1
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Title
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Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
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This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
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The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
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1983-1993
Format
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journals (periodicals)
Language
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English
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Text
Dublin Core
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Title
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<em>Katúah Journal Index, 1983-1993</em>
Description
An account of the resource
This document is a topical index to all 38 issues of <em><a href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/items/browse?collection=79" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</a>. </em>
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, </em> later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal, </em>was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.</em></p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Periodicals--Indexes
Sustainable living--Periodicals--Indexes
North Carolina, Western
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Creator
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Rob Messick
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1993
Language
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English
Type
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Text
Format
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periodical indexes
PDF
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
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<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Acid Deposition
Agriculture
Alternative Energy
Appalachian History
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Congress
Bioregional Definitions
Black Bears
Book Reviews
Cherokees
Children's Page
Community
Death and Dying
Earth Energies
Ecological Peril
Economic Alternatives
Education
Electric Power Companies
European Immigration
Fire
Folklore and Ceremony
Forest History
Forest Issues
Forest Practice
Geography
Glossaries
Good Medicine
Habitat
Hazardous Chemicals
Health
Hunting
Katúah
Katúah Organization
Permaculture
Pigeon River
Plants and Herbs
Poems
Politics
Radioactive Waste
Reading Resources
Recycling
Sacred Sites
Shelter
South PAW (Preserve Appalachian Wilderness)
Stories
Transportation Issues
Turtle Island
Villages
Water Quality
Western North Carolina Alliance
Wilderness
Women's Issues
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ISSUE
AUTUMN
NO. 1
1983
�BIOREGIONS :
"The Trail To Home"
FROM ULSTER TO CAROLINA :
(The Scotch-Irish Migration To N. Carolina)
1
3
(""!
N
4
PERHACULTURE PRACTICES
A Story
MOSHKA & LAKIMA
N
By
Snow Bear
<
z
H
,.J
0
''Wind Rose" By George Ellison
MAP MEDITATIONS
6
8
OLD TIME APPLES
POETRY
......
co
The Katuah Bioregion
9
10
i:x:
<
u
::c
f-1
i:x:
MOUNTAIN GUIDES
A Resource Bibliography
i.2
BIOREGIONAL CONGRESSES
14
ALTERNATIVES TO ECONOMICS
17
FINDING KATUAH
0
z
19
A Bioregional Questionnaire
FALL CAL EN l}\R
21
CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION
22
..
(""!
......
co
�"A TRAIL TO HOME": continued from page l
By W1frI of definition of this word, Peter Berg writes :
The teim refers both to a gecgrapti.cal terrain and a terrain of consciousness - to a place and the ideas that haVe
developed about how to live in that place. Within a bi.ore9ioo the oonditicns that influence l ife are slllli.lar, and
these in turn have influenced lunan ooc:upancy.
EDITORIAL STAFF:
Bonrue .CamJ;:bel.l
'1b:mas Rain Crowe
IDretta Rattler
Arrly Feinstin
Oluck Marsh
a:1 McNeil!
Olip Smith
Ida Mc:Neill
Mamie Muller
David Reed
Sam Sutker
Martha Tree
David Wheeler
A bimegioo can be detemined initially by the use of climatology, physiognqily, animal and pl.ant geogra?lY, natural history, and other descriptive natural sciences. The final
boundaries o f a bioregioo are best described by the people who
live within it, th:cough hunan rec:cgnitioo of the realities of
livin:;J-in-place.
All life al the planet is ocmected in a f&1 obvious ways, and
in many nme that are barely explora:i. But there is a distinct
resonance lllDl19 living things and the factors which influence
them that occurs specifically within each separate place al the
planet. Di.soovering and describing that resonance is a way to
describe a bioregion."
EDITORIAL OFFICE FOR THIS ISSUE:
Long Branch Environmental
~ducation Center
Route 2, Box 132
Leicester, N.C . 28748
PRINTING:
Sylva Herald Publishing Co.
Sylva, N.C.
ADDRESS CORRESPONDENCE TO:
Kat.µab: Biorez1onal Joµrnal of the
Southern Appalachians
Box 873
Cullowhee, N.C. 28723
'lbe effects of seeing the world in this W1frI would be far-reaching.
WOUld our national policies be the sane if the land was seen as a
sacred being? WOUld our eoonanic:s be the sane if the <X>St to the
biosphere were reckoned into the price of production? WOUld our politics be the same if power over an area were in the hands of the
people who lived there? lllat if oak, bear, fox, and chickadee had a
voice in the decisial-lll!lking oouncils?
The key to this transitioo is in the spiritual realm, for
in disoovering the land as she is in the place \othere we
live, we di.soover ourselves in the izooess. 'DleJ:e is a necessary connecti.cn here, for the self we see axoum us is
not our own nature in metapx>r or reflection. I t is our
own aelf tJ:uly and actually. 'lbis is the mystical oonneotion that makes healing, knowl.edl;Je, and power all possible. If we make a gesture to the earth, the earth gestures
back - this is the source of the nagic.
'!!le geological fomations urx3erpinning the land, the sprinq
rains every year, the wims sweeping in f%an the west, the
tan;Jled uniergrowth of a rhoc!odermon slick, the juna>es
playing anong the forest trees - these are mcng the forces
that shape our bioregion and give it its unique character.
'lbese forces also shape the landscape of our own cxnscicus-
ness.
But our mind is a creative force as well, and the attuned
h1.1nan mind can be a power for encx:iuragi.ng the ecological
health of an area. 'lb:>se who see thEmlelves as sta.lards,
protectors, and healers will be uniting the power of their
minds to this task.
To these pe:>ple falls the responsibility of keeping the essential nature of the nountain area intact. 'lbe .A{pllac:bjans are the oldest irountains, and they are strong sources
o f power for the whole eastern half of TUrtle Island. This
is .iJttx>ssible to explain to those who do not already understand it fran their own experience. To them, this po-
....
-·.,,.-··
.
sition would seen reactionary and a::>unter-pr:oduc:tive, and
they cannot see why it is ultimately inportant to the
survival of us all.
we are here to make changes, but the biggest changes are
within ourselves. We are here to learn and grow and, like
the great trees of the forest, to develop roots and beo:rne part of this place.
In this way the process of transfomation begins. It is a
healing process, a voluntai:y marriage of ourselves to the
land. As we help the land to repair the damage done by a
careless humanity, so does she help us to repair the damage done within our hearts and minds by a bankrupt system.
By infomling our
vision and giving a a::>ntext to our work,
the idea of a bioregion can be a powerful tool in our
spiritual, ecxxanic, and political liberation. It can help
us to becane whole in our spirit, in our bodies , in the land,
and in our experience.
Prayer chant:
"Ancient M::>ther I Ancient M::>ther
You who have waited so l.alg,
You Wio have waited so lcn;J
For your children to return,
Your children are oow returned Here we are"
,
KATU1!.H - page 2
'lbe Blue Ridge M::>untains are under duress, but the area
still has a feeling of sacredness, an aura of power that
has protected it sanewhat fran the ravages of humankind.
we are lucky in the land that has been left to us. 'lbis
area is a prine location to hatch an ecologically sane
and healthy society - the no.mtains are equal to the task
if we are. We have an area that is relatively untraapled
and not overpopll.ated. Because of its inaccessibility, it
is econ::mically depressEd and therefore relatively \mindustrialized. Because of its isolation many of its p e o p l e ,
are unsqhlsticated and still feel close ties to the
mountains.
aubml 1983
�FROM ULSTER TO CAROLINA
The Migration Of The Scotch-Irish To Southwestern North Carolina
The study of migration is particularly valuable to Americans, for either in an
ancient past (for American Indians) or in more recent centuries, all Americans
are immigrants. To an amazing degree we have remained a migratory people,
profoundly mobile, moving from city to city, state to state. Alexis de Tocqueville
observed of early American society that the American "grows accustomed to
change." Once having moved, it was easier to move again and again.
Migration frequently leaves only a sketchy historical record. While the great
sweep of events might be clear, the details are often lost in the confusion of move·
ment. Many family histories remain incomplete and often even the names of those
who first came are lost. The problem of understanding and evaluating the ex·
perience of the Scotch-Irish is made more difficult by the eagerness with which
they threw over the culture of the Old World which might have identified them
as a group in America. Still, their presence surrounds us in the Southern Appalachians in the evidence o( family names, in the stamp they placed upon the
customs of the region and in lingering memories. A distinctive feature of the
Southern Appalachian region is that its relative isolation in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries has preserved a strong sense of a Scotch-Irish past.
At the close of the American Revolution, the territory west of the Blue Ridge
and Allegheny Mountains quickly opened to the first legal white immigra.nts.
Southwestern North Carolina was one of many regions across the new American
nation that received a flood of new people. For perhaps two decades before the
area was opened for settlement, it had been admired by the inhabitants of the
western Piedmont and Watauga who hunted there and fought with General
Rutherford against the Cherokee in 1776. In the last year~ of the Revolutionary
War, North Carolina passed legislation granting mountam lands to ve~erans of
the state's militia and the Continental Army - from 640 acres for pnvates to
12 ()()() for brigadier generals. For others, land was available throughout the period
fo; five and ten cents per acre plus fees. A series of treaties with the C~erokee
between 1785 and the 1830s progressively opened the land and kept tt cheap
and plentiful. Beginning in 1787, when the first grants were made on t~e Swan·
nanoa and French Broad Rivers, war veterans and settlers from the Piedmont
and Watauga, as well as a steady flow of people down the Great Wagon Road,
settled the mountain lands with surprising sp~. Although early census figures
are notorious for underestimating populations, the census of 1790 recorded 88
families some 559 souls already settled on Reems Creek, and a considerable settlement' to the south ~here Bee Tree Creek enters the Swannanoa River.
Between 1787 and 1840 the Old West Frontier passed through southwestern
North Carolina and a new society evolved. The census of 1840 recorded a population of approximately 34,000 people in that region west of the eastern boundary
of Buncombe County, divided at that time into Buncombe, Henderson, Hayw?°'1,
Macon and Cherokee counties. Like all frontiers, the region was never static or
isolated but constantly growing and changing. For many new settlers, western
North Carolina was only another temporary stop. There were people who grew
a few crops on land they never legally claimed and then pushed on either westward
into Tennessee and Kentucky, or southward to Georgia and Alabama. Some
raised children before seeking another home and still others stayed. ~os~ who
settled amongst and frequently displaced the Cherokee were of ~tverse
backgrounds: English, German, French, Black, Welsh as w_ell as Scotc~·lr1Sh: No
single ethnic group can claim an exclusive role in the creation of fr~~tte~ ~1ety,
but a careful examination of the family names in the new communmes md1cates
that the largest group among the early settlers was the Scotch-Irish.
aubm'l
1983
Mountain Agriculture
"I doubt not that those
(Scotch-Irish) pioneers who
came to the South and gave
all cheir strength and devotion
to the fabrication of such
civilization as we have were
grim and decermined and stiff.
necked and opinionated and
fearless people. le is probably
easier to admire chem than it
would have been pleasant to
live with chem. I spent my
earliest days amongst them
and I have no doubt that their
arrributes had been transmitted almost unmodified to them
by their ancestors for generation after generation. They
were and they are
undemonstrative, apparently
without affection and superficially cold. But they generally
have opinions, right or wrong,
and they are altogether willing,
if nor anxious, to stand by
their opinions to their last
breaths. I scarcely think our
government could have come
into being without them."}.
K. Hall on his Scotch-Irish
ancestors in North Carolina,
personal correspondence, 1941.
This large, mobile and adaptive group of immigrants brought to their new homes
a culture formed in Scotland and the north of Ireland and molded by migration.
Much of the Ulster legacy had been put aside for new ways with few signs of
regret. The Scotch-Irish brought a simple, practical and unadorned style of life,
but in at least two essential areas, religion and agriculture, thier mark upon mountain life still bears witness to their Ulster origins.
The other area besides religion where the Scotch-Irish left their mark upon
mountain life was their use of the land. The pattern of mixed farming which
they develop«P was one that they brought with them and which they found wellsuited to their new environment.
This mixed farming was appropriate for the mountains because it did not require enormous amounts of first-quality land and could in fact utilize unclaimed
"open range." Nor did it require the kind of capital that was needed to obtain
the best lands, so it was better suited to a people most of whom had left Ulster
with little material wealth. and it was appropriate to a heavily-forested and laborshort area.
This type of mixed farming is described in the wills and farm inventories of
the earliest settlers, such as those surviving for Haywood County. Grains were
the dominant crops with Indian corn far and away the leader, followed oy oats,
wheat and barley.- Plows are listed in most of the inventories, indicating that in
addition to hoe cultivation many fields were also being cleared and plowed as
agriculture moved out of the earliest pioneer phase. Other crops such as flax and
cotton were also grown, though in small amounts for local use.
This .t ype of agriculture, using slash and burn techniques to remove trees and
the hoe to cultivate around the stumps which were left, as well as the raising
of small numbers of animals, was a pattern which had been practiced in Ulster
in the infield-outfield system, and it was a pattern which the Scotch-Irish stamped
upon the mountains of western North Carolina.
James Patton, the weaver from County Derry, offers a valuable insight into
that.aspect of the frontier economy. In the Philadelphia area he had found various
employment as a casual laborer until he had accumulated enough money by 1789
to purchase a supply of·goods and set out for western North Carolina. His experiences in Pennsylvania indicate that in fact Patton knew little about farm work
and had no taste for it. This marked the beginning of his new career as a traveling merchant, taking trade goods south to the North Carolina mountains and
driving livestock north to the cities of Washington, Balti!Ilore, and Philadelphia.
His experiences give a good idea of what it took to prosper as.a merchant working
the Great Wagon Road and into western North Carolina. During his life, he
saw economic activity grow from the late 1780s, when there was little money
available in the mountains, to the 1830s when his inventories of trade goods reveal
a significant expansion of commerce. The primary "cash crop" that mountaineers
raised was livestock, whici1 according to Patton was driven out of the mountains
in large numbers, supplemented by furs, feathers, beeswax, and roots for medicine
such as gipseng and snake root. He observed:
... I settled in the upper part of North Carolina at that time the poorest part
of the country I ever saw to make property; but I do not entertain the same opi·
nion now. Changes and improvements have convinced me that there are few sections of country superior to the western part of North Carolina.
,
KAW.AH - page 3
�WHAT IS PERMACULTURE
" • • • Pe.Jtma.c.u.ltwr.e. -l6 ~ a c.oMdoU6ly duigne.d ag.Jtic.uli:WLe. .t>y.t>tem • ••
that c.ombinu land.6c.ape. duign wi;th pe11.e.nniai. pf.ant.6 a.nd a.nimai.6 to make a.
.t>a.6e. a.nd .6U6tainable. 11.uoWLc.e. 6011. town a.nd c.ou.ntluj• •a. :t.Jwly a.pp11.op.Jtia.te.
te.c.hnology giving h-i..gh yie.ld.6 6011. low e.ne.11.gy inpd.6, a.nd U.6.lng only hu.ma.n
.t>IUU and Welle.ct to a.c.hie.ve. a .t>table. ILe..l)oWLc.e 06 g11.e.a.t c.ompf.ex.lty and
.6tabil..ity•
• • • ( pe11.mac.u.ltwr.e.) -l6 a philo.t>ophy 06 woll.h.ing wi;th, 11.athell. than agaiMt
na.twr.e; 06 p11.otll.a.c.te.d a.nd thought6ul ob.6M.va.tion 11.athell. than p11.otll.a.cte.d and
thoughtlu.6 labo11.; and o~ looking a.t pf.a.nt.6 a.nd a.n.imal.6 in all the.ill.
6u.nc.tionli , Jta:the11. than tll.e.a.ting a.ny a.11.e.a. a..6 a. .t>ingle.-p11.odu.ct .t>y.t>tem."
---&ill. Molti..6on
a..6 quoted in AGAYULI , Pvuna.c.uli:WLe New6lette11.
THE CHICKENWIRE DAM
EVERY YEAR HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF TONS OF TOPSOIL
WASH OFF OF OUR AMERICAN LAND INTO THE OCEAN. SOIL IS
ONE OF OUR K>ST PRECIOUS RESOURCES . WITHOUT F!ln'I LE
SOIL. AGRICULTURE -THE FOUNDATION OF OUR CIVILI ZATI ONFAILS. THE LAND CAN NO LONGER SUPPO!n' BUMAN LIFE. THIS
HAS HAPPENED THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY OF OUR PLANET MANY
TIMES. IN FACT. MANY OF THE WORLD'S DESERTS ARE THE
DIRECT RESULT OF POOR AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES AND DE FORESTATION THAT LED TO SOIL LOSS THROUGH WIND AND WATER
EROSION.
PEBMACULTURE IS AN ATTEMPT TO DEVELOP AGRICULTURAL
SYSTEMS THAT ARE ECOLOGICALLY SOUND,PERMANENT.SUSTAINABLE AND ENERGY AND RESOURCE CONSERVING. THE PRACTICE OF
PERMACULTURE DRAWS FROM THE BEST OF EXISTING AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES AND COMBINES THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW TECHNIQUES TO CREATE CONSCIOUSLY DESIGNED, H!GH QUALITY LIFE
SUPPORT SYSTEMS. THE CllICKENWIRE DAM. WHICH WAS DISCOVERED QUITE BY ACCIDENT. CAN PROVIDE A USEFUL TOOL FOR
SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION FOR SMALL STREAMS IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF PERMACULTURAL SYSTEMS.
THE CHICKENWIRE DAM, WHICH IS ESSENTIALLY A RUMANMADE BEAVER DAM, IS QUITE EASY TO BUILD. SET LOCUST POSTS
AT 4- FOOT INTERVALS ACROSS A SHALL STREAM BED AND UP THE
SIDESOF THE STREAM BANK TO THE TOP EDGES. SECURE THE TWO
END POSTS WITH GUY WIRES OR SOME OTHER BRACING SYSTP.M.
ATTACH 36" OR 48" HI GH, l " OR 2" MESH CHICKENWIRE TO THE
POST IN THE SAHE MANNER AS IF YOU WERE FENCING A CHICKEN
YARD. IN FACT THIS DAM CAN BE INCORPORATED INTO A CHICKEN ENCLOSURE. SECURE THE BOTTOM EDGE OF THE CHICKENWIRE
TO THE STREAM BOTTOM AND BANKS WITH PEGS OR ROCK. FLOAT
HAY, LEAVES. OR SIMILAR DEBRIS DOWN THE STREAM ABOVE THE
FENCING AND ALLOW IT TO BUILD UP ON THE FENCING AND GRADUALLY SEAL ON THE MESH .
WATER WILL BEGIN TO DAM UP BEHIND THE DEBRIS-CLOGGED
FENCING, WHILE SOME WATER ~LL CONTINUE TO PASS THROUGH
AND OVER THE DAM.
THIS STEP WILL HAVE TO BE REPEATED SEVERAL TIMES TO
INCREASE THE HEIGHT OF THE DAM, AS DEBRIS PROGRESSIVELY
BUILDS UP HIGHER AND HIGHER ON THE FENCING. EVEN THOUGH
AT FIRST THE DAM WILL LEAK COPIOUSLY, OVER TIME THE DEBRIS
WILL SEAL MORE TIGHTLY AGAINST THE CHICKENWIRE.
THE CHICKENWIRE DAM HAS MANY POTENTIAL PERMACULTURAL
APPLICATIONS. THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME OF THE SYSTEM'S VIRTUES AND USES. IF YOU CAN COME UP WITH ANY MORE, PLEASE
LET ME KNOW.
1. THE DAM IS INEXPENSIVE AND QUICK AND EASY TO
CONSTRUCT. OTHER MATERIAL THAN CHICKENWIRE. SUCH AS
WOVEN CANE OR BRUSH SECURED IN THE CREEK BEAVERDAM
FASHION COULD BE USED.
2. THE DAM IS FLOOD PROOF. WATER JUST FLOWS THROUGH
THE DAM OR OVER THE CHICKENWIRE CLOGGED WITH DEBRIS.
IN FACT. FLOODS CAN ACTUALLY MAKE THE DAM POND DEEPER
BY ADDING DEBRIS HIGHER UP ON THE DAM FENCING.
J. THE DAM SLOWS WATER LFAVING THE PROPERTY AND
INCREASES THE WATER' S POTENTIAL USES.
4. THE DAM ACTS TO COLLECT SILT AND SOIL BEING
CARRIED DOWNSTREAM. THUS REDUCING A PROPERTY'S SOIL
LOSS AND PROVIDING A SOURCE OF RIGH QUALITY , EASILY
COLLECTED SOIL FOR RETURNING TO FIELDS AND GARDENS.
THESE DAMS CAN BE PLACED IN A SERIES ALONG A STREAM
FOR EVEN GREATER SOIL CONSERVATION AND COLLECTION.
THE SILT THAT EVENTUALLY WOULD FILL THE AREA BEHIND
THE DAM COULD BE USED FOR STREAMSIDE GROWING AREAS
FOR SUCH PLANTS AS WILD RICE. CATTAILS, SAGITTARIA,
CREEK MINT AND .OTHER AQUATIC PLANTS.
5. PONDS SO CREATED MAKE "
GREAT POULTRY WATERING
HOLES AND HABITAT FOR DOCKS . GEESE, FROGS , CRAYFISH,
AND OTHER WILDLIFE OR DOMESTIC ANIMALS.
6. THE DAMS. IF PLACED NEAR CULTIVATED AREAS.
CAN BE USED FOR IRRIGATION PONDS FOR FLOOD. GRAVITY
OR PUMP IRRIGATION SYSTEMS .
By: Chuck Marsh , Bountiful Gardens ,
P.O . Box 509 , Dillsboro, NC 28725
(70 4) 586- 5186
,
I<ATlWI - page
4
autum 1983
�SCOTCH-IRISH MIGRATION
a-/fer ]uia,
b°'J'
t:lt &atlt
continued from page 3
ij nf
aJ4 :J }J,..lt Ml 1'.W\li:
~ HtAo""J ,,., k tu tfD.," ;,,, ft""' JJAilu.re1.
'JI JA°'rt:f wilh ,,,_ i1j c/,eu,., wa.h1J1
"These mountains /of North
Caro/ma/ begin ro be
populated rapidly. The salubri·
ry of rhe air, rhe excellence of
rhc warcr, and more especially
rhe pasrurage of rhese wild
peas for the carrle, are so
many causes char induce new
inhabiranrs ro serrle rhere.
"Esrares of rhe first class are
sold at rhe rare of two dollars,
and rhe raxes are nor more
rhan a half.penny per acre. In·
dian corn, whear, rye, oats,
and peach rrees, are the sold
ob1ecr of culrure.
"The inhabitants of these
mountains are famed for being
excel/enc hunters. Towards the
middle of aurumn mosr of
chem go in pursuir of bears, of
which rhey sell rhe skins, and
rhe flesh, which is very good,
sttves chem in sr:.ear measure
for food during that season.
They prefer ir ro al/ ocher
kinds of meat, and look upon
it as the only thing rhey can
ear wirhour being indisposed
by it. They make also of their
hind legs the most delicious
hams ... They hunt chem
wirh great dogs, which,
wirhouc going near chem,
bar/c, cease, and oblige chem
to climb up a rree, when rhe
hunter kills chem wirh a car·
bine." F. A. Michaux, Travels
il nulu.r11 "'Y jDUl.
'); luJJ 1"I i.IO!Jf f/,I J4ih If rtpl ihidi"f
/w ilj oi.m JIM.
gtt~ 1~"f1' :J fA1Ut ~11WfA- ttltcYJ
A~ j/u.""'1j #f iWAUJJ f
:J f•r M tvf/, fo,. 11¥ &.rlJ, ij wilA. Mes
Llj ~hl.a.inj w ilj JIA)
ihtj fJ!mflJrl ~.
0, fta1 &ulJ,,, ym M je1 tl ""1«~vd
i,. ilcl ~ '1f Mj tMM-~) I
'-n filt1J, ""f 1'1i1Wi ,.,jlJi. n111t..l#ttj ~
""°'!
1-ttJ MY 14JO!HJI,.
jur1ly lit# iur 41'11 IJ,,e J'4j4,.j
;Mil
..n
lite
l4YJ If
fo/1""'
Ml
,,.r Zift
uJ :; 1c1>ZZ J.in
j,,,
The Drovers' Road through
North Carolina
connected rhe region ro
Charleston and Savannah. Ir
was a roure of serrlement in
che early 19th century as well
as rhe sire of rhe carrle and
swine drives char were so im·
porranc ro che regional
economy.
sourhwesr~
i
l!Je ha.vlf ef ih~
far1r1r-.
_,y,. 1if:
~J ~.u,. CJr41111
HOW THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS GOT THEIR NAME
- FROM A GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
It is worthv notice, that our mountaini; are not liOlitnn• and scattered
confusedlv o~er the face of the countrv; but that the~ c:ommcnce at
about 15~ miles from the sea-coast, are' disposed in ridges one behind
another, running nearly parallel with the sea-coast, though rather
approaching it as they advance north-eastwardly. To the south-west,
as the tract of countrv between the sea-coast and the ~l ississippi
becomes narrower, the ~1ountains converge into a single ridge, which.
as it appronches the Culph of :\lexico, subsides into plain countr~'· and
gives rise to some of the wilters of that ~ulph. and particularly to a
ri\'er called the Apillachicola, probably from tht- :\p;1l;1d1il'S, an Indian
nation formerh· n•sidin~ on it. Hence the mount.tins ~i\'in~ rise to that
river, and s~n from its various parts. ,,.l'rc e;1lll•d thl' :\p;1lachi;1n
mountains, being in fact the md or ll'rmination only uf tlw ~'feat rid~es
passing through the <.'Ontinl'llt. European gcograplwrs howc\'er l'Xtended the name northwardlv ns far as the mountoins extended; some
giving it, after their separation into different ridges, to the Blue ridge,
others to the North mountain, others to the Alleghaney, others to the
Laurel ridge, as may he seen in their different maps. But the fact I
believe is, that none of these ridges were e,·er lmo\\11 by that name
to the inh;1bitants, either nati\'e or emigrant, but a~ tht>y saw them liO
called in European maps. In the same dir<.'C'tion ~t·1wr;11l\' are the \'t>ins
of limcstmll'. coal. and other minerals hitherto 1lisl~l\'t•rt•tl : :incl so range
the foils of our ~rt·at ri\'ers.
-TllOM.\S jEFt'Ell.>;OS
Xotc1 0 11 tl1c State nf \ 'ir::,i11ia. 1781-82
West of the Alleghania,
1802.
Two fundamental features of the early Scotch-Irish do stand out. The first is
the cultural interaction they experienced with people around them throughout
their migrations. They never settled in isolation from others. The second is their
readiness to change and adopt new ideas and practices. Perhaps their most per·
sistent trait as settlers on the American frontier was their way of using the land,
evolved in the uplands of Scotland and Ireland and ideally suited to the frontier
that unfolded south and west of Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Their familiarity, even contentment, with this way of life drew them to the fron·
tier and invited them ever onward in search of plentiful land and game. And
here too their preference for the single family farm over the village community
sustained their strong spirit of individuality and the importance of family and
self-sufficiency. This is where their greatest influence lies - in the kind of land .
use and social organization they brought to much of the South. The open range
system in which crops were fenced and livestock roamed free prevailed across
much of the South into .t he 20th century and is an important element in the
shaping of Southern history.
Southwestern North Carolina had by the mid-19th century created a society
that was a synthesis of cultures and peoples reacting to their new environment.
This new Appalachian culture was shaped by forces distinct to the region. Ethnicity
was largely submerged by regional conflicts within the state; by new economic
activities such as logging, mining, and tourism; by the intervention of the federal
government in land policies and development projects; and by continuing in·
and out-migration as the Southern Appalachians became increasingly differentiated from surrounding regions. Those who would understand modern Appalachia would be right to pursue these themes; but a true understanding of the
traditions of the region and its sense of itself still calls us to back to the ethnic
heritages the first settlers brought.
~
Migration of rhe Scocch·lrish People
A Comprehensive Ex hibition Produced By
Mounrain Heritage Center of Western Carolina University
Sam Gray: Project Director
Curtis Wood and Tykr Blethen: Hntorical
autum 1983
R~arch
and Writing
'
I<ATUAH - page
s
�MOSHKA. t LAKlMA
The. moon .6m.U.e.d Jted .thJr.ough the. ne.u a:t the. edge
06 the meadow. TJr.Unk, bMnc.h a.nd lea6 .6ha.dOW.6 .6netc.hed a.c.Jr.0.6.6 a. JLlppUng .6ea 06 the. t:a.ll gMUU a.nd wil..d6loWelL6 belong.lng to Ealith Mathe.Jr.' .6 late .6wnmeJt. Ro.6e.
c.oloJted ha.Jr.vut moonU.ght .6lowly ga.ve. wa.y to .6h.,i.n,lng
.6il.ve.1r., a.nd a..6 the. nee .6ha.do1Al6 .6hMnk, the. .li..ght 6eU
upon the. two 6ox pup.6 pe.1r.c.he.d upon the. ta.ll.., .6mooth,
Jr.Ound gMnlle. boulde.Jr. ,ln the. VeJL':f c.e.n.te.Jr. 06 the.
meadow.
A STORY BY SNOW BEAR
Mo.6hka. a.nd La.IWna. 6eU the a.nc.ient powe.Jr. 06 .tha:t
Jr.Oc.k .6.lng.lng thJr.Ough them, c.oUIL6ing ~d.6 th/Lough
the pa.d6 06 the.iJr. plW6. But the.iJr. ga.ze tAn-6 6.bc.e.d upon
the meadow; .6lowly .the.iJr. .6.talr.e. c»r.c.J.e.d .it., taJUng bt
the. bowa:ty 06 ti6e tha..t .tlvt.ive.d on that JUc.h, bla.c.k
.60il. and the plant.6 a.nd wec.U tha..t gJte:w on a.nd w.lthbt. The.iJr. e.alt.6 c.a.u.ght .the. c.on.tented IWmbl.lng 6Jr.Om .the
bla.c.k beaJL '.6 thJr.Oa..t a..6 .6he. e.66oltt,lu.6lq lti.pped open
.the Jr.Otten hemlock tha..t ha.d 6a.Ueninto .the. me.a.drxu. She
.6a..t on he.Jr. hau.nc.hu, tic.k.lng 6Jr.Om he.Jr. pa.w the. wh.U:e.
g.ltl.Lb.6 tha:t ha.d lived w.i.tkin the. log. HeJt c.ub poked
a.nd .6c.Jr.a..tc.he.d a..t .the. .6o6t wood, 6incllng he.Jr. own 6ood .
Clo.6eJt .to .the. a.nc.ie.n.t Jr.Och .the. wh.ue. 6la..6h 06 the
.6kunk '.6 .6.tJU.pu dlr.w .the..ilt a.tte.n.tlon. A6 .they wa-tc.he.d
he. .6c.Jr.a..tc.he.d a. hole. ,ln the. .6oil., Jte.a.c.hing down wLth
one pa.w a.nd wlth.dJr..aw.in a. gJtea..t p.(.nk ri.igh.t CltaWleJr..
Then .tluwr. lz.e.e.n eyu caught the. UniJ Jtu.6.tting 06
gM.6.6 a..6 the. 6,le.ld mou.6e. Mn thJr.Ough hi.6 tunnel, c.otte.c.U.ng 6a.Ue.n .6e.e.d. They .6e.n.6e.d hi.6 6eaJL a..6 he. 6Jr.Oze.
when the. .6ha.dow pa.ue.d ave.Jr. hi.6 ba.c.lz.. Vown-!Wrlne.d
6ea..the.lr..6 mu.66te.d the. .6ound 06 the. gJtea..t ho1tned owl' .6
6.li..ght a..6 .it. .6WOOped bt a..t gM.6.6 top level. to ha.Jr.vut
IJU a.no.their. /,i..e.ld 110U6e. The. .6p.iJLlt6 06 the. boo young
6oxu .6oa.Jted upon the. .6ong.6 06 the. night: .the. c.hiltp
0 6 the. c.Jr.ic.lz.e.t.6, the. wlU.6 pelt 0 6 the. glta.6.6 e.6 tha..t
ntaltke.d .the. pa.u.i.ng 06 .the tung .6nake., the. .tJt.iLllng 06
the. nee. 6Jr.Og.6, the. yipp.i.ng a.nd how.U.ng o 6 the c.oyotu,
.the. de.e.p-.tlvr.oa..te.d hooting 06 .the owl.
But then, 6Jr.Om the. wut, ca.me. a. ha.Jr..6h Jr.Oa.!Llng .tha:t
dlr.owne.d out the .6ong.6 06 .the night. Mo.6hlz.a. a.nd LalWna.
tultned a.nd IAJ!Lin.k,l.e.d theAJr. nw.LZzlU a..t the. .6meU a.nd
.6ound 06 da.nge.1r. .tha..t wa..6he.d oveJt them. They c.Jr.Ouc.he.d
down tow, pltU.6.ing the.tn.6e.l.uu a.ga.in.6t the. gMnlle. be.neath, gJr.Owt..i.ng a..t the. btv.l6ible. .thltea..t ,ln .the. w. A.nd
.then, a..6 the. Jr.Oa.!Llng gJtw unbea.Mbly loud, .they .6a.w .it.
c.oming ! A. bU.teJt, ove.1r.powe.Jt.lng w.ind bUIL6.t upon .the.
va.Uey, .6na.pp.lng wea.lz. tJr.e.e..top.6, upending .6ha.Uow Jtoote.d
nee tltunk.6 and 6la.tte.ning .the deU.c.a..te. meadow gJta.uu.
It .6la.ppe.d the. two 6oxu, nybtg to tea.Jr. them aJAJa.':f 6Jr.Om
.the a.nc.ient .6.tone., but they hehl on w.it.h a.U the.iJr.
.6ne.ngth. Ic.y 6.ingell.6 cfug be.neath theAJr. .61z.bt; .the.Vt
ha.c.lz.lu we.1r.e. M.l6ed, .theAJr. ha.iJt .6t.ood on end. And then,
a..6 .6wi6tty a..6 .it. ha.d c.ome., .it. pa.ue.d on. They looked
up bt we to .6 ee. .tha..t teM.lble. w.ind Jtoa.!Llng down the.
vall.ey, .6 na.ppi.ng ne.u a.nd 6latte.n.i.ng gM.6.6 u a..6 .it.
went.
The. wind ha.d le.6.t; .it..6 biting c.hilt wU:hbt .them; the.
on the.iJr. ne.c.lz..6 .6til.t .6tood out, the.iJr. eyu we.Jte
wide. a.nd gla..6.6y with teJr.Jr.OJt. Looking a..t the. meadow they
.6a.w d.tvtk .6ha.dowy c.la.IAl6 a.nd teeth Jr.U6hing a:t them. The.
moonUgh.t 6-lU.e.d .the. .6pa.cu be.tween the .6ha.dow c.la.IAl6
with gho.6.tly .6il.ve1t .6ha.pu .tha..t CltaWle.d a.long .the. e.dgu
06 the 6ie.td. The. moon .it..6e.l.6 Wd.6 .tro.l6.te.d in.to a. .6c.owl.lng huma.n 6a.c.e.. PaiJr.6 06 a.ngJty Jte.d eyu .6t.alr.e.d a:t .them
ha,iJr.
KATOAR - page 6
autlm1 1983
�6Jtom wltkin .the g.11.a.uu thlr.eate.ning .to pou.nc.e and claw
and b.lte. F1tom a.U. cU/r.e.c;tion6 came kideou.6 AntL'Ll.6 g1towl6
and Al.U:he.Jt.ing noi6u .
'
Pa.n.i.c made. .them dlUJw down w.ltJWt .them6elvu 6rwthe.1t
and 6WLtheJL; .they e.a.c.h. weJLe. 4b.6otu.telq alone., 601tgo.tten
to ea.ch o.theJL. They coul.d onhj hu.nc.h oveJL and Ah..i.veJL.
r.t l.00.6 Lak..ima. who 6.irralt.lJ ga.the11.ed the. 1tenw.Uning 4.tl!.e.ngth
06 hi6 Ahltin#Ung .6p.iltU and .in an .i.Jvr.u..Uta.bte. bu;t .6.U.e.nt
vo.i.c.e. Aa..id, " Mo.6hka, took at me.I Look .into my e.yu l "
She. twr.ned he.It he.ad and looked .in.to he.It bJto.the.Jt '.6 e.yu.
A4 .the»r. eyu met, a Apalr.k l.00.6 tu..ndled. The tonge.Jt they
looked, the AtltongeJL .the 6lame 61tOm .that Apalr.k g1te.w,
until. .the 6.i.Jte 06 Ap.ilt.lt bl.a.zed .in .the.ilr. .6ou.l.6, rn.<.nd4 and
bod.i.u. That IAJtVUnth .6plle.a.d .thJtOu.ghou;t to dutltoy .the cold
6e.a.Jt .that had COn6u.med .th~.
When .the l.tu.t .tlutcu 06 6e.4Jt we.1te. gone, they bltOke
.the.ilr. gaze upon ea.ch o.the.1t. They looked to the E44.t .into
.the n,ight .that ha.d Awai.towed .that cold, powe.1t6u.l wlnd
and .they .6en6ed a Ao6t Jtu.4.t.Ung 6.tow.i.ng up .the. valley.
A '4Wlm, gentle bJte.eze moved .the .tl!.eu .into a Jthy.thmic.,
.614.tly.i.ng danc.e. It U6.ted up .the gll.444e6 .that had been
p1r.u.6ed 6la.t and ILi.ppt.ed them gently, 44 .i.6 .the meadow
l.00.6 the 4u.Jt6ace. 06 a AIWrrneJL.i.ng lake. The. &«1IUll iAJind
calte.6.6 ed the.iJr. 6aCe6, and played wUh .the.i.Jt 6u.Jt 44 .lt
had wUh .the. gJUZUe.6, JUppLi.llg .lt .in IAllVe.6 06 lted,
white and black. Then .they 6elt .lt pa.u .in.to .the Wut,
Jtutolt.i.ng eve11.rJ-th.i.ng .to .the calm .that had been be601te
.the. cold wlnd lt4vaged .the. va.U.e.y. Once. 494.i.n .the meadow
l.00.6 a pt.ace 06 be.a.u;ty .that frilled them IAllth Aong. The
Aong came 6oltth ucaping .in.to .the. cte.a.Jt n.ight aAJr. and
l.00.6 dJuuAwt .in.to .the he.a.Jtt 06 e.veJLy Uv.ing .th.i.ng .in .that
pt.ace.
Exha.u.6ted, .they padded Atowl.q and 40(,t.l.y u.p .the. Vlt.i.p
Spll.i.ng Hollow and cLimbed .the. hA..U to .the. ltOck owt:Cltopping .that hel.d .the.ilr. home.. S.i..tt.i.ng .in a c.i.Jtcte .in 61tont
06 .the. den we11.e. Tlt..i.4hka and Ka.lwn4, .the.ilr. mo.the.It and
6athe11., and w.i.4e. old W44hte., the IUlcoon. The1te we.Jte
.6.tlutnge du,i.gn6 .6CIUltched .into .the e.a.Jtth be601te. .them;
they Aat .touch.i.ng ea.ch o.the11. '.6 paW6 and A.i.ng.i.ng .i.n a
la.ngu.a.ge .the young 6oxu had neve.Jt he.a.ltd be60Jt.e.
When .they dlr.e.w clo4 e, fAl44hte looked u.p and 44.i.d,
" Thi6 n.i.ght you. have 6ou.ght tong and luvtd wUh an
enemy 6e.w Me able .to conqu.e.Jt. FoJt you. have conqu.e11.ed
the Sp.(Jt.lt 06 Fe.a.It and though .lt mtL1J 4444u.lt you. o6ten,
you. wlU a.l.wa.y.6 be .lt4 ma.6.tell.. The. powe.Jt 06 .the. love
.i.n you. that m44.te.Jted .lt wlU g1tow .6.tl!.onge.Jt .in .the
1Je.a.lt4 ahe.a.d. We .thJtee have 14Nltc.hed you. g1tow, r..m..tJUng
.the Path 06 TIW.th, and knew you Welte 1te.a.dy .to 6ac.e
.thi6 tJUal.. r.t l.00.6 we Jto Ae.nt .that Sp.(Jt.lt 06 Fe4Jt
upon you., .to .6.tl!.e.ng.then you. and 40 you. m,i.ght know .the
powe.Jt .that h44 601t Ao tong AptVr.k.t.ed wl.th.in you.Jt eyu.
F1t0m .tw day on, you. have. w.ltJWt you.Jt Ap.i.Jr..lt .the
c.hih.llten you. we.1te, bwt we wlU .tl!.U6t you. 44 ou.Jt .tJtu.ebJto.the.Jt and .t1we-.6i4.te.1t. But now, .into .the den
wUh you.. "
When .they CltaWled wl.th.i.n .the. 11.oc.k.6, be.6 011.e. .them a
6eJU.t l.00.6 la.id ou;t 06 a.U. .the.i.Jt 6avolt.lte. 6Jtu..lt4 06 the.
meadow: bla.c.kbeNtq, .6br.awbeM.y, ll.44pbeM.IJ, and pe!t4..innon,
all luvtvu.ted and dlr..i.ed .in .the. ti.me. 06 the.i.Jt Jt.i.pene.6.6.
They ate glt4.te6u.lty, .then la..i.d down .in ne.w, .606.t bed.6
06 pu!Li6y.ing c.e.dalr. bou.gh.4 and went glt4Ce.6u.lty .in.to
.the IA10lthJ. 06 dlr.e.am.6~
autmn 1983
Snow Bear is a teacher and herbalist of traditional
alternatives for children and adults. He and his
wife Khalisa are founders and directors of the
Pepper land Farm Camp in Farner, Tenn.
~ - page 7
�In the North Carolina mountains,
people have developed an appreciation
for a variety of apples because apples
were used in so many ways. In the old
days, apples were not an occasional
treat. They were a staple food. From
the planning of the home orchard to the
drying of the apple slices, every way
possible was used to extend the apple
season and preserve the fruit. In the
absence of modern refrigeration, various
kinds of apples came to be known not
only for their taste but also for their
rate of ripening and their capacity for
preservation. Each apple had its specific
season and purpose. Some apples are
early apples and some are better late
in the season. Some are for drying ,
some are best suited for sauce while
others are best for canning. There are
juicy ones for cider and hard ones for
storing and, of course, there are plain
And who knows how the Leatherman,
old eating apples.
the Milam, ~he Democrat and the
During the season, some of the best
Knotley Pea got their names. Many
by Dou;J Elliott
old-time eating apples are Crow's Eggs,
of the apple varieties I mention
Bellflowers, Black Hoovers, Virginia
here are found only in a particular
Beauties, and Spice apples. The small
area, perhaps as small as a portion
yellow Spice apples actually have a
Just about anyone who's been raised of the county. And some names might
distinctive wintergreen-mint flavor .
be a local name for a widespread
in·· the mountains or who's looked at
Some eating apples will keep for months,
variety. For example , Theron showed
apples in the western part of our
while others might be right for eating
me what he called a "No-rthern Spice
State has come cross Winter Johns or
during only a few weeks of the season.
Apple" that looked suspiciously
some of the other old and almost
Theron showed me a little apple called
like a common New England breed
forgotten varieties of apples. Until
a Stripey. Early in the season the apple
called "Northern Spy . "
recently, an apple was just an apple
has a crisp, tangy, white flesh; but if
One of the great proponents of prefor me. That was before I started
it gets too ripe or you let it sit around
serving the many varieties of apples
ranging the hills and hollows with
the house too long, sometimes even for a
was L.H . Bailey whose 1922 book, The
Jheron Edwards, a sharp-eyed mountain
few days, its crisp texture turns mealy.
Apple Tree, lamented that of the more
man from Yancey County raised in the
"It'll almost choke you," says Theron of
mountain tradition of self-sufficiency than 800 varieties listed in nurseryits sawdust-like texture. As good as this
men's catalogues in 1892, not more
and well in touch with much of the
delicious morsel is fresh from the tree,
than a hundred were available at the
old-time wisdom and ways . After a
you'll never find it in the suppermarket.
time of book's publication.
couple of seasons of seeing apples
Sauce apples and canning apples each
'
through Theron's eyes, I felt like
have different properties; they aren't
someone who had been shown a rainjust labeled as cooking apples . Good
bow in full color after seeing only
canning apples are firm-fruited and won't
black and white.
turn brown while a whole panful is peeled
The fact is, there's an incredible
andsliced. The slices hold their shape as
variety of apples in the mountains of
they are exposed to the rigors of home
North Carolina. And by biting into a
canning. Some good canning apples are
few of these old-time apples we can
Winter Johns, Pippins, Milams, Sweet
tap the richness of a rapidly distA~
Russets, Knotley Peas, and Spitzbergens.
appearing culture and life style.
Although it is possible to make sauce out
When I asked Theron how many types
a,
of almost any apple, the best have a soft
of apples he knew, he rattled off a
texture that will break down into sauce
list of more than 20 varieties . Just
with little cooking. Bellflowers and
the names of these almost forgotten
Stripeys are ideal for sauce-making. Juicy
breeds left my head reeling with deapples like Winesaps and Sheep's Nose lend
light. Some were named for what they
themselves well to cider-making. Pippins
resembled, like the elongated, lopand Crow's Eggs are favorite pie apples.
sided Sheep's Nose apple, the oval
The large Stripped Ben Davis is a favorite
Crow's Egg, and the yellow Bellflower.
