Historic Sile in Elizabethton, lllld demonsr.rations and
hikes at Roan Mounlllin Siate Parle. For info. contact
Jeff Wardeska. Roan Mountain Society;
4 Bingham Court; Johnson City. TN 37604.
(615) 929-4453.

FULL MOON/HARVFSf MOON

12-20

AUGUST

12

WESTERN NC

River Week celebrates the French
Broad River in four WNC counties.
Community events will include a canoe trip,
raft race, hotdog kayaking, river safety
course, and riverside concert. To avoid- being
left high and dry, get a schedule from the
French Broad River Foundation. (704)
252-1097.

25-26

13

FULL MOON/
GREEN CORN MOON
The nrc.1'5 oldest
and targc..t natural

foods grocery "

Kalmia Center, Inc.

FRENCH BROAD Fooo Co,op

Sylva, NC
(704) 293-3015
Custom tilling, organic fertilizers, kelp meal,
colloidal phosphate &amp; many more products
and services for abundant gardening and
healthful living.

(JOI)

.........
..

255-7650

your comnru1'1ly

groury,1ou

._.,., ...,.,., ......... .... .. ,,,...
,... ,...,
"'-

811/k Herl&gt;s, Spices, &amp; Grains
Vitamins &amp; Supphwents
W11eat, Salt &amp; Yeast-Fn•e Foods
Dairy S11bstit11ti:s
Hair &amp; Skin Care Products
Beer (.-f Wine Making S11J1plies
200 W. King St, Boone, NC 28607

(7(») 26-1-5220

r;f diu

W
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
Summer, 1992
t

·,.

~

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

Sam!JMush
Herb Nurse.~

WREATHS •POTPOURRJ
• HERBS • TOPIARY
Complete Herb Catalog - $4
Describes more than 800 plm1ts from
Aloe to Yarraw

Rt 2, Surrett Cove Road
Leicester, North Carolina 28748

Phone for appointment to visit
(704) 683-2014

�HJGHLANDER CENTER is a communily-bascd
educational orgnnization whose purpose is 10
provide space for people 10 learn from each olher,
and lO develop solutions 10 environmenllll
problems based on lhcir values, experiences, and
aspirations. They also pul oul a quarterly newsletter
called Highlantkr RtportS. For more info contacl
Highlander Center. 1959 Highlnnder Way; New
Mankct, TN 37820 (615) 933-3443.
FAMll.IES LEARNING TOGETHER exisls in
North Carolina as a ne1work or homeschooling
families who offer infonn:n.ion, experience, and
encouragemcnl 10 each olher. &amp;nelilS of FLT
membership include a quarterly newslcllCI, fumily
di.roclory, fnmily galhcrings twice a year, media
resource file, and much more. If you would like 10
learn more about Ibis o~n group please contacl
Tnsh Sc11Cnn or Doug Woodward :ll (704)
369-6491 or write 10 68 Wey Creek Rd.;
Frank Im, NC 28734.
PIEDMONT BIOREGIONAL INSTITUTE· For
those who live m lhe Piedmonl area, there's a
b10reg1onal cffOfl well underway. Join Us! We
would appreciate any donation or time or money 10
help mee1 opera1ing expenses. For a gift or S25.00
or more, we will send )'OU a copy or John Lawson's
journal, A New \foyage to Carolina. Also come
fmd out about the Lnwson ProjccL PBl; 412 W
Rosemary S=t: Chapel Hill, NC 27516;
Uwha.nia Province. (919) 942-2581
THE ALTERNATIVE READING ROOM is an
unconventional library; free and open 10 lhc public.
Our coltecuon intereslS include the environment,
social :ind political issues, the media ond peace. We
have.over 200 mag3.1.ine substripiioos. The book
and video collccuo~ also emphasii.e the
cnvlltlllment and political concems. Books and
videos can be checked OUL A video player i~
available for watching films in the ~ng room.
Localed UJ 2 Wall SL (#114): Asheville, NC
28801 (704) 252-2501. MoQ/Wed/Fri 6-Spm.
Tuesffhur I-Rpm · Sal/Sun 1-6pm
A VIDEO ABOUT LAND TRUSTS has been
produced by lhe umd Trus1 Alliance 10 explain in
lay 1erms whal a land lfUSI is. 2.7 million acres of
land have been saved by non-profit land 1rus1
organi7.ntions in America This video docurnenlS
lb.is movemcm's successes. Cost is 521.00 for
individual and Sl4.50 for LTA members (include
S4.50 for posmgc). Con!3CI: The Land Trust
Alliance: 900 171h SL NW (Suite410);
Washing10n, DC 20006 (202) 785-1410.