"Why do we need so many kinds of
baking apple.
Others took people's names, presumapples?" Mr . Bailey asks. "Because
Good canning apples are usually good
ably the ones who developed the
there are so many folks," he says.
drying apples because of their firm flesh.
variety or who first brought it into
"A person has a right to gratify his
Apple-drying was an important home industry
the area. So there's Stark Apples,
legitimate taste. If he wants twenty or in many parts of North Carolina . Itinerant
Betsy Deatons, Black Hoovers, Stripforty kinds of apples for his personal
merchants traveled back country buying or
ed Ben Davis's and Ducketts. Still
use, running from Early Harvest to
trading dried apples. Theron tells of
Others, like the Winesap, Sweet
Roxbury Russett, he should be accorded
peeling and slicing basket after basket
Russet, Stripey and Spice apple are
the privilege. There is merit in
of apples which were dried on racks over
named for their distinctive tastes,
variety itself . It provides more
the cookstove . In some areas the apples wer
color patterns or both. The
contacts with life, and leads away
cored and sliced into rings which were drie
_ Spitzbergen and the Virginia Beauty
from uniformity and monotony."
by stringing the slices on a pole . Drying
refer tn their place of origin; the
Today, according to the North
is one of the simplest and, if you have a
Horse apple is so big and sour that
Carolina Agricultural Extension Service wood stove, one of the most efficient ways
it is considered fit only as feed
90% of the State's co11DDercial apple
to preserve apples. Just slice the apples
for horses; the Limbertwig was
crop is made up of only their varieties thinly and spread them on window screens
named for the distinctive shape and
Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and
CONTINUED ON
flexible limbs of
arent tree.
Rome Beaut •
aubml 1983
KMUAH - paqe 8
,,
=1nd by bitin.y into
a few of tAese
old-time apples
we can ttLf
rtc/in,ess '?f
:ap tdl_y dts°i'feartTtj cutture and
lifestyle.''
�...- :·
. ~,.
. •>...,, .
--
· _ _
..,.....a
-
.-
-~---~
for B, a geopolitical song as emblem,
in this 22nd year of heavenly deadlock
"The bastard wilde Popple is called ••••• in English winde Rose •• ••• "
Gerarde, Herbal (II, lxx 301), 1597
"In those days, even though ancient astronomers had learned to divide the circle mathematically, directions were not
marked by degrees, but in terms of winds • Every experienced seaman, however untutored, knew his winds. They meant more
to him than any number 0 to 360. Since the ancients recognized 12 primary winds, at first the medieval compass cards
were circles divided into 12 directional points •• ••• And the way they were drawn, often with artistic flair, reminded
sailors of a 32-petaled flower. Hence the compass cards became known as wind roses. To this day the Portugese call the
compass card a rosa dos ventos, a wind rose, and any modern cartographer wishing to affect an old chart places in one
corner an elaborate and full- blown wind rose."
John Noble Wilford, The Mapmakers, 1981
Finally, of course, there are oo naps, oo c:arpasses, oo
destinations.
No plans . No yesterdays. No tarorrows. Just place.
The only lodestar is your heart.
Switchbacking
fran the cul-de-sac above the shade
we pass through air so still
it is a balm
but we can see that sure breeze
jagging treelight
on the crestline
& when we get there, love, I pranise you
it will swirl us into pattern
up the main ridge to CliJ'9'1BllS
(passi1'¥3 over the JUdge's eyrie at Sharp Top
we' 11 raven-croak in unison into his solanness)
& sail us Cbwn the high divde to Silers Bald & 'lhurderhead
& on & on & on
devouring the upgrades & laurel hells with the sheer ease
of flight
(the ridges west in Tennessee are negligible
but eyeing the other incline
we'll tick off
Forney Welch Jenkins Twenty Mile & IDI¥3 Hun;p:y
&you&I
will spy the threads in this tapestry glinting in the
norni1'¥3 sun
Peachtree Noland Forney Hazel
for this is our
&
Eagle
range)
till the downdraft shelves to Fontana
& ~ering back through the old river valley
finds us
wieldil'¥3 these walkID]sticks
tryi1'¥3 to get a little higher
on the slope
together •
.
..• .
... . ;,.,·
autl:lm 1983
KAnfAH - page 9
�......
"I WAS VRIVING BACK ON 1-40 FROM RALEIGH, AMV I
STARTEV TO GET THIS EXCITEV FEELING AS I VROVE INTO
THE FOOTHILLS. I BEGAN TO FEEL THAT CERTAIN FEELING
OF BEING IN THE MOUNTAINS AGAIN AS I STARTEV TO
CLIMB, ANV I KNEW I WAS COMING HOME.
THE MOUNTAINS WERE IN FRONT OF ME, LOOKING MAGNIFICENT. YOU KN(XJJ THE WAY THEY ARE SOMETIMES, WITH l
BIG CLOUDS GATHEREV ALL AROUMV THE TOPS ANV THE SUNLIGfT SLANTING THROUGI, LIKE GOV WAS SAYING, 'THESE ~
ARE MY MOUNTAINS, KEEP THEM HOLY'."
THE APPALACHIAN BIOREGION,
LIKE THE LAND ANYWHERE, IS AN
EXPERIENCE. IT IS THE BEING
THERE, THE WORKING , THE EXPLORING, THE COMING TO GRIPS
WITH ITS MYSTERIES THAT ULTIMATELY .PROVIDES OUR PHYSICAL
SUBSISTENCE AND OUR SPIRITUAL STRENGTH.
WRITINGS AND MAPS CAN NEVER
SUBSTITUTE FOR THIS EXPERIENCE. THERE IS A SPECIAL INTENSITY IN STANDING AT THE
TOP OF A STEEP MOUNTAIN
RIDGE LOOKING OUR OVER FORESTED VALLEYS OR IN ARISING
AT DAYBREAK ABOVE ROLLING
BANKS OF CLOUDS THAT ISOLATE
THE MOUNTAINTOPS LIKE ISLANDS
IN A GRAY OCEAN. THERE IS A
PERVADCNG SENSE OF ALIVENESS """
AND AWARENESS IN A FOREST OF
TALL TREES THAT AWAKENS THE
MIND TO THE NATURAL SURROUNDINGS AND REVEALS A SPECIAL
SENSE OF PRESENCE.
BUT WORDS AND PICTURES CAN BE
GUIDES TO POINT THE WAY. IT
IS PLAIN TO SEE ON THE LAND
SURFACE MAP OF THE EASTERN
RALF OF THE CONTINENT, TURTLE
ISLAND, THAT THERE IS AN APEX
OF INTENSE ENERGY: THE BLUE
RIDGE AND SURROUNDING MOUNTAINS, WITH THE GREAT SMOKY
MOUNTAINS AS THE ENERGY CENTER.
FROM THAT CENI'ER, THE ENERGY FLOWS OUT, RADIATING IN ALL
DIRECTIONS. JUST AS IRON FILINGS WILL DELINEATE THE INVISIBLE FLOWS OF MAGNETIC FORCE, THE LINES OF THE RIVERS ON THE
MAP SHOW THE ENERGY PATHS RADIATING OUTWARD.
THE RIVERS ARE BORN IN THE MOUNTAINS. TREY FLOW OUTWARD IN
ALL DIRECTIONS: EAST TO THE ATLANTIC SEABOARD; SOUTH INTO
THE PALMETTO COUNTRY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, GEORGIA, AND FLORIDA; INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO THROUGH THE ALABAMA LOWLANDS OR
BY WAY OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO THE WEST; EVEN NORTH TO
THE GREAT LAKES. THE POWER OF THE EARTH SPIRIT FLOWS OUT
OVER ALL THE LANDS
THERE ARE BOUNDARIES TO THE MOUNTAIN REGION; BUT THEY ARE
"SOFT" BOUNDARIES. NATURE DOES NOT LEND HERSELF TO HARDAND-FAST LINES, BUT RATHER TO TENCENCIES. NIGHT MOVES INTO
DAY, WINTER MOVES INTO SPRING - THE DIFFERENCES ARE APPAI<A1lJAH - page 10
RENT, BUT THE PRECISE POINT WHERE THE TRANSITION TAKES
PLACE IS IMPOSSIBLE TO DEFINE. SO IT IS WITH THE LAND. AS
ONE TYPE OF CLIMATE, VEGETATION, OR TERRAIN MERGES INTO
ANOTHER, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO MARK THE PRECISE CROSSOVER
POINT.
/
t<ATUAH: THE CENTER
"ON CEREMONIAL OCCASIONS, THEY FREQUENTLY SPEAK OF
THEMSELVES AS "ANI-KITUHWAGI" OR "PEOPLE OF KITUWHA", AN ANCIENT SITTLEMENT ON THE TUCKASEGEE RIVER
ANV APPARENTLY THE ORIGINAL NUCLEUS OF THE TRIBE."
- Jamu Mooney, My.th.6 06 .the. CheJr.Oke.e.
~
THIS NAME, KATUAH, APPEARING IN A VARIETY OF PHONETIC SPELLINGS, REFERRED TO THE CHEROKEE VILLAGE LOCATED JUST BELOW
THE JUNCTION OF THE TUCKASEGEE AND OCONOLUFTEE RIVERS IN
autmin 1983
�WHAT IS NOW CALLED SWAIN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA. THIS VILLAGE DOMINATED THE "MIDDLE TOWNS" OF THE CHEROKEE NATION,
THOSE VILLAGES LYING ALONG THE TUCKASEGEE AND THE UPPER
PART OF THE LITTLE TENNESSEE RIVER, AND THAT AREA WAS FREQUENTLY REFERRED TO AS KATfiAH.
..
THE MEANING OF THE WORD KATUAH HAS BEEN LOST, BUT IT IS ONE
OF THOSE WORDS THAT CARRIES A SIGNIFICANCE DEEPER THAN ITS
DEFINITION. THE WORD WAS USED WITH DEEP RESPECT, AND, ACCORDING TO MOONEY, WAS "FREQUENTLY EXTENDED TO INCLUDE THE
WHOLE TRIBE".
...
THESE RANGES PERHAPS RELATE MORE TO THEIR LOCAL ENVIRONS
THAN TO THE APPALACHIAN SYSTEM AS A WHOLE.
ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE APPALACHIAN CHAIN, THE PIEDMONT
PLATEAU FOLLOWS THW MOUNTAINS SERVING AS A TRANSITION AREA
BETWEEN THE HEIGHTS AND THE COASTAL PLAIN •
APPALACHIA IS BOUNDED ON THE WEST BY THE TERRITORY DEFINED
BY THE OHIO, CUNBERLAND, AND TENNESSEE RIVER DRAINAGES.
TO THE SOUTH, THE MOUNTAIN SYSTEM DIMINISHES IN NORTH
GEORGIA AND NORTHEAST ALABAMA UNTIL IT CEASES ALTOGETHER IN
,
THE VICINITY OF THE GREAT ETOWAH MOUND NEAR MARIETTA, GEORINDEED, IT CAN BE SEEN ON THE MAP THAT KATtl-·- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . , GIA.
AH IS THE GEOGRAPHICAL CENTER OF THE CBER<r
KEE TERRITORY, AS TH.§ INDIANS APPARENTLY
ECONOMICALLY , THE CITY OF ATLANTA , ORIWERE WELL AWARE . KATUAH ALSO COINCIDES WITH
GINALLY THE OLD RAILROAD JUNCTION,
THE ENERGY CENTER FOR THE EASTERN HALF OF
FACES AWAY FROM THE HIGHLANDS TOWARDS
THE TURTLE ISLAND CONTINENT. IT IS FROM
THE PROFITABLE COMMERCE OF THE SOUTHTHIS CENTEJ WE BORROW THE NAME FOR OUR PR<r
EASTERN FLATLANDS. YET .THE MOUNVINCE, l<ATUAH. AND '!T IS THROUGH THE NAME
TAINS ARE ALWAYS THERE, SENDING
KATLJAH WE HOPE IN OUR MODERN CONTEXT TO REOUT THEIR INFLUENCE, AND STILL
AWAKEN THE SPIRITUAL IDENTITY THIS AREA HAS
HAVE A HOLD ON THE HEARTS OF MANY
HAD IN THE PAST.
OF THE CITY'S PEOPLE.
THIS PROVINCE, THE FOCUS OF OUR ENERGIES
THE APPALACHIANS ARE THE OLDEST
AND OUR OWN BIOGEOGRAPHICAL NICHE, ROUGHLY
MOUNTAINS ON THE CONTINENT. IN THE
COINCIDES WITH THE ORIGINAL AREA OF CHER<r
EONS OF THEIR YOUTH, IT IS HYPOTHEKEE SETTLEMENT IN PRE-COLUMBIAN TIMES.
SIZED THAT THEY STOOD AS TALL AS THE
THIS AREA IS ALSO LARGELY COINCIDENTAL WITH
HIMALAYAS. NOW, ROUNDED AND WORN WITH
"OLD APPALACHIA", THE GEOLOGICAL NAME FOR
AGE, THEY ARE A DEEP STORE OF WISDOM,
THE EARLIER FORMATIONS OF THE APPALACHIAN
STRENGTH, AND ENDURANCE. THEY ARE THE
CHAIN - THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS, THE UNAKA
ELDERS OF THE LAND, AND THEIR ENERRANGE, AND THE TRANSVERSE RANGES BETWEEN
GIES ARE MORE SUBTLE AND DEMAND MORE
THEM .
~""" d.e. "'-.P
ATTUNEMENT THAN THE RAW PRIDE OF THE
Tll f.: CllJ:;HOJ<EI·:
MOUNTAINS TO THE WEST GLORYING IN
THEIR PHYSICAL STRENGTH.
THE APPALACHIAN CHAIN WAS FORMED IN TWO
DISTINCT STAGES. "THE GREAT APPALACHIAN
.JAMl':S :-.100.N t-:\"
THE POWER OF THE APPALACHIANS IS A
11:)00
VALLEY" - THE TENNESSEE AND SHENANDOAH
STRONG FORCE IN THE LIVES OF ALL
RIVER VALLEYS SEEN AS ONE - DIVIDES
@dui-rft..J K~ ..t~ site.
THE PEOPLE UNDER THEIR INFLUENCE.
"OLD APPALACHIA" FROM "NEW APPALACHIA" ~
.__ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __.THEY STAND STRONG ABOVE THE RUSH OF
THE ALLEGHENIES AND THE CUMBERLAND
THE COASTAL POPULATION CENTERS.
MOUNTAINS, YOUNGER RANGES THAT CONTAIN THE MASSIVE COAL DECALM, IMPASSIVE, ENDURING, THEY GROUND AND BALANCE THE
POSITS SO CHARACTERISTIC OF APPALACHIA JN MANY PEOPLE'S
l'KENETIC ENERGIES OF THE PROFIT-SEEKERS AND THOSE TOO
MINDS.
ABSORBED IN SIMPLY MEETING THE BILLS ON THEIR LIVES TO
NOTICE WHERE THEY ARE OR THE WORLD OF LIFE AROUND THEM.
THE MOUNTAINS ARE IN MANY WAYS SIMILAR THROUGHOUT, BUT THE
MINING OF COAL HAS PERMEATED THE HISTORY, CULTURE, ECONOLIKE THE MOUNTAINS' POSITIVE BENEFITS, THE CHANGES THAT
MICS, AND CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE PEOPLE OF "NEW APPALACHIA"
WOULD COME ABOUT IF THEIR INFLUENCE WERE DIMINISHED BY
TO SUCH AN EXTENT THAT ENTIRELY DIFFERENT CONDITIONS HAVE
THE MISTAKES AND EXCESSES OF HUMANKIND WOULD ALSO BE
BEEN CREATED BETWEEN THE TWO HALVES OF THE APPALACHIAN
SUBTLE AND FAR-REACHING. IN WHAT MANNER THESE CHANGES
CHAIN. HOPEFULLY, THESE WILL BE RESOLVED IN THE COURSE OF
WOULD APPEAR IS IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY, BUT THEY WOULD
POST-INDUSTRIAL HISTORY, BUT IT WILL TAKE TIME.
SURELY aE DESTRUCTIVE AND WOULD LESSEN THE VITALITY OF
THE HUMAN SPECIES AND OUR POTENTIAL FOR SURVIVAL.
APPALACHIA: O SIORE&lON
UR
THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS FROM EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA TO THEIR
SOUTHERN LIMITS IN NORTHERN GEORGIA AND ALABAMA COMPRISE OUR
COMPLETE BIOREGION.
PROTECTING AND MAINTAINING THE LIFE OF THE MOUNTAINS
IS A VERY PRACTICAL SORT OF WISDOM, FOR OUR WELL-BEING
AND THE SPIRITUAL HEALTH OF THE LAND ARE INTIMATELY
LINKED.
CLWTINUED ON PAG£ tO
GEOLOGICALLY, THE APPALACHIAN CHAIN PICKS UP AGAIN TO THE
NORTH AS THE CATSKILL AND ADIRONDACK MOUNTAiNS IN NEW YORK
STATE AND THE GREEN AND WHITE MOUNTAINS IN NEW ENGLAND. BUT
aut\ml 1983
r
KATlWl - page 11
�A RESOURCE BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR KATUAH AREA
THE BIOREGION IVEA
AKWESASNE NOTES. A BASIC CALL TO CONSCIOUSNESS: THE RAV DENO SAU NEE ADDRESS TO
THE WESTERN WORLD. AKWESASNE NOTES, PUBLISHER-cJo MOHAWK NATION, ROOSEVELTOWN, NY 1368~e bioregional ethic as lived by the Iroquois Nation from
Paleolithic era to the present and the attack upon it by European colonialism.
BERG, PETER, ed. REINHABITING ! SEPARATE COUNTRY. PLANET DRUM FOUNDATION, BOX 31251,
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. 1978. The bioregional experience, Northern California as example.
BERRY, WENDELL. THE UNSETTLING OF AMERICA. SIERRA CLUB,
LAND. NORTH POINT PRESS,
SNYDER, GARY . EARTH HOUSE.ti:OLD. NEW DIRECTIONS; THE OLD WAYS. CITY LIGHTS; THE
REAL WORK. NEW DIRECTIONS; TURTLE ISLAND. NEW DIRECTIONS. Bioregional
classics - poems and essays of respect to Gaia and the "real work", getting
in touch with ourselves and nature.
TUKEL, GEORGE. TOWARD! BIOREGIONAL MODEL ; BERG, PETER. t?IGURES OF REGULATION;
TODD, JOHN & TUKE~. GEORGE. REINHABITING CITIES AND TOWNS. PLANET DRUM
FOUNDATION, publisher. Some of the publications from Planet DrlDD which
give a good overall $ense of designing for sustainability.
periodicals:
AKWESASNE NOTES. c/o MOhAWK NATION, ROOSEVELTOWN, NY 13683. Official publication
of the Mohawk Nation; Best statemect of the traditional Native viewpoint
on modern problems .
CoEVOLUTION QUARTERLY (CEQ). "WATERSHE!'JS" ISSUE. WINTER, 1976-77. published t;y
the Whole Earth Catalog, Box 428, Sausalito, CA 94966.
CoEVOLUTION QUARTERLY. "BIOREGIONS" ISS!.iE . no . 32 WINTER 1981. published oy tile:
Whole Earth Catalog .
RAISE 7HE STAKES.PLANET DRUM FOUNDATION, Box 31251, Sa& Francisco, CA 94~31.
- - Tri-annual publication dedicated to "deve:!.oping, analyzing <i-:ld communicating the concept of a bioregion". Interested in developing an exchange
among individuals and groups "tnat are exploring cultural, environmental
anci economic forms appropriate to L:he places they live in".
GEOLOG'I
ROGERS, JOHN. THE TECTONICS OF THE APPALACHIANS. WILEY-INTERSCIENCE, 1970.
NATURAL HISTORY
Use any good field identification books ( The A~dubon Field Guides
good) plus the following of special regional interest:
BROOKS, MORRIS. THE APPALACHIANS.
~re
particularly
Natural History textbook.
CAMPBELL, HUTSON, SHARPE. GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAIN WILDFLOWERS . UNIVERSITY OF TN PRESS.
CHILTOSKEY, .'1ARY & HAMEL, PAUL . CHEROKEE PLANTS. HERALD PUBLISHING, 1975. Syl va, NC
ELLIOTT, DOUG. ROOTS. CHATHAM PRESS . Exceller.t 5uide to r:ne underground world of
medicinal and othe::vide useful plant rhizomes.
GRAY, SAM. HAZEL CREEK: PATTERNS OF LIFE ON AN APPALACHIAN WATERSHED. MOUNTAIN
HERITAGE CENTER, WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY, CULLOWHEE, NC.
HESLER, L. R•. ' MUSHROOMS OF THE GREAT SMOKIES.
KROCHMAL, ARNOLD AND CONNIE. GUIDE TO MEDICINAL PLANTS OF THE UNITED STATES . QUADRANGLE PRESS. Experts on Appalachian plant life.
KATUAH - page 12
autunn 1983
�LINZEY, ALICIA AND DONALD. MAMMALS OF THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK.
UNIVERSITY OF TN PRESS.
STUPKA, ARTHUR. NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK;
TREES, SHRUBS AND VINES OF THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK.
One of the best-k. lwn naturalists specializing on this area.
STUPKA, ARTHUR AND HUHEEY, JAMES. AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF THE GREAT SMOKY
MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK. The Smokies are known for the varieties of
amphibious creatures.
BARTRAM, WILLIAM. THE TRAVELS OF WILLIAM BARTRAM. BARNES & NOBLE. One of the
first whites into the area, Bartram wrote of the land and the Indians
in almost an untouched state.
TIME-LIFE. THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS . TIME-LIFE BOOKS AND JEROME DOOLITTLE, 1975.
NATIVE INHABITANTS
There are a lot of books on the Cherokees, but it is hard to find information
about their traditional ways. Mooney is the best source.
MOONEY, JAMES. MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE AND SACRED FORMULAS OF THE CHEROKEE.
CHARLES ELDER, BOOKSELLER.
GRAY, SAM. MYTHIC MAPS: CHEROKEE LEGENDS OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. MOUNTAIN
HERITAGE CENTER, WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY.
ULMER, MARY AND BECK, SAMUEL. CHEROKEE COOKLORE . PUBLISHED BY MARY AND GOINGBACK
CHILTOSKY, 1951. MUSEUM OF CHEROKEE INDIAN.
JOURNAL OF THE CHEROKEE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. CHEROKEE, NC 28719 . Periodical .
Sometimes interesting, sometimes boring accounts of Cherokee life and
history, almost always by white academics.
WHITE SETTLERS: HISTORY ANO CU L
TURE
CAMPBELL, JOHN C. THE SOUTHERN HIGHLANDER AND HIS HOMELAND. UNIVERSITY PRESS OF
KENTUCKY .
KEPHART, HORACE. OUR SOUTHERN HIGHLANDERS . UNIVERSITY OF TN PRESS
LOVINS, CLIFFORD R. OUR MOUNTAIN HERITAGE. MOUNTAIN HERITAGE CENTER, WESTERN
CAROLINA UNIVERSITY.
PARRIS, JOHN. ROAMING THE MOUNTAINS ; MY MOUNTAINEERS, MY PEOPLE; THESE STORIED
MOUNTAINS. A good storyteller and knowledgeable"""'ibout the mountains, if
you can get through his descriptive verbiage .
VAN NOPPEN, JOHN AND INA. WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA SINCE THE CIVIL WAR. APPALACHIAN
CONSORTIUM PRESS.
WIGGINTON, ELIOT, ed. THE FOXFIRE BOOK and FOXFIRE 2-6. ANCHOR PRESS/DOUBLEDAY.
The famous interview series on mountain culture.
SEEING
BERRY, WENDELL. THE WHEEL (poems) ; FARMING:~ HANDBOOK : THE COUNTRY OF
MARRIAGE
CARTER, FORREST. THE EDUCATION OF LITTLE TREE. DELACORTE PRESS.
A young boy learns from his Cherokee grandparents in East Tennessee.
DILLARD, ANNIE. PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK. HARPER'S MAGAZINE PRESS.
PORTER, ELIOT (PHOTOS) AND ABBEY, EDWARD (TEXT). APPALACHIAN WILDERNESS .
BALLANTINE BOOKS. NEW YORK, 1973.
POLITICS
ASKINS, JOHNSON, LEWIS, editors . COLONIALISM IN MODERN AMERICA: THE APPALACHIAN
CASE.
EMERGING 810REGIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS
THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN RESOURCE CATALOG. PUBLISHED 1980-82 . AVAILABLE NOW
IN LIBRARIES OF WNC AREA.
autunn 1983
�FOLKS IN THE OZARKS HAVE BEEN MEETING AS
A BIOREGIONAL CONGRESS EACH YEAR FOR THE
LAST THREE YEARS. OTHER BIOREGIONAL CONGRESSES AROUND OUR CONTINENT ARE BEGINNING TO CONVENE AS WELL. IN FACT, THERE
IS EVEN GOING TO BE A NORTH AMERICAN BIOREGIONAL CONGRESS IN SPRING OF 1984 TO
BRING TOGETHER ALL OF THESE CONGRESSES.
WHY ARE THESE CONGRESSES HAPPENING AND
WHAT ARE THEY ABOUT? WELL, FIRST OF ALL,
BIOREGIONAL BOUNDARIES ARE CLEARLY DIFFERENT THAN POLITICAL BOUNDARIES.WHEN YOU
BEGIN TO THINK BIOREGIONALLY, YOU BEGIN
TO HONOR WHOLE PROCESSES THAT SURROUND
YOU. YOU CANNOT CUT OFF A MOUNTAIN RANGE
JUST BECAUSE IT HAPPENS TO EXTEND INTO
ANOTHER STATE; NOR CAN YOU SAY THAT YOU
CAN FORGET WHAT HAPPENS DOWN RIVER BECAUSE IT HAPPENS TO BE UNDER OTHER'POLITICAL JURISDICTION'. IN OTHER WORDS,
BIOREGIONAL BOUNDARIES INCLUDE "WHOLE
SYSTEMS" AND HONOR THE NATURAL, ECOLOGICAL "LEGAL" SYSTEM THAT IS ALREADY
FUNCTIONING.
BIOREGIONAL CONGRESSES A.lIB INFORMAL LEGISLATIVE BODIES WHICH HAVE 'CROPPED UP',
SO TO SPEAK, WITHIN THEIR RESPECTIVE BIOREGIONS. A MAIN PURPOSE OF A BIOREGIONAL
CONGRESS IS TO REFLECT WITHIN THE HUMAN
CONSCIOUSNESS/CULTURE THE WIDER "BIOLEGAL" STRUCTURE THAT EXISTS IN THAT BIOREGION; IN OTHER WORDS, TO TRANSLATE INTO HUMAN TERMS THE ECOLOGICAL LEGAL SYSTEM WHICH IS ALREADY FUNCTIONING IN THAT
BIOREGION.
ANOTHER PURPOSE OF A BIOREGIONAL CONGRESS
IS TO FACILITATE THE ADAPTATION--INTEGRATION--INTER-FACING OF THE HUMAN CULTURE
INTO THE WIDER BIO-SYSTEM. HERE THE EMPHASIS IS ON "SUSTAINABILITY". ARE HUMAN
PRACTICES THERE --ECONOMIC, SPIRITUAL,
SOCIAL,ETC.-- ALLOWING FOR OR CONTRIBUTING TO THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE BIOREG- ION.
THE FOLKS IN THE OZARKS WHO CONVENE EACH
YEAR AS THE OZARK AREA COMMUNITY CONGRESS
(O.A.C.C.) HAVE BEGUN TO EVOLVE A VIABLE
PROCESS FOR "CONGRESSING". THEY HAVE FIRST
IDENTIFIED ALL THE VARIOUS ASPECTS IN THE
BIOREGION WHICH THEY CONSIDER TO BE SIGNIFICANT. HAVING IDENTIFIED THESE ASPECTS,
THEY , THEN, HAVE SET UP ELEVEN PERMANENT
STANDING COMMITTEES TO ADDRESS THESE INDIVIDUAL ASPECTS AND TO CAUCUS DURING
EACH CONGRESS. THE ELEVEN COMMITTEES ARE
AS FOLLOWS : APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY
ENVIRONMENTAL/ECOLOGICAL
COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS
COMMUNITIES/ALTERNATIVE LAND TENU
AGRICULTURE/DIRECT MARKETING
BIOREGIONAL/ECOLOGICAL POLITICS
ENERGY/RENEWABLE RESOURCES
HEALTH
EDUCATION/NETWORKING/COMMUNICATION
PEACE/HUMAN RIGHTS
SAFE ENERGY
KAT6AH -
page 14
autunn 1983
�EACH REPRESENTATIVE ATTENDING THE CONGRESS
IS ASKED TO JOIN ONE OF THE ELEVEN STANDING
COMMITTEES AND TO CAUCUS WITH THAT COMMITTEE DURING THE CONGRESSIONAL SESSION. THE
COMMITTEES MEET SEVERAL TIMES DURING THE
FOUR-DAY SESSION OF THE CONGRESS --DOING
INTENSIVE NETWORKING, INFORMATION-SHARING,
AND PLANNING WHAT THEY WILL DO AS A GROUP
FOR THE COMING YEAR.
A MAJOR FUNCTION FOR EACH STANDING COMMITTEE IS TO DRAFT A SET OF RESOLUTIONS -WHICH ACT AS A PERMANENT GUlDELINE FOR
THAT COMMITTEE'S DIRECTION. TOWARDS THE
END OF THE CONGRESSIONAL SESSION , THE RESOLUTIONS ARE THEN BROUGHT TO THE FULL CONGRESS IN PLENARY SESS ION AND ARE REVIEWED
AND RATIFIED . TAKEN AS A WHOLE THE BODY OF
RESOLUTIONS FROM THE ELEVEN MAJOR COMMITTEES THEN FORMS THE CONSTITUTION/MISSION
STATEMENT FOR THE CONGRESS.
THROUGH ITS CONSTITUTION , THE CONGRESS-BY IDENTIFYING THE MAJOR AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BIOREGION -- HOPES TO PROVIDE
A "ONE-TO-ONE CORRESPONDENCE" TO THE ACTUAL
BIOREGION, IN ORDER TO ACKNOWLEDGE ITS COMPLEXITY AND INTERWOVENESS AND, THEREFORE,
TO CONSCIOUSLY PLAN FOR ITS SUSTAINABILITY.
IN OTHER WORDS , THE CONGRESS HOPES TO
"MIRROR" THE BIOREGION.
THE REPRESENTATIVES WHO ATTEND THE CONGRESS
ARE MAINLY PEOPLE FROM THE BIOREGION WHO
ARE ALREADY INVOLVED IN THE "SUSTAINABILITY" OF THE BIOREGION IN SOME WAY --EITHER
THROUGH THE ARTS, THE ENVIRONMENT, THE
REGIONAL ECONOMY,ETC . THE CONGRESS IS NOT
"JUST ONE MORE THING TO DO" -- IT IS A WAY
OF LETTING PEOPLE WHO ARE ALREADY WORKING
ON PARTICULAR ISSUES OR IN SPECIFIC AREAS
SEE HOW THEY ' FIT IN' TO THE WIDER PICTURE
OF SUSTAINING THE BIOREGION AND TO RENEW
THEIR SENSE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THEIR PERSONAL ACTION .
IN THE YEAR BETWEEN CONGRESSES, THE STANDING COMMITTEES MAY MEET PHYSICALLY , OR JUST
MAINTAIN COMMUNICATION BETWEEN MEMBERS , OR
DO NOTHING AT ALL. THEIR DEGREE OF ORGANIZATION IS ENTIRELY SELF-DETERMINING AND DEVELOPS OVER A PERIOD OF YEARS. O.A.C.C.
FEELS THAT IT IS KEY THAT THE CONGRESS DEVELOP IN A NON-FORCED, ORGANIC WAY -- THAT
THERE NOT BE STRONG EXPECTATIONS LAID ON
THE CONGRESS OR ITS COMMITTEES IN ITS FIRST
YEARS. THE METAPHOR IS THAT OF Ni\TURAL
AND ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES: LET IT UNFOLD,
REMEMBERING THAT THE BIOREGIONAL CONGRESS
MODEL IS NOT BASED ON "HUMAN LAW" AND
HUMAN PRIORITIES BUT RATHER ON THE WIDER
RHYTHMS.
THE VARIOUS BIOREGIONAL CONGRESSES ON
THIS CONTINENT AND THOSE BEGINNING IN
EUROPE ARE EMERGING BECAUSE THE STANDARD
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES, BOTH REGIONALLY
AND NATIONALLY, ARE NOT TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THIS REALITY OF WHOLE, INTERDEPENDENT SYSTEMS NOR ARE THEY TAKING ON THE
TASK OF SUSTAINING OUR ECOLOGICAL, CULTURAL INFRASTRUCTURE. THESE EMERGING BIOREGIONAL CONGRESSES ARE PROVIDING A MEANS
FOR HEALING AND RE-NEWING THE BODY POLITIC,
IN ITS TRUE SENSE. THROUGH THESE CONGRESSES,
WE HUMANS CAN AGAIN ALIGN OURSELVES WITH
THE FORCES THAT ALLOW THIS PLANET TO
EXIST.
dltawn 61Wm c.onveJt6a..Uon6 wlth Vav.ld Hae.nke.
HERE IS A LIST OF BIOREGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS,
BOTH EXISTING ONES AND THOSE IN FORMATION:
OZARK AREA COMMUNITY CONGRESS , O.A.C.C. O.A. C. C., Box 129, Drury, Missouri 65638. Thia Congress meets in the fall of each year. Bioregionaliata from other areas are welcome to attend. O.A. C.C.
is also spearheading t he co-ordination of the upcOIDing North Amer ican Bioregional Congress .
THE GREAT LAKES BIOREGIONAL CONGRESS G.L.B.C. , Box 24 , Old Mission, Michigan 49673. Thia
Congress is now being formed and plans to hold its
first congress in October ('83).
OCOOH AREA COHMUNITY CONGRESS OCOOH, c/o Spark Burwiaater, Rt.l, Box 77A, Chaseburg
Wisconsin 54621. This Congress is now organizing and
may hold a Congress this fall ('83).
NEW YORK STATE BIOREGIONAL CONGRESS -
c/o Alan Casline/ROOTDRINKER, Box 864, Sarasota
Springs , New York 12866. Thia Congress is now
forming and is planning for a Congress to be held
July 4, 1984.
KANSAS AREA WATERSHED COUNCIL, KAW KAW, 816 Mississippi St, Lawrence, Kansas 66044.
Thia Congress formed in Kay, 1982. A Congress is
scheduled for tbJ.s fall ( '83).
O. S.INTERIOR PACIFIC NORTHWEST c/o Michael Pilarski, Friends of the Trees Society
Box 1064, Tonasket, Washington 98855 . A bioregional gathering is being planned for this winter ('83).
SOUTHERN APPALACHIA BIOREGION c/o KATUAH, Rt . 2 Box 132, Leicester, NC 28748.
A strong bioregional consciousness is coming out
of this area. A new bioregional journal KATUAH
will be published quarterly, beginning i~
fall ('83). There is also interest in forming a
Congress for the area .
U.S.SOOTHEAST c/o Southern Onity Network/Renewable Energy Projects (SUNREP) P.O.Box 10121, Knoxville,TN 37919 .
SUNR!P organized the Southeastern Connections Conference which was held in August '82 and was cosponsored by over 77 organizations in the Southeast. This conference included vorbhops on bioregional organizing. SUNREP offers to help facilitate people in the Southeast to s et up bioregional organizations in their area.
COLORADO PLATEAU Southwest Bioregional Congress, 227 Eas t Coronado,
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 . A Southwest Bioregional Congress is in the process of being formed. A
Congress was scheduled for fall ' 83, but has been
postponed.
OHIO RIVER BASIN Ohio River Basin Information Service (ORBIS) c/o
Sunrock Farm, 103 Gibson Lane, Wilder, KY 41076.
The Ohio River Basin Information Service has been
formed to facilitate bioregional awareness in this
vast watershed .
TENNESSEE BIOREGIONS c/o Louise Gorenflo, editor , Tennessee Organic Growe r, Route 6 Box 526, Crossville, TN 38555. Bioregional consciousness is being developed in this area
and a bioregional gathering is being planned.
INTERNATIONAL
THAMES VALLEY BIOREGION c/o Mark ltinzley, 7 Gayshaa Avenue, Cants Hill ,
Ilford, Essex IG2 6TB England. A bioregional
organization is beginning to form in London.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IM LEARNING
MORE ABOUT BIOREGIONAL CONGRESSES
OR IN HELPING TO FORM A CONGRESS
FOR OUR SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BIOREGION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Marnie Mulle r c/o KATUAH
Rt.2 Box 132, Leicester,NC 28748
RNIE MULLER
autum 1983
KATdtw -
page 15 '
�" TheJte. ne.e.d.6 to be. Continent Con91tu6
that the.
occ.upa~
6.inai.1.tj become
60
06 Nollth Ame.JU.ca can
.inhabUa~
LEARN TO BUILV A LCXll-COST, FUEL-EFFICIENT
FINNISH MA.SONRV WOOV-HEATER
and frind out
whVte the.IJ Me.•• Th-U ti.me Con91tu6 iA
a veJtb •.. Cong1tu6, come togetheJt. Come
togetheJt with the continent. "
- PeteJt Be.Ilg, 7976
THE NORTH AMERICAN BIOREGIONAL
CONGRESS ( NABC ) IS SCHEDULED TO
BE HELD IN MAY, 1984 IN THE NORTHERN OZARKS. IT WILL
BE THE FIRST MAJOR CONVENING OF THE CONTINENTAL BIOREGIONALIST MOVEMENT AND WILL INCLUDE THOSE WORJ<ING
IN 'GREEN POLITICS' AND FOR SUSTAINABILITY, IN GENERAL,AS WELL AS NATIVE TRIBES AND ORGANIZATIONS.
A HANDS-ON
CONSTRUCTION
WORKSHOP wU:h
an in-depth 1teview 06
it.6 contJt.a-ntow duign
pll.inciptu
SEPT.16-18, 1983
Workshop leader:
Tom Trout
FOR THE EXPERIENCED
AND INEXPERIENCED
SINCE 1981 WHEN A RESOLUTION WAS PASSED BY O.A.C.C.II
ALIKE
(OZARK AREA COMMUNITY CONGRESS) CALLING FOR A NORTH
AMERICAN BIOREGIONAL CONGRESS, INDIVIDUALS AND ORGAN- Thi6 week-end wo1tfuhop
IZATIONS HAVE BEEN WORJ<ING TOWARDS CO-ORDINATING THIS
6e.atWle both a
CONGRESS.
1tev.lew 06 the F.lnn.i.6h
Ma.6onlllj He.ateJt du.lgn
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN YOUR ORGANIZATION BECOMING
A CO-SPONSOR FOR THIS CONGRESS OR IF YOU WANT TO PART- M well. M the hand.6on con.6.tlw.ct.ion 06 it
ICIPATE IN CO-ORDINATING THIS CONGRESS, CONTACT:
---at Long Bllanch EnTHE BIOREGIONAL PROJECT/N.A.B.C.
v.i.Jr.onmentai. Education
BOX 129
CenteJt.
DRURY, MO 65638
rwt
--~:::c;;:CCI
P.-.-n--.:::=~-
I.ONG BRANCH
t:N\?IRONMl:NTAl
t:OUCATJON
Cf:NTt:R
Rl'ul.z 2. Box 132
1..ek:es\er. N .C . 28748
INFORMATION
683-3662
PLANET DRUM BOOKS
Planet Drum Foundation is dedicated to the vision
of communities living within the natural cycles and
energy flows of their particular bioregion-in the city
or in the country-as conscious participants in the biosphere. Many people and a growingnumberofcommunities have adopted a bioregional stan~-they
retnhabit their regions, they choose to Uve-inplace and intend to restore and maintain that
place in the planetary web of life.
HOW ABOUT YOU?
We foster and report the bioregional
movement. and relate It to devolution,
Native American issues and dec:entralism
in Raile tlw Stoia, a trl-annual review.
We network amon1 emerpnt bioreg·
Iona I sroups to provide needed information. reference to expertise and contacts with potential memben and other groups.
Planet Drum Foundation memben
set Roi# tlw Stalra.
Planet/ Drum "Bundle1"
and publications from Planet Drum Books. We
respond to requests for information and
contacts. and consider memben as
bioresional correspondents. Membership
also helps support our efforts to achieve recognition for bioregions and create a reinhabitory society.
Yearly Membenldp/115
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We invite you to join the Planet Drum circle.
D S15 regular membership (one year)
Help us help your bioregional ettorts
Name ··- _ _
-~
Addn·'~
(1!\
Zip
BOX 31251 SAN FRANCISCO. CALIFORNIA. 94131 USA
• Rrlnhabiling a Srparatr
Country: A Bloregional Anthol·
OJ.!!/ of Northern California.
editt'<i hy Peter Berg. 220 pages.
E~ay,, natural history, biographies, poem~ and stories re\·ealing Northern Co&lifomia as a di.~
tinct area of the planetary biosphere. SS postpaid.
• Devolutionary Note1 by
Michael Zwerln. 64 pages. A fir~t
hand account or European M>parati~t movements today. S3.50
postpaid.
• Eco-Derf'ntrali.st Dmgn: A 3.
,·olume set including Figura of
Regulation: Guides for Re-Bala ncing Society with Thr Biosphere by Peter Berg; Toward a
Bioregional Model: Clearing
Ground for Watershed Planning
by George Tukel; and Reinhabiting Cities and Towns: Delignlng
for Swtainability by John Todd
with Geori~e Tukel. 98 pages
complete. Critical preliminary
readings for intentional bioregional planning. $10 postpaid.
• Bloreglons: Winter l 981 / 2,
issue 132 or CoEvolution Quar·
terly. Guest edited by Peter Bertt
and Stephanie Mills. 144 pages.
Murra)' Bookchin on social ecology, Jan Morris, Gary Snyder,
and Peter Berg with essays on
de\'olution and the Fourth
World. Jerry Mandt>r. Winona
La Dukt•, \\'t"' Jac-kson and Paul
I la" kt•n art' amon2 othl'f'i "ho
l'ontrih11tt• tu thi' il'.,•1t·. R<·1l<1rt'
on tlw South"t"t. Gre:.11 Plain\.
'1:11rtl1 \\ 11e11k ,111d :\la,k.t in tht•
l ' ~.A. ~4 l''"tpaid
BUNDLES
• Rur l..lm111 Tiie Rm kir\. A \IX·
p.ut l\11ndl1· of l"-\a\·s. p0t•m,.
j1111rnak c·alt·ndar' and prnpmah
ahout tht• fral!ilt Rock' ~toun
tain,. $4 po\lllaid.
PLEASE CUT AND MAIL IN TODAYi .
.
~
- page 16
autam 1983
�ALTERNATJVES
TO ECONOMJCS
SUSTAINABILITY OF OUR BIOREGION IS INTIMATELY BOUNV TO
OUR ABILITY TO RE-CONCEPTUALIZE OUR ECONOMIC SYSTEM. WE
AS A CULTURE NEEV JO GET OURSELVES BACK ON AN EVEN KEEL
WITH OUR ENVIRONMENT BY FIGURING OUT HOW TO INTEGRATE
OUR HUMAN ECONOMIC SYSTEM INTO THE WIVER 'PRIMARY ECONOMIC SYSTEM' OF THE BIOSPHERE. RIGHT NOW OUR HUMAN
ECONOMIC SYSTEM IS OPERATING OFF-BALANCE BECAUSE IT
VOES NOT REFLECT THE ACTUAL ENERGY INPUT-OUTPUT THAT
IS OCCURING ANV BECAUSE IT EXTERNALIZES A PORTION OF
ITS BASIC COSTS OUTSIVE OF ITS BUVGETING SYSTEM.
A GOOV TEXT TO REAV ON THIS SUBJECT IS HAZEL HENVERSON'S
THE POLITICS OF THE SOLAR AGE: ALTERNATIVES TO ECONOMICS
(Ancho~ Book'6~, 1981). THIS VERY REAVABLE BOOi<°IS ACTUALLY A TREATISE ON REFORMULATING ECONOMICS --HlXAJ TO SHIFT
"FROM ECONOMIES THAT MAXIMIZE PROVUCTION ANV ARE BASEV
ON NONRENEWABLE RESOURCES, TO ECONOMIES THAT MINIMIZE
WASTE, RECYCLE EVERYTHING, MAXIMIZE RENEWABLE RESOURCES,
ANV ARE MANAGE'O FOR SUSTAINEV-YIELV PROVUCTIVITY".(p. 81
HENVERSON APPROACHES THE QUESTION OF RE-CONCEPTUALIZING
ECONOMICS FROM A PLANETARY PERSPECTIVE, BUT HER "MEASURING STICKS" CAN WORK ON A BIOREGIONAL LEVEL, AS WELL.
FOR OUR BIOREGION, WE CAN BEGIN TO ASK THESE KEY QUESTIONS:
If the economic system in the bioregion is considered to be efficient/beneficial/productive, FOR
WHOM is it efficient/beneficial/productive and OVER
WHAT PERIOD OF TIME is this being judged?
-Since no system is value-free, what are the
VALUES inherent in our EXISTING economic system?
In terms of scale, what is the best scale to
use when the variables of RENEWABLE ENERGY, FULL EMPLOYMENT and ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY are being
considered?
RE-CONCEPTUALIZING ECONOMICS FOR OUR BIOREGION MEANS
THAT WE BEGIN TO KEENLY EXAMINE THE PRACTICES OF OUR
CULTURE TO SEE IF THEY REFLECT OUR TRUE VALUES ANV TO
SEE IF THEY ARE IN SYNCHRONICITY WITH THE WIVER ECOSYSTEM. WE NEEV TO STUVY A WIVE VARIETY OF PRACTICES
INCLUVING: BANKING PRACTICES; BUILVING COVES; FOOVPROVUCTION; TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS; SOIL ANV WATER
CONSERVATION; HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS; RESEARCH SECTOR;
MARKffiNG SYSTEMS; GOVERNMENTAL BUVGET PRIORITIES;
ANV SO ON.
,,
KATUAH WOULO LIKE TO PROVIVE A FORUM FOR THOSE OF
US IN THIS AREA WHO ARE PARTICULARLY INTERESTEV IN
RE-CONCEPTUALIZING ECONOMICS FOR OUR AREA. IF YOU
ARE INTERESTEV IN RESEARCHING A SPECIFIC AREA OF
THIS ISSUE OR IN WRITING AN ARTICLE OR IN SHARING
IVEAS, PLEASE LET US KNOOJ.~
- MARNIE MULLER, A..lteJtna;t,lve Econom.i.C.6
,,
EditoJr.
KATUAH, Rt. 2 Box. 132, LeicuteJL, NC
FROM POLITICS OF THE SOLAR AGE:
ALTERNATIVES TO ECONOMICS
Hazel Henderson • • ••••. • • • ••
'
v ..
'
. .
'~ -. ··
'
•.
l!n··
. ff il
~.
"The task for all of us committed to these
social-change movements (human rights, corporate accountability, economic justice, ~onsumer
and environmental protection, holistic health,
appropriate technologies and those promoting
stmple living, personal growth, and greater
awareness of the interdependence of the human
family on this blue planet) is to see that
we a.te. 011e. coa.Lltlort in the larger politics of
reconceptualization . Together we must demystify today's counterfeit priesthood of •puppet•
leaders, and map and align our own energies
with these larger-field forces and the energies
that, in reality, drive our planet: the daily
solar flux, which in turn drives our planetary
weather system; the cycles of oxygen, of nitrogen, and of hydrogen, and the plant photosyntbeais that is our ~ e.collOm.i.c 4114tem•••••••••
• • • we can see ourselves and our diverse socialchange activities as part of a living orchestration, generating larger patterns, out of which
grow new paradigms of knowledge, policy, and
personal behavior.•
• •• For many of us, activities in various movements for social change have helped us understand our own and each other's inner space and
to tap the deeply coded knowledge of the creation. This inner/outer search provides a base
for healing the body politic. Some of us, in
the environmental movement for example, began
with the objective manifestations of human
pathology or, as in my case, with diagnosing
the pathology of economics . Now we are coming
together in a growing coalition with the potential for 'wholing' ourselves 111td recycling our
culture.•
"Farmers have always understood what
sustained-yield productivity means -now we have to teach it to economists."
"When asked for advice by the U.S.State
Department concerning the formulas that
economics might develop, my response was
that the economic method was entirely
inappropriate, since economic models do
not take account of bio-productivity,
the requirement for diversity in ecosystems. the widely differing approaches
to production and consumption in each
culture and value system as lte.60WtCe.6 ••• "
28748
autmJn
1983
f
KA'lUNI - page 17
\
�CONTIMIED FROM PAc.£ 8
(preferably nylon screens) suspended a few
The apple tree, like most of us who call
ourselves American, is not native to the
feet above your wopd stove or oth~r heat
source. The drying usually takes three days
Americas. Some crab apples are an exception,
to a week. During warm, dry weather
but the apple tree actually originated in
(a rarity in the Appalachains) apples can
Persia although it had been cultivated in
Europe for at least 2000 years before it
be sun-dried, but they must be taken inside
every night to protect them from the dew.
was brought to the New World. Despite its
Traditionally, people who were preparing
foreign origins, no tree has contributed
more to America than the apple tree . Besides
apples for the market peeled them to make
the vinegars and tonics , it's given us apple
a more refinerl product. However. this is not
necessar y, especially if the apples have not
jack, apple brandy, apple wine and apple
been sprayed.
cider ; there's apple jelly, apple sauce,
The art of preserving fresh-eating apples
apple butter, apple cake and pie; and
l\'\Cr't-,
nowadays has been relegated to the relm of
don't forget apple leather (broiled and
horticultural science and refrigeration
dried apples), candy apples, baked apples,
engineering. Modern storage houses are vaporscalloped apples, apple grunter and apple crisp
sealed and have massive refrigeration systems
that maintain a constant temperature of 31 F.
and a relative humidity of at least 85% .
However, the-old-time methods of storing
apples are still worth knowing, not only
because they may be of use to those who
might like to store a few bushels of apples
for home use but also because they demonstrate
a creative relationship with the enviornment
app~.
and a sensitivity to nature that is disappearing from our modern world.
Eor· th~ person versed in the art of applestoring, the first thing to consider is the
hase of the moon. As Theron tells it ,"keeping"
apples are best picked on the "down side"
of the moon (yhen it is waning). During this
phase, any bruises that occur will most likely
dry up and not ruin the apple. However, if
you make hard cider or home brew, you'd best
make it during the "comin' up" of the moon,
since things "work" or ferment better as the
on is waxing.
Next you must choose a good keepingapple variety. Winter Johns and HardThere are apple toys like apple-faced
enings are the favorites in our area .
dolls and apple games like bobbing for
The apples are picked carefully, each
apples. Appl e wood is prized wherever
apple lifted upward to snap off the
a hard, fine- gr a ined wood i s called for.
stem. If it is pulled so that the stem
In colonial days, it was used for marips out of the apple , decay can soon
chinery, particularly cogs, wheels and
ruin it. In colonial days two men, a
shuttles. Even the apple tree bark can
picker and a packer, harvested each tree
be used as a vegetable dye to give vivid
with gloved hands . The picker handed
golds and yellows.
two apples at a time down to the packer
Jonathan Chapman, better known as
who carefully laid the apples in straw
Johnny Appleseed, said, " Nothing gives
on a sled. (A sled juggled and bumped
more yet asks less in r eturn than a tree,
less than a wagon or a wheelbarrow.)
particularly the appl e."
When loaded, the sled was skidded over
Whenever you roam the hills and the
hay to the packing cellar.
hollows of the Appalachians and come upon
The apples were then stored in cellars .
an apple tree, stop and look around . You
In Vermont and Connecticut where there
will probably see others as well and
was ready access to quarries, some apple
perhaps some ancient rose bushes, lilacs
cellars actually had marble shelves to
or other cultivated plants. Nearby, you
keep the fruit cold and dry. Sometimes
may see the ruins of an old cabin, perhaps
they even had windmills that operated
no more than the fallen chimney and a
fans inside them to keep the air moving.
depression i n the ground that marks the
Noah Webster recommended packing apples
cellar where many an apple was stored.
in heat-dried sand . Others used grain
Living in the space age, it is difficult
pr dry straw. Sometimes really special
_
for most of us to understand the richness
apples were hung "by their tails" (stems) ~-~ ~- 7 -~
as well as the hardships of that kind of
from the cellar 's rafters. One favorite ~ -:::;../
l lfe. Other than reading a little history,
down-home Appalachian apple sot rehouse
~'=:--:::;-~ - "
listening to the music and the s tories of
is a hollow chestnut stump. It is cleaned
the old-timers, there aren't many ways for
out, lined with dry leaves, filled with
us to get a flavor of the old times-unless
apples, covered with more dry leaves and
it's through the flavor of old-time apples.
some slabs of bark to shed the rain .
Theron has also piled apples on the ground
and then covered them with a thick layer
Voug Elliott iA c.uJrJr.enti.y Uvi.ng i.n
of "loose blade fodder"-dried corn leaves8UIUt6 ville, N. C. • He iA well.-known
tied in bundles. This insulates the apples
i.n :the mounta..LM a.6 an heJLbai.iA:t a.nd
from severe cold, yet allows plenty of
a. hil.alti..olLA i,tolltj:telle.JL. He -l6 :the
air circulation. "They'll keep all winter,"
au:tholl 06 a. book, Root.6: An UndeJr.Theron says.
gJr.Ound Follag eJL' .s GUlde.
'Not~i" ~i'ffll,S
fet
lt7j
a7K7
m rtlur111
pdtrtt.<,tki~ r.!f
,,
tfw;
~
KA1UAH - page 18
autmn 1983
�WHAT IS THE ELEVATION OF THE PLACE WHERE YOU LIVE
WHAT IS THE GEOLOGICAL UNVERPINNINGS OF YOUR PLACE
?
?
HOW WAS IT FORMEV
?
TRACE THE ROUTE OF WATER FLOW FROM YOUR HOUSE TO THE OCEAN - -TRACE THE PATH OF THE ENERGY THAT POWERS YOUR HOME FROM ITS SOURCE TO YOU --FROM WHICH VIRECTIONS ARE THE SEASONAL PREVAILING WINVS IN YOUR AREA
?
NAME SEVEN COMMON TREES IN YOUR AREA --NAME SEVEN COMMON WILV ANIMALS IN YOUR AREA --NAME SEVEN VARIETIES OF BIRVS COMMON TO YOUR AREA - ARE THEY WINTER OR SUMMER
RESIVENTS ?
VO YOU TALK TO TREES
?
PLANTS
?
LIST FIVE CRITICAL ECOLOGICAL ISSUES IN YOUR AREA ---
· ·~ ~;;%;:.
.
~~~I!~~~
WHAT ANV WHERE IS THE CLOSEST NUCLEAR FACILITY TO YOU
?
WHAT ANV WHERE ARE THE LARGE INVUSTRIES NEAR YOU ?
A.) WHAT ARE THEIR WASTE PROVUCTS ? HOW ARE THEY TREATEV ?
8.) VO THEY SELL WITHIN OR OUTSIVE OUR BIOREGION, OR BOTH ?
WHAT IS THE POLICY OF YOUR LOCAL VUMP ON SALVAGE ANV RECYCLING
?
WHAT IS THE STORY BEHINV THE NAME OF YOUR LIVING PLACE ( cove, CJteek, town, etc. ) ?
We woui.d Uk.e yowr. JLupon.6 e and po.6.6-i.ble .6k.e.tchu t.o the tJAJO qu.ution.6
below. Plea.6 e mail. to: Katuah, P.O.Box 873, Cu.Uotdtee, N.C. 28723.
WHAT IS THE TOTEM CREATURE FOR OUR REGION ? ( That -U, the CJtea.twr.e that
by at; wU.qu.enu.6, at; ,impo!Lta.nce to the na:tu.lta.l ecology, oil at; pJLevalence
but expJLU.6U the. .6p.i.Jr1;t 06 owr. aJLea - example.: Pac-i..6-i.c. Nold.hwut - .6a.lmon I
WHAT IS THE TOTEM PLANT FOR OUR REGION
? (
example.: Ozallk. Mou.nta-i..n6 - oak )
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _l_ _ _I
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
......... ,,,.•
A..
.....
I
-=-
I
~ ~
........
11.....
•
lll&P..."llli
....1p•11•u-1. , :"°'.
--
I
I
I
111111.'llll
...........
~-Wmrpml belt representin3 the fonnation of the Il:oquoian League with design meaning "one heart for all the nations. n
--------------------------------------------
autumn 1983
IOOU'AH _ page 19
/
�_Q:O:oo~®.oQ....oc.Qo_~_.o-~.oo-or~
REmIABITATIOO
••• IT IS TI ME TO RETURN HOME . .. TO LI VE AS ~
NATIVE PEOPLES OF THIS AREA, MAKING OUR LIVING BY SKI LL ANV ~
ATTUNEMENT TO THIS PLACE, AJJIARE ANV SENSITIVE TO ITS
CHANGES, LIVING SO ITS CHANGES REALLY MATTER ..• RATHER THAN
LIVING IN ONE PLACE ANV SUPPORTING OURSELVES BY EXPLOITING
J:l
THE RESOURCES OF SOMEWHERE ELSE, IT IS TIME TO ROOT OUR
~
LIVES HERE ••• TO SHARE THI~ PLACE WITH TffE LIVING BEINGS
1--J
WHO SHARE IT WITH US...
~
SUSTAINABILITY
... THE LEVEL AT WHICH A BIOREGION CAN
CONTINUE TO PROVUCE WITH INTEGRITY ... MEETING OUR FOOV, WATER ANV ENERGY VEMANVS FROM WITHIN OUR OWN AREA BY TECHNIQUES APPROPRIATE TO THAT AREA ... SHAPING OUR VE
MANVS TO THE
ABILITY OF OUR REGION TO PROVIVE .•. "LIVING FOR THE SEVENTH
GENERATION OF OUR CHILVREN'S CHILVREN"...
g
JJ:
tl
Li
D
~
P.
••• "A VOMICILE ••• LJALLS OF HILLS OR MOUNTAINS, A
FLOOR OF A RIVER OR A LAKE, A ROOF OF RAINCLOUVS . .. CLOUVS ~ ·
PART WITH RAIN WHICH FALLS ANV EROVES THE WALLS INTO THE
AQUEOUS FLOOR WHICH EVAPORATES BACK INTO THE CLOUV R OF ...
O
THE WATER CIRCLE/CYCLE FORMS A BIO-SPHERE"...
N
(Pe.tell Wa11..6ha.U.)
l'1
WATEBSHED
0
ECOLOGICAL LA/JI OF THE BIOSPHERE AS
~
EXPRESSEV IN THE FORCE OF THE FOUR ELEMENTS - EARTH, WATER, ~
FIRE, ANV AIR - IN MOTION ••• THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THESE
ELEMENTS VEFINEV AS LIFE-FORMS , OF WHICH THE HUMAN SPECIES IS ONLY ONE AMONG MANY .•. GREEN LA/JI: BEAUTIFUL, VISPASSIONATE, INEXORABLE, RUTHLESS, ANV TOTALLY JUST...
~
"GREEN IM"
••• THE
~
••• A COUNCIL MEETING OF THE BIOTIC
~
A GOVERNMENT, BUT ITS NATURAL ALTERNATIVE •••
HERE ALL ARE REPRESENTEV, BE THEY CLOUVS, ROCK, SOIL,
PLANTS , ANIMALS, TREES, OR PEOPLE ... WHERE CONSENSUS IS
SOUGHT ON THE ECOLOGICAL LAJJIS OF THE LANV AS WE REAV THEM
IN THE BIOREGION ANV THE LIFE THAT SURROUNVS US . .. WHERE
THE STEWARVS ANV CARETAVERS OF THE LANV VEVELOP STRATEGIES TO VEFENV AN1J PROTECT THE NATURAL ECOLOGY ANV TO
STRENGTHEN THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE NATURAL WORLV ...
BIOREX;IOOAL
COMMUNITY ... NOT
~
•• •"ALL THE THINGS OF THE WORLV ARE REAL, MATERIAL THINGS. THE CREATION IS A TRUE, MATERIAL PHENOMENON,
ANV THE CREATION MANIFESTS ITSELF THROUGH REALITY •.. THE
SPIRITUAL UNIVERSE, THEN, IS MANIFEST TO HUMANS AS THE
CREATION .. . (64om the Invoca.tion)
Appalachian Physiographic Provinces
MA? ME.D\TAT\ONS -- c.oNT!NUEO FROM PA•E II
LAND/LIFE/FORMS
WE CAN NEVER COMPREHENV HER, BUT WE CAN KN()il HER. VEEP
IN OUR EVERY CELL, VEEP IN THE SOUL O~ OUR BEING, THERE
CAN AJJIAKEN AN AFFINITY FOR THE LANV SO THAT ONE MOVES
INSTINCTIVELY TO HER RHYTHMS, KNOWS WHERE TO FINV VEER
OR GINSENG, KNOWS WHEN IT WILL RAIN, KNOWS HOW TO
SPEAK TO MOUNTAINS.
••• OUR MOTHER GAIA, THE EARTH, SINGS TO US ••.
IN EVERY PLACE THE SONG IS VIFFERENT: BE IT STEEP, FORESTEV
MOUNTAINS: WIVE, FLAT PLAINS; OR PALM TREE BEACHES ... EACH
EXPRESSION IS UNIQUE ANV REQUIRES A UNIQUE RESPONSE IN THE
THIS IS NATIVENESS. THIS CAN COME FROM GENERATIONS OF
ECONOMIC, CULTURAL, ANV SPIRITUAL LIFE OF THOSE HUMANS
LIVING IN THE SAME AREA, OR IT CAN BE CULTIVATEV BY
WHO ARE LISTENING ... THE PLACE, THE SONG, THE RESPONSE:
~ CONSCIOUSNESS ANV AWARENESS OF OUR RELATIONSHIP TO THE
THE BIOREGION...
~ LAN1J ANV HER WAYS ANV HOW WE LIFE OUR VAILY LIVES IN
HER PRESENCE .
BIOREGION
..n... cs-cro.QtrcJLL>®..o~_o:o_p_g_ :o:o::.o..~
a
''THE IDEA OF A BIOREGIONAL IS CULTURAL. IT DEFINES
BOTH A PLACE AND ADAPTIVE IDEAS ABOUT LIVING IN THAT
PLACE," SAYS PETER BERG OF THE PLANET DRUM FOUNDATION.
THE BIOREGION, AS WELL AS BEIN D
G EFINED B THE LAY OF
Y
THE LAND AND THE FORCE-FLOWS OF THE ELEMENTS, IS ALSO
IN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF ITS PEOPLE.
IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS, THOSE WHO LOOK TO THE MOUNTAINS TO SEE BEAUTY, THOSE WHO LOOK TO THE MOUNTAINS
FOR STRENGTH AND INSPIRATION, THOSE WHO DEFINE THEMSELVES IN THE MOUNTAINS' TERMS ARE ALL RIGHT THERE IN
THE MOUNTAIN BIOREGION.
THE BIOREGION DOES NOT HAVE TO BE ORGANIZED OR PROCLAIMED. IT IS ALREADY THERE, WAITING FOR US TO DISCOVER IT. IT IS A PROCESS BEGUN LONG AGO, WAITING
ONLY FOR US TO PLUNGE INTO ITS STREAM.
,P'
autum 1983
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FOR TH E I DEAS AND INFoRMATioN !.!il.:!;!: 1!¥.!!m;::~:~~
ABOUT BIOREGIONAL CONSCIENCE
ll{17:~;;tt;.1~~u~~tl~!~~:1
•t1•·-r1 Jt--ffll.,... -~.
THAT WE ARE TRYING TO BRING
~·!!ll~·1r~:rr~:.:.:!r:l:.~
FORTH IN KATt1AH TO BE SPREAD
~tfu~~j~;~:filf.4il~!fJ
FAR AND WIDE WITHIN THE REG:Ujtilf~JHl~~riE~:~}).!.j~
ION, WE NEED THE JOURNAL TO
~iif,lt;1m=.-1~~~-ni';tr.~1J
..... (1:•·l- ·-··l~:·.hl ...~
REACH AS WIDE A GROUP OF PEO- ~:.m!u;~~)jmi!;h.!.:::.i.:.;:
~ ... .!~~m1 1 !L!;!a:!:Cct:\r1
PLE AS POSSIBLE.
:!r.:;!;:t!,~:i~1!~!J·~~~rn~!•
: •r···~t"·J··~1~· , ... ,r
SEEKING THE ,;,~-ur.-·:li:ta :7!,Ji;~.!r~~
TO THIS END WE ARE
·
1 ~:~:;n...:....!-:;,·1:1t':;i.;;
SUPPORT OF OUR READERS IN DE- :~..t-~~:ti!:\!~j!~~!llj~?5i
VELOPING A REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM. IF YOU ARE INTER-mi.=ifoil~Bi:"..;~~~::
··· ··:t··-:::?l!~!f~:S.~t·
1
h;!§nil~filH;~ilii'!lli-
ESTED IN HELPING TO DISTRIBUTE
THIS JOURNAL IN YOUR AREA
,
BY
ILLING
PLEASE CONTACT us
F
... ,,..,·,,.,f, ..oi
r..:.F.f!i':!a-r• OUT T HE FORM BELOr.T
'".
· · ....... ·
:w.~~:~m;r.i.lli:!..~tn~:=
~m!;as;.·?~..!<~~:i !;-~hi
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...::,n,-.:--
[r.··f·'·ft~··· 1 c .......n . 1lt
':i;.~.{!i .• 1.~:.::~r~-:!~~
DISTRIBUTORS CONTRACT TO BUY THE JOURN~L AT THE
WHOLESALE PRICE. ALSO FOR EVERY 20 COPIES OF THE
JOURNAL THAT THEY SELL, DISTRIBUTORS GET ONE COPY
FREE TO SELL OR KEEP.
;t;j;
~.
~m·
1.?J
.. ,.
~ii
~-
THIS INCENTIVE IS TO ENCOURAGE DIRECT DISTRIBUTION :irt~
BECAUSE, AS WELL AS BEING A MEDIA COMMUNICATION,
THE JOURNAL IS A "TALKING TOOL" TO HELP INITIATE
DIALOGUE. IN FACT, IT WORKS BEST THAT WAY. THE
~~
STRONGEST CONNECTIONS ARE FACE-TO-FACE AND HEART- :J.::~j
fiiEl
;rn
···TO-HEART. PLAIN WORDS CARRY A STRONG MEANING THEN· ~ll!
PERHAPS YOU FEEL THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE
ABOUT KATUAH AND THE BIOREGIONAL IDEA IN GENERAL
so AS TO FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE DIALOGUING AND
FIELDING QUESTIONS FROM YOUR NEIGHBORS OR PEOPLE
ON THE STREET.
THIS IS WHY WE PROPOSE LOCAL MEETING GROUPS. THESE
ARE GROUPS OF PEOPLE IN EACH COUNTY OR CITY WHO
MEET TO TALK ABOUT BIOREGIONAL ISSUES IN GENERAL,
AND TO STUDY THEIR LOCAL HABITAT, IN PARTICULAR.
THEY GATHER STORIES OF UNIQUE PEOPLE AND PLACES IN
THEIR AREA AND SEND THEM TO THE JOURNAL. THEY
COALESCE INTO AN AFFINITY/ACTION GROUP IN CASE OF
AN ENVIRONMENTAL EMERGENCY.
THIS IS WHY THERE ARE ONLY I MEMBERS' AND NO I SUBSCRIBERS. TO KATUAH. THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM FOR
THIS JOURNAL WILLHOPEFULLY GROW INTO A PROCESS A DYNAMIC PROCESS OF INTERACTION, OPENING, AND
CHANGING ON ALL SIDES THAT WILL FOSTER A GROWING
AWARENESS OF WHAT Is AT STAKE FOR OUR LIVES AND THE
LAND IN THE DAYS TO COME INTERESTED? WRITE US, AND WE'LL EXPLAIN THE DISTRIBUTION PROCEDURE AND HOOK YOU UP WITH OTHERS
NEAR YOU WHO WANT TO GET INVOLVED. THESE ARE THE
TIMES!
U1.{
#
•
#
~-' about KA""·~Ah and a u.<..uueJtulA. uny
-': ', A~.,.
~
0,
0
loofU.liln a:t and Uv,lng wl:t.h theliind, they might al.-60 C1VVr..IJ
·~
h
nO
a c.ameJul and maybe a. .6maU ta.pe /[.eC'.oltdeJt. At:, t: ey .tlr.a.v~,
they .talk wlth people about Ka..tU.a.h, note thw JtUpon.6U,
and pellha.p-6 take thU!t p.i.c.tu.11.e. Fii.om t/W, ,lnteJr.c.hange
c.omu mateJLial.. 60/[. the next .U.6ue 06 the j 0wr.na.l. -- the
c.a.nclld though.t.6 and 6ee.li.ng.6 06 oUJr. ne-i.ghboJUi .
... ""he -v'LU. ~-v ..... "OV"" """"~-vAo,,,.~ ~ -v.. ""he ,...,"""- '\A.In ""'d agni"', .o\.l'i
.. ,... +e "":-e ~·
""L.elj
tW ""........,,
leaJLn the te.Jr.JIJU.n. They Lind .6topning "'""c.u: .the homu
06 new 61Llend6 wheJte they ft.ind a :;;;i.C'.c:;- whetheJr. 6Ji.om
old mountai.n 6olk.6, new age homuteade.JU,, 0/[. .60cia.l.
o.ct.lv.Uu Uv.ing ,ln a ~ a""'""'"... ent.
,,;-1-..
~...,..,,,
The ,,;,.A .. : .,. ,,.;d,, .. /··~01..,,,.~ IM.Q\...
..J:.,.,OV"" n""' mou~""ni .....:0.1_
~...., ..~ .....
'""-1',-v ....
,IA._... ~
0 An-'· nnd 6 ;.,.d "Ov"• "nd .. idgn• .,.L.A.,. •oon be"ome 0°-'
u.o """
"""'' '- ~ ""'
~ ""-nuA... ""
'-'.
Ao
• : .,. ""h
·
LJLle.nu.o. The Vta.v~M.6 J[.e.tuJul to V;(..6-v\.. ""- em '\.,. :- and aga..ut.
A,111e
o
Pe!Lha.fl6 they w.ill be 91Llded onto l.lttte-U.6ed tJw.il..6 that
they Vi.ample down and wlden by thw c.ontinued pa.6.611gU
.60 that t:hey }[.ema.in M r.ooi.fUng }[.OutU 60/[. othell.6 to 60.U.Ow
on thw own joUJr.netj.6 ,ln lateJr. ti.mu when people w.iU
enjoy r.ooi.ki..ng to the,Vr. du.ti.na.ti.on-6.
V.UVUbu:ti.ng KatUo.h c.ould be a new uny to .6ee OWl land
and heJL. people ClMe up.
AnotheJr. .6C'.ene: A 6am-U.y ta.ku Ka:t&.a.h to the c.ornrnunay
At:,
t hey CJVVr..y t he.
WO'W
0
'V ..
.(..U.
'V..
""""
.(..U..
'V\..
potlllc.k and .6eU up a ta.bte to hell. the joWtniJ..l to the.ilt
61Llend6 and ne,ighboJUi. "HeJte, ta.ke a. look. 16 you like U,
you c.a.n. butj .lt. )U.6t don, t .6p.i.U a.ny o6 tha:t g1U1vy on a,
now. Tell. me what you th..i.nk."
::µ:
~~
Olt p.i.dWte th,U,: The .60und 06 dlr.wn6 WU OVVl the bU.6tte
and din 06 the mountain 6a.ilt OJ[. CJLa6t .6how. People W.6t
ii~.~-_: OVeJt to a b!Li.gh:tty C'.Olo}[.ed booth ba.c.ked by a l<Vtge map 06
-··
the Ka,tilah mountai.n Me.a. TheJte they jo,ln people al.Jr.eady
i~~ da.nc..ing to the ciJw.m6 and c.hanting vo,lc.u, "Ka-tu-ah.
*~ Ka-tu-ah. II The .6ound6 JtLLn up and down thw .6p.i.nu,
~ij~; M.ng,lng deeply, open-ing .6e.cJLet pla.c.u c.lo.6ed by c.en.tWLiu
~ht: o6 c..i.v.illza:t..Um.
Hii±~ Then the mU-6,l('. -6.top.6 and .6omeone .6pe.a.k.6 b1Lle6ly .06 a bio~nm 11.eg,lonal 6u.tUJr.e ,ln KatJ.a.h. Thvr.e Me quu.tion-6 and an.6we!L6,
~·f\'{f. and .6ome n_innau'..nu Me .6old. The mU-6.lc. c.ontinuu. A .6eed
:..~!·-·!,n.
-:i
d -·--' b ·
.,.
_ • 06 ®Wi.enU.6 and c.omrrun.lttJ .U pla.nte u.na eg-<..n-6 "-o g}[.ow.
t~·~
~ij~ AnotheJr. ..<.de.a: Young people U.6ed to peddle nW6papeJL6 on
~&T ,,;-1-,, .6:t.1Leet.6 to make a Li.;t;Ue ex.tlul money. Tho.6e da.tj.6 may
f.!t~ b;bac.k, but now U' .6 .in the wl.de c.oMA..doJUi 06 hhopping
i:E~ rnali.li, a:t the c..i.v,lc. c.enteJt on c.onc.eJtt rr-ight, 0/[. maybe a:t
H~ a c.oun:tluj da.nc.e. 16 you know .60me !fOung 60.t.k.6 tha-t would
j~!?. .Uke to make ~ome money 6oJt them6e1.vu, Ka:tUa.h wil.t .6upply
~~~g the mga.z.i.nu.
!"(•--·
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t1~.•~!>.1.,,~., ,.,,~!~r!E!i:·~ ,· ···;J"····,~l.fl·,,,, .:.:!..!J. ····,···.' ·.!~:;! ......:.,.. !H.~ •• ,.......J ......, ',,· •!ll~•• ·;tr.. , , ......
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":!.
YES, I AM INTERESTED IN FINqING OUT
.:-cm.~~:
MORE ABOUT DISTRIBUTING KATUAH. I
·•·r··~~,1
UNDERSTAND THAT I CAN RECEIVE COPIES
•:,:-~:~.o.:
OF KATUAH AT THE WHOLESALE PRICE OF
r-Jfu-t~'.
$1.10 AND CAN SELL THEM AT THE RETAIL {~¥~ki~
PRICE OF $1. 50. I ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT .;!:m;i~
NO PAYMENT IS DUE UNTIL THE COPIES ARE r:.u··:t:~
i~~h!~
SOLD •
''-''·~~~:::.
:.r;,m::iii
PHONE--------
~
RETURN TO:
KATUAH
P.O.BOX 873
CULLOWHEE,NC 2 8 7 2 3
KMUAl:I - page 22
autmn 1983
�WMATTO 8JUN<t t
SCHEPULE:
10 - 12:30 - Discussion of bi oregional
concerns, issues, and directions for
future gr owth
12 : 30 - 2:00 - POT-LUCK LUNCH
2:00 - 5:00 - Tradin', pl ayin ', socializin ' , and interest group meetings
-Covered dish and utensils for the
whole family
-Items for trade , barter, sale (plant s,
craft s , produce, canned goods)
-Information to share : issues, topics ,
interesting folks , organization
bioregional happenings
-Hope , good humor, and ideal ism
OCTOBER 29
at DEEP CREEK CAMPGROUND
GREAT SMOKY MTN . NATIONAL PARK
Driving : Go to Bryson City, N.C. and follow signs
to " ~ ep Creek Campgrounds"
EVERYONE WELCOME!
For more information , contact:
paqe 23
�ISSUE
NO . l
AUTUMN
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1983
mmmooomnunoog
I
1n the beginning, we we/le told that t he human
being.6 that IAXli.h.. abou..t on :the Ecvvth have been
g
pMvided with all the thing.6 nec.Ul>aJl.y f,011.. li6e ..E!
We we/le ..i.n.6.tJw.eted to C'.aJl.ll..y a love. f,011.. one.
~
arto.thell, and to l>how a 11..upeet f,011. all the be- g
ing.6 of, thl.6 EaM:h. We aJi.e L>hown that ouJL li6e ~
exi-6.t.6 with the .tll.ee Uf,e, -that oWt we.U-being ~
depe.nd.6 on the wei...t-being of, :the. vegetable.
g
Uf,e, that we. a11.e. the. c1.o.6e. 11.e.f.ativu of, the.
~
6oWt-legged being.6. In OW!. VXJ.lj.6, .6p,i.Jt,(;twi£
~
c.on.6eioU.6nU.6 i.6 the. highut f,oJun of, poUt-i.c6 .
g
OW!..6 i.6 a v.xi.y of, Uf,e. . We. believe. that all
Uving thing.6 aJl.e. .6 pi!U:tua..f. be.ing.6 . S pVU;t-6
~ c.an be exp11.u.6ed M e.nellgy f,Oll.1116 manif,uted
i= ,(.n mat.tell. A biade ofi gJt.aM i.6 an ene11.gy f,011..m
manif,ute.d in rna:ltell - gJt.aM m
atte.11... The
~ .6 pilU:t 0 6 the gll..a.6.6 ,(A that U.n.6 een f,011.c.e whic.h
f3 p11.odl.1.c.u the. .6 peciu ofi gll.M .6 , and it i.6
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~ U.6 :thMu.gh 11..e.af.it.y. Th e. .6 p,i.Jt,(;tual u.nivelll> e.,
o then, i.6 man-i.Lu t t o man M the. Cll..eation, the
~ Cll..eation wh..i..c.h i,u.ppoJtt.6 Li6e. . We believe that
e man i.6 11..ea.l, a paJtt o6 C11..e.at.lo n, and that
g hi.6 du..ty i.6 to .t>u.ppoll.:t Uf,e. in c.onju.netion
with o.t:heJr. be.inQ' •
Oo
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o The 011..igina.f. 1n.6.tJw.etion <Li.Jr.eet that
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who
v.xi..f.k abou..t on the Ea.11.:th a.11.e to e.xp11.u.6 a
g11.e.at 11.upe.et, and a6f,e.etion, and a g.Jta.t..ltu.de
toVXJ.Jt.d all the .t>p.i.Jr.i,t.6 wh.i..c.h c.11.e.ate. and .6u.ppoll.:t Uf,e. . We give. a g11..eeting and a tha.nkl>giving to the many .6u.ppoll.:tell.6 of, ou.11.. own Uvu the c.011..n, the. bean.6, :the .t>qu.a..6h, :the wind.6,
.the i,u.n. When people c.eMe :to 11.upe.et and explle.6.6 glLD.t:-i;tude f, 011. :thue many :thing.6, then
all Uf,e. wlU be dutll.oyed, and human Uf,e
on thi.6 pl.a.net will. c.ome to an end.
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we have a g.11.e.at love 6011. ou.11. c.ou.n:tll.y, f,011. ou.11.
e fWtthpl.a.c.e i.6 the/le . The. .6oil i.6 11..ic.h f,11.0m :the.
g bonu of, thou.L>and.6 of, ou.11. g.e.nellation.6. Eac.h 06
~ U.6 VXJ..6 c.11.e.ate.d in :tho.6 e .f.a.nd.6, and i:t AA Ou.IL
~ dl.1.ty to take. c.a11.e. of, them, bec.a.u.L>e 611.om thue.
g
dl.1.ty to take. g.11.e.at c.a.11.e. o6 them, be.c.a.u.L> e. 611.om
I ~~~~e.~~~~~ri11!e.t~~~~~~f~~~~
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0
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.6ac.11.ed pl.ac.e...
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p---
address of the Hau De No Sau Nee
to the western world (presented
to the United Nations, Conference
of Non-governmental Organizations;
Geneva, Switzerland, 1977)
9
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1
1
1
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"The land is sacred," the Indians told the European ool onists.
It is only in this generation, un:ier the threat of nmaway uraniml,
runaway in:iustrialization, and the ravages of EX>isol'OlS sprays am
waste-EX>llutants that we are CDning to realize the true depth and
meaning of these words. Now we have rediscovered the web of life,
called "the ecology" am the spirit of the lam, "the envirorment."
cnly now, alm::lst 500 years after Colurbls, refugees fran the invading irdustrial society are anbarking on amther voyage of exploration into the New World. We are looking at the lam with new eyes to
fin:i space, subsistence, am meaning for our lives. Ia:>king arourXi,
we see a different world, alive and p.tlsating, a spiritual being.
OUr planet seen in this way, we call GAI A. a living organism with a
will and an intelligence of her own. She dances to her own time,
and it is to our own peril i f we do oot follow her lead.
'lhe ancient name of this continent we inhabit is TURTLE 1SLANV.
0
"Turtle Island - the old/ new name for the continent based
on many creation myths of the people who have been living
here for rnillenia, and rea.pplied by sane of than to "North
.America" in recent years. Also, ari idea fourxi world-wide,
o f the earth, or the cosnos even, sustained by a great
turtle or serpent-of-eternity.
g
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name: that we may see ourse lves 11Dre accurately on this
continent of watersheds and life-camnmities - plant zones,
piysiograpri.c provinces, culture areas; following nat\Jral
boundaries. 'lhe "U.S.A"and its states and oounties are arbitrary and inaccurate inp::>sitions on what is really here."
- Gary Snyder
A
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speak of the world 11Dre accurately, to speak of the world that is
really here instead of the arbitrary ploitical boun3aries, we speak
of BIOREG!ONS.
TO
0
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autum 1983
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians,</em> Issue 1, Autumn 1983
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Sylva Herald Publishing Company, Sylva, North Carolina
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Apples--Varieties--North Carolina, Western
Apples--Storage
Traditional Farming--United States--Appalachian Region, Southern
Alternative agriculture--Appalachian Region, Southern
Permaculture--Appalachian Region, Southern
Animals--Folklore
Appalachians (People)--History
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Description
An account of the resource
The first issue of <em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, published in the fall of 1983, sets the platform of the publication which expresses and overall tone of respect and stewardship of the land and all life in it. Topics in this issue include Katúah and its meaning, the world as bioregions, the migration of Ulster Scots to North Carolina, and sustainable practices. Authors and artists in this issue include: Chuck Marsh, Thomas Rain Crowe, Sam Gray, Curtis Wood, Tyler Blethen, Snow Bear, Doug Elliott, George Ellison, and Marnie Muller.<br /><br />Beginning with Issue 19, Spring 1988, the journal title was shortened to <em>Katúah Journal</em>. The journal was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. <br /><br />
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
Bioregions: "The Trail to Home".......1<br /><br />From Ulster to Carolina : <br />(The Scotch-Irish Migration to N. Carolina).......3<br /><br />Permaculture Practices.......4 <br /><br />Moshka & Lakima : A Story By Snow Bear.......6 <br /><br />Old Time Apples.......8 <br /><br />Poetry : "Wind Rose" by George Ellison.......9 <br /><br />Map Meditations : The Katuah Bioregion.......10 <br /><br />Mountain Guides : A Resource Bibliography.......12<br /><br />Bioregional Congresses.......14<br /><br />Alternatives to Economics.......17 <br /><br />Finding Katuah : A Bioregional Questionnaire.......22 <br /><br />Fall Calendar........21 <br /><br />Creative Distribution.......22<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Agriculture
Appalachian History
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Congress
Bioregional Definitions
Economic Alternatives
European Immigration
Geography
Glossaries
Katúah
Permaculture
Poems
Reading Resources
Stories
Turtle Island
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/0af6f876cd851df118a0e27b06bd6952.pdf
5453315bc90cf3f65463f81f56c5674a
PDF Text
Text
�����������������������������
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians,</em> Issue 2, Winter 1983-1984
Description
An account of the resource
The second issue of the <em>Katúah Journal</em> focuses on various topics such as black bears, the Pigeon River pollution, effective political involvement, and bioregional citizenship. Authors and artists in this issue include: Martha Tree, J. Linn Mackey, Snow Bear, Marnie Muller, Chuck Marsh, Kathryn Stripling Byer, Sharyn Jayne Hyatt, Gayle Knox, Chip Smith, Van Wormer, and Joseph Chapman.<br><br>
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1984
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Black bear--Appalachian Region, Southern
Water--Pollution--North Carolina--Pigeon River
Political participation--Appalachian Region, Southern
Pigeon River (N.C. and Tenn.)
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Sylva Herald Publishing Company, Sylva, North Carolina
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
<p>Paradise Polluted<br /> The Pigeon River Story.......3<br /><br />Charlie & Russell<br /> Bear Hunters.......4<br /><br />There is Another Way<br /> by Snow Bear.......5<br /><br />Katúah Under the Drill<br /> Western North Carolina Alliance.......6<br /><br />Good Medicine<br /> Spiritual Warriors.......8 <br /><br />How the Humans Came to Be.......9 <br /><br />Council Meeting.......11 <br /><br />Our Mountain Woodlands.......13 <br /><br />Alma <br /> Poems - by Kathryn Byer.......14 <br /><br />On Becoming Politically Effective<br /> on Bioregional Level.......20<br /><br /><em><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em><br /></em></p>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Congress
Bioregional Definitions
Black Bears
Geography
Good Medicine
Katúah
Permaculture
Pigeon River
Politics
Stories
Turtle Island
Western North Carolina Alliance
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/3e9189ae1600329a1984e9503b662c4a.pdf
c04c06016795d378da7269be5fab0d52
PDF Text
Text
���������������������������������
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, Issue 5, Autumn 1984
Description
An account of the resource
The fifth issue of the <em>Katúah Journal</em> focuses on topics such as Cherokee sculptor John Wilnoty, Celtic heritage, issues surrounding protecting wilderness areas, and ginseng's role in the mountains. Authors and artists in this issue include: Barbara Reimensnyder, Barbara Singer, John Wilnoty (Wilnota), Phillip Daughtry, Thomas Rain Crowe, Robert Zahner, Marnie Muller, Robbie Gordon, and Chuck Marsh. <br><br><em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1984
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
<p>Harvest.......1</p>
<p>Cherokee: The Old Days, The Old Ways.......3</p>
<p>The Work of John Wilnoty.......4<br /><br />Our Celtic Heritage.......6</p>
<p>The New Celt by Philip Daughtry.......7</p>
<p>"You Must Go Home Again" by Thomas Rain Crowe.......8</p>
<p>Wilderness, Appalachian Style Part III by Robert Zahner.......10<br /><br />Nuclear Waste in Our Mountains?.......13<br /><br />The Politics of Participation by Marnie Muller.......14<br /><br />Good Medicine "The Healing Darkness".......18<br /><br />Ginseng.......19<br /><br />Mountain Agriculture: a series by Chuck Marsh.......20<br /><br />Bioregionalism: Past, Present, Future by J. Linn Mackey.......22<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em></p>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Sylva Herald Publishing Company, Sylva, North Carolina
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Cherokee art
Cherokee Indians--History
Forest management--Appalachian Region, Southern
Appalachians (People)--History
Radioactive waste disposal--Appalachian Region, Southern
American ginseng--Appalachian Region
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Agriculture
Appalachian History
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Definitions
Cherokees
European Immigration
Forest History
Forest Issues
Good Medicine
Katúah
Permaculture
Plants and Herbs
Poems
Politics
Radioactive Waste
Stories
Turtle Island
Wilderness
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/c82c3f935775ed3110b8fcfeafafa78d.pdf
1202447159c8ecfad77b920b89467f66
PDF Text
Text
�������������������������
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, Issue 6, Winter 1984-1985
Description
An account of the resource
The sixth issue of the <em>Katúah Journal</em> focuses on topics such as Cherokee mythology and art, Winter Solstice ceremonies, log cabin history, mountain farming, and the Horsepasture River. Authors and artists in this issue include: Steve Nelson, Barbara Reimensnyder, Martha Tree, Drew Langsner, Thomas Rain Crowe, William Taylor, Gogisgi/Carroll Arnett, J.Ed Sharpe, B. Oldham, Chuck Marsh, Marilou Awiakta, Chip Smith, and David Liden. <br><br><em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1984-1985
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
<p>Wintertide by Steve Nelson.......1</p>
<p>Closer to the Fire by Barbara Reimensnyder.......3</p>
<p>Creation of the Moon and Sun: A Story by David Wheeler.......4</p>
<p>Winter Solstice Earth Ceremony by Amy Hannon.......5 </p>
<p>European Roots of the Appalachian Log Cabin by Drew Langsner.......7</p>
<p>The Mind and Work of William Taylor.......8</p>
<p>The Old Man Said: A Poem by Carroll Arnett.......10</p>
<p>Soaring Bird, Eagle Killer: A Story by J. Ed Sharpe.......11</p>
<p>Mountain Agriculture by Chuck Marsh.......12</p>
<p>The Coming of the Light.......15</p>
<p>Prayer of the Poet Hunter: A Poem by Marilou Awiskta.......15</p>
<p>Turning Our Differences into Strength.......18</p>
<p>Children's Page.......19</p>
<p>Environmentally Speaking (Horsepasture River) by Chip Smith.......20</p>
<p>The Future of the Forests by David Liden.......21<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em></p>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Sylva Herald Publishing Company, Sylva, North Carolina
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Cherokee mythology
Winter festivals--Appalachian Region
Cherokee art
Hill farming--Appalachian Region
Water quality--North Carolina--Horsepasture River
Log cabins--Appalachian Region--History
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Agriculture
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Definitions
Cherokees
Children's Page
European Immigration
Fire
Folklore and Ceremony
Forest Issues
Good Medicine
Katúah
Permaculture
Poems
Stories
Turtle Island
Water Quality
Western North Carolina Alliance
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/b43bdfc4e48d9084d720074c3f532000.pdf
f6e1b33862bc826e4229a0a73d43e38b
PDF Text
Text
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PubU6he.d Qu.o.JLt.eJtl.Jj
l.6.6ue. IX
Fall, 1985
�'--
CONTENTS
THE WALDEE FOREST .......................... I
THE TREES SPEAK. ... .......................... . 3
MIGRATING FOR~TS .. ......................... 4
"HOG KILLING SATURDAY" - A POEM ......... 6
HORSE LOGGING ................................ 7
THE NUCLEAR SUPPOSITORY:
WE'RE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT! .... .. ....... 8
GOOD 'MEDICINE .............................. . 10
STARTING A TREE CROP ............ . ......... II
NATUBAL WORLD NEWS ....................... 12
URB.AN TREES .................................. 15
ACORN BREAD ................................ . 19
MYTHnID .................................... 20
THE CHILDREN'S PAGE ...................... .. 27
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�!Jf;,, laid- his hand 'f"lt tk tr~: ~ ~ Jzad, Ju
'7un so s~ and ~ ~;f & _fut mu:l -/Jzxmreya;vqU
.1~ and tiz£ ~!fit;
n4iilzv a:s
_fa~ nor a:J" ~; it wa:s ik
~lrb_f &
liP1::f -kw ii-45-
A WALK IN THE
WALDEE FOREST
Near the top of Cowee Mountbir. in
Macon coun ty ju&t below the national
forest boundary, hes an 150 acre
tract of forested mountain slopes that
is a living testament to the life ~d
work of a pair of reJ11arkablc people .
oee Leather111c1n Smith ii' the fourth
generation of her family lo Jive on
the family homcsite. Her husbantl,
Walton, is a forester of 35 years '
rxrerience ~ith thP U. S . Forest
Ser~ice, anc !6 010re year6 a6 Q
private consultant . In tl.ejr 47 years
n1ana9in9 the property, they have
realized a vi&ion of what a fJroduclive, habitable, ecologically
l·t!althy section of the Appalachian
forest could look like.