~Jli,~ J~~'[.'IOL P0:9.': ~

HAWKWlND EARTH Rl:.NEW AL COOPERATIVE
is a 77 acre wilderness retreat located on Loolcou1
Mounmin Parkway in northern Alabama. Easy
access. safe family camping, year round weclc:end
programs featuring Native American cldc:G and
Eanh teachers from around lhe world. S1r0ng
spiritual foundation wilh Earth Renewal emphasis,
membership discount co-op. There is no chnrge for
Native American ceremonies; reservations required
for all vis11S, please. Childcnre o(lell avnilllble.
Write: P.O. Box 11: Valley Head, AL 35989 (205)
635-6304. For qU3flerly newsleuer and program
updates send S 10.00.

NATIVE AMERICAN CEREMONlALS - including
handcrafted Native American ceremonial supplies.
Drums, cuslOm pipes, medicine bags, swee1grass,
sage, fcalhcrs. rawhide raules, IObnccos. pipe ~ .
native flutes, and more! For free calalog send 10:
Box 1062-K; Cherokee, NC 28719.
GOOD EARTH ORGANICS in Asheville has a
network-mruketing plan which can provide a
substantial prut·time income. (Full time in 18-24
months). This is needed in any area, no !raining
required. We provide !raining and all assistance
needed to get you slllrted in your own business.
Contact Good Earth at (704) 252-7169.

UFETIMES .re AGES· a new release from Bob

Avery-Grubel, full of new age vocal music
exploring I.he mystery of life . lyrics included. On
casseue only: send SI0.00 plus Sl.00 for shipping
and handling 10: Bob Avery Grubel; RI. I, Box
735; Floyd. VA 24091.
BEGINNING CHEROKEE LANGUAGE BOOK·

supplemcnuxl wilh 1wo casscues. Sll'CSSCS alphabet
&amp; proper pronunciation. The first textbook written
for use in teaching and learning 1he Cherokee
language. (346 pages). S39.95 plus $5.00
shipping. analog also available wilh mpes, books,
pipes, dance slicks. drums. feathers. furs, buffalo
products and more. Crafl supplies also available
(please specify). Send S2.00 10 the Muskrat Trader,
Box 20033; Roanoke, VA 24018.
COHOUSING COMMUNlTY being formed in lhe
Asheville area. ResideoJS organu.e, plan, and design
a coopc:rntive community where individual homes
cluster around n common house wilh shnred
facilities-· laundry, workshops. children's room,
dining room, etc. Opportunities ror energy
efficient, ecologically sound land use. Inquiries
inviled. Coouict: John Senechal: P.O. Box 1176:
Weaverville, NC 28787 (704) 658-3740.
LAND SURVEYOR seeks land conscrvW1Cy,
community land trust. and other alternative
community and green proJccts. Licensed in LA,
ME, NC, NH, TN. Contact Rantbll Orr. RI . 3,
Boit 345; Sneedville, TN 37869 (615) 2n-0416.
HEADWATERS helps both individu:ils ond families
dcvcl0p their outdoor ~kills wilh an awurcness of
lhc value or our nmural world. We offer a diver.ily
of experiences, rncluding family advcnwrcs,
Homc!ilChoolcrs Outdoor Camp, mstruclion m
kayaking, canoeing, backpacking. bicycle touring,
nmwc ph01ogrophy, and wilderness rafung. For
program mformalion, COlllllCt Trish Severin and
Doug Woodward nt (704) 369~91 or wntc 10 68
Lakey Creek Rd.; Franklin, NC 28734.

ETHER IC ANALYSIS • most complete rcpon on
chak.ras and emouons as Ibey an:: effecung your
being. Include.~ pcrsooalii:cd Gem Elixer 10 balance
Auric Body. Mail five hai~ (plucked from your
head), name, address, and S55.00 10: Dawn: Rt. 3.
Box 9; Llncsvillc, PA 16424.

MAGICAL HERBS • planlS, books, and fTCC
newsletter. Send 10 Wi7.ard's Way; 75 Broadway;
Asheville, NC 28801.