There is " small SaW!!'i 11 on the
plo<"f ar.c ~od- ..orlting shops that can
turn tr<:cs ir.to saleable, finiEhec
wood products nght there on the land.
There are ale;o bec•hives, a trout 1>0nd,
< Email garden plot, and o greenhouse,
r.u t c.n l»<cursioro irto the Walcee
Forest is fitl:'t clllC !Otl'r•CSL d jovrney
1rot<• a livir.•J n.<eodel o: tlie prir.t·i ples
of all-aye, all-species forest manage~' nt: a n1.ir111qer1ent plan <ippropriate lo
tlat. l'articul<1r c·onditions oC the
;.ppalachum hatdwood (orPSl. The key
a• tt.i~ tt>chnique, accor<.inc; to Walton
~:r.ith , is an (!t(·hasis oi• st>lecti"e
I ir•l".rr hcorVN•t inc;:.
We waHea tllf" lano ~·itl> OPl• and
Wallor. one cl<1y , .ind he Sl•OkE' first
a~out the histor) of tlw place .
"['e<0 • c l;re,.t-src.ndratt>nts <"co~IC
I•.-:• ~ot•I. .. 1 CJ ! (•• <,ol<" . Tiwy \<<ci to«pp<dr.tE-cJ "l ll 1o t , SC.> lhC) tlirneo
:o sol'letl lr.y tl1<:y kr....,., olld tlidt ...~
f,1rni119 .
"\;l1H I lol1)' Ci.lit•(: t<:ll, thif. l.lnd
, .... s t.l'Vt it<l J..y v1r<,ir forest. Thf're
·n•tt poi, 1111 t t!'<'s ar.<.! otli111 ~.recies,
0
K.n{AH - page l
but largely it was a mature
chestnut trees, 3-6 feet in
gro.. ing closely and forming
so dense that nothing could
btand of
diameter,
a canopy
grow under
try one thing, and if it doesn't work,
I try something else. I've concluded
that what I want is a mixed, all-age
stand, meaning a diverse variety of
lt .
tree species o! all ages froa1
"Chestnut w4s not then considered
desirable as a timber tree, and these
people were farmers, so they had to
clear the land, and grub out the
stumps , because chestnut sprouts
profusely . To them, the forest of
great trees was seen only as a
detriment to their way of life.
"As they began to till the land,
they built stone terraces to make
snall areas of level land to raise
crops . They raised small patches of
corn, sorghum, and buckwheat; apples
on the slopes; and free-ranged cattle,
geese , h09s, and sheep for wool. It
wos a l1ard way of life.
seedlings to large, mature trees
growing t09ether .
"It will take tin.a to achieve
this, because l started out with an
even-aged stand, but now there is a
variety of trees here--poplar, maple,
hickory, oak, white pine, ash, walnut,
an uoderstory of doqwood--and I will
pick my select trees and thin around
them, sOllle from below and some from
above.
"What I hope to get 80 years from
now is trees of all ages, all species,
and all size classes and ll>OVe strictly
into selective, uneven-aged forest
management. This is the start of it.•
Walton led us up the road. It was
a hot day, but the woods were cool and
green--a pleasant place to be. We
stopped in a grove composed primarily
of tall, straight poplar trees.
"The poplars on this five acre
tract are 50-60 years old now. They
have been thinned fro111 below," Walton
explained. "We picked out our best
trees and took 5 cords per acre of the
rest. This freed up those high quality
trees so they could get ample soil
n.oisture and a certain a!':ount of sunli9ht to keep putting on n1aximur::
9rowth.
"We dicn't take out anythir.g we
didn 't need to. We leave theGt.> understory trees--these d09woods, thi~ red
ciaple--for 'nurse trees.' They "1<t~t.'
the poplars gro~. shed their lower
limbs, and ihoot straight for the sky.
Those bi c, t l"t:'l.'S have de-1 in•bc-c. them-
:..:--~
•1•0 like to show you this place
arod some of the things we're doing
t:f'rf' ." Wal ton set out up a srr.al 1
IO<Jgins ioocl ~i th a stride that denied
hi5 7~ yo~tt of age .
"MC..t>t ,,r my forest iG expriP1er·tal, • he raid ovet hi1> s!.ouloer . "I
(continued on p. 22)
Fsll
198~
�.( 2!2·,1.·.
·!1·
1
·,·
. ...
Il il#ll(lll 1\QP1114tmnt10....,_
.
EDITORIAL STAFF THIS ISSUE:
David Reed
Scott Bird
Ba r bara Rein•ensnydE r
Richard Ciccarelli
Chip Smith
Thomas Rain Crowe
Sarah Jane Thomas
J . Linn Mackey
Martha Tree
Michael Red Fox
David Wheeler
Marnie Muller
EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:
Korey Goldsmith
Cindy Kiger
Joe Roberts
Weogo
Mark Yancey
EDITORIAL OFFICE THIS ISSUE:
Long Branch Environmental
Education Center
Leicester, NC
PRINTED BY:
CORRESPONDENCE TO:
Sylva Herald
Katiiah
Publishing Co.
llox 873
Cullowhee, NC
Sylva, NC
28783
TELEPHONE: (704) 252-9167
Special thanks to Tom Schulz, Larry Tucker,
and Sparrel Wood
~: Great poplar and chestnut trees photographed at
the turn of the century by the Whiting Lumber Co. to
impress their stockholders with the wealth of timber
available in the Appalachian forestlands. Fortunately,
the trees pictured here escaped the saws, and the two
poplars in the center may still be viewed in the Joyce
Kilmer Memorial Forest area in the Snowbird Mountains
of Graham County, NC .
,, ~
()
He.ite. .&t .the. 6ordhe.itn-mo6.t he..a..ir..U.and 06 .the.
Appa.la.clUan moun.ta.ln.6, .the. oldu.t mowi.tiLln Mnge.
on oWt con.t.&te.n.t, T!J.4.tle. l6lo.n.d, a 6ma.U but gMw~ .9-:-0"P ha6 be.g~n ~ ~e. on a 6en.t.e. 06 .llUpon6-<.b.U.Uy 60.ll .the. .(.1"pU.c.a..ti.on6 06 .tha..t 9e.09M.ph.i..c.a.t
and c.u.Uwutl. heJl.Uage.. Thi..6 6en.t.e. 06 .lle.6pon.6i.bil..lt.y
ce.n.te.lt6 on .the. concept 06 Uv..<.ng wlth.&t the. na.tu..llal.
11.c.a.l.e. a.nd balance. 06 un.lvvwa.l 6yi..te.m6 and l.a.w6.
We. be.g.&i by .&ivolWtg ~he. Che.itoke.e. name. "Ka.tii..o.h" 46
.the. old/ne.w name. 60.ll .thiA a.Ile.a 06 the. mo~ and
6O.ll .(,u j OU.llnttl 46 we..ll.
The. e.d-U.o!WJ.1. plt,(.oll.U:A.u 60.ll 146 a.11.e. .to coUe.et and
d.i66e.m.i.na.te. in6oltllla.tWn and e.ne.itgy whlc.h pe.Jt.ta.in6
"pecl6.<.ca.lty .to .thiA a11.e.a, and .to 604.teJt the. ai.ooJt.e.ne.66 .tha..t .the. l.a.nd .iA a Uv..<.ng be..&tg du e.itv.lng o 6 oWt
l.Dve. and .lle.6pe.et. U.ving bt .thiA manne.it .U. .the. onl.4j
Ull.Y .to e.Jtl>Wte .the 6146.ta..i.nabili..tll o ~ OU.ll b.io6phe.ite and
a l.a.6.t.&tg p(.!tce. 6011. oWt4e.lvu .<.n .<,u c.o~ e.vo!.Li.U.orwty plt.OCe.64.
We. "e.em .to have. JU>Ache.d .the. 61.t!Cll.Wft point o 6 a "dD
d..i..e." 6.i...ti.uz.t.i.n .<.n .ttW!l6 08 a coniln.u.e.d qu.o..Uty
6.tand41td. 06 U.6e. on .th.l6 plo.ne.t . It .U. .the. ai.Jn 06
.thiA joWtnttl to do .<.a. pcut.t .<.n .the. .lle.-.&ihabita.tion
and M.-cu.Uwt.iz..t<.an 06 the. Ka.tU.a.h plt.Ovince. 06 .the. Sou.the.itn Appa.la.clUan6. Th.l6 plt.OV.&tce. .u. .<.nd.i..c.a.te.d by U4
natWta.l bowtdaJt.i.e.6 : .the. Ne.w IU.ve.it vi..c.i..n.lty .to .the.
no.ll.th; .the. ~oothil.l.6 of, .the. piedmont a11.e.a .to .the.
eiu.t; Yol'lll Mowi.t.<Wt and .the. Ge.o11.g.itt hil.l6 to .the..
i.ou.th; and .the. Te.rute.t.He. IU.veJt ~·aUe.y .to the. we..&t .
O.ll
JRV0Clll':I0R
We are not a people who demand, or ask anything of the
Creators of Life, but instead, we give greetings and
thanksgiving that all the forces of Life are still at
work. We deeply understand our relationship to all living
things •• ••• Our roots are deep in the lands where we live.
We have a great love for our country, for our birthplace
is here . The soil is rich from the bones of thousands of
our generations . Each of us was created in these lands ,
and it is our duty to take great care of them, because
from these lands will spring the future generations of
the Ongwhehonwhe, We walk about with a great respect,
for the Earth is a very sacred place.
from: A Basic Call to consciousness:
'nle Hau de no sau nee Address
to the Western World
i<ArtAH - page 2.
Humbly , 46 i.a6-appo.<.nte.d 6.t~ with 6acJte.d .i.A6.tll.tlctlon6 46 "new na..tlvu •· .to p1t.O.te.et a.nd ~uMVe
.U6 64Clte.dne.66, we. advocate. a ce.n.teJte.d applt.Oal!h to
.the. conc.e.pt 06 de.ce.rWu:LU.za.t.ion a.hd hope. .to be.cog Cl
6uppo.ll.t 61J6tem 6011. .thoH acce.pt.ing the. c.h.a.Ue.nge 06
6cu..ta.Utab.u.lt1J and .the. C.lle.a.t.i.ort 06 luvurtort.q and bell.cu1ce. .&t a J:./Jt.a.1. 6 en.t. e., he.ite. .<.n .thiA plo.ce..
�I.t l4XU> 0nl.y a. ,()ho/Lt :ti.me. a.g 0' iu. .:the.
new .6 p!Llng le.a.vu we11.e. be.g,lnn.lng .:to
ma.Ile. .:theNe.lvu e.v.<.de.n.t iu. .:they cove11.ed .:the. h.tvt.dwood.6 a.nd .:the. .60 6.:teJL de.c.lduoUI> tlt.e.u down a.long .:the. bo.:t.:toml>
a.nd neM wa.teJL, .tha..:t my wl6e. a.nd I ma.de.
oWt wa.y up .:the. U.llpe.n.:t-Uke. .6pine. 06
.:the. 8.tueJl..i.dge. Pllllb.way .:toWMd OWL dutlna;t(.011 06 M.t.Mltche.U ( '8la.ck Mowr..:ta.ht '
iu. known .to .:the. tlt.a.cli.tlom:ii. CheJtoke.e.
people. 06 .:the. .1te.g.i.onl. We. we.Jte. on a
pi.tgJL.i.ma.ge. o6 ' .:tha.niu. g.i.v.i.ng ' - - - g o.i.ng
.:to .:th.i..6 .6a.CJte.d moun.ta..i.11 popula..:te.d by
.:the. .6 p.iJLULu:t.t. a.ncu.:toM o 6 .:the. Che.Jtoke.e.
.:the. ' Nunne.hu', .:to e.xcha.nge. 'tha.niu. '
and pJta.yeJL 6Oii. .:the. g.i.6t o 6 mo n.i.u .tha..:t
ha.d g.1ta.c.loU1>l.y be.en p11.ov.i.de.d .:to U4 .:to
do me.a.n.i.ng6ul. a.nd .i.mpolLta.nt wo.ltk .:toWMd
.:the. p11.o.:te.ctlon 06 I .6a.CJ!.e.d .6.i..:tU I he11.e.
.i.n .:thue. old mounta..i.n.6. To o66eJL the
mon.i.u up .:to thue. a.ncu.:tolt.6 iu. a. pledge. 06 OWL .6e.Jtv.i.ce. .:to .:th.i..6 'ca.U.6e. ' , .tha..:t
U be. done. .i.n .the. Jt.i.gh.:t wa.y a.nd .ln .the.
6p.(/vU 06 Wl4e.l6.l4hne.6.6 and he.a.Ung . To
o66e.Jt .the. gJte.en g.i.6.:t up .:to .the..6e., 'the.
wll.e. onu', .:tha.:t .:they be oWL 'gu.<.du'
a.long the. pa..th.6 06 .:the. woJtk wl.:th .:th.i..6
p!l.O j ec.:t wh.i.ch la.tj ahe.a.d • ..
A..6 we. dJtove. .:tfvtough the. ' ga.:te.wa.y' .:to
the. p.i.nna.cle. 06 the. mounta..i.n: "CJulggy
Galtde.M", a.:t a he..lgh.:t 06 oveJt 6,000 6.:t.
we began .:to not.lee. how the. we.a.:the.Jt--.:the.
tll.lnd.6, .the. 6.:totr.m1;, .:the. e.x.tlt.e.mu 06 he.a..:t
and cold, and .:the. .:th.i.nne.Jt a.Ui.-- wa..6
'we.a11.b1p away' (a.lmo.6.:t iu. .i..6 .:the. wlnd
we.Jte wa.te.Jt wa..6hb1g a.wa.y Mck, only .i.n
.:th.i..6 caoe.: /tock. .:that had .:ta.fle.n .:the 6oJtm
06 tlt.e.u) a.:t the ve.ge,t.a.:t.lon .:tha.:t cove.Jte.d .:the. .:topo o 6 thue. old hUl..6, Ufle
.:th.lnn.i.ng old ha.a. 8u-t along wl.:th .:the
e.v.i.de.nce 06 na.:tuJtal .1te.ge.ne.Jta.:t.i.on, the.Jte
we.1te .lnCJte.ao.i..ngl.y , iu. we. ma.de. oWt wa.y
.:towa.Jtd .:the. top 06 .the mounta..i.n, .6ma.l.l
a.Jte.iu. o 6 dea.d a.nd dy.i.ng tlt.eu .:tha.:t
4:tJt.ucfl U.6 a..6 be..lng unna..tuJta.l.ly 'bUgh.:te.d'. Smail 6.ta.nd.6 06 6-Ut. and pine-gJtOupe.d toge..:the.Jt and 4.ta.nd.lng out 1>.ta.Ji.k~
l.tj 611.orn .the 11.e.o.t-.i..n-fl.i..nd o 6 hea.l.:thy
g11.ee.n and .:twl.6.:te.d '6a.m.i.ly' --iu. .i..6 do.i.ng
1>ome gho1>.:tl.1J gne.y dance. 06 6ubm.l.66.i.on
.to .:the. e.te.me.n.U. The. whole. a.Ji.ea. l.oofl.i..ng
iu. .i..(.. U ha.d come down wl.:th a ma.l..i..c.loUI>
o 66-whUe ca.oe. o 6 .:the. 'me.Miu' --a d.i...6eiu.e. U.6ua.lf..iJ only acqu.i.11.e.d by the. tJOung
... "Sbtange.", 1 .thought .:to mtj6e.l6, ".:tha.:t
.:theoe mountai.n.6 • .60 old, would have
.ta.ke.n 0tl .:th.i..6 we.iu.e. 06 1Ch.ll.dJten If"
we. moved 6l.cwly up .:the. moun.ta..i.11 . . .
The clo1> <>A. .to .the .6Ull!l'llU we. 90.:t, .:the.
l.aJi.g <>A. and g11.e.ve..1t .thu e a.11.e.ao o6 dy-i.ng
eve.JtgJt.een.6 became. On bo.:th 6.<.du 06 .:the.
11.oa.d and -i.n eve.Jty d-Ut.e.c.t.i..on---So bl.e.a.fl
On Mount Mitchell, a few miles
north of Asheville, NC, Robert Bruck,
associate professor of plant pathology and forestry at NC State University, is investigating the devastation
of trees on high mountains in Katuah.
According to Dr. Bruck, the red
spruce and fir above 6,350 feet are
in a severe state of decline with most
trees 45-85 years old losing 90% of
their foliage. The trees are shedding
t~ir older needles and leav1ng only
a small clump of chlorotic new growth
on branch ends .
Bruck' s findings indicate that
the trees are being killed by pollutants. To confirm this suspicion,
core samples have been taken from the
dying trees with a bit and auger. The
borings have reveaied a 50% reduction
in tree ring growth since the early
1960's, yet rainfail data shows no
evidence of drought.
Aware that tree dieback has been
occurring for two decades in the nort h-
eastern U.S. and western Germany,
au ala:tllldd Dr. Bruc k and other s c ientis t s have visited aud studLtd these
f orests hopiug to find c lues as to
the c!Xaet c ause of tree diaba ck in
K
atUah.
M
ost data reveals that symp toms
of diebac k vary from region to r egion
depending on tree s pecies, soil t ype,
and climate. Rowaver Dr. Bruck has
f ound c orraspouding s ymptoms exiat
betweeu "lilaldsterb n " (trae death ) in
West Germany and spruce-fir dieback
in Kat~ah. Evidence bas been mounting
in West Germany that ozone, a pollutant produced by a reaction of sunlight and auto exhaust, bas combined
with acidic fog. These pollutants are·
leaching magnesium, an essential element, from living trees .
It is becoming increasingly clear
(continued on page 27)
continued on page 26
Fall 1985
..
~ll.hll
- '.}f;. ·C'.o.
�,
J;
From within its borders , the forest
looks old, permanent. Yet the timelapse views of the eastern forests provided in these maps compiled by Paul
and Hazel Delcotirt's team of paleoelologists give a different story.
Plants do indeed migrate, and in
geological time the climatic changes
that resulted in the formation and
dispersal of the Laurentide ice sheet
brought on drastic changes , causing
whole forests to move from one area
of the continent to another.
The mops given here are from the
Delcourt's article " Vegetation Mops
for Eastern North America " in
Geobotony ll{Plenum Publications,
1981 ); R. Romans, Editor.
MAP KEY
0
Laurentide Ice Sheet
•
Tundra
Boreal Forests
Q
Spruce
@
The t.aurentide (ce Sheet covered the continent north of
vhat la prHontly known n the Crdt Lllke1 Rqion. Tundra condition• prevailed ln the viclnity of the glacier •nd at hi&h
elevatioftl tor soo ailu .south or th• lee front.
Spruce .and jack pii>e fou1t1 held the territory ..,uth and ust
of the alacl•rl .JdV&DCO- The cl1-t• vamed quickly .and dr•aat ic;oll:•
b.lov thb belt. eo that an oalr.-hlclr.ory-eouthern pine auociat!on
doainat•d the Atl&ntic and Gulf Coaot plains.
The aixed .. Hopbyc1~ hard...,od forut that today inhabits the
covH of Appalachia vas rutrlcted u this ciae to "refuaul •rus·· the blufflanda dong the IUuiHippi Rlvor Valley •nd ujor rlver corridor•
U\ the southeast. A eypre••-auai. assoe:iacton lived in the ..,et
~ululppl boctoaa. ;and the ~lorf.de hninsub vaa covered ~Y .. nd
dune scrub - including wild ro111a.1ry .and iaolaced 1tande >f .crub o.ait.
Spruce-Ja ck pine
Q
@
Jac k pine - Spruce
Mixed con ifer-norther n hardwood s
Deciduous Forests
Q
@
G)
Oak-Hickory
Mixed mesopbyt ic
Oak-Chest:n ut
Southeastern Evergreen Forests
<2'.)
@
@
Cypress- Gum
0
Subt r opical Hard woods
Oak- Hickory- Southern pine
Southern pine
Open Vegetat ion Types
Q
Q
<:::>
,
~:\ n;.ur
'l
Oak savaruiah
Prair ie
or
'fhu .,,h1cJcr • lwd Ct:lt+.:.til'-!d LO l ht.: lat J.Lud\$
thu Ch:Ul Wk~¥ I
raJ.elna th• tiUa luvcl soou.!what . und Liu: bc1lnning» of l ...akt.! •. rh Wt:h:
vt11tble. thu Saint Lawrence fltv~c w.11 u•\d~r J~<!. Jnd lh"' \;.ould ail .. ctul
w.itcre 1ttl1 draln-.d down thu Hi•111l-.111lppt 1 "'be.re the \lll1lc a.Jtruc.l: cuv-.:r
peulatL.J.
Th-. •pruce-Jac.k pin~ fote•t
cr~cpln¥ \!.il•tw.atJ fro. th..: plalos.
The w r • ..v\:ollth41er cMk-hfckory-.outh-.:.ro •v~rgl"-:t...-n ••~ l;,1t Ion w..a• •t J l t
rc.atrlctcd to th~ •outhurn c.;,.a;t.al vL1dn•. Tb-.: 11lxt-od •.:»0phy1 h.
8pf..'Cie*I Mlntaha.-d tlwic fuoll1vlJ ln the 8lu{fl.,nd21i ,uuJ WJC.\:f t1Vt:t
W••
corridor•.
Sand Dune Sc r ub
'- page 4
Tundro •tlll i;rlµp"J
th~
AppJl .. <ltlJn h.:Jghl•.
Pall 1985
-.
I'
�. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . wt ..... rOMSTDWILLllll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .
Mt~Rt-\TING
Thia V"r1uJ w••
~h«ncl~rlz1:J
by a D11ld waralng tr.,nd.
Th.:
1l•clera retr~•Led .oa..,W'hat. and ll.ic1al a\tll raletd Lho levt:l ot thtt
ocun•. pushing th~ cont lncnL.al coast I lne:1 cloatt to Lhtotir prt::t:d'tl
po1lt1oos.
J•ck pint:-11f'rUC~ ••»OC:J•tlc;.n.> still do.lnatvd (r-oa th.c: •1Jvt;:,t.t to
thu ccntr•l coa~L. A thin IMnJ of tran-.tclun..1 con1ft:r-oortltt.:-ro
l1Jrd,,,..,.,,d fott.:..lit dtvtd"J th-.: ptnu-1pru~e bdt fro•• \l.&t11-cllailtt1 o•lhh:kury .-....oc:J .. t lvn wt1h: h c· uvi.:r ...J App.al.achh1 wnd lhl.t ur-.w th..at I • ''''"
r-.-1uh:•¥t.:.11.:
kfv,c v ••dli.:y
s~~IJy.
fOREST
The 4.cu 1huct reached ita aouthernmoait li•it during thi• time .
extending the coa11tltne out appr oxlaeL"ly 50 •iles beyond it_.: pr.ute.nt
bouodar1ea. Spruce-jack pine cov~r ud thu are.at pl•in• we1t of tht
H.Jasi11;stppt. Jack ptne-spro.ctt covt:r dc>t1lnat.:d the ea.atcrn half o( the
continent eouth to the preaent-day borJtrr• of AlabaaJ and Cwraf•.
Claci"r aultw•tec cool"'1 the Hl11luippl River Valhy, which prob.ably accounted for the anOllll&Joue eppura.nce of \tbite spruct1 tn.~••, a
boreal opocl .. noca•lly not found
rar 1outh. The enllre AppalachU.n
b.oge wi1s creetcd by tundra, vhU.: colJ-wuthe.r spruce and fJr dOlll-
"°
naced lh" foreau on the 90uncnln ulopca.
Thu WJ.Ulfni; li.:dlfh:tMluru• or j 1,000 - 12 ,000 yt:1.1r• 3¥,0 1.,rouaiht
dvlu&"-tf of naln In Lhu w411c.u or tht: gtu~i1:re. Clacfol 111~1t was drulnJni rapidly thruuyh thu SL. l.awc.n ..
-ncu RJvur h.•Mvln" the pruy,~nhor
unwl Iona of the t;r~Jl l..Jk'-'•·
Th~ apruct: .1nd J•c .. pint.: ••ao..:IJLJon1 covtar'--.J c-.:ntr.. t c.,twJM ttntJ
tl-.1 Nev EnK,l»nd St•lu•. Th .... coo lC '-'r-ntr.>rthtir n tt.rJwood for ....$t 114>\l' ....J
nurth and vest Into .J 1rwlly -=•paGdcJ tcrrltot'y. An Odk-hlckory
{ot'~vt arose ~•l i>f th-.: 'll11owl••lppt i.1nJ wa111 .avln& -=-•tv.arJ, fo1low'".J
by the d~v'1loptn, pr... Ir 1.... v"""-'l"'l fon.
The aht:J •"llOphyt le for\.!t.l Jdvdnc'--.J fro. th~ r lvt.::r corr tdor., l->
tak• ov~r a tors'-' part of th~ central are:a. Ook-hlclt.ory ... southern
..:versr\!cn cov-:r ¥Lill P'-'ndwtcJ ln thi.: cudvtul ploSna Jr'-'as, but u
CYJ•rl.•1:11• gum usatocl11tlun lc>uk uvvr th~ 11oouthufn <nJ ot Lhc ~lf~11da1adµltl
1
klvur t.::1Hridor. olt\J "'" uuk .. uvw.nndh LYt•u w.ft. uv~t In¥ un the ._.lur1JJ
l''"·nnJn.111...l.
Thb wu tho puk of tile "heplithano&J. • var1111ng period, and t ... parat u r u ware h1&her th<ln in the prHe.ot d•1· The land and fora1t
conf1guration• bqao to tllte"" tho th&pu va ... r..ui.ar vith today.
The: conUer-oortbaru ba.Tdvoode foreat covered a vast area fro.
the Creat I.eke• rasioo to tbe coa1t. Tha oak-blclcory and aixed aHophyt lc hardwood !orut• occupied euentWly the • .,.. aru1 they do at
prueat, wtu.la conditioas c.au.sed an oak-chutaut forest to ti•• to doeln&nce on the u1tuo 1lopes of the Appelacbi.ans, vbil1 spru:a •nd !lr
still clung to the colder, biaher elevatioo1.
Southern pine arose to doain.anc• over auch of the aru lt occupies
todly.
�Hog Killing Saturday
BY H. M. SPOTISWOOD
The red sun was waiting for me, round
as the washpot that would be the center
of my day. There I would chop the kindling,
feed oak to the fire, stir the black water
while they worked silently under the cedar.
Grady was always there by seven, in his hard
overalls, paid dollars for his sweet brutality.
I knew the one they picked, had fed him rinds
and the saved ends of Tuesday's cornbread.
His grounds were avuncular in the sweet stench
of Friday's dusk, his hide hard as a gritty
July watermelon to my finger poking through
the pen. Once I'd run the mile to Clara
for a Nehi and some vanilla extract with screams
following me through the pines as they cornered
him to clamp the rings in his nose. Painless
gristle, they called his snout, when I fingered
the steel points like barbed wire spikes.
For sure he'd rooted up three fences, ripped
the small south pasture to a knobby moonscape.
He knew me for peach seeds and rusty coffee cans
full of Pa's rich, hard-bought cottonseed me.al.
I still feel the guilt for the erotic rush
of glee that lasted a second. And Grandma,
the painful endless picture of her scraping
his boiled nose with a paring knife. Grady
I hoped, would hit his mark the first time
with the scarred steel butt of the old axe.
I listened too hard over the frantic steam,
heard only board sounds and birds in the oaks.
The afternoon was easier, foul and logistical.
The mail ran at one, and Mr. Hardee waved.
Bayree, the cats, and the thoughtless chickens
were underfoot for items they could find. I
created a parable for the high-stepping rooster
mincing his spurs among the leafy entrails.
The coarse salt did not hurt my bitten nails
when we rubbed the bacon and hams to hang.
I knew the bowl and Limp grey mountain
of entrails would be waiting on the table.
Pa brutalized my city taste with family
ridicule for not tasting. He hadn't shaved.
The hairs were coarse yellow in the light
of kerosene. In the window curtained with gay
feedsack the sun was an oblate orange yolk
--·~-·s,epuating into the black <~eek~
'
f
�HORSE LOGGING
Fall 6.11.0m be.Utg a qua.Utt ruuicJvum.i.6m, togg.<.ng wlth hOJt6U
.l6 6t.iU pMv.<.ng .it6 u»ILtlt a6 .the. method mo6t o.pp!tOplLi.a;te. 6011.
«»JtlUng moun.ta.in 6l.ope.6 ldte.11.e. .the. togge.11. .l6 de.a.li..ng wlth a
11.0ugh Olt 611.agile. .teNUU.n 011. a 1U.9hl.y 6e.l.e.c:Uve. .ti.mbe.11. Cl.Lt.
It .l6 al.60 6.Qrd.<.ng 6a.vOll. wUh l.a.ndowne.11.6 ldto hold coMe.11.-
vat.i.on me.a6Wl.e.6 a.nd a.u.the..UC6 a6 h.i.gh p!l)..oM.t.lu .
Holl.6e. togging a.l.60 luu. economic a.dva.n.ta.gu 6011. togge/1.6
ldto do n.o.t have. a. tot o 6 capUai. tc 6.talt..t a. bU6.<.ne.66 Oii. c.dio
w.i.l.h tc ke.e.p the.ill. oveJtlie.a.d tow. With holl.6u , to~~e/1.6 ca.n
ma.k.e. up .ui Mull c.diat they ta.ck. .ui 6-Uia.ncla.l.. ba.c/U.ng.
John Va.v.U,, Ve.nn.i.6 Hotde.11., a.nd holl.6U Tony a.nd Flt.e.d «»11.k
.Qr a.nd cur.ou.nd .the. Nan.taha.l.a Na.t.i.ona.t FOll.u.t. The.y a11.e. a. .tlgh.t
.team, a.n.d tlte..i.11. e.xpe.11..le.nce. 6hoWA . The.y make. .the. ha.11.d woll.k 06
w.tt&tg a.nd ha.u.Ung .ti.mbe.11. took a.l.mo6.t e.a.61J.
John: ' I started in on horses when I was four . My daddy
started me. I worked some other jobs, but I ' ve al.ways kept
my truck, regardless of what I've done . I like being in the
woods. You don ' t make a lot of money , but if you ' re satisfied,
that ' s what counts :·
Dennis: You ain't gonna make nothing but a living, whatever you do. Anything you go after, a living ' s all you 're
going to make out of it:
John: •r•ve got a garden, my horse and my truck- I 'm
never going to starve ."
photos by Martha Tree
Dennis : "Horse don't got to be a big one, i f he'll pull.
I can take Fred, and he'll pull horses weighing 1800 lbs .
When I call on him, he'll go out there, and he ' ll hang. He
won ' t back back up . A lot of horses pull against it too hard,
and they'll back back up. But I could hook Fred to that truck
right tncre and call on ' im, and he'll stand on and pull 'til
he dies .
"!wouldn't cake n thousand dollar bill for ' im just like
he stands there I ain ' t got that in ' im, but I wouldn't take
it . He ' s paid for himself ten times over I could give him
away today and still wouldn't go in the hole .~
K.\Tt:AH -
page
7
Fall 1985
�. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MAlllFOIUTDWIWM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
By Michael Red Fox
The U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE) has just announced plans
to site and construct a Monitored
Retrievable Storage facility
(MRS) in Eastern Tennessee.
Three possible sites have been
chosen. The Clinch River Breeder
Reactor site at Oak Ridge is the
preferred site. TVA's H:lrtsville
nuclear plant site and the Oak
Ridge Reservation have also been
included for further study.
In January 1986 the DOE will
announce which one of the three
"semi-finalists" will host the
MRS. DOE documents describe
the MRS as a processing facility
for spent nuclear fuel. The
processing will include consolidation and packaging of high
level wastes for delivery to
permanent suppositories. The
MRS will also serve as a backup
facility for storage of spent
fuel and high-level wastes
from all commercial nuclear
power plants, all foreign
subscribers to the "Atoms For
Peace" program, and U.S. nuclear
weapons production.
All three East Tennessee sites
are upwind of Kat~ah. Several
of the main transportation
routes to the MRS site pass
through our region including
interstate 81 and interstates
26 and 40 , which conjoin at
Asheville. If you thought
Asheville was a "hot town" before
this, just wait ... . •..
According to the DOE, the MRS
candidates were chosen on the
basis of cost efficiency, risk
of accident, and the geographic
relationship to the potential
underg~ound suppository.
It
must be noted that the Nuclear
Waste Policy Act of 1982 declared
that no one state may get both
sn MRS and a permanent waste
dump . The relative prox1.mity
of Kat~ah to the proposed MRS
can lead to no other conclusion:
Katuah is under siege! Not only
does Katuah become a transportation corridor for nuclear waste
from all over the world but, she
also becomes a leading candidate
for the sweepstakes nobody wants
to win: permanent waste dump!
The MRS is considered to be
the "front end" of the permanent
suppository. According to the
"Mission Plan" being peddled by
:<.n{.ui - page 8
the DOE, wastes processed at the
MRS will travel across the
country to the first geologic
suppository. Currently stiff
opposition, environmental problems , and legal fights are
stifling DOE's plan to select A
site in the western states,
The agency cannot fail to
notice that it might be sinpler
to l) speed up selection for
the ~astern suppository or 2)
change the Waste Policy Act so
that both suppositories wil l
be built in the F
ast. In fact
Paul Kerns, a DOE front msn,
bas recently said that if all
of the candidate sites under
consideration in the first
round turn out to be losers
the DOE may turn to the crystalline states for both suppositories.
I
I
..
·.
I
.\
"
• I
:i
I
\
I
~.
Crvstalline (granite) rock
formations are being considered
for nuclear waste disposal
because they are uniform
throughout and have qualities
allowing them to dissipate heat
from nuclear materials. However in a blistering analysis
of their own three year pilot
study (1981-1984) called the
"Climax Project" in Jack Ass
Flats,Nevada, DOE noted serious
problems. Not only did the
expensive stainless steel cannisters leak, hut the te9tin~
caused cracks in the granite
and the testing mechanisms
failed so they could not
determine how much leakage
occurred!
Among the crystalline
suppository states, the Southeastern Region (includin~ Katuah)
is perhaps the most vulnerable.
Ginger King, of DOE's Civilian
Radioactive Waste Management,
conf inned this suspic ion when
she said, "the most likely 9lace
is the Southeast since 85i o f
the nation ' s nuclear plants are
east of the Mississippi." Much
of the Northeast will be eliminated because of population
density and distribution. Although the North Central Region
has crystalline rock formations
whic h are among the n~ tions
most stable, Wisconsin, ~ichigan
and Minnesota have erected legal
and political barriers that may
outweigh potential geologic
suitability.
Politics is the name of the
suppository game according to
Dave Berich of the Environmental
Policy Institute in Washington.
Unlike the North Central States,
North Carolina, which contains
most of the prime sites in
Katuah, has no siting laws.
There are no nuclear waste
education programs, no citizen
advisory boards, and no public
surveys. North Carolina has not
even one employee working fullt ime on our response to the
suppository site project.
What North Carolina does have
is a governor who bas said he
would not veto a site selected
here. Every other governor in
every state under consideration
has promised a veto. A governor
veto of a site mean~ that a
full congressional review and
approval is necessary before
wastes can be implanted. A
veto would force DOE to do the
proper scientific studies to
find the best site - not just
follow the path of least
resistance. Incredible as it
may seem, at a public "infor111ation seminar in Boone, NC,
DOE publicity man Kerns warned,
''What 1 can do is encourage
you guys not to trust us; take
us to taok." Dave Berich of
EPI ar,roes. He has said.
Fall 1985
" Si"~q - t-.J..J . /J;
�. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WEAMFOM:~OWEWlll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .
"There needs to be s whole new
science developed for each
repository site, nnd the DOE
is unwilling to spend the
necessary money and time to
adequately study all the potential reek bodies for the best
possible site."
The rext step in the selection process is for the nuclear
energy junkies at DOE to reduce
their list of 236 crystalline
rock sites down to 20 possible
sites this November.
TRANSPORTATION OP NUCl.EAR WASTES
The llOE goes to gceat lengths
to assure the public that the
shipment of spent fuel is safe .
It distributes films showing
dramatic full-scale crash tests
of spent fuel casks propelled
by rocket sleds into a massive
concrete wall at speeds up to
80 mph. The DOE fails to point
out, however, that the casks
were eaptY. though they implied
otherwise, by calling them
spent fuel casks. Upon testing
the survivability of casks after
a railroad accident with fire,
the DOE failed to say that on
the avera~e most railroad fires
Nuclear
Shipment Routes
N\ TfaH - page 9
THI l/11ct1.t1 11111P1J11101r,
WE'il i/OT t;O/NfJ 11 TANE 11/
last twice as long as the test
fire. The Nuclear Regulatory
Commission reported that the
tests on Transport Cask<1 "wPre
interesting but not particularly
useful."
The most definitive work to
date on the possible results
from a real transportation accident spilling real plutonuim
has been done by Sandia
Laboratories in New Mexico.
Their analysis indicates that
a "large quantity" shipment of
commercial plutonium released
in an urban area could result
in nearly 4,000 latent cancer
fatalities, 952 early morbidities (non-fatal health disorders) and scores of early
fatalities. The cost of
cleaning up such an accident
could range as high as two
billion dollars. The Sierra
Club has estimated that there
will be 9,000 shipments per
year of high-level wastes
from constipated reactors co
t~ N~, i~l~i.
W
~i~
ments per day to the
suppository .
The continued push towards
a nuclear technocracy offers
us no guarantees except the
production of more nuclear
waste.
The time has come for the
people of Katuah to form a
solid core of diasent and
stop this technological
train wreck. We must demand
that the governor veto any and
all sites within his political
realm. We must convince our
congresspeople to invite DOE
officials to come and experience our opposition.
We must form affinity groups,
like Ben Drake of the Highlander Center in :-:ew ~larket,
Tennessee, who is organizing
folks along tranooortotion
routes.
The nuclear waste suppository
means degra~ation of the land,
de~radation of the water, degradation of human health,
radioactive particles in the
air , and probable ~enetic
damage and mutations among all
living things in the area. We
do not want to be known as the
generation that let it happen
here. The situation requires
nothing less than our best efforts to shut this menace ,,,, #
down!
,P"'
Write to your political representatives expressing your
opposition to the MRS, transportation of nuclear waste
through Katuah, and the planned
suppository.
The Honorable James Martin
State Capitol
Raleigh, NC 27611
House of Representatives
Washington
2463 Rayburn House Office
Building
Washington, DC 20515
Write to these folks for
current information and join
them in the battle to save
Katuah!
Blue Ridge Enviromental
Defense League
P.O. Box 1308
West Jefferson , NC 28694
Western North Carolina
Alliance
P.O. Box 1591
Franklin NC 28734
(704) 524-3389
Mr. Steve Conrad
Director of Division of
Land Resources
Department of Natural
Resource and Community
Development
P.O . Box 27687
Raleigh, NC 27611
Highlander Center
Rt. 3 Box 370
New Market, Tn . 37820
Fall 1985
c;
~2.&q
- H, ••
J
�The message the plant people give to us: from the sourwood's early
red leaves, the beautiful multicolor of the saw briar, the
yellow of the poplar, the rust of the oaks, the pinks and
reds of the red maple·· all these differences create beauty
that moves the inner part of ourselves and prepares us
for the great rest.
We are told it is the i:iiver of breath's plan that we may have differences.
All of the giver of breath's creation lives in harmony and
peace with one another with the expection of man.
We are told that we have completed a circle of life by this time of year.
Let's look at ~he lessons that have been given to us in this
circle. It is alright what you are. It is alright what I am.
Let's take and move evenly together with our differences and give our
unborn and their unborn yet to be a chance to go
through this same circle.
Communities
We are told these are the oldest mountains upon the earth. Life has
been here longer than any place else on the great
mother.
We are told this is one of the few places upon the earth where spirit
still dwells, in the deep rich coves where the seng grows
and the voices of water are talking to someone. All the
life forces talk to the spiritual aspect of ourselves, the
real part of us.
We are told that all through our mountains··from northern Georgia all
the way up the Appalachian trail, from the moon eyed
people to the native people to the European people's
spirits have been attracted to the power that these
mountains place upon us.
We are told that people come here with their spiritual and relisious
ideas because they seem to fit with what is here. ·1 hey
start their own communities-- healing communities.
spiritual communities, communities based on a_pamcular philosophy or political point of view. But a mistake
that our brothers and sisters make causes them to miss
the power and the gift that the mountains give to us all.
Their communities develop an ego just as an individual
would develop an ego.
We are told that now the time of great rest comes upon the mountains
again, as it has for thqusands of years, the time when
trees lose their leaves and evergreens get greener. Let's
listen to the message that the mountains and the streams
say to us.
We are told that the differences aren't enough reason for us to be
separate. We should strive to pull our communities
together, to work together to preserve this spiritual
oasis for us all. We can work with people who are
different without having expectations for them to follow
our path.
i<Ai~Af! - .eW!e 10
Fall 1985
11
Io
�The publications listed below are
available from Appalachian Regional
Office, I.T.C.I.U.S.A,. lnc., Route
I, Gravel Switch, KY 40328. Prices
listed include postage and handling
within the U.S.
PROPAGATION METHODS AND SOURCES FOR
UNCOMMON PERENNIAL FOOD PLANTS: A
LITERATURE REVIEW IN TABULAR FORM
Gregory Williams, 1983 (slightly ;.:vised 1984), 49 pp ., $6.00 .
by Brian Caldwell
We are trying an lntercropping
system that might be of utility on
other fal"lls. On an 80 ft. by 90 ft.
test plot, we have planted raspberries in rows 15 feet apart (about
Lwice the usual spacing). In the rows
with the berry canes, we set young
Chinese chestnut trees every 15 feet.
The chestnut trees are mulched, weeded and fertilized along with the berries, which are allowed to grow close
beside the trees. Beds of vegetables
about 5 feet wide run between the
raspberry-chestnut rows.
This system is an attempt to
care for a succession of crops with
the least effort, while making good
use of space . We suspect that the
raspberries. grown without the use of
pesticides, have fewer problems with
fungal diseases due to the improved
air circulation of wide rows. It
seems reasonable to use the extra
space for vegetables. Because rasp-·
berry plantings typically last only
about 5-7 years because of virus problems, the chestnuts provide a crop
to "take over" after the berries.The
young trees require special care
(particularly weed control) for about
3 years after planting, yet bearing
begins only after about 5 years or
more.le does not make much sense to
invest the special care and space exclusively for the non-bearing trees
so we put them right in the berry
rows! They will not seriously compete
with the berries until the berries
are on the way out. The berry mulching and fertilizing are ideal for the
Lrees, and competition from the berries doe~ not appear significant.
Note that. with the use of mulch, it
is important to protect the tree
trunks from rodents with some sort of
guards.
Eventually . we will have a grovt·
of chestnut trees on a 15 feet by 15
feet spacing. This is too close for
mature t recs. However, these a re•
~eedllng trees, not ~rafts . and iL is
11ko.!ly thoc some will be poorer beorl'rs thun OLhers.After about 15 venrs,
Lhey will be Lhinned out, leaving
onlv the best. The area formerly occ-
upied by raspberries and vegetables
will be sheep pasture . And the chestnut yield in the early years will
have been much improved over the
yield for trees originally planted on
a recommended spacing of 30 feet by
30 feet.
This system is appropriate for
many kinds of trees . Strawberries
could substitute for the vegetables,
but blueberries, gooseberries, asparagus, and rhubarb all last so long
that their total production as "raspberry substitutes" would be seriously
reduced by the trees.
Areas used for this system
should be free from perennial weeds.
to our plot, we have had problems
only with the tarnished plant bug
and, at first, coo low fertility for
high raspberry yields. An organic
fertilizer (about 20 pounds of N per
acre) placed beneath the mulch the
last two springs resulted in much
better growth of the fruiting canes.
The berries also benefit from vege• table fertilization.
Reprinted from ~&~~estry Review.
Back issues available from:
Inte rnational Tree Crops Institute,
Appalachian Regional Office
USA
Route 1,
Gravel Switch, Ky. 40328
--
~-(;& i.ist : tyu <N'O~
AGRISILVICULTURE FOR APPALACHTA: A
BIBLIOGRAPHY, Gregory Williams, 1979,
9 pp .• $2.00.
ACRISfLVICULTURE : A NECESSARY RENAISSANCE, Gregory Williams, 1979, 4 pp.,
$1.00.
TREE CROPS FOR SMALL FARMS IN APPALACHIA: PRELIMINARY PROPOSAL FOR RESEARCH, Flip Bell. John Pohlman,
Gregory Williams, 1977, 24 pp., $4.00.
ENERGY-CONSERVING PERENNIAL AGRICULTURE FOR MARGINAL LAND IN SOUTHERN
APPALACHIA: FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT
Gregory Williams, 1982, 52 pp. , $8'.oo
HORTIDEAS, Published monthly, Subscriptions $10.00/yr. (U.S.)
SOME SOURCES OF HARD-TO-OBTAIN SEEDS
AND. PLANTS FOR TREE CROPPING
CHESTNUT HILL NURSERY,Rt. 3, Box 477,
Alachua, Fl. 32615. Hybrid AmericanOriental chestnuts. Price list free.
DOUGLAS, Earl, Red Creek, NY 13143.
Hybrid American-Oriental chestnuts.
Send SASE for price list.
HIDDEN SPRINGS NURSERY, Route 14, BOX
159, Cookeville, TN. 38501. Seedling
and grafted fruit and nut trees, including honeylocust. Price list free.
---
l!<?Q_KS ABQ.l!l'_!REE CROPS:
TREE CROPS: A PERMANENT AGRICULTURE,
J. Russell Smith. Devin-Adair, New
York, 1953. Founding work for the
tree crops "movement"; somewhat dated, but worth reading to get excited
about the idea of a tree-based agriculture .
TREES FOR THE YARD, ORCHARD, AND
WOODLOT, Roger Yepsen, Jr., editor,
Rodale Press. Emmaus, Pennsylvania,
1976. Introductory chapters on landscaping. orcharding, nut trees. propagation, pest control. useful wild
~pecies, maple sugaring, and woodlot
rianagement.
NUT TREE CULTURE IN NORTH AMERICA,
Richard Jaynes, editor, NNGA, Hamden,
Connecticut, 1979. Very thorough and
authoritativt• reference--" the bible"!
ITCIUSA APPALACHIAN REGIONAL OFFICE,
Route l, Gravel Swi.tch, KY 40328.
Seeds and graf twood of select honeylocust, black locust, and American
persimmon. Price list free.
JOHNSON ORCHARD & NURSERY.Route 5,
Hox 325, El1jay, GA 30540. Manx peach
and nectarine cultivars, also graftc-d apples. Catalog, $1.
LAWSON'S NURSERY, Route 1, Box 294,
Ball Ground, GA 30107. Many apple and
pear cultivars. Catalog free. ~
Special thanks to Greg Williams of
t.T.C.l.U.S.A.
Fall 1985 . ~
�·-----------------------·Wl-R>MSTDWILUM_____________________......
o~
NATURAL
WORLD
-(
NEWS
.,,/
~':;:{<'!._ :
bCac~ buws :
a ~uestion
of
survivat /
Black bears have well developed
instincts for self-preservation and
a reputation for taking care of themselves. tncreaslng human pressure,
though, has seriously reduced their
numbers to the point that they may
not surTive!
Recent research trom N. c. State
University and the University ot
Tennessee shows that over 12! ot the
breeding tema.l.e black bears in the
Pisgah Bear Sanctuary, and over~
ot the total. population under study
there are being killed! This devastating kill rate casts serious doubt on
the ability ot the Pisgah Bear Sanctuary to 1D&inta1n an effective breeding nucleus.
In the Harmon Den Bear Sanctuary, on the edge of the Great Smoky
National Park, over 80% of the bears
under study were killed. With the
present black bear habitat a scant
5-10% of the species original range,
serious questions arise as to whether
or not the black bear may be completely extirpated from Katuah.
Poaching is the major ceason
the bears are disappearing. But
dwindling range, periodic food short-
Six endangered peregrine falcons
took fl i ght from atop Grandfather Mount·
ain, N.C. this summer. The restoration
program, now in its second year is part
of the ?lorth Carolina Wildlife Resource
Commission's Nongame and Endangered
Species Program. Most of the funding
came via checkoff contributions on the
~
ages and an inadequate management
plan al.so contribute to a dwindling
bear population.
Black bears reflect a medicine
tradition long valued by our earth
based cultures. The Cherokee believe
black bear is a descendent of the
human tribe and he left the villages
to seek his own way in the forests.
A Healing Management Program
would include a moratorium on bear
hunting until stable reproducing populations could be establisheP .
North Carolina which has the
longest bear hunting season in the
southeast would do well to shorten
the season by scheduling opening day
later in the year. This would protect
females since they go into dens sooner and would thus discourage their
extinction.
Other suggestions include, discontinuing use of radioactive iso·
topes for scat monitoring, ban hunting with dogs, ban 2-way radio hunting, protecting old age timber stands
for their den trees and hard mast
(oak & hickory) and expansion of
habitat areas and sanctuaries.
state income tax form. A similar program is underway in Virginia with releases scheduled lo begin next year in
the high mountains of Tennessee.
Peregrine falcons are native to the
high mounts ins of Katuah and will be
sharing the air streams with 6 golden
eagles released this summer from th e
Shining Rock Wilderness. The restoration project is administered and
staffed by the TVA and the N.C. Wildlife Commission.
SG
_, ,
"
...,.. _,;Jt
Because of the urgency of black
bear survival, it seems important
for all of ua to begin to pool information on bear sightings and to document incidents of use of dogs, 2way radios , poaching, and other
kills. This documentation will be
decisive in influencing the Wildlife
Resources Commission to shift its
policies from species eradication to
species conservation.
To participate in the Bear Action Network, please call or write
Paul Gallimore, Long Branch Environmental Education Center. Big Sandy
M.lsh Creek, Leicester, NC 28748.
704/683-3662.
To voice your conservation concerns, write NC Wildife Resources
Commission, 512 N. Salisbury St.
Raleigh, NC 27611. Please send a
copy of your letter to each of the
Commissioners: M. WoodroWli'rice,
Dr. Richard Adams, David Allsbrook,
Jack Bailey, Cy Brame. F.ddie Bridges,
Joe Carpenter, Dr. John Hamrick,
Henry Kitchin, Stuart Paine, Donald
Thompson. Jerry Wright. and Vernon
n ~vill, Executive Director. ~
'\.
�The Western North Carolina Alliance, the Cowee Community Development Organization of Macon County,
Alark.a Laurel Limited, and Walton
Smith, a professional forester,
have officially filed an administrative appeal with the U.S. Forest
Service opposing clear- cutting,
poisoning and burning on public
lands in the Nantabala National Forest. The jolnt appeal argues that
selective cuttin~ and all-age management are far superior to the proposed clear-cutting in the Little
Laurel timber sale. It is argued
further that the sale violates the
National Forest Management Act
(NFMA), the Multiple Use and Sustained Yield Act, and the National
Environment Policy Act (NEPA).
Clear-cutting requires very
little professional skill to implement and SU?ervise a timber sale.
In the shore run, it produces the
greatest mo~etary return and is
thus attractive to administrators
working on a limited budget. However, the method imposes adverse
environmental conditions on an
otherwise diverse and self mainttaining syst em, precluding the
multiple use and long- term productivity of the southern Appalachian hardwood forests.
A summation of these violations are as follows: The appeal
maintains that in its Environmental
Assessment (EA), the Forest Service
fa Ued to consider selective cutting as an alternative. The appeal
states that the EA "sets a precedent and represents a general policy
~·
..,-·
~-
choice in silviculture techniques,
a choice that should not be made
in the absence of a 'systematic,
interdisciplinary' analysis of
long-term environmental impacts.·•
The NFMA of 1976 was designed
to restrict the extent to which the
USFS incorporates clear-cutting in
its overall management plans. The
foundation for the enactment of
NFMA was the Church guidelines
which state that clear-cutting may
only be used where "silviculturally
essential" and after "multidisciplinary review" has been completed.
The appeal states that the "EA
contains no finding that clearcutting is 'ailviculturally essential'. The USFS's primary justification for clear-cutting is the
allegedly high cost of selective
cutting, a justification which violates Congress' Jirective that the
'greatest dollar return' is not
sufficient reason to clear-cut.
Section 4(a) of the ~ultiple
Use Sustained Yield Act specifies
that "some land will be used for
less than all of the resources,.,
and that the best use is " not
necessarily the combination of
uses that will give the greatest
dollar return or the greatest
unit output."
The appeal supports the position that "each national forest
must be managed with the goal
of enhancing its unique inherent contribution to the entire
system." Th:fq ... should not be
(cont'd on p.14)
~
Champion International recently
celebrated "75 Years of Excellence"
but to the Pigeon River Action Group
(PRAC) of Haywood County, NC, it represents 75 years of effluents. Recently, Champion's permit to dump
wastes into the Pigeon R\ver came up
for renewal. The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission (EMC)
( a state commission in charge of issuing permit renewals) issued a new
pemit, called "toothless and vague"
by many citizens, and submitted it to
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for comments, according
to federal guidelines. Earlier, the
EMC had rejected suggestions by the
the director of the NC Division of
Environmental Management (who ultimately has to approve the permit , on
the state level) to str engthen the
(cont 'd on p.14)
'(AttAl! - page 13
---~=:..:...:,,,,:::....::===-=-....;~
----ae-
r
..
In a time of misguided "Superfunds"
and continuing "Studies" it is encourging to know that grass root efforts are
still effective.•The snow balling movement to save the Horsepasture River is
such a story. (See l<.atuah issues 16 &
18) .
Since the spring of '84 the
"Friends of the Horsepasture" have
fought a proposal by Carrasan Co. (an
out - of state investors tax write-off)
to dam and develop the river and her
five waterfalls. Hore than eleven hundred dues-paying members have contacted
their elected officals in Raleigh and
encouraged them to support N.C. Senator
Hipps and Rep. Crawford's legislation
that would include the river in the
N. C. Natural and Scenic Rivers System. The bill wuld also direct the
N.C. Dept. of Natural Resources to develop a management plan to qualify the
Borsepasture for inclusion into the
National Wild and Scenic River System.
On June 7 the N.C. House and Senate
voted unanimously in favor of this legislation. It is now up to Govenor
Martin to request the U.S. Secretary of
Interior to admit the river into the
national system. Appropriation of
funds to the U.S. Forest Service from
the Land & Water Conservation Fund by
Congress will be needed to purchase
land to accomplish complete protection of the tract which includes 3 of
the 5 major falls. U.S. Congressperson Rendon is exploring this possibility.
. Hore info:
FRIENDS OF THE BORSEPASTURE
P.O.Box 272
~~
Cedar Mountain,NC 28718 ~
�~
' ?,
no! ..• clear-c utting
(cont'd from p.13)
compromised in order to harvest
a fixed quota of timber on an
annual basis.'' Cutting for pulpwood and replanting in white
pine while neglecting the diversity of native species shows
that the USFS is pursuing the
"greatest unit output" and is
in direct violation of this Act.
The appeal is now being considered by Regional Forester,
Joe Alcock. The Alliance has
won a "stay'' on this sale and is
advocating a moratorium on clearcutting in the Nantahala National Forests, until the contents
of the revised 50-year forest
management plan are revealed.
CORPORATE
FORESTRY
PRACTICES
Hello,
A friend haa suggested that I write
a letter to Kat6ah about my experiences with the forestry practices in
the southeast of our country. I ' ve
worked the trees (treeplanting) in
the southeast for five seasons now,
the last two as a foreman for a large
treeplanting outfit.
Most of my experience has been on
land owned privately by large paper
companies. If you study maps of the
southern states , you'll see many
large areas with minimum development.
These are often paper company lands.
Corn and cotton farming devastated
much of this land, rendering it useless for farming and enabling the
big companies to acquire it quite
cheaply.
Forestry, as practiced by the paper companies, means pines, generally genetically improved stock of the
loblolly species. This inhibits local varieties and leaves little or
no room for hardwood varieties.
Once, while riding to a site with
a young forester , I remarked about
the nice big oaks in someone's yard.
The forester smiled and said, "That• s
two words that you don ' t hear in the
same sentence in forestry school:
' n ice' and 'oak'. If it ' s not pine,
it's weeds."
Practices vary from company to
company, and even from forester to
forester within the same company,
but generally the only areas left to
hardwoods sre wetlands and drains ,
KA TG.\H
-
page 14
.....::
permit guidelines. One commission
member stated," I would hate to see
a threat put on a company that has
really broken their back (to improve
water quality on the Pigeon River)."
EPA, within the 90-day comment period, responded to the EMC by insisting that the permit contain tougher
language and specific action. Ignoring EPA ' s review comments, EMC
went ahead and issued the original
weak permit, anyways.
Historically, the EPA has never voided a permit that a state has
issued. However, in an unprecedented move, EPA voided this North Carolina permit in August. As indicated
by EPA's comments to EMC, the permit did not comply with the required
federal Clean Water Act guidelines.
Now, the EMC has 90 days to draft a
new permit or the EPA will take over and issue its own. James O. Sheppard, Jr., a spokesperson for the
NC Division of Environmental Management has stated that the EMC might
not have the statutory authority to
implement the recommendations.
Meanwhile, Tennessee is suing
North Carolina and Champion stating
and that often reluctantly. Even
steep hillsides get replanted in
pine. A few companies seem unwilling
even to leave the drains i f they own
land on both sides of a creek or river.
Champion International - "largest
paper company in the world" - also
probably the largest landowner in
the eastern US, is still doing clearcuts of a phenomal size: up to 2,000
acres in a single tract. Of course,
clearcut ting doesn't eliminate hardwoods, as we ' re well aware. This
means that the land must be further
prepared for treeplanting by either
rootraking and piling, chopping, and
burning the brush; or even disking
and double-disking the soil. These
techniques eliminate hardwoods, as
well as rootmats, groundcover, and
most of the topsoil that's managed
to reform onto what was often mediocre land at best.
A technique rising in popular~ty
that effectively eliminates the hardwoods and saves the topsoil is the
use of massive quantities of herbicides. This can effectively wipe out
the hardwoods, but it tends to hove
very detrialental effects on wildlife, as well as on the foresters
and technicians doing the applications. Aerial spray and burn is being
utilized on a large scale. I've been
on sites that were over 600 acres
and devastated by application of
herbicide and thorough burning.
Some major problems arising from
this approach are: overspray onto
str eams and rivers and onto "innocent" land (including crop fields)
and residential wells and springs.
People directing the spray are often soaked by the stuff.
Once the land is prepped, tree-
; .•
~
...._:
~11111.·.-::~...'t. - _.,,.;r - '"'~ •
e5cont 'd from p.13)
that the mill should be required to
clean up the river and thus meet
Tennessee clean water standards. A 1980
N.C. state analysis showed that the
water was so dark that sunlight could
not penetrate and nurture the aquatic
life required by most fish to live.
Champion has recently installed a
small scale ultrafiltration test syst
to explore the feasibility of removing
the color from the effluent. But, Dick
Mullinix, chairperson of PRAG, points
out that since 1973 Champion has held
patent on a sy:;t:em that could clean up
to 90% of the colored effluent but it
was ignored, and only recently has
public pressure forced the company to
begin testing.
PRAG and its legal backers, the
Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation (LEAF, Knoxville,TN) and the Con
servation Council of North Carolina,
rallied support and urged EPA to take
up this issue. Further legal action is
expected.
Hore info:
,_ °'
""'
Pigeon River Action Croi '
p
P.O.Box 105
h
Waynesville, NC 28786
/.
planters come in and set out the
pines in a grid designed to close
off a canopy in 5 to 7 years. This
keeps out new growth and eliminates
the diversity of plant life and
habitat so necessary for wild things
to prosper.
"How about some solutions?" you
say. The best solution is, of course,
the people getting the land again,
rebuilding homesites and gardens, and
developing wells , springs, villages ,
and communities. But these are quite
complex and difficult issues, especially as forestry in the private
sector is first and foremost an economic undertaking. Perhaps some
grassroots "forest watch" operations
will develop, which might provide
some means of regulating the use of
the land and eliminating its destruction. lllaybe by restricting the size
of some of these logging operations
and giving local people some recourse to deal with abuses by their
corporate neighbors. ln the meantime, l will suggest that, while
travelling, you get on some "blue
line" highways and see for yourself
how the land is being cared for.
Tom Franko
Rt. 1, Box 243-8
Floyd, VA 24091
~
P'
Fall 1985
C.
fl
cc - AA
�. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111!11!!11. . . .!lll..... WIAMJORUTDWO.l.IN~. . . .~. . . . . .11111. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .
After three months of discussion and
R-5 the only trees that will requir~
Ur' Gr¥ftc£s
by Gus Radom
"Thtn• arc tides in the affairs of
humankind and we are at a low ebb."
Preclsely at the moment requiring the
Krcalcst leadership we have the least.
This region, Asheville in particular,
ls going through dramatic change:
change that will touch our lives dircct ly and daily, whether or not we
choose to be involved.
Thg city of Ashevi11P fAcPs ~er
ious problems. "Asheville," according
to former city manager, Ken Michalovc,
"is literally rotting away . " The infrastructure that supports our urban
way of life is rapidly falling apart.
But the deterioration that I
wish to address is on the surface of
the land. As our natural environmenl
L•rodes, so does the quality of our
lives .
Cotn111ercial development is rapidly transforming the landscape and
lhus the character of our city. The
standard approach has been :o cut
down all the trees, level the site,
and pave everything . Once the process
begins it snowballs . The development
tragedies on Merriman Avenue have
diminished the value of every home in
North Asheville. Trees buffer our
neighborhoods from the harshness of
the street and the collllllercial districts. When they are gone we lose a
part of our heritage. Our sense of
place, our peace, and our solitude
are diminished.
Our homes constitute the largest
investment most of us will ever make.
We spend our entire adult lives paying for that investment. That purchase provides us shelter and offers
us community . Collectively, our homes
create our neighborhoods,our major
place in the world . Our neighborhoods,
under normal circumstances, pass from
one generation to the next providing
the same healthy environment year
after year. Asheville has long provided all the South with a wonderful retreat. But how long, at the present
rate, will there be a cool, green Asheville? We have oo coaprehensive plan of
development. We have no blueprint to
guide us. We are stumbling expensively
into the future.
A few private citizens, including myself. observing the damage snd
seeing no established leadership addressing the issue of tree destruclion,
have been trying to turn this around.
KATCAH - page 15
research (gathering tree ordinances
and advice from all over the South)
we produced a tree ordinance unique
to our situation. We consulted two
members of the city council, seeking
their support and advice. They suggested that we first gain the endorsement of the Tree Conunission and allow
the commission to present the ordinance to council. We did this . For months
we pressed the Tree Commission for
their support of an ordinance t~at
they should have initiated years ago.
Thanks to the self-serving leadership
of several members of the commission
this ordinance was weakened by numerous amendments and delayed for more
than nine months. The ordinance finally passed the Tree Commission , but
the leadership of the commission has
done nothing to promote this o rdinance before city council.
The proposed tree ordinance is
by no means assured to pass City
Council. It is controversial and will
cost the City some money to enforce .
It will pass only if the members of
the Council believe it has strong
support from a majority of the people in the city.
The proposed Asheville Tree
Ordinance is designed to prevent the
indiscriminate pruning and removal
of trees in the City , but without
denying the reasonable use and economic benefit of real property.Although the emphasis in this Ordinance
is on protection, the authors intend
this to be only a first step in a
comprehensive program to preserve ,
maintain and replenish Asheville's
green environment.
The Ordinance has five essential
components:
~~ ARBORIST
First, it calls for the hiring
of a CITY ARBORIST: a tree specialist who will help the city make informed decisions when tree removal
is requested, and to help formulate
policies to properly care for the
City ' s own trees. Most importantly,
the CITY ARBORIST will design an educational program to make the general public aware of the value of our
own trees and to give technical information on how to care for them.
PERMIT FOR REMOVAL
-- -Seconcf,--c-heOrdinance requires
any person who intends to remove any
tree over 12 inches in diameter to
obtain a permit from the City. The
only exception to this requirement
is trees within the setback lines of
property zoned residential. ln other
words, for property zoned R-1 thru
a permit to be removed will be thost·
within a certain margin around the
perimeter of each lot .
If a developer or landowner lntends to remove a t ree during the
development of any land in the City.
a lree removal permit will be required along with other building
permits, and the City will have the
power to rescind all the permits if
the provisions of the Tree Protection Ordinance are not followed. The
Ordinance also includes guidelines
for the protection of existing trees
during construction.
A lree removal permit will be
granted in any case where the applicant can demonstrate a good reason
for removing the tree. Specifically ,
a permit will be granted if the tree
is dead, diseased, or otherwise dangerous or obstructive, or if removal
of the tree is necessary for the
proper development of the property,
or for the benefit and health of
other trees.In some cases permits
will be granted on the condition
that new trees are planted on the
property.
Special provisions have been
made ~n the Ordinance to regulate,
but not impede, the pruning and cutting done by the public utility companies in the course of maintaining
utility lines. Other special provisions have been made for emergencies
such as severe storms,and for the
appeal of permit denials.
PRUNING AND TOPPING
A third section of the ordinance requires that any pruning of
trees be done according to standards
set by the Tree Commission. Although
no permit will be required for pruning, excessive pruning that cause
the death of any tree will be treated as if the trees were cut down
without a permit. The purpose of
these provisions is to stop the unsightly mutilation of mature hardwoods in the name of •topping~
PENALTIES
~-Tht?°penalties section of the
Ordinance makes both the lsndowner
and the person who actually does the
cutting subject to the penalties.
The criminal penalties that may be
imposed are $50. per tree, or 30
days in jail. Civil penalties can be
up to $10,000 .
PLANTING ON CITY PROPERTY
-- Finally , the Ordinance encourages any citizens of Asheville to
plant trees on City property in accurdanc .. with the City Tree Plan adopted by the Tree Commission.
cont'd on p.21
·•
~~~ ~
-
" Fsll~l985
�t .•
A
Fall 1985
•
t~
�Fall 1985
.... ~.
-
�. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .WEAM,OIOUTDWD.UM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .
DRUMMING
LETIERS TO KATUAH
Hello Ka tuah !
Just got done reading Gary Snyder's interview
in The Mother Earth News and will use that reinspiration to write. Bioregionalism does nothing but make sense to me and I have discussed
it with lots of folks since my introduction to
it through ex-Co-Evolution Quarterly. I am
drawn to the idea for ecological(moral) and
political(decentralization) reasons. I do not
consider myself a pessimist, yet I cannot see
the institution of such "radical" politics in
my lifetime. Still, given my personal reality
and witnessing a growth of spiritual awakening
in .. this country, it is time to promote sanity
and cOllDDunity . The establishment of bioregionalism would be, to me, nothing short of mass
enlightenment, the birth of human beings • .. ••
We are capable as a species. May we rise to
our potential through creative insight and
courage.
Please send me any and all necessary info to
better educate me so I may pass the truth along
to others. I'll thank you in advance for your
kindness and help and your loving work for the
earth and its creatures.
·
One woman, trying to walk in balance- Cotton
Willis, Va.
"one does not give over to alternative realities
without summon ing up forces of nature and mind
which urban-industrialism was designed to exclude,
never to contain"
Theodore Roszak
Where The Wasteland Ends
Dear Katuah,
I ' m writing to request that you publish a correction to an article published in the Spring 1985
loouc of KotWih. The article was on Socially Responsible '"ii\veBting (page 15).
The problem is simply that you screwed up our
address in the "Resources" sect.ion. The address
given is "28 Montpelier, VT.05602" . The correct
address is: 28 Main St . ; Montpelier, VT 05602.
While I have your attention, I just want to let
you know that I think your publication is absolutely first-rate; it' s the strongest, most coherent publication I've seen yet from the bioregional
oovement.
Thanks for your help and support.
Sincerely,
Larry Lewack
Marketing Director
GOOD MONEY
:<ATf. - page 18
.\H
Dear Friends,
I'm writing to express my feelings of how meaningful I think your paper is for the times we
face today. I think Kat6ah represents an emerging awareness and networking of peoplP with many
basic concerns. beliefs and philosophies.I
think that i• is part of the global consciousness that is striving for peace, equality between peoples and nations, and an expression of
feelings of love for the Mother Earth.
~et me tell you briefly of our goals and current
function here at Northwoods Center for Natural
Health. One is to network out info=mation to
people in every way that we can . We do this
through newsletters, talks, newspaper articles,
etc. A second ts to begin a Center for networking with individuals that can help teach a selfsustaining way of life and a respect for the
earth. With that we want to instill a greater
degree of planetary consciousness in people by
bringing them in contact with guest lecturers.
Thirdly , we will have health retreat weeks for
those interested in regaining health in a European rejuvenation setting. And fourth, we provide personalized health programs and back and
neck pain therapy for any individual coming to
our Center in Brevard.
With Warmth and Light,
Or. Frank Trombetta, O.Sc.
Ro list ic Health
304 Water Oak Suites
Brevard NC 28712
Hi Good People,
The SU11DDer issue is great but the second part
of Lowell Hayes' painting is upside down. The
reservoir flooded up the valley covering the
homestead as It rose.
Touching gently our Mother Earth,
Karl Yost
Willis, Va.
KatU'ah,
On my 10th birthday, spent here in these mountains, I announced to my family that one day
this would be my home. I knew even then that
these maternal nurturing hills would cradle me
and I would live a life close to the earth. Nowfinally-1 am home! No other place ever felt like
home-only these mountains. So if this is my home,
where are my roots, my past knowledge of gener.
ations. my life cord?
Katuah is just that ... connecting me with relatives living and those who have gone on before
me. It is my anchoring roots-so that I may concentrate on producing nurturing fruits.
Suaan Claese
~
�. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WlAlllfOllUTOW'IU.EMI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
AS 1 sit beneath the towering
white oak, I feel the coolness of
it's breath on this hot SU11111er day.
I lay my palms upon the base of it's
trunk and feel it's life blood courslng beneath the bark. Earth-breath
stirs the leaves gently and I am reminded that where there is breath,
there is spirit I remember the
breathing of the oak and try to make
my breath juat as silent. Leaning
against the oak, I place my hands
'and bare feet against the bare soil;
illlagining them to be roots, 1 push
them into the soil and draw the
Earth Hother's healing and growing
power into myself The oak's abundant fruit has fed me, and now it's
strong spirit nourishes me. I feel
it's plentiful power flooding me
with strength, vigor, and endurance
I open my eyes, give my thanks to
the white oak and realize that when
I need these things, the oak will be
there for me. 1 will protect and
preserve it as long as I shall live,
and I will pass the task on to my
children, who inherit the stewardship of this land. With my newfound strength, I run up to the
ridge and down to my valley home.
FRIEND TO HUMANS
The oaks have been known as
sustainers and healers for centuries . A variety of species of oak
(spp. quercus ) are indigenous to
Turtle Island (N. America) and their
gifts have been well known to many
native tribes. I have been told that
the old-time Cherokee runners earring messages between the different
clans travelled only with extra mocassins and a pouch of acorn and corn
Meal on their belts. The runners
would keep a pinch in their mouth as
they ran for an hour or so, then
swallow and take another. This sustained the runners as they covered
up to 100 miles in a loping, 20 hour
trot through the rich woodlands of
Katuah.
All acorns are edible and all
contain bitter tannin in varying amounts 'Ille oaks are divided into
two groups by botanists: the white
oaks, whose leaves have rounded
lobes, with sweeter acorns and more
tannin in the bark; and the red oaks,
whose leaves have pointed lobes, with
bitter acorns and less tannin in the
bark. ~~st desirable for food are the
chestnut oak (quercus prinus) acorns.
The nut meats are the largest I know,
so less time is spent shelling and
they are very owcct
The whicc ook
(quercus alba) is so sweet that a
light roasting will render them edible, with a bitterness comparable to
that of coffee. Gather the acorns
as soon as possible after they fall,
as most become infested with weevils
within a week. Green acorns are fine.
The bitterness is removed by a leaching process. First, grind the shelled acorns in a flour mill into course
acorn grits. The moist acorns will
not pass through if the mill is set
too fine. Put the grits in a cotton
On Tall Trees
O mighty oak
Long in silence I look on you
And draw power and renewal
from your aura.
Often I wonder
of your making,
Gnarled in places,
How slowly,
slowly
do you grow,
How long
how many years
in the making!
Controller of climate and
rainfall
Protector of top soil,
protector of the earth,
Inspiring of strength
Favorite of ancients
of Druids,
of religious groups.
How mighty in sinew,
Inspiring in strength!
0 to stop the crime
Of wasting you!
What mystery radiances
breathe you in
and breathe you out?
You are of the tall trees,
The friend of owls,
You are old .•. so old!
You are the acorn,
You are the oak!
©
W. Walters
oock, tic it closed and place in cold
running water; a creek or in the sick
under a slow, steady stream. White
oak acorns will leach in 4-8 hours;
some red oaks take as long as 14-16
hours. Just taste the grits to see if
all the astringency has been removed.
Then spread the grits in a thin layer
on a flat surface (a stone heated by
the sun or fire, or on a cookie sheet
in a 200 degree oven) and dry thoroughly. Grind the brown grits into a
fine flour. You now have a food that
is approximately 6.5% protein, 68%
carbohydrate , .1% fat and for each
100 grams, you get 12 mg calci11111, 314
mg phosphorous, 2 mg iron, .02 mg
thiamine, .40 mg riboflavin and .5 mg
niacin - not to mention all your body
will tell you about its food value.
ASH CAKES
Traditionally, acorn flour and
corn meal are mixed with water and a
small amount of sifted oak wood ash
(which makes the protein more accessible to our bodies) to make a stiff
batter After your oak and hickory
wood fire has burned for 1 hour, remove wood and coals, dig a large,
bread loaf sized pit in the hearth
and line it with red hot coals and
ashes. Pour the batter onto the coals
then place more ash on top, then more
coals, then build the fire back up on
top. After one half to one hour (depending on the size of your ash cake) I
take out the bread. The blackened
outer crust has formed an "oven" for
the sweet, moist bread inside. Thia
is a very sustaining food with a
complete, balanced protein content.
When you're in the kitchen, try
this recipe for the most delicious
corn bread you've ever had:
I
I
cornmeal
le
l/2c acorn flour
I/Jc soy flour
l/4c w/wheat flour
2tsp salt
l
egg
l}i;c milk
3tbsp honey
Jtbsp oil
optional:
le chopped
black walnuts
le toasted
sunflower seed
mix all dry ingredients , add liquids
and beat until smooth. Pour into
muffin tins or cake pan and bake for
20-30 minutes until a toothpick comes
out clean .
Medicinally oak bark is a powerful astringent - antiseptic with several applications A decoction made
(cont'd. p. 24)
198S
�ed together to form a starry patchwork quilt of colldctive being . Feminine power is once more on the ascendant; the summer lion of personal
will d:lssolves in the glory o f transcendent love ••• "
" Feminine power is activated in
the fall as vital energy descends to
the roots of our beings . It is through the feminine aspect in human nature that the purifying fire of M
ichael can rightfully be wielded. Justice, a feminine fi gure, watches over
and weighs the spiritual harvest ••• "
"In the first half of autwun, we
gather in the harvest and clear away
the 'chaff ' . In the second half, we
integrate the spiritual fruits of the
past year cycle. The 'sword of trut h'
and the scale are symbolic of the first
psychic process, which is inspired and
facilitated by the observance of Michaelmas, the Great New Moon C
ere1110ny,
Yom Kippur, and Hallowmas. The mysticas
al union of spiritual fruits is symbolized by the Jewish suka (four-sided
hut), the Native American medicine
wheel and World Tree with four roots,
the Chr istian Ad ven t wreath , and the
Chanukah dr e i dl .. . "
Fil.Om the I n-tltodu.c,Uo n
to .the Calendalt :
"This calendar j ournal
is intended to demonstra te
t hat the celebrations of all
racial and r eligious cultures
represent complementary aspects of one gr eat world cult ure and are r eflected in the
diverse psychic elements that
m
ake up each individual . Holy
days and all notable historic
events can be viewed in the
context of the annual cycle
as phases of individual and
collective development. According to an old Dakota song
' t he year is a circle around
the world '. The myths of all
cultures can be meaningfully
pr ojected on the mandala of
the annual rhythm. "
"Fall is the time to reap the
psvchic as well aa physical fruits of
th.a groving season. Each of us is a
ray which goes forth 1o spring t o embr ace a particular aspact of crdation
and r•turns i n fall with a ~rsonal
harves t to share wit h our COlmllWlity.
Individual •xpcriancea are now joinK.\TCAH - page 20
"Fall is the season of complet ion,
of 1110ving toward mystic wholeness when
diverse states of consciousness may be
brought into h8rlll0ny. In the Gnostic
view, Christ is the soul of the Earth
(the incarnate solar principle). The
soul of the world, the center of the
circle cross of the Earth symbol, can
be approached only by man.Heating within ourselves the essential nature of
every religion and cult ure. The most
important message of the fall is that
all faiths are essentially bas.sd on one
great body of truth of which each world
religion and culture is an integral
part.
The medicine wheel is a primary
Native American symbol which defines the
four parts of the human psyche, provtd.ss
a path to the integration of these psychic elemenes and indicates how the individual may best be integrated into the
tribal community. A person first experiences each of the four directions
before balancing i n the center o f the
circle cross. Then all four states of
being come alive at the same time and
the medicine wheel begins to turn.
The medicine wheel of Native Amer-
ica and the Great Pyramid both symbolize the procciss of psychic transformation through which the formative elements of human nature are aligned
and integrated by the fifth principle
(the quJ.ntessence}, spiritual awareness. This transformative process is
also the purpose of the Cherokee
"s quard ground" which is used for ceremonial dance in this season. It is
the basis for celebrating the four
we4*. Advent period which culminates
in the ligh ting of a f ifth candle in
a "medicine wheel" circle of greenery .
Fall is the season to create a
new state of being, a more inclusive
form of consciousness, aud it is the
time to consciously let go of the old
form, to ring in the new year. Creative meditation and rational fasting
have a place in this process and so
do singing, chanting , and dancing .
Let's recall the words of Lame D
e1:1r:
'Dancing and praying-it's the same
thing', when w1:1 celebrate Advent and
include a little enlightened Saturnalia, for its purpose is to break up
psychic patterns from the old year, to
help us open our hearts to the ligh t
of a new star ••• "
(f
'1e~v ts~ c1vc- le~v-oV1noL the wov\d~
the
"The New Moon of Libra , the
first following the Fall Equinox ,
marks the spiritual New Year in the
New World Cycle of Celebrations ... .
This is the time of the Great New
M
oon Ceremony, the New Year celebration commemorating the world ' s
creation in Cherokee and Iroquois
tradition . Immersion in a pure body
of w
ater at sunrise followed by
crystal ga zing co perceive the future year is a traditional aspect
of the ceremony."
Advance o r ders for The 1986 " New
W l d Cycle of Celebrations Calenor
dar Journal" a r e now being ta ken .
Send $8. 00 to :
New Wo r l d Celebra tions
P . O. Box 6054
Charlot te, N 2820 7 ~
C
!!". • --FaH l91f5
�. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WEAMFOFIUTOWlii.ERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11111!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
Review
M)UNTAINEERS AND RANGERS: A HISTORY
OF FEDERAL FOREST MANAGEMENT IN THE
SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS 1900-81
Shelley Smith Mastran and Nan
Lowerre (U. S. Government Printing
Office, Washington, D. C. 20402)
$7.00
The federal government, particularly in the form of the U. S. Forest
Service, has been a strong force in
the development of the current
were mounted knights carrying the
conservation message into the wilds.
Now, since the political tide has
turned, a new chapter in the history
of federal involvement in Kat6ah is
being wcitten. The DOE is threatening to dump nuclear waste on the
mountains. The Forest Service is
meeting considerable popular opposition for undertaking large-scale
clear-cutting operations, and has
been implicated in offering the
lumber interests large hand-outs
in the form of below-cost timber
sales. But that is to be read in
the future. At present, MOUNTAINEERS AND RANGERS offers an illuminating look at one of the powers
that helped to shape today .
VRDAN Tl\EES
(continued from p.15)
Recently at a conference on
Buncombe County ln the 21st Century,
Ian McHarg, noted author and landscape architect , emphasized the importance of incorporating the natural environment into the design of our
cities. Approximately 76% of Americans live in or near urban areas.
This figure will rise. As we purchase smaller homes on less or no land,
we instinctively turn to our urban
forests for that occasional respite,
for the reflection and solace we
sometimes desperately need in our
often crowded and hectic lives . Imagine New York City without Central
Park. Urban forests offer city folks
a wide variety of delights and benefits. In spite of unrelenting pressures for urbanization, 30% of the
surface area of an average U.S. city
is covered with trees. This is a
larger portion of forest cover than
is found in the typical countryside.
The proposed city arborist in the
Ordinance would facilitate the crucially importa:it integration of
sound urban forest planning and management with commercial and residential development.
In conclusion, as private citizens we have a responsibility to act
when there is no action. If we fail
to do so, we become the victims.
Your help in the passage of the tree
ordinance is critical. We need your
influence, your letters, your phone
calls . This is but a first step. We
can turn this thing around. ~
economic and cultural realities of
the Katclah province. Under contract
to the U.S . Forest Service, researchers Shelley Smith Mastran and Nan
Lowerre have docu~ented the federal
***
presence and the changes it has
"In the early days, only the largest
brought to Southern Appalachian
forestry and forest lands in the
and highest quality trees were cut:
course of the 20th century .
cherry, ash, walnut, oak, and yellowUnlike many goverument public(tulip) poplar, often as large as 25
ations, MOUNTAINEERS AND RANGERS
feet in circumference. Although it
is not a monotonous litany of
is difficult to imagine today, trees
alphabet agencies or a selfwere felled that were larger in diajustifying array of statistics
meter than an average man stands. Some
designed to def end an agency
portable sawmills were brought into
budget. Rather, the authors have
the mountains in the earlier years,
produced a book that is interesting
but logs from these enormous trees
and readable because they have
were usually transported to a'mill,
given attention to the existing
some miles distant, by horse, oxen,
forestry practices and cultural
or water . Typically, log splash dams
patterns in the area and, for better
were built on the shallow mountain
or wors~, the profound effect the
streams so that many logs could be
federal agencies have had on land
moved at one time. Logs were rolled
use and the mountain way of life.
into the lakes formed behind the dams,
UndLCStandably, they linger in
and with a buildup from rain or
the golden days of forestry in the·
melting snow, the.dams were opened to
Appalachians: the days of Teddy
let the logs cascade down the mountains.
Roosevelt, Carl Schenck, and
Prom wider places on the river,
Gifford Pinchot, when the Forest
Gi.1.6 Hado11.n, a ~i.den;t; 06 At.hetrees - as many as 40 to 120 at a
Service was young and "the district
ville, NC, htU> be.e.n a p!Llnci.pal. i.ntime - were lashed together to form
-ltla;to11. ht de.ve.i.op.ing a comp11.ehe.nranger • •• was the backbone of forest
rafts, which were piloted downriv~;~~
administration . " Forest rangers
1>i.ve Vi.ee. oJr.di.nanc.e. 601t hi.6 ~.
to the mills."
,P"'
at that time were crusaders - messengers bearing tidings of the young
science of forestry, of conservation and enlightened land use
to the mountain people. The days
of the CCC, when thousands of people
were gainfully employed at useful
conservation work during the
depression years is also emphasized,
but the book does not neglect discussions of the social impact of the
Forest Service's land acquisition
policies, the economic effects of the
federal government as landowner, and
the controversy surrounding the
RARE II proposals of the early
1980's .
The federal government has figured
so prominently in the history of
Katuah since the turn of the century,
that MOUNTAINEERS AND RANGERS offers
a good overview of the history of the
province and its forests during this
period . The book is extensively
annotated, and the bibliography alone
is an excellent guide to readings on
Southern Appalachia during this period.
There is a certain admiration and
nostalgia for the days when issues
were simpler, before Forest Service
"Aw, sheee-iit"
ethics became entangled in the
economics of the international
timber market , and when the rangers
Fall 1985
OS sgaq - Hf.~1/J.
�The publications listed below are
available from Appalachian Regional
Office, l.T.C.I.U.S.A,, lnc., Route
I, Gravel Switch, KY 40328. Prices
l isted include postage and handling
within the U.S.
PROPAGATION METHODS AND SOURCES FOR
UNCOMMON PERENNIAL FOOD PLANTS: A
LITERATURE REVIEW IN TABULAR FORM
Cregory Williams, 1983 (slightly
vised 1984), 49 pp., $6.00.
;e-
by Brian Caldwell
We are trying an intercropping
system that might be of utility on
other farns. On an 80 ft. by 90 ft.
test plot, we have planted raspberries in rows 15 feet apart (about
twice the usual spacing). In the rows
with the berry canes, we set young
Chinese chestnut trees every 15 feet.
The chestnut trees are mulched, weeded and fertilized along with the berries, which are allowed to grow close
beside the trees. Beds of vegetables
about 5 feet wide run between the
raspberry-chestnut rows.
This system is an attempt to
care for a succession of crops with
the least effort, while making good
use of space. We suspect that the
raspberries. grown without the use of
pesticides, have fewer problems with
fungal diseases due to the improved
air circulation of wide rows. It
seems reasonable to use the extra
space for vegetables. Because rasp-·
berry plantings typically last only
about 5-7 years because of virus problems, the chestnuts provide a crop
co "take over" after the berries.The
young trees require special care
(particularly weed control) for about
3 years after planting, yet bearing
begins on l y after about 5 years or
more.It does not make much sense to
invest the special care and space exclusively for the non-bearing trees
so we put them right in the berry
rows! They will not seriously compete
with the berries until the berries
are on the way out. The berry mulching and fertilizing are ideal fo r the
trees, and competition from the berries does not appear siRnificant.
Note that, with the use of mulch, it
is important to protect the tree
trunks from rodents with some sort of
guards.
Eventually. we will have a ~rove
of chestnut trees on a 15 feet by 15
feet spacing. This is too close for
mature t rel'!1. llowever. t hcse a re
seedlin~ trees, not ~rafts. and it is
likely that somt• will be poorer bearPrs than others.After about JS vears,
they will b~ thinned out, leaving
onlv the best. The aTea formerlv occ~
:'-\;'~'AH -
?ag~
ll
upied by raspberries and vegetables
will be sheep pasture. And the chestnut yield in the early years will
have been much improved over the
yield for trees originally planted on
a recommended spacing of 30 feet by
30 feet.
This system is appropriate for
many kinds of trees . Strawberries
could substitute for the vegetables,
but blueberries, gooseberries, asparagus, and rhubarb all last so long
that their total production as "raspberry substitutes" would be seriously
reduced by the trees.
Areas used for this system
should be free from perennial weeds.
fn our plot, we have had problems
only with the tarnished plant bug
and, at first, too low fertility for
high raspberry yields. An organic
fertilizer (about 20 pounds of N per
acre) placed beneath the mulch the
last two springs resulted in much
better growth of the fruiting canes.
The berries also benefit from vegetable fertilization .
Reprinted from Agroforestry Review.
Back issues available from: - - International Tree Crops Institute,
Appalachian Regional Office
USA
Route 1,
Gravel Switch, Ky. 40328
------ r-e.so-~ i.is~ : tyu U"op~ - - ~KS
ABOUT TREE CROPS:
TREE CROPS: A PERMANENT AGRICULTURE,
J. Russell Smith, Devin-Adair, New
York, 1953. Founding work for the
tree crops "movement"; somewhat dated, but worth reading to get excited
about the idea of a tree-based agriculture.
TREES FOR THE YARD, ORCHARD, AND
'"'OODLOT. Roger Yepsen, Jr. , editor,
Rodale Press, Emmaus, Pennsylvania.
1976. Introductory chapters on landscaping. orcharding, nut trees. propagation, pest control, useful wild
species. maple sugaring. and woodlot
management.
NlIT TREE CULTURE IN NORTH AMERTCA,
Richard Jaynes, editor, NNGA, Hamden,
Connecticut, 1979. Very thorough and
authoritativt• reference--" the bib le"!
ACRISILVICULTURE FOR APPALACHIA: A
BIBLIOGRAPHY, Gregory Williams, 1979,
9 pp .• $2.00.
AGRlSILVICULTURE: A NECESSARY RENAISSANCE, Gregory Williams, 1979, 4 pp.,
$1.00.
TREE CROPS FOR SMALL FARMS IN APPALACHIA: PRELIMINARY PROPOSAL FOR RESEARCH, Flip Bell. John Pohlman,
Gregory Williams, 1977, 24 pp . , $4.00.