Alternatives ...
The Dir«1 of ln1enrional Communities is lhc prodory
uct or two years of intenS"ive research, and is lhe most
comJ]fdlensive and accura1e dircc10ry available. fl documenlS lhc vision and lhc daily life of more lhan 350
communities in Nonh America, and more lhan 50 on
olher continents. Each community's listing includes
name, address, phone, ond a description of the group.
Extensive cross-rercrencmg and indexing male.es themfonnation easy 10 access for a wide variety or users. Includes maps. over 250 additional Resource listings. and
40 related aruclcs.
328 pages
8-1/2xl I
Perfcclbound
October 1990

ISBN Number:
0-9602714- 1-4
$16.00
Add $2.00 postage
&amp; hnndling for first
book, $.50 for each
additionnl; 40%
discount on orders
of 10 or more.
Alpha Fann. Deadwood. OR
(503) 964-6102

RSVP SUMMER CELEBRATION - July 25-26th at
I.he home of Rum! Southern Voice for Peace in lhe
Cclo Comrnuruty. Picnics, 1ubmg, fishing, hilang,
dancing, fine food and music! Fnmily Cun for
childn:n or all ages. Mark lhe date on your calendar
now! Call Joseph Heflin at RSVP ror information
and schedule or weekend even is (704) 675-5933.

• Webworking costs: There is a
charge of $2.50 (pre-paid) for each
Webworking entry of 50 words or
less. Submit entries for Issue #36 by
August, 15th 1992 to: Rob Messick;
Rt. 8, Box 323; Lenoir, NC 28645.
(704) 754-6097.

.

Summer, 1992

�BACK ISSUES OF KATUAH JOURNAL AVAILABLE

t

ISSUE FOUR-SUMMER 1984
Water Orum • Water Quality· Kudzu - Solar Eclipse
- Clearcu1ting - Trout - Going 10 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 - Bioregion:ilism: Past,
Present. and Future - John Wilnoty - Healing
Darkness - Politics or Parucipa1ion
ISSUE SIX· WINTER 1984·85
Winter Solstice Earth Ceremony - Horsepasture
River - Coming or lhe Light - Log Cabin Roots·
Mountain Agriculture: The Right Crop - Willirun
Taylor - The Future or lhe Forest
ISSUE SEVEN - SPRlNG 1985
Susia.inable Economics - Hot Springs - Worker
Ownership - The Great Economy - Self Help Credit
Union • Wild Turkey - Responsible Investing Working m Ille Web of Life
ISSUE EIGHT· SUMMER 1985
Celebration: A Way of Life- Ko1uah 18.000 Years
Ago - Sacred Sites - f'olk Arts m lhc Schools· Sun
Cycle/Moon Cycle - Poems: Hilda Downer •
Cherokee Heritage Center - Who Owns Appalochia?
lSSUE NINE· PALL 1985
The Waldcc Forest - The Trees Speak • Migrating
Forests - Horse Logging - Starting a Tree Crop Urban Trees - Acom Bread • Mylll Time
ISSUE TEN - WlNTER 1985·86
Ka1e Rogers· Circles of S10ne • Internal
Mylhmaking - Holistic Healing on Trial • Poems:
Steve Knauth - Mythic Places · 111e Ukterui's Talc Crystal Magic - "Dreamspcuking"
ISSUE THIRTEEN· FALL 1986
Center For Awakening· Elizabeth Callari - A
Gentle Death - Hospice - Ernest Morgan· Ocaling
Creatively with Death· Home Burial Box - The
Wake. The Raven Mocker - Woodslore &amp; Wild·
woods Wisdom· Good Medicine: The Sweat Lodge
ISSUE FOURTEEN· WlNTER 1986-87
Lloyd Carl Owle • Boogers and Mummers - All
Species Day - Cabin Fever UniVCISi1y • Homeless
in Katuah - Homemade Hot Waw • S1
ovemaker's
Narmtive - Good Medicine: Jnu:rspecies Communication

The Chalice and the Blade

ISSUE TWENTY-SIX· WINTER, 1989-90
The Ecozoic Era - Kids S:iving Rainforest - Kids
Treccycling Company· Connict Resolution -

,
~UA~OURNAL

35

PO Box 638 Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748
For more info: call Rob Messick at (704) 754-6097

Name

Regular Membership........$] 0/yr.
Sponsor.........................$20/yr.
Contnbutor .....................$50/yr.