ENERGY-CONSERVING PERENNIAL AGRICULTURE FOR MARGINAL LAND IN SOUTHERN
APPALACHIA: FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT
Gregory Williams, 1982, 52 pp. , $8~00
HORTIDEAS, Published monthly, Subscriptions $10.00/yr. (U.S.)
SOME SOURCES OF HARD-TO-OBTAIN SEEDS
AND PLANTS FOR TREE CROPPING
CHESTNUT HILL NURSERY,Rt. 3, Box 477,
Alachua, Fl. 32615. Hybrid AmericanOriental chestnuts. Price list free.
DOUGLAS, Earl, Red Creek, NY 13143.
Hybrid American-O r iental chestnuts.
Send SASE for price list .
HIDDEN SPRINGS NURSERY, Route 14, BOX
159, Cookeville, TN . 38501 . Seedling
and grafted fruit and nut trees, including honeylocust. Price list free.
ITCIUSA APPALACHIAN REGIONAL OFFICE,
Route I, Gravel Switch, KY 40328.
Seeds and graf t wood of select honeylocust, black locust, and American
persimmon. Price list free.
JOHNSON ORCHARD & NURSERY , Route 5,
60x 325, E1ijay, GA 30540 . Mltoy peach
and nectarine cultivars, also graft~d apples. Catalog, $1.
LAWSON ' S NURSERY, Route I, Box 294,
Ball Ground, GA 30107. Many apple and
pear cultivars. Catalog free. ~
Special thanks to Greg Williams of
LT .c.r.u.s.A.
Ea-11 19a5
�....................................llllllll........... Wl4MIOOIOTOWILWIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
"T<•c '""'Y of our forebt .. rs and
lut'.U<·•ncri ti uk u tern•s of o fl'"
Cf'le,·t<!d "l*C'1es--whot tl.cy eel l
' iorf!ft trt'd Sl>t-ClE:s '--so that IJy
el in in<>t ion ol l other tr<-es oecor ••e
1
'A t!(•d V.pt!tie!i ..
The
1
'Afl'l•O Sf>eClt-C'
ron•<-~t ~act•lct th•t • •orcsttr
sl.ou le CJl'l r io of any t t ee Veil i eties
bul thl' few thc>t are currently ld.<Jh on
th<> 11... ikPl. Tl.is rnov.-s low.;1d ,, 110110C\.ll ur ,. prnct ice . l·•onocul tu re y1·owiny
ovi:rtaxe& the soil, exposes tlie crop
lrees Lo dun9er fron insec ts, disease,
er fire, •rad pUtb the landow11cr at the
n·l'rcy of • consta ntly fluctuat inc;
lll<O ):et..
"Tl 1t: t. t t::..~ Ven
i ~Lieb kuowu
lW~y db
'wef'd s 1>C'cies ' .. re ~.ir>l'lY trcei. thdt
we do not know how to use. Ev1:r~
Sl'(•ci<•s of tr<>e has j ts own pot..,11tial.
As an exd~plE: the dogwood tree i s not
tighly desira~le today, but 20 ye&rs
ago do9woud wat• one of the mo11t
valuabl~ wood~ in the forest.
It was
used to no~k.e textile shuttles, because
the wooo would wear slllO(>th and would
not pick the threads. Ever~· small town
had a dogwood mill wh~-~ voltt'r &a,.s
cul d09wood blocks irto squdre lo be
roade :uoto i.huttles. Because textile
blin ttlei; are now nade of COlll[>rt-sbed
wood or ~yr•tl1E:llc l'ldterials, do<;wood
h ..1< no n.iket today . But tl1a1 doc-s not
~"' tht: ..OO<; is cseless.
rt su I l lb
on( cf t hi! l:'est woods growir.<J. we
s1rnr•lr llO:t'cl :o fir•c where it C"11n Ii<·
l: Pt t used.
"1'h<•H .:n~ othe r woods in birrdlar
C' l r t·1Jn1! t nnc<'s.
M
1..ll.t1r ry j s " .. pl vr•t J d
woc1d ll•r i11lryi; . Sassafra .. wooo bot
bf'iJUI If l: I l ones tJ11d ... ) J I yi V<· C1f j i Is
1 l• a1.i1 <J odor for 50 Yl"<•I>. Silv~·th<•ll
ii; io 1•lai11 wood, but 1 t firii::l.1·~ "ell
"r1u car1 l l• la.&ec.! 1 r
t\Jt ri1 r
y wood
; r oductt!. l'lM'I, t.Jl..n l l i " white wood .
•r Uti(d 10 te ~01.11>0 .r 11,,. lntcl11•r
t Joor <•f o;v«r~ nt>u1:tdit1 r.•! lt , t..< rul•s•
INhl·n 1 t h•s sc.-nhbec "ith ""' <·r, ll
t1.rni'c1 ,, lt11lli<11~t wJ·ite, c.lr•<bt J.ke
. .. 111•• ~ lN> le1.111· !"locu . Fae-ti k a.c! c·~
\ Ood !w. l l ' (•WI ' C"hi•tdL t t-d!ol iCS . I
Jtt.l J~Vl
<i~'\'•
ti
•
jCioc;! sr:ioll
~Ut'ilP!·t
('C'l\.d\.O lll·
lUJ<'<> growing Sl't·c·icl wo,•dt- fM
(to next page)
KATUAP. - page 23
l8ll 1 ill.
SIVILCULTURE SIMPLIFIED
There are two major silviculture
practices, even-aged and uneven-aged.
Ir even-aged silviculturt a for~st is
cut complet.ely to the bt1re ground and
a r.ew forest is started with seedlings
or sprouts from cul trees . An unevenaged forest contains trees of all age
and size classes a11d n• be of one or
ay
111any sJ,Jecit-s, as ir. the case with
hardwoods . It is harvested perioeically by cutting a portion of the
trees, usually the n~ture trees or
trees of poorer quality.
Even-aged s1l1;iculture is more
coll1Itl0n with tie pinet-, firs, spruce,
and other coniferous tr<·es, although
it has been practiced i r. recent years
on harc!woods.
Even-aged silviculture can be
accornplished by clearcut.Ling the
forest in blocks or in strips , the
latter bEing known ab the shelterwood
system . The size of the cuttings
varies from entire mountainsides to
sruall blocks of 20 to 40 acres, or
strips a few hundred feet wide that
run ir. parallel bands or wind with the
contour on steeper land. After clearcutlin9, a ne .. for1:st must be established. Nature will generally do this
by seedlings or seeds left on the
forest floor or from sprouts growing
Croni cut stems. Humans can change this
by planting sceolings of the tree
species thal lhey desire.
After a few yl'ars, the clearcut
area grows up thickly with thousands
of seeolings and sprouts and usually
needs a cleanir.g to release the
desired trees. This is usually done
mechanically with tools, but can be
done .. ith hArbicides th<at poi&on the
unwanted sten.s. Fire can only be used
after the trees gro..· larger, and some
speci E.'s can wHhstand heat that will
kill others. After 20 to 40 years a
thinning cut lb made to harvest some
pulpwood-sized trees while leaving the
Detter trees for the final crop. The
final crop of trees is harvested when
rnat ure, usu.;lly 60 LO 80 years, and
tt,en the cycle is repedted.
Unever.-ac;ec! silviculturE: maintains
a gra..ing forest o f all ages and size
classes at all tines . Jt is much CJOre
~ifficl.ilt to practice and necessitates
p1cfessic.nal i;k1lls t hat require a
ful. 1rno.. Jedg<' of trc•t species , soils,
,,nd tt>eir intt-rrf\lationbhl.f•S. It also
i-«qvire!- t he kno.. ledge to grade tree
•1u.,) lly .>ml o htl J undcrstondi ny o!
tla•
fut tlCI' lire.ducts .
al'l'l ic:.ltion o~ thu Silvi-
noarkE·t~·
Tl e
cultural r.iethod is by ha rvesting ,
preferably for sale, bu~ sornt.ti1u~s as
a non-commercial operatior. to improve
a forest 1otand.
Harvesting can be by the single
tree selection method or by 9roup
selection. The latter is more practical and often rl turns the highest
product dividends .
Jn sin9le tree selection, the
!ore1oter marks individual trees that
are mature, or trees of lower quolity
thot ahould be removec for the im
vr~ved growth of better quality trees.
Removing these trees must be done very
carefully to avoid damaging the trees
to be left for future harvests .
In group selection, an attempt is
111ade to harvest several trees fairly
close together to open up a sizeable
area , letting sunlight enter to give
young trees a start . The area size
depends on the nature of the timber ,
topography , and other facton,, and
usually is not over an acre in size.
Group selection makes harvestin9
easier.
Thinning is a form of selective
cutting and is applied when forest~
become too thick and tree growth slows
down. "Thinning from above" means
taking out the more mature trees and
releasing the smaller ones . "Thinning
from below" is taking out trees that
have been suppressed or are of poor
form and giving the larger and better
quality trees less competition so they
can maintain a high growth rate while
adding on high quality wood .
Selective cutting can be a
coinbina tion of several of the above
methods, the main purpose being to
maintain a growing , viable forest of
many species (especially in bardwoods), many age classes, and several
size classes. Cutting cycles are
usually 10 to lS years apart .
In selective cutting , there is an
opportunity to favor wildlife by
leaving a certain number of den trees,
dnd trees producing hard mast, like
hickory and oak, even though their
product value may be questionable.
There is also an opportunity to
favor aesthetics and recreational
pursuits when selective cutting by
JUciciously leaving unusual trees
L~cause of size , species, or rarity .
--Walton P. Smith
�WALOEE FOREST
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ AMFOllESTDWBURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
cont . from page 23
Walton looked up at the young
poplars as if to check their yrowth
and then turned awa~.
"We recently had a little tornado
in here," he said as we wound our way
along the trail again, "and it blew
down six white pine . l wasn't aol~ to
get to them before, but we recently
built a road in here, and now J can
recover them.
"A road is the first thing that a
landowner needs to think about if he
or she is considering forest management . There has to be access , no
matter what kind of management practice one is going to undertake.
Roadbuilding has got to be done right .
Building the roads is wha t causes most
of the erosion damage and tree damage
associated with logging operations .
"I can now get to over 80\ of this
150 acres for thinning and harvesting
operations . This has cost me $4,000
over a period of 16 years . These are
not gr aveled roads; they are woods
roads with grassy banks . They have
culverts and are not eroding . AlJ J
have to do is go over them twice a
year with a bush- hog mower . J don ' t
think that represents unreasonable
expense or maintenance .
"Clearcutting on a larye scale
requires a road built on 6 inches of
rock and gravel to get in a cable rig
and a tractor-t r ailer to haul the
timber . That's why it cost the Forest
Service one-half million dollars to
put in a six mile road on the mountain
above us . I couldn't get a tractorACORN •••
cont'd
61tOm p . 19
by steeping l oz. of the inner bark
powder in l pint of water (dosage l
~sp. four times a day) is effective
for diarrhea and dysentery . It can
be used as a gargle for sore throat,
or as an external wash for cuts and
wounds and poison ivy, Jethro Kloss
(Back To Eden) reports that the unleachc'd""acorn powder resist the venom of poisonous snakes and spiders.
The decoction is also a good ingredient in ene.mas for colonic cleansing .
In using t he food and medicine of
the oak, let us always remember our
trees with gifts - gifts of thanks
trailer ng ir. on this roac!, but lhe
<lifference is thcrt 1 log ,.jt h a ch., in
saw and a wir.ch on I lie front. E111<l o!' /1
jeep. A Sl!lal l ldnclowner is workiny on
an entirely different scale."
As we continued our walk, Walto11
said, "We ' re goir.g by another s.Lc1nu of
young fraser fir 1 'rr 9ro1dn9 for
Christmas trees . I try lo h<tv., lt•..,Sf'
areas clean·cl by h<1nd rather tl1<rn
spraying then. witl• poisonous sprays .
Jf I went simply by economics, it
would pay to buy the chemicals ancl
spray poison to keep the sptct.>ts d(,wn,
but there ' s too niuch gooci Wdter up
here to do 1.hcrt . I'd rathE:r spf:nd a
tittle extra time ond effort a11a avoic
the poisons .
"l know of farms that have been
passed down in the same family for
generations . I ' d li~e to see forests
treated like that as well. It takes SO
and prayer for the spirit, the Creator behind the spirit and the knowlege to use these things wisely,
gifts of cedar, sage or tobacco to
nourish the body and spirit of the
tree that nourishes us . In doing so,
we may become like the oaks , the
standing people, with our feet firmly planted in the Ear tr. Mother, our
trunks strong and flexible in the
fiercest of winds, our branches
reaching for the heavens, accepting
the light and warmth of the sun,
turning it into food and medicin~
that our people may live .
y~ars to g~I. ever) t loir g "'orlur y t l<;hl.
We ' re jusl now <J"'ttin~ tlin<J& lO "'<a·k
.r.Hjht
bete . "
Thundttt rut l• l fd i r. ti<· wi;st.
Wal tor. qi.i cker1E'd tis E ...c< .. s 11E'
,. tc1 rl Eid up tie f i na J grc.ue towards the
hOUSE'.
"} f<ttt} thf-t(''li CJnt tlt~J ,y Wl' t'nVe
to offer," le SblO tloughtfully.
"\\e've wotkea 011 ll1J.!O vlace for 47
yc•s1·s now, anC: l ti ink we h .. ve
dev ... lopi=C: a n•ociel tv show sornt
principles lhat coUd be cc1rried out
on a
lary~t sc~le.
"Quite .. (e-. ~ tudents <:<Jr.•e h•·re . l
91"e th .. r. tl1i~ sa~1e tour, and tl1ey ,;e•
ti. is pl ii CE', ul\C: N1ny Of then Jl?dVC'
with the &onoe c;,ut fecd1n9 that ""
l.cive; that there ' s a .b~tttr way to
1.-.rnage lhis App.. lachian tinberland. "
Lat.er , as we &ot i" the l.ouse
Wdtchir.y the rain 1.>C•Und tl•e wirdows
out~ide, Walton said, "Jf son•l'Ollt- ii.
driviny by oro tt.e h\!,hwdy , Jookir9 al
the forest, it odght look dense , dark
und scart-y--full o~ bears and :maker; .
Th~ edqe of tht forest is like a
walled barrier that turns away mur•y
people who aren ' t fc101Jli1>r -.i1.h thtforest.
"But once one bn•oks throuyh tl:f:
edge anC: 9ets in .. mong the trr•es, one·
can see the forest. Jt can't be &een
from the out.Eide . Jt becomt>s "n
entirely different place con•pated to
loow it appenred from the ldyhw.,y . lt's
a place of beauty . A good 1.>lace to
be--a qood place to live. ~
Necorded by D. W.
...~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~•
~a~0
~\IIL~I
'Na~r~
T-SHIRTS
Each origina l design
hand screened in 5 colors
on the finest 100%
pre- shrunk cotton
rl
short and long sleeve t· shirts.
Short Sleeve '10 PP · (.S&P CiVF<)c', l'f, o., ~(I
s14 ,..pc1.
CNAlf9£ ,.,.
J Ong slPeve indudes howlc feothers /beorpow~)
long Sleeve
Nome
Address
Blocli 8eor 0 Silver 0 Ton 0 Wh'te
u::::=;;:;;::;~::::::::::::::::::::::::::
1
Phone
Mostercord Viso tt
Red-foiled Howle 0 Ecru Q Silver CJ Ton ""'" ' •: AqeA...,., N101nl•
Ex-p--d ,,,e -- - .,- . :-- 1
Shor1 Q
long Q
S·M· l ·Xl
1 ~?,~,!!~d W•r•.,.ill•. llC28lRS or write for brochure
·~ ·-~·
,,
KATUAfl - page 24
MALAPROP'S
BOOKSTORE/CAFE
BOOKS -
CARDS -
RECORDS
6 1 HAYwooO ST. ASHElllU.E. N C. 28801
704-2!14-S734
Fall 1985 .
�. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WlAMOOESTDWrUIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .
.
I
'
'
A CHILDREN'S PAGE
Compiled by Karen Paquette
KATUAH KIDS TALK ABOUT THEIR FAVORITE TREES
l
Erin, age 7:
The Black Walnuts in my yard are mine
I like to climb them. Once I climbed
one and wouldn' t come down - I
ate my dinner up there until the bugs
bit me too badly. I felt safe up there it was like my mother.
Shane, age 11:
,
I like the big poplars on Standing
Indian and I would like to visit the
Redwoods . They both have a lot of
history behind them. Today some
varieties of trees are dying out
because of acid rain and bugs like
weevils.
Some people in the world are not
fortunate to have trees , like in the
African deserts and the Sudan region.
We need to share our knowledge of
tree culture as well as appreciate
our own trees mor e and take care
of them
Drawing by Savannah
Shinnah, age 7:
I like the Weeping Willow tree
because I like the way it leans over
with its branches and I like the name it tells what this tree is like . It
makes me feel good to look at it.
It likes to grow near water so its
roots can grow down into the ground
and get water from the creek . It
only cries in winter because it doesn ' t
get much sun and it smiles in the
summer time .
In Haiti they ruined all the trees and
it became a desert. Everyone in
the world must learn to conserve
trees and plant more like on t ree
farms . Clearcutting is not right if we don ' t have trees we will have
problems . Trees provide shelter
for birds and animals and prevent
erosion .
Emily, age 3:
I
like trees because they are pretty .
1 also like apple trees because they
have food on them. Apples have lots
of vitamin C in thero, they make me
happy.
Jason, age 8:
There used to be a lot of American
Chestnuts but they got the Chestnut
blight. I see them lying down in
the woods and I miss them . We still
have the Chinese Chestnuts though, only
they are different
Trees are good for people. They
give us firewood , boards , paper and
food . We ' ve got to save trees
~chuh
;
KATCAH -
Fall 1985
page :?5
~-
~aaq
-
llhJ IAA
�..
----111!1--------~----.--- Wl-fOllQTDWW.OIS
____________________..
11
'~~~~~~11rr~1~t 1.~;~~i111~11:1l\~1·~~~~~~:!~:;~~~:i:~1~ ~,~~~~~~~~~~;~~~
1
I
j·\\h•I
lj I'l I
which i..tJt.uck me a.& be-Uig the. co.Ue.ct.i..ve
vo.lc.e 06 all. thohe. de.ad and dy.lng 6-iM
j~
and pi.nu , i.1Wt-g11.e.y wUh an anc.ie.nt
I mObb g11.owing 611.0m thW. bkel.e.ta.l 11.ema..i.n.6
I
like. a be.a1t.d would g.11.0W 611.0m the. clun 06
a 111C1n only Hcond.6 dead ... And w.Uh .the.
V1
aLUUte.nub 06 the. ' p11.uence' alt.o came a
'voice'-- a 6e.e..t.lng- which bpoke. .to me
w.Uh i.u.ch an au.11.a 06 c.a.lm and w<.bdom
continued from page 3
that goobebu.mpA (wha.t .the old moun.ta..i.n
6olli .LJt .thue moun.ta..i.n4 had call.e.d
and li.6 e.lub lln4 .the. land.6 c.a.pe. be.com.i.ng
"glolt!J bu.mP6" a.& 1 lln4 gllOIAl(.ng u.p, a
.tha.t OUll. CJJJVi..ob.(,ty bee.a.me., Ve.Juj quickly, boy . .. I JU1lt all. u.p o.n.d down my CZIU!l4, a.&
mo11. 06 a 6e.el.i.ng 06 oveJr.Whe.lm.lng btlll.1 walke.d 611.om .the. p:WWtg lot up .the.
pll.iA e. and conce.11.n a.& .the. •ha.iJILi.ne.' o 6
h.lU and .<.n.to what had once. be.en '.the.
.the. 6Olte.6.t !00.6 not only '.th.lnn.lng ' , but,
wood6 '. . •
.LJt 6ac.t, 'bal.d.lng' a.& we. 11.eache.d .the.
What .th.iA 'voice o 6 M.che..typa.t knoiulng '
.topl
UXl.6 .te.U.lng me UXl.6: .that .the ex.tent 06
Reaching .the. bu.nmlt 06 .the moun.ta.i.lt, a.&
.the deva.&.t.a..t.lon I UXl.6 He.i.ltg and 6eet.i.ltg
we. .twtne.d .thoi.e la4.t couple. 06 be.nd.6 .LJt
i.o deeply lln4, in 6ac.t, a v.iA.lble 'b.lgn'
.the. 11.0ad, what !CXt6 tu«tU.lng tL.6 «n4 - and i..t.a..te.me.nt made by .the i.p(.JL(..t 06 .thue
Jtathe.11. .than a .tlvume. -like. v.iA .to. IJ.lttLi,t.tll.eu 1 ~ be.e.lng a.& 'de.ad'. That .th.iA
.lng .the. ll.e..ttLll.n 06 ' .the. god.6' -- a .6Ce.ne.
baCJte.d and ve.11.y publi..c. place had be.en
06 de.va.6.t.a..t.lon only compaJt.D.ble. .LJt my
choben by .the. bpi.JL(..t6 06 human, bea6t,
m.i.11d .to .<.magu 06 NagMak.l and H.lll.oi.h.ll!ICl and vege..ta.t.lon, to lllClke. a bold bta.teme.n.t
1 had been in 6.llm6 and p(.c.twte booki. .
to .thobe. human be..lngi. i..t.Ul ~ng
He.11.e. on .th.U powe11.6ul and baClte.d mouna.11.Dund .LJt .thobe. holUlU .the.y ca.Ue.d
.to..i.n we. we.11.e. being g11.e.e..te.d by an a11.my
'bod.lei.'. That .t.lte dev.uta.t.lon 06 .th.iA
06 g11.e.y-ghob.te.d boul4 06 a d.iAembod.le.d
9e.og11aph.i.c landmo.11.k v.lb.Ued by .tholUland.6
'11ace.' ... TholUland.6 06 de.ad .tll.e.u! "The.
06 toUll..iA.t.6 and na.t.lvu each yeJVr., lln4
Cltown 06 CJtea.t.lon", I .thought bMCa.&.tall.owed a.& a b.i.gnboall.d, a.& a tlWUl.i.ng, o 6
.i.call.y .to mYJ>el.6. "So .thiA .iA .the. gi6.t
.the. be.ve.11..ittj 06 .the. .imbalancu .that ex06 'WJ.jutJ.1' bu.towed upon .the. g11.e.a.t
.l6.te.d .LJt .the. na..twi.a.t woltld a..t .the. ltandi.
'k.lngb' 06 .the na.twt.a..t kingdom! How .the
06, a.& a 11.uuU 06, .the. bhoJLt-i..lgh.te.d
EaJLth be.kn.i.g h.t6 heA 'IUVIJl.ioll.6', .thob e
.th.i.ltk.lng and VXJ.Yb o 6 .thob c now living
.that Stave 4tlltv.i.ve.d and Jt..i.6e.11, .i.n pl!..lde. o6
accompU&hme.nt, .to buch g11.e.a.t 'he..lgh.t.6' ! " on .the. eall..th. So cle.M !00.6 th.iA mu Mg e. 1 !CXt6 11.e.ce..lv.i.ltg .tha.t U al.mob.t
A6 my .11.ational m.i.nd .took ove.11. 611.om my
We.11.all.y began .to .to.Ile. on both vo.i.ce.
emo.t.lo ~ , .tll.y.i.ltg to .<.n.te.Ue.c.tuaU.z e. .the
and language. a6 1 11.eache.d .the. .top 06
pou.lble. c.a..u.6e.(b I, .tlte. 1tea6on6 'why' ,
.the. mountain and a be.cl.u.de.d .lUtt.e
6011. ~ 'gho4.tltj clea11.Cut', .th.iA 'unclea.IL(.ng whe.11.e. T .&t.te.nde.cl to do a
na..twi.al' d.iAa.&.te.11., me.mo.IL(.u 06 bto.IL(.u
i..<.mple. Uttle. ce.11.e.mony 06 .thankJ>g.i.vand newh-11.epoll.U I'd heall.d, about how
.i.ltg:
.the. 'acid IUlht' UXl.6 beg.i.lt~ .to .to.ke.
"The. i..lgn6 he.11.e. been by a.U
U4 .to.fl. on .the. .tlt.e.u .i.n .the. h.lghe.11.
wU.l i.how .thobe. cuJL(.olJJl people 06
el.e.va.ti.on.6, c.a.me. .to m.i.nd. And iulthout
bc.ie.nce. .the. widup11.e.ad e.v.ldence. 06
any o.thvr. known pobb.lb.lUt.lu a6 1te.Mon6 ,
.the. e.x.te.nt o 6 .thw own du .tJt.uc.ta6 c.a..u.6e, 6011. all. .th.iA 6011.u.t laid to
.lon. 06 .the. compounded nc. lui.e 06
l\n4.te., the. I Jta..in I e.a4il.lj and qui.ckty 1
1
~ ~
1
I
'
I
I
liQJIC
,,
KA n'AB - page 26
I
I
S
I
1 1
JIUl.t a.& poW.y .u, the he.al.Utg
a.&pec.t 06 language, i.o .iA .U .<.mpoJLtan.t people. took to .the.ut bod.lei. and
m.i.nd.6 wUh 11.egall.d .to he.alih and 1
be..ing. To 6oCIUl .thW. pe.11.6onal and
co.Ue~ve goal.6 on the. qu.a..Uty and
longe.v.Uy 06 eu'.4.te.nce, and the.ut
o.IL(.ginal an~ na..tWl.al b.lll..th.IL(.gh.t, be.yond death. It .iA he.11.e., .ln .thue
WOJJ4, .that .the heaUng a.&pec.t6 06
'.the Cltea.t.lve' i.e.11.ve .to .ln6u.11.e. you.11.
H11.6e. 06 pe.11.6e.ct.i..on, .thll.Ough tonge.v.Uy, o.11d .the con.t.i.ltua.Uon o 6 an
a66.i.ltm.Utg and v.ltal 6u.twt.e.! The.
jou.11.ne.y 06 hwnank.lnd a11.ound .the
baCJte.d c.iltcle. 06 U.6e. w<.U b.IL(.ng
a.U, 6.lnall.y, .ln.to .the. 6M.u.t o 6
.the. 11.eg.lon 06 un.lve.11.6al. con6c.io1Ul· nub and awa11.enu.6. A place whe.11.e.
.the b.lg .tll.e.u gll.Ow. The hiding
placu 06 .the unknown, and .the
'be.yond'. What one. dou he.11.e. among.6.t '.the. o.11c.ient onu' depend6
upon what one. ha.& done t\IUh idte.11.e
one. ha.6 been be.60.lte.. How one ha.6
bu..i.U and completed tlte 'g11.oundwo11.k', .the. wo11.k iulth 'boil' , in
.the. pllev-i.olUl expe.JL(.encu 06 one' .6
'joU11.ne.y'. He.11.e. among the old
.tll.eu , one bll..lngb one.' b IUIWl.e.nub o 6 who one. .l6 .i.ltto JL(.gh.t .'leta.t.lon6h.lp 1
\IUh the. un.i.ve.11.6al
bcale. 06 .the bp.lll.(.,tua.l-ph116.<.cal
rnall./L(.age bha1te.d .lnhe.11.e.ii.tf.tJ -<.n .the.
concept 06 .the. God-11.e.al.lze.d One.nub among all .th.lngi.! lri bO do.i.ng one. comu 6u.U-c.lll.c1e. .to one' b
.tJt.ue beg.ltuU.ngi., and .iA 'Home.' .
GODack now, and .te.U th.iA to all.
IJOU know... "
Th.iA th e.n, .iA what 1 have. be.en . Th.iA
1 ha~e. been -told. To i.hall.e. w.Uh IJOU.,
a.U, whom 1 know. Th-IA mui.age. 611.0m
.the. vo.lce. 06 .the 'acid Jta.i.n' ••.
- - -Thoma6 Rain CMwe.
Fall 1985
�................................................Wl""'"*"DWILLllll................................................
Milw~ukee
• C,leveltm::l
continued from page J
thac thc1 causes of tree dicback h.src
in K
atuah as wc1ll as in thc northc1rn
Appalachians and the Black Forest of
Wast C.sn:iany (where JO of all tr•n
ra ~ardlc1Ss of elevation are dying)can
be attributed to two general claa$i
ficatioos of anthropogenic(human-madc)
pollution: acid rain and at1D03phcric
dc1position.
Acid rain is arbitrarily defin.sd
as any precipitation having a Ph lass
than S.6 (7 i s n.sutral), since this
is thc1 Ph wh.sra atmoshperic C02 combines with water in the air to form a
dilute solution of carbonic a cid .
Human mad.s sources o f acid substances
are a r~ult o f t he living standard
of highly industrialized countries.
'Ibey include auto exhaust, industrial
c<mmissions from s~lters and fossil
fuc1l c1adssions from c1lcctrica l gc1narating plants. Some of the acidic compounds arc sulfur dioxide (S02) , nitrous oxides (HN03) , hydrogc1n chloridc1,
and hydrogen fluoride.
1besc1 compounds arc rc1laased into the atmosphc1ra and are widely disP•rsed by continental air fl<M. According to Or. Bruck and others, the
mountai •. foraats of Katliah , acting
like giant "scrubbers " , c harly racc1ivc very high ratci.s of acidic deposit ion. 'Ibis is largely due to t he
geographic c1ffect of increasing ratll!I
of p rc1cipitatioo as air masses are
forcc1d to go up aud over high mountains. fin additional source of acidic
deposition is simply cloud water interception by trees, as the tops of
the mountains are often bathed in
clouds passing by . Studies of these
clouds and precipitation rates in the
northern Appalachians show chat mow1tain tops receive four times more
acidic deposition than lower elevations.
11l•r• a r e many effc1cts of acid
rain on treclS and the soil in which
they livc1. 8v overwhclminr th• natural soil Ph balance and causing a
more acid soil, aluminum, a metal
which is toxic to trees, is released
and mad¥ available for uptake by
trc1e roots.
Atmospheric deposition can be
defined as the combined anthropogenic (human-caused) pollutants falling back on Mother Earth. It is composed of assorted noxious effluvia
includin~ ozone, heavy metals such
as lead (from gasoline combustion
and lead arsenate pesticides) , coppcr
from smcllters and nitrogen compounds.
According to those study in~ the
dlehacks , there i s not enough data
to c learly point fingers and say that
a particular pollutant coming from a
1'..a rti cular source l s caus in~ apec l K.Arl:AH - page :'.!7
fie damage to tra•a in Katiiah.
It is Or. 8ruck's contention
that there may be a "stress syndrome" whereby various combinatioos
of these toxic substances may be
causing t he diaback . Experlmentall~
in the lab Or . Bruck has studied the
affects of acid run from nitrogen
and sulfur sources. He has discovered severe suppression of the symbiotic fungi known as mycorrhizae
which help the trees' roots derive
nutrition from tha soil . Bruck believes that the suppression of mycorrhizae (up to 50%) has led to severe supprassioo of tree root growth
which may be causi.n g th• retarded
growth obs erved in the trae ring borings. Alandog as these reductions
appear to be, the question still remains: Is it reducad ring growth that
is causing the trees to die?
Exploring f urthar under the
soil mantle where the treas' roots
are bound inseparably with the lifegi ving mycorrhizae Bruck has found
an extre~ly high accumulation of
lead, particularly on slopes which
face into the predoadnaot winds. Levels of lead ara three to seven times
higher on top of Ht. Mitchell than in
urban Asheville soil. Studies revd&l
that there is alraady as much as two
grams or 1DOre of lead per square met-
Sources of Sulfur Dioxide (SOJ ~nd Nitrogen
Oxides (NO,) In North Caroli~
so,
620,000 Ions/yr.
-
Ublot•
WIND ROSE for Asheville, NC
er in the forest soils at high elevatiooa ! Most studics on the toxicity
of lead have focused an human beings,
h<Mevar some studies have bean performed on microorganisms and planta.
These studies clearly indicate direct
metabolic effects in all life fora111.
These studies also shOW-a marked reduction in species diversity of adcroorganisma in the soil and on leaf surfaces . When lead and acidity (under
Ph 5) vars combined in ooa study, a
profound effect oo the mobilization
and utilization of lead was noticed.
Certain species of mycorrhizae ware
inhibited in soils that ware acid and
contained lead while those same sp•cias of lll)'corrhizae ware present in a
lass acidic soil with lead.
Like the canaries used by miners
to warn of impending danger our treas
are a kind of environmental litmus.
lbat litmus is giving an acidic reading threatening life as we know it.
The. e.nv.ili.onme.n.ta.l co114e.que.nct.6 oG
tong .teMI col!4wnption and ~.te. aJLt
combtg home.. Whil.e. the. 1>~.t4
plod c.au,Uo1J.1;.t.y .in mowita.01 cemeteJt.tu 1>t11J1.Ch.ing 60.11. 1>pec..i.6.ic knowledge
o& .the. IUU.t11. m.i.l>.t, we. 46 ch.i.J.dlte.n
o 6 Motht11. Ellll.th mlJ.4.t l>eaAch de.tpllJ
wltkin 60.11. a "p.Ur,Uua..t. d.U:tg no1>.l6 46
we.U. T.11.e.u M.e. OU.It gucw.Li.all4 and
OWi. .te.acheJt.6, .theq g~ve com6oll-t and
wl.6e. cou111>ei and .the.y aJLe. ca.lUng
out .to each 06 IJ.4 NOW 6.11.0m de.adt.IJ
1>IV1.Du.d4 06 m.i.l>.t. We. can no tongtll.
ign0.11.e .tlte. de.g1U1.d.Utg e.66e.ct 06 oWt
14UIJI> o 6 Uv.ing.
OU.It Uvu 111tt bound i..n.6e.pa11.abty
.to .the. .tli.e.u. 1n .th.U. c1.c1> e.d. e.cotog.ic.al. 1>y1>.tem we. Uve. .in, the..<A du.tJW.ct.i.on .inl>Wtu oWt du.tJwcwn. Tl1e.
1>e.aJtch 6011. knowt.e.dge. and a ".te.cltnotog.ic.al. 6.i.x" w.Ul ne.vt11. .11.e.place. 1te." pe.ct a.t. we. .intt11.t1ct w.i..th Moth eJt
Ellll.th.
by Michael Red ~
Fall 198)
~ >:)J.·F. -
~ 1,~
�. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MA~fOIOUTDWEUEllS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .
26
BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC
Patrick Ball (Celtic harp)
McDibbs
12 Cherry St.
12
ASHEVILLE, NC
Asheville Ethnic Festival
Montford Park
Call (704) 253-3714
28
I
CULLOWHEE, NC
Mountain Heritage Day
(traditional music, country dancing, crafts, exhibits, tobacco spitting)
Western Carolina University
12
UUFF MOUNTAIN
SEPTEMBER
A REGIONAL EXHIBIT
PRODUCED BY THE MEMBERS OF
111E APPALACHIAN CONSORTIUM
MUSEUM COOPEBATIVE
Opening night: September 12
Talk by Wilma Dykeman
Founders ' Auditorium, 7:00 pm
Public showing:
September 13 - Januar y 23
Western Carolina University
13
13-15 TOCCOA, GA
Earth Stewardship Seminar
Christian perspectives on
ecology. $95
Elevent h Colllllandment Fellowship
540 Oakland Ave. SE
Atlanta , GA 30312
14
October - November
CHEROKEE, NC
" Cherokee Sculptor" - Carl
Lloyd Owle
Center of Cherokee Heritage
20-22 BLACK l()UNTAIN, NC
Black Mountain Pall Festival (traditional music)
Grey Eagle and Friends
Call (704) 669-2456
21
Fall Equinox
~- ·"-'TUAll
-
page 28
CHEROKEE, 1~C
Cherokee Indian Fall
Festival (Indian dancing,
stickball, chestnut bread,
crafts , exhibits)
Ceremonial Grounds
2
WILLIS, VA
" Native American Teachings" AmyLee, Iroquois teacher and
apprentice medicine woman
Indian Valley Holistic Center
Rt. 2, Box 58; Willis, VA
Willis, VA 24380
4-8
ASHEVILLE, NC
" Rel ping Women Win : A Candidate Training School for
Women" - League of Women
Voters
Call (704) 258- 8223
5
BONAS DEFEAT GORGE
(Jackson County)
Day hike with NC Nature
Conservancy. $5. 00
Ann Mciver
130 Carr St.
Chapel Rill, NC 27514
MOSHEIM, TN
First Annual Organic Harvesters ' Festival
Call (615) 422-7769
20-22 CLAYTON, GA
NATURE'S DOLLAR WORKSHOP:
A look at the real price of . .
.• forest, soil, watershed &
wildlife management, land
use, pollution, etc . •• translating these key mountain
issues into the language of
nature's dollar.
"Comparing human accounting
with nature's accounting, the
monetary dol lar is an incomplete and unrealistic measur e of the value of things."
Friends of the Mountains
Rt.2, Box 2306-A
Clayton, GA 30525
(404) 782-2657
Asheville, NC
CropWalk against hunger
Call Sally Bridenstine,
(704) 254- 5072
13
DEEP CREEK Swain Co. , NC
Katuah Fall Gathering See notice next page
14
BEAR HUNTING SEASON OPEijS
Beat the bushes ! warn Yona
of the danger
OCTOBER
1-5
"In exam.ln.<.ng .the meanlng~ 06 .the
6oJl£4t, we JLeaUze .tha.t. .the Appa.ta.c.h.la.n 601Lut .iA not jUJ.t a. na.twta.l
.to.ndl>ca.pe, ,U .iA a. cuUwu:il ta.nd.6c.a.pe. • • • • In .6.tli.dy.Uig .the 6oJLUt,
we .f.ea.ltn a.bou.t oWtcS e.lvu . . . • . "
(Avery County)
Day Rike $5. 00
NC Nature Conservancy
See 10/5
5-6
BRASSTOWN, NC
12th Annual Fall Festival
(Craft s fair, performances)
John C. Campbell Folk School
Rt. l
Brasstown , NC 28902
Call (704) 837-2775
. ..
a:
·~·
18-20 Willis, VA
" Our Stories - Ourselves Louise Kessler, storyteller
Indian Valley Holistic C'tr.
Pre-register. See 10/2
19
ROAN MOUNTAIN
(Mi:tchell County)
Fall color hike. $5 . 00
NC Nature Conservancy
See 10/5
19
BANNER ELK, NC
Banner Elk Wooly Worm
Festival
21
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS
" Forests and Trees of the
Smokies" - field school
Non-Credit Prograns
2016 Lake Ave.
Knoxville, TN 37996
11-13 BRASSTOWN, NC.
Fall Craft Weekend
(workshops)
also
Chamber Music Houseparty
John C. Campbell Folk School
See 10/5-6
12
SPRUCE PINE , NC
8th Annual Art Auction
(includes tour of craftspeoples ' studios in Celo area)
Toe River Ar ts Council
Call (704) 682-7215
12
ASHEVILLE , NC
Visit of delegation of
Soviet women - sponsored by
Peace Links
Call (704) 258-8223
•••
~·
17-20 Highlands, NC
. •
Fall Landscape Workshop
(photographic exploration of
Highlands area) Tuition $100
Highlands Biological Station
P.O. Drawer 580
Highlands , NC 28741
25-27 BRASSTOWN, NC
Fall Dance Weekend (workshops
in English country dance including Garland and Northwest Morris, also contra and
square dancing)
John C. Campbell Folk School
See 10/5-6
26-27 GRF.AT SMOKY MOUNTAINS
Mt . Leconte overnight hike
See 9/21
31
Samhain Celebration
�. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .WlAMrollESTDWBUM. . . . . . . . . .1111111. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .
NOVEMBER
BRASSTOWN, NC
60th Anniversary Party of
the Campbell Folk School
See l0/5-6
2
"SWORN TO FUN"
9-lO WILUS, VA
Massage Workshop Libby Outlaw
Indian Valley Holistic Center . Pr e-register.
See 10/2
16-17 GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS
Winter Highcountry Camping
See 9/21
s,~..alJll {j De~ .J>luxk .J>(a.<. 1111·
~·1.(i 6 P<1fartr_11 Bal<v1<"1•· •
C...rfi..·d
'M:«j Dr'VujJl
Sol.·~
255-TQ~
t/.2~15.li
Special thanks to Judith Hallock
Nov . 2-3
ASHEVILLE, NC
"Learning to Focus on Life" - seminar
Dr. Scout Lee , part Seminole Indian,
author, therapis t, professor, lecturer, comedian, mystic visionary, and
master game player
Offering experiences to develop creativity, courage, power, love, and fun
Pre-register: Cat Gilliam
16 Lookout Dr .
Asheville, NC 28804
(704) 254-8140
3-16
9
BRASSTOWN, NC
Fall Craft and Rome Week
(Blacksmithing, tool sharpening, weaving, quilting,
ax handles, wind energy
turbine construction)
John C Campbell Polk School
See 10/5-6
Georgia Organic Growers '
Association Fall Conference
For information, contact:
Deborah Pelham
1185 Bend Cr eek Trail
Suwanee, GA 30174
l \\. BURLESO
N
November
I 3
October
4 6
Meditation in Action -
K.'""''
A
YO!!<' Weekend, With the
Southern Dh,,rm., St~rr
II
14
18 23
2S 27
A lfiking Meditation Wnkend foll Color l>oscm.oery. With JOHN ORR
An Intens ive Meditation Re trea t With JACQUELINE S. MANDELL
Yoga in the Iyengar Tntdillon W11h ULLAH SCHWARTZ
@
8 . 10
15 17
22 24
Joy and laughter · Finding Your
Inner Child - With HARRIET ELDER
A Weekend of Tibetan Buddhist
Meditation - With JON BARBIERI
A New View of Ancient Astro logy With HARRIET M1LLER
Neuro·Lin.guistic Programming -
With MIKE BUCKNER
Dec. 28 · A New Year's Meditation Intensive Jan. 4 With JOHN ORR
Southern Dharrna Retreat Center is located in a remote area of the Smoky
Mountains near Asheville, North Carolina. For further information about
Southern Dharrnaorabout any of the programsabove,call(704)622 7112,or
254·1351. or wnte;
SOUTHERN DHARMA RETREAT CENTER
Rt . I, Box 34-H
Hot Sprmgs, NC 28743
~ &Co. ~
~~ . . . --<-._
~
he rbs, native plants, perennials,
flowers, fruit trees, bulbs,
bedding plants.
80 lake&ide Drive
8/ IOths of a mile from Hardee'•
in Franklin, N.C.
for informatio n call 524-3321
SOLAR HOUSE WITH
C~USE
area near Franklin. Passive
solar w
ith cedar siding and tria, win·
dow quilts, tromb wall. $68,500, negotiable financing. Call 524-3321
during business hours.
Fall 1985
!i - ~
�NICARAGUAN COFFEE. Delicious,roasted
coffee beans or ground coffee available for $6.00 a pound. Contact:
Steve Livingston (704) 257-3019
LEGAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSISTANCE FOUNDATION (LEAF) is a public interest law
firm which works with the public,private and governmental sectors to promote a quality environment. More info: LEAF, 602 Gay St. Suite 507,Knoxville, TN 37902
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED at the Laurentine
Shelter for the homeless to stay for
either the evening or overnight. Ic
Asheville,NC. Call Carol Lathuras:
(704) 252-2752
APPALACHIAN PEACE EDUCATION CENTER
(APEC) publishes APEC News, an informative peace newsletter for the
southern VA area. More info: APEC,
114 Court St., Abingdon, VA 24210
GREENPEACE has established the
Rainbow Warrior Emergency Fund to
provide funds for the care of the
children of the crewman who got
killed when their flagship was
bombed in July and to get the ship,
the Rainbow Warrior, seaworthy again. GREENPEACE, 1611 Connecticut
Ave NW, Washington, DC 20009
MADISON COUNTY PLOWSHARES PEACE
GROUP has postcards of their "Windows on the World" Friendship Quilt
available for $3.00 a dozen, ppd.
Contact: Karol Kavaya, 25 Back
Branch, Marshall, NC 28753
SELF-HELP CREDIT UNION has now opened a branch office in Western North
Carolina through the State Employees
Credit Union system. For more info:
Write: S.B.C.U., P.O.Box 3259 , Durham, NC 27705. Or go by: State Employees Credit Onion, 200 All Souls
Crescent, Asheville, NC/telephone:
(704) 274-4200.
SEAT WEAVING. Caning, rush, split
seats. Also classes available. Call:
(704) 253-6241
ONGOING SESSIONS in Raja Yoga for
beginning and continuing students.
Pre-registration required. Raja Yoga
Ashram, 272 Patton Cove Rd, Swannan
oa, NC 28778. (704) 686-3037
S.T.A.R., Space Technology And Research Foundation, is a non-profit,
tax-exempt organization which uses
monies to advance all aspects of
parasensory phenomena and psi research. For contributions or subscription to bi-monthly newsletter:
S.T.A.R. Fdtn, 448 Rabbit Skin Rd ,
Waynesville, NC 28786
RURAL SOUTHERN VOICE for PEACE
(R.S.V.P.) is a network of people in
rural/small city communities in the
Southeast who are working to build
the nonviolent alternative systems
and lifestyles that can bri ng peac e
to our world. Publishes RSVP Newsletter. More info: RSVP, Rt 5 Box
335, Burnsville, NC 28714
SO~H
A VARIETY OF
WHOLESOME BAKED COODS
704 293·5912
tiWV. 107
RT. 68 BOX 125
CULLOWHEE, NC 28723
~Sl 1 - '...-"°"Bl RD
: cttd.. , £ rcd""ood
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gn~"~!~
WHOLISTIC HEALING SEMINARS in Barbados. For more info: Rita Li vingston,
% Loving, 1424 South Palm Way, Lake
Worth, FL 33460. (305) 582-7902
PRE '68 DELUXE SUNROOF VW MICRO
BUS Wanted. With good body; Not
running, O.K. Contact: We8go,
216 Botany Rd, Greenville, SC
29615. (803) 244-4786.
WRITERS WORKSHOP. Classes in
poetry, science fiction, technical writing,etc. At "ls Wall St.
Room 18, Asheville, NC 28801.
(704) 669-5471
WEBWORK1NG is free.
Send submissions to:
Katua h
P .O.Box 873
Cullowhee, NC
28723
PROOUCTS WATER ANAlYSIS
RANDALL C LANIER
c"';lom ""ood
I N 17th YEAR OF PUBLICATION, Akwesasne Notes is a Journal for Native
and Natural Peoples, covering world
events which effect indigenous peoples. For subscriptions or tax-deductibl e contributions: AKWESASNE
NOTES, P.O.Box 196, Mohawk Nation,
Rooseveltown, NY 13683-0196.
1
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160 Broadway
Asheville, N.C. 28801
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Where Broadway
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�GET BACK! ISSUES OF KATUAH
ISSUE ONE -AUTUMN 1983
ISSUE FIVE - FALL 1984
Scotch-Irish Migratiof-lfit::? Meditations: Kat-·<-· 1(5"\~\J
~
Al+-~- ~ n
~tnl.CS • Old
Ti
\.?,. .tfioregioris • Chicken
Wi.c: uam • Poetry: George Ellison
Harvest • Old Ways In Cherokee •
Ginseng • Nuclear Waste • Our
Celtic Heritage • Bioregionalism
Past, Present, And Future • John
Wilnoty • Healing Darkness •
Politics Of Participation
®\Q.I
@
ISSUE TWO - WINTER 1983-84
ISSUE SIX - WINTER 1984-85
Yona • Bear Hunters • Pigeon River
• Another Way With Animals • Alma:
Poems • Becoming Politically Effective • Mountain Woodlands •
Katuah Under The Drill • Spiritual Warriors
Winter Solstice Earth ceremony •
Horsepasture River • Coming of
Light • Log Cabin Roots • Mountain Agriculture-The Right Crop•
William Taylor • Forest's Future
ISSUE THREE - SPRING 1984
ISSUE SEVEN - SPRING 1985
Sl.lstainable Agriculture • sunflower_, • Human Impact On The
Forest • Childrens' Education •
Veronica Nicholas: Woman In
Politics • Little People •
M d icine Allies
e
Springs • Worker ownership • The
Great Economy • Self Help
Credit Union • Wild Turkey • Responsible Investing• Working
In The Web Of Life
ISSUE FOUR - SUMMER 1984
ISS UE E I GHT - SUMMER 1985
Water Orum • Water Quality • Kudzu
• Solar Eclipse • Clearcutting •
Trout • Going To Water•Ram Pumps
• Micro hydro • Poems : Bennie Lee
Sinclair, Jim Wayne Miller
Ce lebration: A Way of Life •
Katuah 18,000 Years Ago• Sacred
Sites• Folk Arts in the Schools
Sun Cycle/Moon Cycle • Hilda
Downer • Cherokee Heritage Cen ter • Who Owns Appalachia?
KATUAH: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians
B0x 873i Cullowhee, North Carolina 28723
For more info: call Marnie Muller (704) 252-9167
Name
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
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The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, Issue 9, Fall 1985
Description
An account of the resource
The ninth issue of the <em>Katúah Journal</em> focuses on topics such as nuclear energy, pollution and the forests, and other challenges with trees. Authors and artists in this issue include: H. M. Spottswood, Michael Red Fox, Brian Caldwell, Gus Hadorn, Walton B. Smith, David Wheeler, and Thomas Rain Crowe. <br><br><em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1985
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
The Waldee Forest.......1<br /><br />The Trees Speak.......3<br /><br />Migrating Forests.......4<br /><br />"Hog Killing Saturday" - A Poem.......6<br /><br />Horse Logging.......7<br /><br />The Nuclear Suppository: We're Not Going to Take It!.......8<br /><br />Good Medicine.......10<br /><br />Starting a Tree Crop.......11<br /><br />Natural World News.......12<br /><br />Urban Trees.......15<br /><br />Acorn Bread.......19<br /><br />Myth/Time.......20<br /><br />The Children's Page.......27<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Sylva Herald Publishing Company, Sylva, North Carolina
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Forest management--Appalachian Region, Southern
Acid rain
Paleoecology--Appalachian Region
Trees in cities--North Carolina--Asheville
Cooking (Acorns)
Animals in logging--Appalachian Region
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Language
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English
Type
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Text
Source
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<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
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<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
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Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
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PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Acid Deposition
Agriculture
Appalachian History
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Black Bears
Children's Page
Folklore and Ceremony
Forest History
Forest Issues
Forest Practice
Good Medicine
Habitat
Katúah
Permaculture
Pigeon River
Poems
Radioactive Waste
Reading Resources
Turtle Island
Water Quality
Western North Carolina Alliance
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/c5ee330c977312a17d828d214a7916e6.pdf
05640bd372243437e62e080e13bbb8ac
PDF Text
Text
ISSUE 32 FALL 1991
$1.50
�Drawina by Rob M~siclt
~UAHJOURNAL
PO Bo:,,. 638
Leicester, NC
Katuah Province 28748
Printed on recycled paper
Postage Paid
Bulk Mail
Permit #18
Leicester, NC
28748
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
�CONTENTS
Bringing Back !he Fire................. .
by David Wheeler
A Bil of Mountain Levity.................
by Barbara Wickersham
5
Climax Never Came.......................
by Henry Wender
7
ls the Southern Appalachian
Ecosystem Endangered?..................
by John A. Freeman
9
'Talking Leaves": Sequoyah............ 10
by Tom Underwood
Green Spirits: Seed Saving .............
by lee Barnes
12
Walking Dis1a11ce.........................
by Will Ashe Bason
13
Angle: Environment......................
by lvo Ballentine
13
Good Medicine: ..........................
14
Poem: "A Rotting Log"..................
by Brownie Newman
15
THEGRANOLAJOURNAL..........
16
Livin' By Their Wits
recorded by Rob Messick
An Old Family Tale
by Bess Harbison
BRINGING BACK THE FIRE
The Slide
by Rob Messick
Recorded by David Wheeler
How Can You Lose Anything as Big
as This Ego?
by Maxim Didge,
Paintings: "Mountain Stories".......... 18
by Robert Johnson
Natural World News.....................
20
Dying Soils, Dying Waters.............
by Emmelt Greendigger
22
Songs in lhe Wilderness.................
by Char/011e Homsher
24
500 Years of Resistance!................
by Emmell Greendigger
25
Save James Bay..........................
25
Drumming.................................
26
Off the Grid: Solar Ovens... ,...........
by Dennis Scanlin
29
Events.....................................
32
\Vcbworklng..............................
34
Ka11fah Konfusion.......................
35
foff, 1991
While Walker Calhoun is II/JI the only
person working ro keep alive the old
Cherokee practices and values, he is
definitely one of the people most dedicated to
restoring the traditional ways. When he
speaks of "the Fire," he means the spark of
life irself. and also the spirit behind the
Cherokee spiriwal life • so strong in this
region until even JOO years ago. But, like the
Cherokee white flour corn that was
cross-fertilized with the white people's
Yellow Dent \•aricty, Walker's spiriwal way
also shows traces of the white people's
Christian religion.
\Vhen I drove 11p 10 Walker's house, he
was sitting by a small fire in the side yard.
He had a ra1: wrapped around one pa111/eg,
and he was Ito/ding lo11g pieces ofriver ca11e
over rite blaze until tltcy became pliable. then
s1raigluenin1: them across his leg to make
blowgu11s.
lie stood to greet me. He was a slight
111011 with a ready smile that showed the worn
nubs of a few teeth.
"let's sit 011 the porch," he said. "It's
too hnt to work around this fire anymore."
I showed him a copy of rite Kattiah
Journal and, ofter consideri11g it a mmure.
without further prompting he began talking ..
Walker Calhoun: Katuah - that's the
name of the tribe. We're not the Cherokee.
When lhey wrote a history, they called us the
Cherokee, but really we're the Katuah tribe.
They've got the Katuah Band in Oklahoma,
and lhe Katuah Medicine Society out there.
That's our religion· lhe Cherokee religion·
the Katuah Society.
I'm supposed 10 put the sign up at our
stomp grounds we have just a.cross the river
up here in Big Cove... the name is the Raven
Rock Nighthawk Ceremonial Grounds ·
Katuah Society. We have dance there every
month on the last Saturday. In August we
have a big celebration • a Green Com
Celebration. We have a big time.
I was chosen to bring lhe Everlasting
Fire back here to the Eastern band. The
reason they picked me was because I was the
only one keeping our culture and heritage
from disappearing. That's why they chose
me to bring the Fire back where ii belongs.
I didn't know much about the Fire until
three or four years ago. Two men from
Oklahoma came and told me. We were sining
right here, and these two men came. They
mentioned Katunh. One asked me about it,
but I didn't know what he meant. It was later
when I learned what they were t.1llcing about.
Now, the Fire... people misunderstand
the Fire. At the ceremonial grounds we've
got a mound where the spirit is. We build a
Drawing by Rob Messick
(con11nucd on page 3)
X,ntunf, Journo(
pn9c
I
�~
LJAHJOURNAL
A BAD CASE OF EDITORTALSTAPH:
Susan Adam
Jim Houser
Lee Barnes
Anomal..ee
Heather Blair
Rob Messick
Emmett Greendigger
Mamie ~lullcr
Charloue Homsher
David Wheeler
EDlTORIAL ASSISTANCE:
Chris Green
Scou Bird
and Li'I Matthew...
Mountain Gardens Family
COVER: by Rob Messick
©1991
PUBLTSHED BY: Kart'iah Journal
PRTNTED BY: The Waynesville Mowitaineer Press
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
EDITORIAL OFFlCE THIS ISSUE: The Globe Valley
WRITE US AT: Kat(iah Journal
Box 638; Leicester, NC; Katuah Province 28748
TELE Pl IONE:
(704) 754-6097
Divcrsi1y is an imponam clcmcm of biorcgaonal ecology, both nntural
and social. In accord with !his principle Katuah Journal Irie.~ to serve as n
forum for lhe discussion of regional issues. Signed :iruclcs expross only lite
opinion of lite aulhors and arc no1 ncccss:irily 1he opinions of lhc Katuah
Journal editors or stllT.
The Internal Revenue Service hns dcclnred K01uah Joivnol a non-profi1
organizntion under sccuon 50l(c)(3) or lhe lnicmal Revenue Code. All
contributions to Ka,uoh Journal an: deductible from pcrson3l income l:lll.
Aniclcs appearing m Ka1uah Journal may be rcprimcd m 01hcr
publications wilh permis.~1on Crom lhe Ka1uah Journal slllff. ConUlCl lite
journal in writing or coll (701) 754-6097.
CORRECTION: m our las1 isssuc (Summer, 1991) lhcrc was an
error in lite article •Jack-o-Lanicms, Acid Ram, and the Elcctncal Life of lite
Earth." Brown Mountain is aclllally IOC3lcd in Burke and Caldwell Counues
of North Carolina.
Wltat would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and of wilderness? Let them be left,
0 let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.
Here,
in the Katuah Province
of these ancient Appalachian mountains
where once the Cherokee Nation lived in freedom
between the Tennessee River Valley and the Eastern Piedmont
between the Valley of the Roanoke and the Southern Plain
on this Tun le Island continent of Mother Ela, the Eanh
I lcrc,
In this place we dedicate ourselves to remembering our deep
connection LO the spirit of the land.
We bring this connection into the being and the doing of
our daily lives
When the land speaks, we listen and we act
We tune our lives 10 the changes, to the seasons
We respect the limits of the land
We preserve, defend, and restore the land
We give thanks for all that is good
Hannony with the land is no longer an ideal; it is an imperative.
The land is a living being. She is sacred.
As the land lives, so do we.
As the spirit of the land is diminished,
our spirits are diminished as well.
Ka11iah Journal sends a voice...
with articles, stories, poems, and anwork
we speak to the spirit of all the living, breathing
inhabitants of these mountains
in hopes that we, the human beings,
may find our place in this Great Life.
The Editors
- Gerard Manley Hopkins
KATUAH JOURNAL wanes ro communicare your thouglus and
feelings ro the 01/zer people in the bioregional province. Send them ro tlS
as lerrers, poems, stories, articles, drawings, or photographs, ere. Please
send your contribwions ro us at: Katuah Journal; P. 0. Box 638;
Leicesrer, NC; Kar(ltlh Province 28748.
OUR NEX:r ISSUE is concerned with the role of the element Fire in
the life of the mountains...forest Fire, how humans changed the
landscape with Fuc, Fire in the heanh, Fire as tool, Fire of the spirit.
Please submit all material by October 30, 1991.
JC.ati!Qn )ournat pa«Jc 2
THE SPRING, 1992 JSSUE will be concerned wilh "Sustainable
Agriculture and Regional Diet." We need your input on topics including:
sustainable agriculture (alternative ag., low input, appropriate ag.,
pennaculturc, biodynamics, etc.); seed-saving techniques; wild-foods
and medicinals; regionaVcommunity food production and marketing;
seasonal diet and recipes; food preservation; green manures and
composting; agroforestry; and especially recommended resources,
guides, and contacts.
Please send material to Lee Barnes; Box 1303; Waynesville, NC
28786. (704) 452-5716.
Ta(t, 1991
�(con1inucd !'tom page I)
fire on top. A lot of people misunderstand it they think that we worship the fire. That's
not it. The spirit of Fire is in that mound. The
Oklahoma people fixed it (put it there). They
said that was !he sll'Ongest Fire they had ever
fixed.
It came from the Redbird Community in
Oklahoma. That's the original Fire. They've
got some more at other stomp grounds, but
they get the spirit from the main one, at
Redbird, !he same one that this came from.
We've got the seven clans of the
Cherokee. We've got seven arbors around
the fire, each clan sits in their own arbor, and
when we start dancing, each clan comes from
their own arbor, and when they quit, they go
back to their own arbor.
We went a lot of different places to get
that place fixed. We went up to Clingman's
Dome to get a piece of dirt to put over here.
That's where the wisest medicine men of the
Cherokee had their meetings. I guess they
would go all the way to Clingman's Dome to
talk with God.
People forget about their culture and
heritage, they're going with the rest of the
world. The Green Com Dance has been
handed down from our forefathers, but it
almost went out of existence. It was going
down slow. They hadn't done it for about 50
years, until last year.
I was just a young boy when they did
the lllSl one 50 yean. ugo. 1 remember how
they danced.
The women would be dancing away
from the men, while the menfolks were doing
the Green Com Dance. When the men got
through, the women came over, and they
would stan doing the stomp dance, and then
the women would join in.
When the menfolk were dancing, they
would carry shotguns - each one would have
seven shots. They would go around a singer,
I believe they'd go around seven times first,
just walk it, and then on the eighth round,
they'd Stan singing, they'd go completely
around, and the second time 'round, at each
side the men, they'd shoot, each one. That's
the way we did it.
When we dance, that's the prayer co
God. We've got the Fire on top - smoke
takes what we're saying up to God. What
we're saying, God is the only One who can
understand it. We can't understand it
ourselves.
Sometimes in Oklahoma they dance all
night. That's when there's some reason, like
the Green Com Celebration or the Fire's
birthday. There was one time at the stomp
dancing in Oklahoma, it was broad daylight,
it was still going. They ran out of songs, they
started singing "Old MacDonald."
0L:J.l:J~
f'n{t. I 99 1
The leader sang, "Old MacDonald had a
fann."
They answered, "Hee yi, hee yi!"
I tell you, when they get warmed up,
tlleY_'re airing th~ Fire as they dance, making
mouons. They sing songs about God while
they're dancing, how they appreciate God.
Our Fire's birthday is September 29.
That's when it was lit, September 29. The
man who lit it, his name was Hickory Star.
He was the one who wanted the fire brought
back here, he said that this is where it
belongs. He just barely made iL He lit tlle
fire, went back home - he died there last
February. He brought the fire back, and tllen
he died.
Karuah JourMI: Do you sing old songs
at the stomp dance?
WC: Yeh. I don't know how old. This
was done before white men came to America
- way before. That was the way they
worshipped.
Kl: I'm glad you are starting it back
again. It would be a tcnible thing if we lost
that.
WC: Yeah. They've got a lot ofit back
now. Some of it they have in Oklahoma.
They know more about it tllan us, of course.
The Eastern Band, we just came from the few
who escaped and hid in the mountains. When
they came back. they didn't have nothing.
They took the Fire with tllem out west.
The Fire, that was their religion. That's the
spirit - it was within 'em. They carried the
Fire of the spirit.
They staned back doing it. To begin
with they did it in secret, because the
government didn't allow tllem to do that. But
they kept it up. Then the government passed
a low about freedom of religion (Native
American Religious Freedom Act), and then
they came out with it.
When I was a boy, I guess about 12 or
14 years old, I always heard my motlier and
some of the older people talking about the
Fire - the Fire in Oklahoma. l thought tllat
they had taken the name of the real fire with
them when they lefL That's tlle way a lot of
people believe yet.
Up at the Mountainside Theater (in
Cherokee where the drama Unro These Hills
is performed), they've got a name burning,
that they bum by gas, I guess, so that's the
not the Eternal Flame, for when they want to
clean it, they put the fire out. That's a
commercinl fire.
When they brought it back from
Oklahoma they actually carried the fire back.
I don't know exactly how they carried it,
somehow they kept it burning until they got it
to Cherokee. They called on a man in
~
Oklahoma to give them the Eternal Fire. He
didn't know what to do. They wanted the
Fire, so he gave them a name to bring baclc.
He didn't know what to tel1 them.
There's a lot of people interested in
Indian religion, I don't know why. I guess
that they think that they (tlle native people)
might be more right The Indians respect the
Mother Earth. They respect just about
everything in nature. You don't hear of any
Indians inventing something to kill people
with. They don't even talce part in inventing
everything. 1 guess they're thinking it's not
right. I believe it's not right, the way white
people use their inventions. The first thing
!hey do with an invention is they make it into
a war material. That ain't right. The Indians,
they're not involved in that. Maybe tllat's the
reason (white) people think that they (the
native people) might be more right.
God didn't intend it for that way, when
He created Man and the Eartll. We were
supposed to share the Earth and get along equally.
Everything that the Indian goes by, it
makes sense, even the legends. It makes
sense, all of it.
There's a lot to it. Back when I was a
kid, it seemed like they kept everytlling. They
kept the culture and the herirage, but it
gradually went down. When I found out, I
had to decide to bring it back. Nobody was
trying.
YJ: It's important to save whatever you
know.
WC: We are trying to keep the
ll'llditional way. We don't allow alcohol at the
stomp dance - no alcohol, no drugs, and a
woman that makes her period (who is having
her period) can't take part.
KJ: Now why is that?
WC: That's just traditional. They can't
eat with the rest of the family. they have to
have their own plate. And a married couple,
staying in the family way, they can't take part
in the dancing, either one of them.
KJ: Is that the way you do in your
house?
. WC: No. Like I said, it's going out of
ex1Stence.
The old-timers said that kept a lot of
sickness away. I believe it, because Indian
people were bigger people than they are now.
Now you see a lot of shon, fat Indians, they
used 10 be tall - tall people. So 1 believe that.
You don't hardly see a big Indian man
anymore.
(continued on pa,., 4)
�(c:ontinucd from page 3)
KJ: Will it help the young people in the
tribe to bring back the old traditions?
WC: We can't drag 'em. The drunks
know that they can't go there (lo the
ceremonial grounds) unless they're sober. I
believe that's going 10 work out slow.
They'll be wanting to go there, but they can't
go unless they're sober. I think that's the
way it's going to work.
J know that there are a lot of 'cm
peeping around there. They've been
drinking. You can see them way out in the
weeds, peeping out. They can't come in,
though. Within four days, if they've been
drinking, they can't go.
KJ: It's good work you're doing,
Walker.
WC: The first 11me I went 10 Oklahoma,
the head man explained 10 me all about how
that Fire was kept. While he was explaining
it, he said, "As long as you are doing God's
wiU. that's all that's required."
Well, that's all that's required for
anybody anyway. As long as you are doing
God's will and believe in Jesus Chris1.
KJ: How about the white people,
Walker? The Ind fan people have been hcrc a
long time, and they have old traditions that
they can get back in touch with. But the white
people haven't bt-cn here so long, and they
don't have such old traditions. ls there
anything they can do 10 get back in touch?
Cartersville and Albany. Georgia. Instead of
having Fire, they had a bale of hay.
KJ: That takes the power out of i1. ll's
hard to think about in the same way after it's
been commercialized.
WC: There's another thing: we can't
build the Fire unless we use a spark out of a
rock. My son's a fueman, he builds fires. A
man gave him a striker, it makes a big spark.
You can·t use a match or a cigarette lighter.
KJ: Do you ever use a bow and drill?
WC: No. This man said it wouldn't be
right. That's somebody's invention. The
spark was 1he real tradiLional thing.
KJ: Are you teaching somebody to
come after you?
WC I don't have to. The spirit's there
forever. If I die, 1ha1 won't bother i1. The
spirit 1s still there. they know 1he spirit is
there, so I don't have 10 Lc:11 1hem how i1's
done. lt's the Everlasting Fire.
KJ; What else are you trying 10 ,~ach
people?
(remedies). I'm not a medicine man. A lot of
people call me medicine man, but the
Medicine Man is down in Cherokee (referring
to the Medicine Man Gift Shop). 0aughs)
KJ: So these are plant medicines. You
don't do any conjuring.
WC: No. I don't go for that, it's against
my religion ConJuring and religion don't go
together. Just like alcohol.
KJ: llow did you learn the remedies
that you know.
WC: From my mother, she taught me.
Someone can teach you the different
medicines, but even if you understand what
kind of medicine a person gets, and you just
went and got that same kind of medicine for
everybody, it wouldn't be any good.
We've got to put our Creator first,
because we ain't got power ourselves unless
we put God in front. Then we can do it.
Thc medicine is just a point of contact.
Goel is the One who heals you. I understand
that. The medicine is just something 10 get
you closer 10 God. If you don't believe in the
medicine· no good, it won't do it. You've
got to have faith in the medicine, too.
/
WC: I'm trying to teach medicine, "hat
little mcdidnc I know. I ju$t know a few
WC: Well. I don't know. They're
supposed 10 keep up their tradition. their
culture, of whatever they arc. Each
nationality should keep their own.
KJ: It's hard for white people because
they have been away from 1he land for so
long. h's been hundreds of years.
WC: Thar's like these two men who
came from Pennsylvania. They were curious
about what l was doing.
"Our people ain't got nothin'," 1hey
said. "We're just here, that's all."
KJ: I think that's why a lot of white
people are interested in the native religion,
because that's how they feel. It's imponant
for everybody tha1 you keep the old customs,
the s1
omp dance and all of 1ha1.
WC: That's a religious dance, and we
can't do Lha1 dance away from the ceremonial
ground. The only place is down around the
Fire.
We can do the other dances 10 honor the
animals, the Bear Dance, the Beaver Dance
the Quail Dance. But the stomp dances we '
have to do around the Frre.
There's one big bunch from the Creek
tribe that has commercialized theirs. I saw
them do their stomp dance down at
Xatuah Journat page 4
WrUTEPATII
Moving in10 my solitude,
he wrestles me from stolen moments of peace
among the grand green pines, golden poplars,
and brawny. brown oaks
or rides a <1uie1, sure-footed mount along 1he ml.ii
that conscience leaves
into my sleep ChiefWhitepath moving his people from Georgia.
I le doesn't speak, but I can hear others weeping,
and often there's a scream of death
that deepens his frown.
ln his eyes I can read the desperate question
"How can so many people rest on the carcasses
of murdered souls, and not be thought
savage?"
· Dtborah J~s
ran, 1991
�A Bit E)f Mo~ntain Levity
"Laugh and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone;
For the sad old eanh must borrow its minh,
But has trouble enough of its own."
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
In the minds of each of us, there are
worlds which no longer exist and which we
can visit only in memory and in i;haring with
others. We cnn not walk the same trail twice.
It has been my good fortune, however, to
have some of the people of Roan Mountain
share their hidden worlds of yesterday with
me, especially those of the Depression era. I
discovered therein a fascinating culture of
isolation, independence, and great good
humor.
They refer to the Depression years as
"hard times but good times" and their
wonderful sense of humor seems to have
been the glue that kept heads on straight and
held families together during those "hard
times." Banter, affectionate teasing, story
telling, and practical jokes were a way of life
. .. and still are.
I remember one day when I became
hopelessly lost in my ramblings around Roon
Mountain. I stopped at an isolated country
store. A porch rnn the full length of the small
building lllld held a number of ladder-backed
chairs. In one of these, tilted precariously
against the wall on its two hind legs, sat a
very old man eyeing me a bit suspiciously. I
C:lrCfully explained my predicament and
asked for directions. Without changing
expression, he surmized "You can't get there
from here." He paused, looked very stem,
then a big grin broke his face. A little levity
goes a long way toward turning problems
into laughter. I must have seemed really
uptight.
The language of their stories is filled with
subtle and not so subtle humor, sometimes
even a bit caustic, sometimes it bruised a bit
but served as a gentle reminder of what path
was allowed. Admonitions such as "Do
something, if it ain't nothin' but carry water
out of the branch and put it in the creek. It'll
keep from wearing the rocks out," indicating
that laziness was simply not allowed. For
children too young to work in the fields but
not out playing, "You're as lazy as a pet pig.
If your breathin' didn't come and go by
itself, you'd be to0 lazy to breathe." At the
table you might bear "Let your vittles stop
your mouth" when children got a bit too
rambunctious. About someone who got up
"feelin' poorly," "He got up cranky and
hasn't gotten over it." Then there's "You
look like the hind wheels of hard times" and
"You sure took your time. You'd a-been a
good hand to send for the doctor if the devil
was sick."
Oaildren were the target of much good
natured teasing, a son of initiation rite. Jim
Street tells of one such incident when he and
his brother Aoyd were on the receiving end
of a bit of "funnin'." Will Garland, a close
friend of the family, had brought Sam
Brinkley to talk with the boy's father about
:Foff, 1991
buying some property. Now Sam Brinkley
was famous for his long beard that reached to
the ground and which he kept carefully stored
in a pillowcase tucked inside his shin. The
boys, aged four and eight, had never
experienced that beard. "We were playing
head and beard. h skeerd us so bad we run
and jumped in the hog pen with the hogs. We
couldn't find no place else to hide. Daddy
then came and got us out and said Will, quit
skeering these boys: they're already crazy
enough.' Garland was always aggravating
and making cornstalk horses," Jim said.
us, telJing us these big stories about what
was going to catch us and everything. Ever
time I seen Brinkley auer that, he'd laugh,
but Floyd never did like him much."
Floyd was a born prankster himself. Hear
this one: Visiting preachers, especially during
camp mecrin's, wen: regular visitors at the
Street family table. One day when there
see~ 10 be an especially large number of
them and the children were having to wait
second table, the fried chicken seemed to be
disappearing at an alarming rate. Young
Floyd peered around the dining room door
and called to his mother, "Don't let 'em eat all
the chicken, Mom!" Turning, he ran out into
"We'd cut off a long piece and make his head
and we'd use a little stick or a slip off that
comswllc and make his neck and stick it on
that and then put on his legs and tail and his
mane and everything and we'd have cornstalk
horses. That's what we were busy a-doing
and we didn't think they was anybody
around. So Will Garland talked Brinkley into
sticking his beard around an apple tree and
a-scarin' us. We didn't know they was
anybody in a mile. He was about maybe fifty
feet away. We didn't sec him and he stuck
his head around that tree and Garland said
'Oh yes, I've got you this time' and he was
hid and all we could sec was the old man's
(COlllllluod on page 6)
Xnti1af1 Journat page S
�(coounucd l'rom piigc .S)
the night. 1 don't know if he go, a~y chicken
or not!
Humor was not always up front, and as
Malone Young so aptly put it, "Old time lying
wasn't really a vice. Land Sakes! Life would
have been dull as a froe if people didn't
stretch the truth," Storytelling was a real an.
Old men would sit around the country store
and see who could top the next one or swap
stories at bean stringin's or com i;huckin's.
During interviews, I was not always sure if
the story I was hearing was true or not. One
day I asked, "Is this really a true 5tory?" The
answer came quickly "Honey. if I'm a-I yin'.
I'll tell you." He didn't say when.
Sometimes the story would be quite true,
such as this one told by Howard Shell, but in
order to make them interesting they might end
with a funny questionable twist. Howard was
sining in the swing on his front porch when
I askc-0 him about witches. Ile immediately
got a mischievous linlt: twinkle in his eye and
10ld me his mother was a great believer in
witches. The story goes that she was having
difficulty geuing the milk to chum and
decided chat her cow was bewitched. She and
her son built a big bonfire. Then she went to
the woods and got two haw branches.
stripping the thorns to make a good handhold
but leaving them on the ends. She put her
daughter on one side of the fire and her :;on
on the other. As she poured the milk into the
fire. they beat it with the haw br.inches and
the cow wa.,; cured. Then he told me their
chickens became sick nnd his mother decided
they were bewitched. Again she built the big
bonfire, put one of the sick chickens into a
bag and threw it onto the fire alive. I waited
expectantly for the rest of the story which
didn't come. Finally I asked warily, "Well.
did they get un-bewi1ched?" "I don't
remember," he replied wilh a sly grin.
One charming lady has taken practical
joking 10 a long-running high. We'll call her
Anna 10 pro1ec1 the innocent. Anna is married
10 a very serious, reserved, channing
holiness preacher. bm ,his did not deter her
yen for fun. Let's call her husband Joe.
Every year, come April Fool's Day, Anna
auempted 10 play a joke on Joe and much 10
his chagrin, she always succeeded. Joe
logged and farmed, was generally hardworking and steady as you go. His horses
were of much value and importance to him
and were greatly cherished. Early one April
ls1. Anna slipped ou1 of bed early,ju~t :11
daylight. went outside and came rushing back
into the bedroom screaming that the horses
were tangled in the barbed wire and were
cuuing themselves badly. Joe, who slept only
in his wherewithals, rushed out into the
frosty. cloud-heavy morning, only 10 find
1ha1 he had been taken again.
The next year he threatened 10 whip the
children if they helped their mother play her
linle game. Anna had been after Joe 10 move
a hig pile of logs stacked in !he yard because
she was afraid the children would get hun
playing on 1h·em. but 10 no avail. There they
were. stacked 100 high for safety. Before
anyone else was up. she wen, 0111 into the
yard. pushed 1he logs over so they rolled in
every direction. then carefully maneuvered
herself under two of them in a way 10 appear
badly hun. When one of the children peered
out the window and saw her, he screamed for
his father. When Joe saw what he- thought
had happened, he leaped through the window
10 run 10 her rescue. only 10 have her sit up
when he go! there and say "April Fool!"
Could you live with a woman like that? He
has for some 60 years!
Another one of her delightful stories
in\·olved "siuing up with the body." The
custom was when a person died, the body
was kept a1 the home until it w~ interred.
During 1ha1 time. even a, night, friends and
relatives "sat up." One such night Anna was a
bit bored and she looked around for some
mischief needing to be done. She saw two
very pious women sining in straight chairs
leaning against the wall - sound ash:ep! She
took some soo1 from the chimney, mixed in a
The air is fine
for it gives me
what J need to live
••
.~·
$'
~:
:::
.•.
\
·
The water is my mother
for it holds me
as she would in dream
~
.•
Fire is my pride and foe
for when it snaps it says
it will overtake me
...
.•.
·• .
.•.
And stone, stone is my best friend
for it shows me the hardness of the world
-1.smanl Cirino
JI I
I h
•,.
.
-~.
•
Hard Scrabble
.!.
the ground I stand on
I
by Barbara Wickersham
.• ! .
as it prepares
I
The judge could no! solve ii and the man
went free. It was later solved: 1-Ie had killed
his wife, dug a hole 10 put her in, and his
name was Fox.
And then chere's the story about the man
who had 100 much moonshine anti killed his
cat ... bu1 we'll save that for another time!
They still remember, these people of 1he
mountain~ and they laugh and share their
funny stories. I love 10 laugh and r did so
enjoy listening - hope you did 100.
/
•
••
.•·
The earth is good
t 1 \'
Riddle 10 my riddle to my right,
Guess where I srayed las, Friday night.
The wind did blow and my hean did ache
To see what a hole that fox did make.
.. ·· ·· · . ....
.•..~·......-.:•:•:•:•:•:•:·........·•..•....
..·•·
....•.
...
The Elements
Xotimf, Jou1 nnC pn9c 6
little water, and painted their faces lndian
style No one would betray the culprit v. ho
had done the dastardly deed! Recently Anna
1old me she asked one of the women if !hey
wanioo 10 know who did it. The lady replied
"No, not now. I might get angry all over
again." So Anna didn't tell - and her secret is
cenainly safe wi1h me.
Long hours of plowing. hoeing com,
chopping wood, washing, cooking, etc. se1
these very bright people of devious minds to
crca1ing riddles. An nnicle about their humor
would be incomplete without a, least shanng
one nddle with you. Here is my favori1e
story of riddles shared (supposedly a true
story). The wife of a man who lived back in
the deep woods had disappeared without a
1rnce. Her family became concerned and there
was an investigation. The man was brought
before a judge and accused ofkilling his
wife. Apparently the judge musr no, have
been ahoie1her sure of his guih and he 10ld
the man if he could make a riddle tha1 the
judge could not solve. he could go free. Here
is the riddle:
·•
.•..•.
...
............
·•·
•
·~
•
Appalachian mountainside,
more rocks than grass.
Three cows graze sideways round,
short legs up hill, long legs down.
Farmer says there's green enough
to put milk in their faucets,
and maybe there'll be milk enough
to put green in his pockets.
{
._.
:::
~:
}
•.
~
•.
.•·
..
·•·
..
.....
·•·
-Mlba Barr.
e
.
.......·-•:•:•:•:•:•:•·.........,;.•·
.
•·
.• • ·
•
..
rnff., ,.19!1 I
1 . '1
�CLIMAX
NEVER
CAME
have ever been in an old-growth forest thm
contains tulip trees, you can see that they
have a Iarger crown than other species, Like
hemlock, sugar maple, or beech. And as tulip
trees fall over. they create an open patch that
is bigger than a gap left by one of the other
tree species. Intermediately tolerant or even
intolerant ttecs that wouldn't come up in the
space left by a sugar maple or a beech, come
up in the gap made by a fallen tulip tree. So
even in an old-growth forest you can have a
(OMlinncd on~· 8)
by Henry Wender
The idea of a "climaxfores1" has been
an appealing one w sciemists interested in
validating the idea of a 1111mral order in the
world. It has also been a term usedfrequelll/y
in the pages of the Katuah Journal to describe
the old-growth hardwoodfore.\'l.
Now it appears that n111ybe there has
never been a climax forest in the Southern
Appalachians, that the theory is too restrictive
to accurately describe the dynamic processes
of na111re in the mowuain highlands. JIere is a
report on the controversy
Scientists looking back at the
magnificent hnrdwood forest that once
covered the Southern Appalachian Mountains
felt a sense of awe at the splendor of the big
trees. The old forest had a feeling of
permanence and "rightness" I.hat was justified
by the observation of "succession" among
forest plants: after a disturbance smaller,
fast-growing plants repaired ecological
damage and prepared the site for larger tree
species and their accompanying understory
vegetation. The dominant uces and the plants
associated with them were termed the "climax
forest," for these trees were shade-tolerant 10
some degree and succeeded themselves in the
forest canopy. It seemed that unless an
outside disturbance threw the forest back into
an earlier stage of succession that the
dominance of ccnain tree sP-CCies was
inevitable. Certain species appeared 10 be
ideally adapted 10 the conditions of the region
and. unless interrupted, could maintain their
reign perpetually (or at lea.st until the
conditions of the cnvironml!nt changed).
Succession, the scientists said, always
reached a climax: "a self-reproducing 1cm1ina
community."
As with almost any abwlute statement
in science, contradictions began 10 appl!ar
within the idea of the climax forest. During
the 1970's, scientific questioning turned into
open revolt. One of the leaders of the
rebellion was Dr. Peter S. White, then a
researcher for the National Park Service at th
Uplands Field Research Laboratory ,n the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
White is now the director of the Nonh
C-irolina Botanical Gardens maintained bv th,
University of Nonh Carolina at Chapel I iill.
In a conversation in his office. he spok,
about how his observations clashed with the
climax theory:
" 11tey (the climax thcorhts) would
pn.-dict that in time a cenain cove site would
become a hemlock forest or a beech forest.
But th:it ~ocs nor happen everywhere without
interruption.
"Fire is an example in many
ecosystems. but 10 use an even subtler
example, tulip trees (locally known as yellow
poplar) are shade-intolerant, early
successionaJ trees. They colonize where there
is on abundance of resources and nutrients
and light and water.
'Tulip trees have a large crown. If you
:ft1CC. 1991
Phoio by Rob Meutck
Xatum, Journot PCIIJe
7
�of climax. They_
inU'Qduced "Polycli~cs," a
mosaic ot different climax situations across
the same landscape, and even "dis-climaxes,"
climax situations based on recurrent patterns
of disturbance. Others referred to climax as
an ideal situation that was valid for an
(ainunucd frum pqc 7)
persistent succcssional tree, just because of
their great size.
"So the ultimate progression towards
climax would occur only in some rare
situations. It docs happen. In a deep ravine, it
CARIHEAN ISLANDS
GIJ'
MOOE LS
,-,.......
$MALL
WATERSHEDS
DOMINICA
CUBA
' '
r--"---,
RECREATIONAL FOREST IN
SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS
1
.. 111*
C
C
w
~
•
C
~
,,. ----,\
1010
C
,r,
0
OIUIIRICANES
HITTING
CIRCULAR
ISLANDS
I
/
\
EFHCTIVELY
NONEOUILtlRIUM
LANOSCAl'ES
E
. . -1"----
\
--
/
I
""'
C
10•
}
AUSTRALIAN
~REST
FIRES FIIQM
1954 ,.,,
IIY YEAR
.
__ ...,
}
}
)
IJ''ALACHIAN
WILDFIRES
AREA IN THE 11.tlNGES OF
COMMERCIAL A\ISTIIALIAN
~IYSl'ECIES
Sc.le of dinurbonce and ICale of bnclscapcs for •umple ecosyslefflS. The hne between lhc
dTcctive.ly nonequihliriwn and 111c quai-eqwlibri1m 1.-,d,apcs is based 011 a SO: I ratio of landsape
cn:a to diJllllt)enu au. Cornbina&ions of disn.wbance and laidscape scales illu.waied uc: (a) Trerfalls
Oii imall W111Cn!w,ds; (b) W'llcl!n, on ama11 walaShcds; (c) WildfiRS on reaeaiioml foruu: (d)
AIISlnliln Corua ms on I.be nmie of Auslnlli111 £colyp1i,s specie$; and (c) Hurtian<s OC1 Carribc:m
hllnds. (from A Theory of Forest Oynamies by Herman H.Shup.rt)
might just be shady enough that hemlock is
able to exclude any intolerant plants
eventually, providing there is freedom from
fire or hurricanes. So in a cenain sense there
could be dominance by a few of the most
shade-tolerant species. But in most other
cases, I think thar that end-point of
succession was still a mixed forest which
never quite got to climax."
Key to the idea of climax was the
qualification "unless interrupted... " In climax
theory, disturbance, even natural disturbance,
was looked on as "endogenous," something
that came from outside the system and
interrupted the "normal" progression 10 a
stable climax. White and his scientific allies
maintained that disturbance was a natural
occurrence in the life of most forests and
needed to be included in any theory of forest
dynamics.
'There was a certain sense that
evolution creatcS ctiversity," White said,
"There is a reason why early-succession
plantS such as birch, pin cherry, or
blaclcberrics evolve in a system. and that
reason is that there is periodic disturbance, so
it felt that 10 look only at the end-point was
the wrong focus."
In nature, it is said, "change is the only
constant," and trying 10 deny disturbance an
integral role in the forest ecosystem seemed
10 be setting up a Static model lhat left out the
clement of change.
Scientists defending climax recognized
this, and they began to redefine the concept
Xawan Journat
- • , J. ".
h. t
P™Je 8
environment whether it actually occurred or
nOL
There came to be so many "climaxes"
that, in the eyes of White and his cohons, the
concept lost its meaning. "Every species is
climax in that it evolved within some
environmental setting and is extant within that
setting," he wrote in 1979 (emphasis added).
A nonhem hardwood forest setting
provides an example. The dominant species,
such as beech or sugar maple, depend on a
shady, liner-covered forest floor to germinate
their seeds. They are slow colonizers but are
very tolerant of shade and play a waiting
game. sitting as small saplings in the
understory until an opening appears, when
they use their height advantage and leap 10 fill
it.
While these species arc clearly
dominant, other early-succession species
persiSt. Yellow birch has light seeds which it
disperses widely, starting many seedlings on
I.be forest floor. But these seedlings arc
completely eliminated, except for those which
manage to take root on disturbed soil or on
moss mats covering rotting logs or rocks
from which they drop trailing roots 10 the
forest floor.
The fire cherry has persistant seeds that
live a long lime in the soil, waiting for a
ctisturbancc 10 open a gap in the upper
canopy. By such strategics, these
"early-succession" species, although never
dominant, keep their place in the the northern
hardwood forest. When larger gaps open up,
the "climax species" arc out-competed by
stands of the fas1-growing, light-loving trees.
Rather than a linear model always
approaching the goal of a final climax, 1his
appears to be a shifting balance of different
species competing amid a constantly
changing set of conditions.
"Dynamic equilibrium" or "patch
dynamic equilibrium" is how White describes
this continuing process. He mentions the
work of Herman Shugan, a professor at the
University of Virginia. ln his book A Theory
of Foresr Dynamics, Shugan modeled a
forest with disturbance patch size (maybe a
burned area plus the gaps opened by fallen
trees) on one axis and the total landscape siz.c
on the other axis.
If the total siz.e of the disrurbanccs was
one-fiftieth of the size of the forest, Shugan
said that the forest was in a state of
"quasi-equilibrium." If the disturbance area
included more than one-fiftieth of the forest,
Shugart said that the forest was in
"disequilibrium."
Shugart also drew some conclusions
about habitat ctiversity by examining patch
sizes on a landscape over time. ln his model,
maximum ctivcrsity was obtained when
one-fiftieth of the landscape was stirred up by
small, concurrent disturbances. On the other
band, a single massive disturbance, like a
hurricane or a large fire, would not produce
that same diversity of habitats, because the
character of the whole forest would be
altered.
This analysis is more relativistic and
flexible than the traditional climax model
because it incorpocatcs disturbance as pan of
the picture rather than trying to exclude the
influence of change. It can also give a picture
of relative stability. While there is constant
change and constant activity happening at the
local level, seen from a wider viewpoint a
forest's rate of food production, the average
amount of biomass, or the average size of
animal populations may bold steady over an
extended period of time.
'That equilibrium." says Peter White,
"since it has changclessncss within change,
could be seen as a climax landscape. It's a
big landscape with lots of inctividual local
dynamics, but they're all canceling out over
the whole. One could call that climax.
"Historically, the tenn 'climax' would
not have been applied 10 the patch dynamics
equilibrium, but given freedom from people,
and a constant equilibrium on a larger scale,
there is a stable landscape configuration that
could develop."
Change is constant The key is balance.
This viewpoint frees our minds from a linear
and goal-oriented perspective. lt integrates
the forest species and the forces that influence
them together into a larger whole. In this
view of evolution, the cycles of successfon
yield stability in its time while providing
necessary diversity to meet the challenge of
unceasing change.
Thuw to Or. Peter White for I.he infonnation ror this
arti<;lc. For more in-depth infonnalion. - his article
-Pattern. Process. and Natural Diswrbancc in Vcgctation" in
The Botanical Rrv~. Vol. 4S, No. 3 (Swnmcr. 1979) and
TM &oleo ofNOlrval Distrvbana and Pasch Dyll(tlflia.
edited by S. T.A. Piclcca and Peter While (Academic Press,
1985).
f"n(L, 1991
�..
1
IS THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN
ECOSYSTEM ENDANGERED?
by John A. Freeman
The Southern Appalachian area is one
of the beauty-spots of Earth. Yet there are
signs that this ecosystem is in trouble, that it
is breaking down, perhaps much more
rapidly than we are used to thinking
ecosystems can.
There is ample evidence that
ecosystems break down quite rapidly due to
stresses from overuse or abuse. Ln early
classical Greece, trees were so abundant that
the land was basically forest with isolated
clearings. Yet within two centuries trees were
uncommon enough that travelers mentioned
individual trees or small groves as guidepost~
along their routes
ln the American West 130 years ago,
travelers described the grasses as reaching
halfway up 1he sides of their horses. Today,
some of these areas seldom have grasses
more than a few inches tall and the carrying
capacity forcanle has been reduced by
perhaps 98 percent.