Address
State

City

Summer, 1992
If

ISSUE FIFTEEN· SPRING 1987
Coverlets· Woman Forester - Susie McMahan:
Midwife - Alternative Contraception - Biosexuality •
Biorcgionalism and Women • Good Medicine:
Malrinrchal Cul111re - Ptarl
ISSUE SIXTEEN· SUMMER 1987
Helen Waite - Poem: Visions in a Garden - Vision
Qucsl - First Flow - lni1iaLion - Leaming in the
Wilderness - Cherokee Challenge - "Valuing Trees"
ISSUE EIGHTEEN· WINTER 1987-88
Vemncular Architccture - Dreams in Wood and S10ne
- Mountain Hoene • Earth Energies • Earlll-Shehcred
Livmg • Membrane Houses - Brush Shcltcr.
Poems: October Dusi,; • Good Medicine: "Shell.Cr"
ISSUE NINETEEN - SPRING 1988
Pcrelandra Garden· Spring Tonics· Blueberries·
Wildflower Gardens - Granny I lcrbalist . Flower
Essences - "The Origin of lhe Animals:• Story •
Good Medicine: "Poww-" - Be A Tree
ISSUE TWENTY· SUMMER 1988
Prc.c;crvc AppamchiAII Wilderness. Highlands of
Roan - Celo Community - L'llld Trust • Arthur
Morgan School - ZOning Issue - "The Ridge· •
Farmers and lhe Farm Bill - Good Medicine: "Land"
• Acid Rain - Duke's Power Play - Cherokee
Microhydro Project
ISSUE TWENTY-TWO· WINTER 1988·89
Global Warming - Fire This Time. Thomas Berry
on "Bioregions" - Earlll Exercise - Kor~ Loy
McWhirtcr. An Abundance or Empuness - LETS·
Chronicles or Floyd. Darry Wood - The Bear Clan
ISSUE TWENTY-THREE· SPRING 1989
Pisgah Village. Planet An. Green City. Poplar
Appeal· "Clear Sky"·" A New Earlll" - Black Swnn
- Wild lovely Days· Reviews: Sacred lond Sacred
Sex. Ice Age - Poem: "Sudden Tendrils"
ISSUE TWENTY-FOUR· SUMMER 1989
Deep Listening - Life in A10mic City - Direct
Action! - Tree of Peace - Community Building Peacemakers - Ethnic Survival· Pairing Project·
"Baulesong" - Growing Pc:icc in Cultures - Review:

I

Phone Number

Zip

Enclosed is$._ _ _ _ 10 give
this effort an extra boost

Developing Creative Spirit - Birth Power - Magic of
Puppetry - Home Schooling· Naming Ceremony.
Mother Earth's Classroom - Gardening for Children
ISSUE TWENTY-SEVEN - SPRING. 1990
Transformation. Healing Power - Peace to Their
Ashes - Healing in Kauiah - Poem: "When Left to
Grow" - Poems: Stephen Wing • The Belly • Food
from the Ancient Forest
ISSUE TWENTY-NINE - FALl./WlNTER 1990
From !he Mountains 10 the Sea - Profile of The
L1ule Tennessee River - Headwaters Ecology· "II
All Comes Down Lo Water Quality" • Water Power.
Action for Aquatic Habitats· Dawn Watche:s • Good
Medicine: The Long Humnn Being - The North
Shore Road - Katu:lh Sells Ou1 • WatcrShcd Mop or
Ille KlllWlh Province
ISSUE THIRTY - SPRING 1991
Economy/Ecology - Ways 10 a Rcgencrauve
Economy - "Money is the Lowest Form of Weallll"
• Clarksville Miracle - TI1c Village • Food Movers Lifework - Good Medicine: "Village Economy"·
Shellon Laurel • LETS
ISSUE THIRTY-ONE - SUMMER 1991
Dowsing - Responsibilities of Dowsing· Electrical
Life or the Earth • Kaluah and the Earlll Grid - Call
of 1he Ancient Ones - Good Medicine: "On
Aggression" - Time 10 Take the Time to Take the
Time. Whole Science. Tuning Tn
ISSUE THIRTY-TWO - FALL 1991
Bringing back the Fire - A Bi1 or Mountain Levity Climax Never Came - "Talking Leaves": Sequoyah·
Walking Disianec - Good Mc.dicinc: "Serving lhe
Great Life" · The Granola Journal • Paintings:
"Mountain Stories" - Songs of the Wilderness
ISSUE THIRTY-TiiREE- WINTER 1991-92
Fire's Power - What Is Natural • Fire and Forge The First Fire • Hearth and Fire in Ille Mountains ·
Good Medicine: "The Ancient Red" - Midwinter
Fires: poems by Jeffery Beam - Litmus Lichens
ISSUE TI-URTY-FOUR • SPRlNG 1992
Pnradisc Gardening - CommuniLy Sponsoccd
Agricut111rc • Eluting Close to Home· Native Foods
• Cover Crops· Kou1ah Cultivars • The Web of
Life: A Kaniah Almanx - Good Medicine "Med_icinc
Training" • Poems by Allison Sutherland

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, 26-27, 29-34)
postage paid @ $50.00 = $._ __

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page'35

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