But surely our beautiful area wi1h its
forests is not on tha1 slippery slope,. Or is ii?
Fifty years ago, as a graduate student at
Chapel Hill, I chose 10 use three common
aquatic snails in a research project. One basis
for the choices was that they were readily
availnble in nearby srreams - I could collec1
1he seveml dozen of e;ich that l neede.c;I in a
matter of minu1es. Fifteen years later, in.
Piedmont ponds two of the snails were
common. The third, always found in small
streams and pi:eviously common throughout
these mountains, was rare. In 1956 r saw the
last one I have seen in this area. Six or seven
years later, the pond snails had almost
disappeared from the ponds where 1 once
collected them in large numbers.
By 1he mid-'60's, even superficial
observation showed that stoneflies and
mayflies were much reduced in the areas r
visited. Except for fishermen, most people
would not be concerned about the decimation
of these insects. However, the fact that they
are major sources of food for trout gives
them significance. Their loss has been
responsible for the need of frequent stocking
of trout streams 10 enable tr0u1 fishing in
most of the area. Other small creatures nre
rare in many areas wbere they were once
common. Some that come 10 mind are snakes
and other reptiles, and a wide range of
amphibians (frogs, toads, and salamanders)
which, as a whole, I estimate have been
reduced in numbers by perhaps 99 percent.
Many songbirds are also much reduced in
recent years.
Taking a longer historical perspective,
the top predators were reduced 10 only token
levels many years ago. Wolves, for example,
were once important in the balance among
animals in our area. Now, in an effort to
restore some semblance of balance. red
wolves are being reintroduced. The predatory
birds (eagles, hawks, owls, etc.) were once
reduced to small populations but fonunately
with some suppon by humans are makmg
comebacks.
:fa(£, 1991
In recent years, among the most
conspicuous changes have been among trees,
especially Fraser firs and spruces at higher
elevations, such as Mount Mitchell. As yet
less dramatically affected arc various oaks,
pines, dogwoods and 01her trees extending
thing of the past, possibly within decades and
almost surely within a century.
What can be done, if anything, 10 get
our beloved area off the slippery slope?
Unfortunately, about the only rhing we
can do locally is 10 apply as many "bandaids"
down into the valleys. That we have some
explanations - or tentative explanations - of
the changes we sec docs no1 reduce the fact
or significance of the.c;e changes.
Based on my own per;onal, though not
systematic, observations, I conclude that our
Appalachian ccosys1ems are under attack.
Once the slippery slope of ecosystem
degeneration i.~ reached, ecosystem
breakdown can be rapid. It leads 10 a nc:w
and different system that develops rapidly
unless remedial steps are taken promp!ly and
vigorously. The new ecosystem has a lower
tot.ill life suppon capacity than the original
from which it developed.
My conclusion is qualitative, not
quantitative: based on my observntions over a
lifetime in the Appalachian and nearby areas,
our ecosystems are already onto tha1 slippery
slope leading to dramatic changes, including
towered productivily. Just when sharp and
dramatic changes will come is unccnain, as it
is uncertain just whru the changes will be.
Unless dramatic steps are taken soon, the
ecosystems we know and enjoy will be a
as possible, for the basic causes of the
problem are much more widespread. Any
steps which lower the pollutants known as
acid rain or acid precipitation will help.
Global wanning and the depletion of
stratospheric ozone are widespread problems
1hat require more than local actions.
Fonunately, there is developing wide intereSt
in this country, especially at
non-governmenllll levels, in these problems.
Accords and bws mandating changes are
ei1hcr already in effect or arc being
developed.
Grassroots activists instinctively ask a
crucial question: "What is there for me 10
do?" Fonunately, there.arc several
overlapping areas in which we can be
effective.
Foremost, in my opinion, is increasing
awareness on the pan of the public and of
government officials that the mauer i~ critical
and that we cann0t afford to wait until all is
kTiown about such matters as what causes
damaged vegellltion.
Drawing by Rob Messick
(COIIIIIIUed on page 24)
1Gatuah Jo1..rnn£ PCMJC 9
�uTalking Leaves"··
1
,,,
The Life and Influence of Sequoyah
based on an interview with
Tom Underwood
Sequoyah was unquestionably a
genius. He developed an 86-character
syllabary of the Cherokee language that
enabled his tribe to become the only one of
the North American Indian tribes 10 become
literate. Sequoyah's invention allowed the
Cherokees to publish a tribal newspaper and
preserve many of their old teachings and
beliefs in written form. He is the only man in
recorded history known to have devised a
system of writing without knowing how to
read or write in any language.
Sequoyah was born in eastern
Tennessee sometime around 1776, the
half-breed son of a while man named
Nathaniel Gist and a daughter of one of the
Cherokee chiefs at the village of Echota.
There has been much discussion among
historians about his parentage, but today
there is little doubt that Gist, the son of a
prominent Virginia family, was Sequoyah's
true father.
Gist was a friend of George
Washington, and it is said that he was
working secretly for Washington, looking for
purchasable land in Tennessee. He lived with
the Indians for quite some time at the Echota
village. He did not leave there until the
Revolutionary War, when there was
discussion in the Virginia legislature of
d~laring him a traitor because he was living
with the Cherokee who were actively aiding
the British.
Gist traveled to Virginia and presented
himself before the legislature. He told them
that he was not a British sympathizer and that
he would recruit Cherokee to the colonial
cause. He brought 14 Indians to fight for the
colonists, but he did not return with them to
E~hota. After the independence was declared,
Gist settled in Ohio, and his family became
respected leaders of their time - one was a
congressman, another became a well-known
innkeeper in Washington.
After Sequoyah had invented the
syllabary and was on business in
Washington, he visited the Gist family on
one occasion, evidently at their invitation,
and was accepted by them as Nathaniel's
son, George Gist.
Some of the best written information on
Sequoyah is included in an odd collection of
documentS on the Cherokees compiled by a
white man named John Howard Payne.
Payne was a contemporary of Sequoyah and
transcribed first-hand n:collcctions of the
man.
"The Payne manuscript," as it is
known, says that Sequoyah's family on his
mother's side "was of high rank in the
nation. The famous John Waus was one of
them. Two of his uncles were men of great
distinction - one of the two was named
Tah-lon-tee-skee (the overthrower), and the
other Kahn-yah-tah-hee (the first to lcill).
"Kahn-yah-tah-bee was the principal
X.Otuah Journal
pac.,s 10
chief of Old Echota, the ancient town of
refuge, over which he presided, He was
called The Beloved Chief of All the People.'
1t was his exclusive duty and delight 10 be a
peace preserver.
"During some public assembly, there
was an onset of the whites, notwithstanding
it was a time of profound peace, and all the
Tndians fled, excepting Kahn-yah-tah-hee and
another chief, of whom there was some
distrust in the nation. They were both in the
square where the ceremonial had been gone
through. Kahn-yah-tah-hce arose from his
scat, and with a white flag waving, met the
marauders as they broke into the square.
Both chiefs were murdered brutally on the
spot.
"Some days subsequently, the invaders
having withdrawn, the people returned.
Carrion birds had devoured the body of the
one chief, but that of the other,
Kahn-yah-tah-hee, the Beloved of All, was
untouched, and unchanged even in death. His
hand still grasped the violated Flag of Peace,
and upon his dead lips lingered a benignant
(sic) smile."
Se.quoyah grew up a Cherokee and
identified with his tribal heritage. He never
learned to speak English. He had no wish 10
learn the white people's language. Even after
~eh~ invented the ~yllabary and was being
interviewed for a sencs of newspaper articles
!n Washington. he spoke through an
interpreter.
The boy and his mother lived at Echota
until he was 11 years old and then moved
down to Wills Town, in nonheas1ern
Alabama.
He never showed signs of his genius
when he was a child. He was 100 busy
helping his mother find a means of survival.
She ran a small trading post and outfitted fur
trappers on credit. Young Sequoyah would
go out in the forest 10 pick up the furs owed
to her for payment. He was alone much of
the time. He learned self-reliance and
supplemented the family's meager larder by
hunting.
When he was older, he learned several
trades. He was a silversmith for a time. The
Cherokee loved 10 decorate themselves with
fine jewelry - ear and nose rings, armbands,
bracelets, gorgets, and chains, and Sequoyah
became proficient at creating these ornaments
out of silver. He prevailed upon a white man
10 write his name in English and engraved his
signature on each piece of his work. He also
began 10 draw and was highly regarded
among the tribespcople on this account. He
latertumed to blacksmithing. But he was
never much of a farmer; he never could get
interested in hoeing com.
It was also said of Sequoyah that he
was "greatly considered among all the
handsome women." The Payne manuscript
tells us:
"...when he discovered that he was so
greatly considered among the handsome
women, he began to pay less attention to his
employment He neglected his silver worlc
and his drawing and went about visiting one
and another, and every day he had more and
more friends. The young men were always
pleased to see him coming where they were.
When he would arrive at any place where a
number of them were assembled around their
boule, they would call out to him, 'My
friend, my friend, let us drink whiskey
together... '
"But at that time he drank only water;
though he would. when thus invited, always
go fetch a quart bonlc of whiskey. and give it
10 his friends and then wait and let them drink
it by themselves. He went on thus for a long
while, but was at length tempted now and
then to taste a little with his friends - and
soon, a little more: until at last. he would
often get tipsey (sic) with his friends:
whereupon his friends increased upon him so
fast, that instead of a bottle, he would have to
bring a three gallon keg for their supply, and
he would make them all drink with him, until
the keg was empty."
One night Sequoyah and a couple of his
friends went to a Bible reading. They
listened, and going home that night they
talked about how wonderful were the "talki.ng
leaves," as the Cherokee described pages of
paper. To them the pages of a book sounded
like leaves rustling in the wind.
Sequoyah's friends said, "This is a
wonderful gift of the Great One to the white
man. We could never have this."
He said, "1 could do this."
They laughed at him. "No, you
couldn't do that," they said.
He said, "I can do it I can find a way
to make the talking leaves speak in Cherokee.
They laughed again and said, 'You're
crazy.'''
That set him off. Sequoyah went to
work. He first tried 10 devise symbols to
make sentences, then symbols to make
words. Everything wound up too
compli_cated. He started over again trying 10
figure It all out. From when he began, until it
was completed, Sequoyah worked off and on
creating his syllabary for over 20 years. He
eventually broke the Cherokee language
down into 86 basic sounds and assigned a
symbol for each.
He could not devise enough signs 10
designate the different sounds. so one day
when he found a discarded newspaper, he
picked symbols from the pages and adopted
them into his own system. That is why some
of the characters in the Cherokee syllabary
appear familiar to English-speaking people.
Sequoyah would become absorbed in
his work and retire to a small outbuilding on
his propeny to ponder on the syllabary for
long periods of time. He abandoned his farm
fields completely and left the raising of crops
and family entirely to his wife. She became
infuriated about this project that was taking
her husband away from his responsibilities.
One day, when his work was almost
completed, she burned his little building with
all his notes while he was away from home.
But he would not quit He staned over.
No one else in the tribe believed in his work.
The other members of his community
disrrusted his long periods of solitary labor.
The word began to go around that Sequoyah
was engaging in witchcraft He was losing
the respect that he had gained in the
community. Finally one day a friend named
fo(t, 1991
�tribal council, Sequoyah received wide
recognition. Now a famous man, he
remained quiet and withdrawn. The Payne
manuscript described him as follows:
"His manners were never forward and
are now become somewhat reserved. lt can
be seen that his mind is always busy within
him, and, especially when smoking, he
seems absorbed in thought. He is thin and
above the middle heighL 1n dress he :idheres
10 the old costume of the nation, but without
ornament; wears the turuc and robe, leggings
Tunle Fields came ro visit Sequoyah. The
Payne manuscript recounts what to0k place:
"'My friend,' Turtle Fields said to him,
'my friend, there are a great many remarks
made upon this employment which you have
taken up. Our people are much concerned
abour you. They think you are wasting your
life. They think, my friend, that you arc
making a fool of yourself, and will be no
longer respected.'
"Gist replied, 'Lt is not our people who
Cherokee Syllabary
Da
-$-ga t ho
'Vha
W,a
,/"ma
Re
l"ee
T.
rhl'
.oh,
f ,e
Ctme
f ,,
H m,
0 n l.hnaGnah J\.n
a
e
Yii,
Iln,
Q Que
'fqu,
l::fsa OUs
4 ,e
h s,
W,..
d1a .Ct1d
i
G,.a
G.wa
tDva
~ mo
J'mu
,,,. . , 4 nu
O'nv
quo le}quu f; quv
½$0 If'$, Rs.,
Z no
~ qua
t da
.
Ou J..,
A eo J gu .Egv
J.lho r hu &-hv
G,o M,u 4 1
v
o)o
I
Sde't1e .,L ] ,, Vdo Sdu I ~ do
L ,,p C,11
,J ,,o -'i'P 11u P 11v
lr,s,
K ,so cJ,su C ,sv
'J',se
/Jwu 6w
v
4£JWL'
J3ve nv fi vo Gvu Bvv
have advised me to this, and it is not
therefore our people who can be blamed if 1
nm wrong. What 1 have done I have done
from myself. If our people think lam making
a fool of myself, you may tell our people that
what ram doing will nOl make fools of them.
They did not cause me to begin and they shall
not cause me to give up. If I am no longer
respected, what l am doing will not make our
people the less respected, either by
themselves or others; and so I shall go on,
and so you may tel1 our people."'
We sometimes call Sequoyah's
symbols an alphabet, but 11 is actually a
syllabary, which correctly describes a system
of signs for the sy11ables of a language.
lf one knows Cherokee. it is fairly
simple to learn Sequoyah's symbols and
write the words of the language. Not many
go 10 the trouble 10 do it anymore, but the
fin;t person Sequoyah taught was his six year
old daughter. She was the one who
demonstrated his system to the governing
council of the Cherokee nation.
When Sequoyah t0ok his syllabary to
the council, the members refused 10 believe
it. It was 100 complicated, they said. There
were too many sounds. They would never
learn it.
He said, "h's so simple 1ha1 that I have
taught my six-year old daughter to use it."
They put him to the test. She wrote
down what they said while he was out of the
room, and when he came back, he read ii.
After the syllabary was accepted by the
rnrt, 1991
~
WI
~ WO
sometimes of buckskin, sometimes of blue
cloth - moccasins instead of shoes - and a
turban."
By this time there was intense pressure
on the Cherokee from white people who
wanted their land. Sequoyah left Alabama
with a group led by Chief John Jolly and
settled in Arkansas. He worked some salt
springs and taught the written language 10 the
Cherokees there. At one time, there were
more literate Otcrokees than there were
literate white people in Arkansas!
When the first Cherokees forced to
travel The Trail of Tears arrived out west m
1839, there was much resentment among the
earlier settlers because "the newcomers" were
talcing up the land. There was violent
dissension that threatened 10 destroy the tribe.
and Sequoyah turned his talents and
reputation toward the causes of peace and
tribal unity.
The tribal leaders met and decided 10
write a constitution that all factions could
abide by Sequoyah was elected president of
the group, and if not for his presence, there
probably would have been much more
trouble, because he was a man who did not
take sides and did not harbor grudges. He
was a leader and a man of peace, and it
turned out that he had great powers of
diplomacy.
When the constitution was negotiated,
the Cherokee moved all their belongings 10
Oklahoma.
Scquoyah's final trip was a mission to
Mexico undenakcn when he was about 67.
He journeyed the<e to bring a whole village
of Cherokee people back to Oklahoma.. The
group had starte.d west without a guide
during the Removal, and had wandered down
the wrong river and ended up across the
border. ln seeking for them, Sequoyah died
in the small town of San Fernando, Mexico
in 1843.
•••
Words become only insO'Umencs,
expressions. The written syllabary
significantly changed the world of the
Cherokees, but it is difficult even now to give
a definitive analysis of the impact that
Sequoyah, singlehandedly, had on his tribe. I
think that will have to wait for future
historians.
But one thing is clear: Sequoyah
wanted his people to be able to read and write
like the Europeans, and through his genius
and his efforts he allowed the Cherokees 10
have their own written language. It gave them
a chance to read, and many Cherokees
became better informed than their own white
neighbors. They took pride in that. and they
took pride in the fact that it was their
tribesman Sequoyah who had made ic
possible.
Once the syllabary was widely
circulated, the tribe installed a printing press
in a log cabin office at the tribal capital at
New Echota. It was set with specially cast
type and printed documents and a bilingual
tribal newspaper. TIie Cherokee Phoenix.
There followed translations of the Bible,
hymnals, and prayer books in10 Cherokee.
After the Removal, literate Cherokees sent
leners back and forth between Oklahoma and
the Eas1. Directly or indin:ctly, the printed
word broadened the horizons of every
member of the Cherokee tribe.
It gave the Cherokee a significant
advantage over other Native American aibcs.
Because they could read their own language,
they were able to become acculturated ro
white society easier than the other native
people. That gave them a better chance of
survival in the world they had to face.
Of course, this acculturation had its
negative effecL~. 100. In some areas the new
literacy increased the jealousy of some of the
Cherokees' white neighbors. And at the same
time that it was increasing the Cherokees'
pride and sense of tribal accomplishment,
literacy was also helping to destroy traditional
foundations of tribal society. lndividual
Cherokees became confused about who they
were and turned their back on their native
heritage. As the Cherokee Bibles and prayer
books helped to gain convcns to the Olristian
religion, the power of the medicine people
was eroded and the ages-old spiritual life
withered away.
But because ethnologiSt James Mooney
found small journals in which Cherokee
medicine people had ~ e d their magical
formulas, he was able to preserve a written
record of ancient lore that was lost to many of
the other tribes. Other valuable information
wrincn in Cherokee was preserved as well.
There are medicine chants written by Bird
Partridge in the Museum of the Cherokee
Indian that were written in the native
language, and I am sure I.hat there were other
items of the same natuTC.
(0l>lllinlled <lll P-'CC 24)
1'ati1 fl Jour nd.
a
po(JC
11
�GREEN SPIRITS:
Human societies, cultures, and cuisines
originally developed around the ecological
cycles of plant growth and dormancy. seed
set and tuber development in their regions.
Today it is still highly desirable for each
bioregion to be more self-sufficient in its own
food production. Diet should become more
regionally localized and more seasonable,
with different foods available at different
harvelit periods. Produce .,,. hich is storable
or dryable (potatoes, winter squash, etc.)
would come to be of greater imponance in the
regional diet.
Regional food production (especially
production utilizing low-input organic
methods) would act 10 stabilize regional
economics by decreasing our dependance on
foreign inputs, especially oil and
pem:x:hemicals. Any region can become
more self-sufficient in its food production,
distribution, and marketing.
Critical to the successful development
of regional agricultural economies is the
preservation of the dwindling amount of
remaining world-wide plant genetic diversity.
Thousands of locally selected vegetable and
fruit varieties have been lost in the last
century due to the change from growing
predominantly local, open-pollinated varieties
to the almost exclusive use of F1 hybrid
varieties. Modern hybrid plant varieties have
been developed for characteristics such as
high yield, case of production and uniform
harvest, but not for the generic diversity
which serves as biological insurance against
disease or insect attack.
Hybrid crop varieties have the
disadvantages of (1) genetic uniformity, and
susceptibility to major insect and disease
attack; (2) seeds produced from hybrid plants
cannot be saved and replanted, since their
offspring would not produce a uniform or
stable crop; and (3) hybrid crops require
massive amounts of outside inputs, such as
fenilizers and pesticides, to achieve high
levels of yield. With the loss of genetic
diversity in our food crops, we are losing the
diversity which has developed over millions
of yea.rs, the same genetic differences which
allow plant populations to survive climatic
changes.
PlanLc; which have diverse genetic
backgrounds are generally termed
"opcn-pollinnted" varieties (also called
"non-hybrid," "standard," "heirloom," or
"old•timey" varieties ). Open-pollinated
varieties are more or Jess, randomly
pollinated from genetically diverse parents,
resulting in unique offspring with a wide
range of physical and biochemical genetic
expressions Seeds from open-pollinated
plants contain a great deal of genetic diversity
from which agriculturists can select for
features such as taste, disease resistance, and
suitability of use. By selecting parents with
desirable characteristics. and by crossing
them in selected combinations. improved
varieties, which are more adapted to local
climates, soils etc., can be isolated. Another
major advantage of open-pollinated varieties
is that they retain their genetic diversity,
preserving genes which may be more
:Kcit.i'.w h Jo1.m mt pQCJe 12
Seed Saving to Preserve Biodi:ver~sty,
adaptable to changing environments. II is of
grem practical value to be able to produce and
save one's own seed. 1hereby being able to
gradually selec1 for desired improvements
and bcner local adaptability (i.e. better gene
combinations for a panicular climate or soil).
while retaining genetic diversity.
SEED SA Vl~G REFEREI\CFS
Robm Johnson. Jr. 1983. Growing Garden
Seetlr: A Manual/or Gardeners and Small
Farms. Inexpensive and easy to understand.
Available from Johnny's Selected Seeds;
Albion. Maine 04910. $1.95
Peter Donelan. 1986. Growing ro Seed. A
more detailied presentation. Ecology Action,
Self-Teaching Mini-series# 13. Order from
Ecology Action: 5798 Ridgewood Road:
Willeis, CA, 95490 $3.50.
Suzanne Ashworth. 1990. Seed ro Seed
Seed-saving techniques for over 160
vegetable crops. 240 pp., $20.00 ppd. Order
from Seed Savers Exchange (sec address
below).
SEED SA VJNG ORGANlZATIONS
The Flower & Herb Exchange (FHE)
Rt. 3. Box 239
Decorah Iowa 5210 I
($5.00 annual membership)
Fonunately, there is a growing number
of individuals and developing organizations
which recogni1.e the imponance of preserving
natural genetic diversity in agricultural crops.
The most widely known is the Iowa-based
Seed Savers Exchange, which is a loose
organization of people committed to seed
saving and exchange. The Seed Savers
Exchange believes that the best way to
preserve historical varieties is by propagating
them and distributing them to a widely
scattered number of seed savers. The group
publishes lists of available varieties and
addresses of members with panicular
varieties for exchange or sale. By keeping
open-pollinated plant varieties in the public
domain, the Seed Savers Exchange ensures
that they will be widely propagated and
distributed.
We highly encourage Kan1ah plant
caretakers to identify and promote the
preservation, propagation, and distribution of
local "follc-roce" varieties of vegetables,
ornamentals, and fruits. Local county fairs
can be better orgnnized to identify local
varieties still grown by the old-timers. Talk
with dedicated seed-savers to identify their
favorite varieties and then offer to purchase
or trade for seeds when they arc available.
Multiply these varieties and be sure to further
distribute and "spread the wealth" to help
prevent the loss of these natural treasures.
Secondly, interested gardeners should
seek out open-pollinated varieties and
encourage their use and distribution. Try
growing these varieties and selecting for
plants with improved qualitic:;.
Lastly. plant caretakers need to produce
extra seeds to pass along to other seed-savers
to encourage their increase and serve as
insumnce against the loss of these
irreplaceable heirlooms.
Seed saving can be a simple and
economical hobby. General and specific
information on saving vegetable varieties can
be gained from the books listed below.
Seed Savers Exchange
Rural Route 3, Box 239
Decorah Iowa 52I01
($25.00 annual dues, with reduced
r01esfor "reduced income" membership),
specializing in plant listing ofvegetables and
fruits.
Native Scc<VSEARCH
3950 West New York Drive
Tucson, Arizona
Specializing in S011tllwest
indigenous crops, such as peppers, beans,
dye plants, etc. Dues $10.00 per year.
COMPANIES SPECIALIZING IN
OPEN-POLLINATEO/HEIRLOOM SEEDS
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
Box 158-N
Nonh Garden, VA 22959
Caralog $3 .00, credited to first
order.
Redwood City Seed Company
PO Box 361
Redwood City, CA 94064
Caralog $/ .00
Bountiful Gardens (Ecology Action)
5798 Ridgewood Rd.
WilliL~. CA 95490
Abundant Life Seed Foundation
Box 772
Pon Townsend, WA 98368
Seeds Blum
Idaho City Stage
Boise, Idaho 83706
Caralog $3.00.
Johnny's Selected Seeds
Albion, Maine04910
Dr•wmg by Rob Mc.nick
- by Lee Barnes
1'nrt, 1991
�Walking Distance
Our transpotation addiction is
responsible for massive ecological and social
damage. Our society is built around the use
of Lhe automobile. It is now necessary for
most people to use a car or bus to get to
work, school, to buy groceries or see most of
our friends. This is a very expensive situation
in currency oflife, money, environmental
qualiLy and in social disruption. Our highest
priority should be to establish villages and
re-establish neighborhoods in which the day
to day needs of the people can be met within
walking distance.
A pattern of local self sufficiency would
have many good effects on our lives and on
the environmenL Fuel use and polluLion
would be cu1 dramatically and people would
save a 101 of money. People be/long in a
walking based society. Children grow up m
greater sccuri ty, and oldt:r folks can live
longer in their own homes when supported
by a caring community. In local economy we
empower each other as we disempower huge
political and industrial cartels. Wal.king and
biking as means of rransponation reintegraLc
people with their environment while
providing a moderate and appropriate
execrcise schedule. People would live longer
and be happier. Inter actions with actual
people would tend Lo replace video reality.
We live in a world designed for cars instead
of people. In a world designed for people,
kids can find enough other kids for a
ballgame any day with decent wcaLher, and
adults can either have the solitude of the
woods or the compt1ny of friends within
walking distance.
Native peoples the world over have
almost always chosen to live in villages.
Synergy is the reason for this. a village is
more than che sum of its pans. In a village
there is more protection from wild animals
and violent people, cooperation in labor, the
sharing of resources such as ox and plow,
GASOLJtlE
JS A
DAJ\JGEHOUS
CHE},JJCA!.
ADDJc·r JON.
and there is the possibility of specializing for
greater efficiency. Even as rteenily as the
1960's most of the people of che world lived
in agricultural villages with forest and field
out the back door and friends and neighbors
out the fronL
One of the reasons people moved to
cities was that the rural villages were cultural
backwaters. This has changed in an era of
satellite communications and U.P.S .. Now
the ideas and goods of the world are readily
available in the wilds of anywhere.
ANGLE: ENVIRONMENT
Fifteen years ago I wrote in my journal
that l had three jobs. The first was for money
so I could keep a roof over my head, eat. and
function in society \\ith a grasp on
self-reliance. Having been a Boy Scout and
raised with respect for nature and a vision of
caring for it, I wanted my job 10 be a pan of
an ecological wlution and not more of the
problem. 8111 I remember thinking at the
same time that "Job One is for money 10 pay
my bills." 1 had to begin wi1h my
self-reliance and forge my conscious ideas in
the marketplace as l went along.
Working as a mechanic. I sometimes
wondered if cars weren't one of our major
problems. Eventually realizing that it was
true, I also had 10 keep in mind that I had
learned to make them run more efliciemly. So
I was able to organi:r.e my thoughts and ideas
with the security my paycheck gave me to
work on Job Two.
For Job Two I recycll!d cars. This was
more of a hobby than a job-type job. I did not
do tt for money, bu1 for the environment. If I
made money that was line, but I figured tha1 I
would do this job as part of a solution. It was
a feeling l kept in my private heart, but I
knew my work muse feed it. If I wns to grow
and strengthen and become a man in the
business world, I had to help in designing
that world for health. I was looking for my
own true man rather than the businessman and trying to keep the roof over my head. So
roff. 1991
ii was my goal not to let this work tax the
environment in nny way, but to engage me in
part of the cleanup. My own system of Earth
first.
In the college town where I lived,
students abandoned cars everywhere. It
didn't seem to mailer how simply they might
be fixed, with their own studies and
graduation on their minds. and maybe sights
set on soon buying a new car, off into the
field the old cars went. I fixed cars man>'
times by putting in a new bauery. Other times
I took two cars and made one good
one...feeding them back into the
:,ystcm... seeing that no good pans were
wasted.
Though technology might give belier
fuel economy from year to year, we must
consider the "Bic Clic" mentality in the
throwaway car industry, keeping in mind the
horsepower it takes and the 1ax on our
environment to keep up the new car cycle.
Seeing the rate at which so many of these
'"dead" cars got crushed, only 10 create a
demand for another ne\\ one, made Job Two
feel very good environmentally. It seemed 10
go out and out. if only in my own thinking,
towards my goals.
My third job was solely for the
environment. 1 would not use fuel nor
generate money: I picked up trash.
II felt so good when money was not my
motivating force. People around me thought I
Photovoltaics can give electricity to the most
remote community. A modem rural
community is an atttactive idea in a time
when cities offer more in the way of crime
and less in the way of cultural attractions. It
is now possible to have the best of
civilization and the best of rural life. The
village is an idea whose time has come again.
The industrial revolution has brought us
great progress in many areas but the pattern
of social disintegration and ecological
degradation that it has fostered must be
changed. Consumerism must be replaced
with a more broad minded philosophy that
cares about the welfare of the entire system.
In a localil.ed economy there are
micro-<:conomic niches for pan time bakers,
appliance repair people, haircuucrs, chicken
keepers, cow milkers, etc. The industrial
revolution separated and scheduled life, work
came to mean job, education came to mean
school, and all of society came to revolve like
a gear around the needs of industry. People's
lives took on the same scheduled and
sequenced rhythms as the assembly line.
Extended families shrank into nuclear
families and then to one parent families.
Prosperity came to mean economic growth
instead of a state of well-being.
Now there are other trends at work, and
these will eventually produce an age of
self-sufficient villages that produce much of
their own power and food and at the same
time can choose co be active members of a
global civilization. The world needs models
for this new generation of rural community.
/
by Will Bason
Drawing by Rob MC$~ock
must have really tlipped. And though a1 fir..1,
1admit, ii did feel a little crazy, I had begun
to realize "new profits" and decided 1hnl
linering was indeed crazier.
I also pickl!d up aluminum. There were
liuer baJTCls up and down both sides of the
street from my home all the way across town.
So every day after work r walked and picked
up paper and cans. The barrels came up like
clockwork, and in them I found an aluminum
mme. There was a can buyer along my route,
so that was my "bank" right on my path. If I
thrcatencd anyone's sensibilities, f soon
didn't care. Because of the social nature of
the work, I was discovering more of what
mnde what tick.
Before long I added up what it was
costing me to go to Job One, and realized I
couldn"t afford ii anymore. Since that time
I've found that I cannot afford 10 work for
money as my chief motivaung force. The
things I do, I do for different reason5. I get a
strong feeling that a lot of the problem~ in the
world, the ones we inherited and the on~ \\e
perpetuate, began and continue because we
have been so busy making money. And as
we start 10 find the things that rc3lly can
s:uisfy us. we also find we don·t need so
much money anymore.
I've learned that sclf-n:liance actually
begins with me - and not with the roof ove~
myhead.
,P'
by lvo Ballentine
x.ai.urui Joun\OL
page 13
�SERYING TI IE OREAT LIFE
These are the words of a traduionaJ Cherokee
medicint ptrson:
1 have said that there are three levels of
conjuring: the personal levt>I, the level of
knowledge, and the spiritual level. (See
Kartfoh Journal #27.)
The first fonn of conjuring is the ways
we know to persuade acquainmnces or people
we are intimate with - every day sort of smff.
The next level is conjuring by
understanding how things work. what I call
the laws of nmurc. The more knowledge one
has at this level, the more ability one has to
conjure.
The highest form is the spiritual fonn or
conjuring. This level requires more than
lenming 10 accomplish it. One can learn how
to do 11, one can completely understand how
it works, and still not have the ability to
make it work. The reason a person may not
be able to do it is because his or her
individual self is in the way.
The whole key to working the higher
fonm of conjuring is to get one's self out of
the way. That's the hard pan. To be a
conjuror requires a personality that 1s strong.
willful, and persistent. Tt takes super courage
10 confront one's own self. That's the biggest
enemy. the biggest monster that ever existed:
our own ego.
The equation for conjuring is One.
There is One Spirit that flows through us all trees, plants, animals, the Eanh. That is our
connection to all things. Getting our
individualistic self out of the way allows us
to hook into that One SP.irit. which is moving
all the time. It is very difficult to get one's
self out of the way, but someone who can
accomplish that may use the spiritual power
for conjuring.
Conjuring, as I know it, corresponds
most closely to the western concept of
"manipulation." And in the dominant culture,
manipulation has bad connotations, because
people don't like to feel like they have been
manipulated, when actually we arc
manipulated all the time. We are manipulated
by our culture. The German people were
manipulated in World War Il. Americans are
manipulated by capitalism and glittery,
materialistic things. Many of the Jewish
people a.re very tied in to their own culture
and their history as a people. We arc aJI
constantly being manipulated.
In a world in which we a.re manipulated
all the time, conjuring can be very useful.
The conjuror can heal people. The conjw-or
can heal people who might otherwise be
dead. The conjuror can interfere with their
fate.
For instance, in this culture it's
absolutely terrifying 10 be told, "You have
Xotuan Journal p!MJC 14
cancer." Cancer is known to be so bad and
usually fatal. When a doctor tells a patient he
or she has cancer, it's devastating. ln some
cases people stan dying right away. They
surrender and relinquish them~elves to the
disense. The will dies.
Doctors can't usually do much about
cancer. But the mind and the spirit together
are so powerful that somerimes they can
make a cure. Sometimes they can provoke the
spirit of the Physician Within to heal a
person, And one does that through conjuring.
If a conjuror is successful, it's amazing
what can happen. Sometimes conjuring on
the third level produces results that seem
impossible 10 people who arc looking at it
from an conventional viewpoint. What they
see cannot be explained in a rational, linear
way.
''Magic comes when all doubt is cleared
from the mind." I don't see events th:11 occur
on the spiritual levels as magic. I see them as
facts - events that can happen all the time.
They only seem extraordinary to people who
are caught up in the physicaJ, materialistic,
self-oriented culture.
Healing may appear to be magic and
mystical, but it isn't. It's a law of nature.
Everyone has the capacity and the ability to
do this if they can get their own self out of
the way.
A conjuror can also do terrible things.
He or she can do absolutely hideous, horrible
things to other people. The same energy that
can heal someone can be used 10 make
another person to sick - just by reversing the
process. But in my experience of watching
people who had the ability to use that power,
the majority of them never did horrible or
terrible things. The simple reason was: the
consequences. There is karma, and it affects
one's spirit. Misusing spiritual power is one
way to destroy the spirit, kill it. How could
that not affect someone spiritually?
Sending a sickness used to be called
"spoiling the saliva." The old peoRle believed
that the spit was the secret way to a person's
spirit. They believed that by spoiling the
saliva they could make a person's spiri1 sick,
and then, since everything is connected, the
biological or emotional being would also
become sick.
The conjuror used to concentrate on the
saliva. using it as the focus point for a strong
meditation. When a conjuror is using a
spiritual form of conjuring, he sees himself,
his real self. He then visualizes the Whole,
and sees himself dissipate into the Whole.
The thought that he takes with him is of the
saliva of the person he is conjuring. When he
rerums with the saliva spoiled, he sends it
back 10 the person, and the person gets sick.
Using the spiritual fonn of conjuring is
definitely interfering with fate. It is the fate of
all of us to die, yet 1 know people who were
healed from their cancer after being given up
for lost by the western physicians. That's
interfering with fa1e. There are consequences
10 interfering with fate, and the consequences
could be positive, or they could be negative.
Conjurors don't feel that the spiritual
burden of interfering in someone's life rests
on thcm. When they are asked to do things,
they do just what somebody asks them. The
person who requests the conjuring is the one
who picks up on the good or bad
consequences of the act, not the conjuror that's our reality. Conjurors consider
themselves to be like the pistol in a murder,
and, by asking chem, their diem pulls the
trigger. h's not the pistol that goes on trial,
it's the trigger-puller who goes on trial.
In tribal times the conjuror was
honor-bound to carry out any fequest. The
tribe used to set apart people to be good
hunters, chippers of arrowheads, or com ~
planters. That was their task in life. A
medicine per.;on was set apart 10 conjure, LO
be a healer, or to be a priest - and there could
be no personal limits set on ii.
The only request a conjuror could
refuse was one lhat would require him or her
to hurt the Great Life, the Whole. lf someone
asked me to conjure the State of Nonh
Carolina to let them dump their toxic waste
along the highway or 10 poison the river, I
would be injuring the Great Life. I could
refuse. Otherwise. a conjuror relinquished
his responsibility.
Still, there were ways to get out of
conjunng acts that one considered distasteful.
One way was 10 get the client to participate in
the conjuring as much as possible. A
conjuror could drag it out for several days to
test their will. Often a person would change
their mind in two or three days.
Or the conjuror could have the person
do some things that didn't absolutely
necessary need to h:lppen.
"Get me a cenain plant up on
Clingman's Dome. There's a li1t1e rock up
under there with some moss that grows on it.
You have to be there in two hours, and you
have 10 hop in from the north on one leg,"
and when they brought that, he would say, "I
need this one other thing. You need to wade
across the river and..." There were always
means 10 slow people down and make them
think about their actions.
As a lasl reson a conjuror could say,
"My will is not going to be into this, and I
don't know how effective this is going to be.
I suggest you go sec another medicine
person."
Because conjuring is manipulation, the
'Fn(l., 199\
�11
idea seems negative and threatening LO many
people of Lhe western culture. But who is 10
tell what is positive and what is negative?
One would have to have a seer in order 10
know before the fact.
As an example, neighbors often do
Lhings against neighbors when they have bad
feelings and resenonems. A medicine person
could do mild fonns of conjuring which
would relieve them of their bad feelings
toward their neighbor, because they felt that
they'd taken action. In the long run, it could
possibly be more positive to do some
superficial conjuring than to let those people
sit around with their resenunents festering
and their bad feelings gening stronger and
stronger. It's a psychological and emotional
pressure release. It's hard to try to justify that
to western people.
It could conceivably be a positive action
to cause somebody 10 get sick. In the culture
that we live in, there is no excuse to
relinquish responsibility to go out and smell
the flowers and just be. Sickness is the only
valid excuse. And sometimes there's so much
stress and pain in the lives of people involved
with the dominant culture that they will create
a sickness just 10 meet that need to relinquish
responsibility.
A good healer shouldn't limit him or
herself to biological matters; a good healer
shouldn't limit him or herself to social
matters. A good healer should understand
that there isn't anything in this culture that
will let us relinquish responsibility but being
sick. He or she is a priest A healer should be
able 10 say, "Listen, take a week off. Go to
the beach, do what you like 10 do."
Conjunng • manipulation - is good
when it serves the Great Life. That's the
governing principle. Through the whole
process, the conjuror has 10 keep the ego out.
Of course, it is true that "Where I go, ego."
There's a very fine balance there. I am
constantly asking myself the question, "Who
does this serve? Who does this serve?"
Because if l felt I was acting just to serve
myself and my ego, I would stop
immediately.
Conjuring puts one in a position of
power, but it has to be done without a sense
of power. Working on the spiritual level is
powerful, bul if the conjuror is receiving a
sense of power, rhen he is manipulating the
situation for his own individualistic intereSt
One of the ways you can tcU a good
healer or a good priest is that they just act
They do n0t think that ii might be benefiting
them. They accept it as pan of their individual
spiritual path. Things just keep happening.
Each incident could be a challenge, a test. a
blessing, a joy, or ail of these things.
Myself, rm not special. rm a human
being, trapped in a body that eats, shits,
suffers, and die~ just like everyone else.
And sometimes it's a curse and sometimes
it's a blessing, but that's just the way it is. I
accept iL
This role of medicine person has been
something that I needed spiritually. It's been
an ego challenge for me. There have been
times in my life when I've wanted 10
manipulate people for my own gain - and
known that I could have done it. Without the
slighiest bit of doubt, l knew I could get what
I wanted from these people simply because I
understood things that they didn't
understand. But I felt that doing that would
damage me in some way. It wasn't worth the
immediate gratification. It just wasn't worth
it.
People who are conscious, really
conscious, cannot be conjured or manipulated
in any way. But most people can be conjured
because their mind is someplace else constantly.
I have yeL to run across one person
whom l couldn't conjure 111 some time in their
lives. I have met gurus and ail other sons of
people, and at some point each of them
would slip into self, or imponance, or "my
trip," or some other negative state.
Yes, it would be wonderful ro live in a
world where people were so clear that they
could n0t be manipulated or conjured. That
would be the ultimate goal. But we are going
to have to be more advanced than we are,
much more advanced. I hope that we can
reach that point. It's one of those things that
are possible for the future.
Things wiU be different when people
stan seeing that we are pan of a living
/
organism, the Great Life.
A Rotting Log
Call ii a waste. Call it a shame.
And you are numb to this other life.
1lusoldoak
has barely had lime to die.
Alre.idy mushrooms grow through mosses
against hues of amber, brown, and gold.
A snake is rurll!tl up in a hole
beneath her weight.
A bear will winter ,n the heart
twelve feet h11,h
where lhe trunk broke off from the bottom.
To build a ncsl
a woodrat crawls into the ca,,ty.
To her life and dl'alh smell the same.
And arthropods th:it h\'c nowhcN! else
arc mo\'ing through the 50h wood,
laying eggs.
Thl'Y too arc dymg.
Ra,pt,crrics ,ind gr.ire:, grow up around
for slw ha!> falkn
hgh1 1s ll't into the for<.'SI.
Four years from now t"-o nroms
will fall to grow
on this rothng log
I win trees c,f the same mothc-r.
This de.ith 1s so ferule.
The fc,rcst keeps its promises.
PholO by Rob Mcss,cl.
rnrr.
1'191
J(ntunh Jou111n[ pnlJC 15
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BIOREGIONAL BURNABLE OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS
Livin' By Their Wits
It sure is a stitch watchin' all these
"back-to-the-land" people and the tourists
come to the mountains lookin' for serenity
and a good life. Those poor young folks
come here with these notions of raisin' a
family and havin' a piece of land 10 work.
while at the some time they're in need of a
high payin' job to get the land and the house.
Why the prices those tourists can afford are
enough to drive anybody whose been here a
while right through the roof!
Not only do they come with these high
minded ideas about doin' everything the
organic way. like that was some kind of
religion or somethin'. half the time they don't
even know the basics of tendin' a place and
they st:ut belly•achin' cause the works too
hard, or the bugs are drivin' um crazy, or
they can't get things happenin' the way they
wan't um 10 in the first couple years.
I know dern well we can't go back to
the old subsistance days like they were when
my folks grew up here. I guess I have to give
some of these young people a little credit for
tryin' to find a good way 10 live with the
land. But they always seem to be squablin'
amongst themselves about somthin' or
another. One wants to live on a piece of land
with a bunch of other people. while another
is satisfied to stick it out where they are.
Most of um can't figure out where they want
their kids raised either. and there's hardly a
school they feel is fiuin' 10 send um to.
h seems like when I was raised it was a
little clearer where a person stood. Livin' by
your wits wasn't just some nice thing to do
on the weekends, it was your bread and
butter. Usually it was our of necessity that
cenain people did ccnain things so a family
could survive. Nowadays theres all these
splinteriud groups like feminislS,
environmentalistS, pro-business factions, and
government people tryin' 10 tell everybody
what they think is besL I think they're all too
big for their britches if you ask me. Men sum
beho.vin' like women and women start
behavin' like men; the timber people and
these self-appointed environmental rescue
squads go at each other; these dem franchises
come in and pay people next 10 nothin' while
the money moves off to far away places; and
college trained officials from down in the
piedmont come and show off the version of
zoning 1ha1 seems to suit um best.
It all seems like some big jumbled mess
to me. As long as everybody is in it for
themselves I don't see how we are ever goin'
to conduct ourselves in such a way that
families survive, and schools can be places of
leamin', and govemmenlS don't have their
hands in everybody's business. It's like
there's too many vultures buzz.in' around
these mountians and not enough decent folk
to talce care of um and protect um.
1(.Qtuar~)ou.rna1 p09e 10
Some of these back-to-the-lander types
are more than a linle spoiled 100. They come
from cities where things seemed to be fed to
um all the time. They kinda remind me of
tourists thar hang around a little longer till the
money dries up. or their kids move away, or
they get tired of it and they leave. rew of um
have the backbone 10 make it through hard
times, but some of um learn how 10 li<aen to
the mountainside and how it can provide
medicines, food, warer. and materials for
shelter if they don't me~s around 100 much
with its own state. There's a lot of leamin' in
store for um if they take a likin' to it, but
most of um get huffy and impatient.
l just hope that if the cities start havin'
more problems and geuin' more congested
that they all don't keep comin' here thinkin'
there's some easy life just waitin' for um.
Maybe its good that mountain life is hard.
But that ain't goin' 10 stop um from comin' 10
have a look. that is as long as the price of gas
holds out.
recorded by Rob Messick
An Old Family Tale
My mother's youngest brother, James
Francis Dresenbury. came 10 Conway, SC 10
visit his sisters and brothers when I was a
linle girl. One day he gathered all his nieces
and nephews together and told this tale of a
happening when he was a little boy.
He began by praising his mother for her
thrift and saving ways. made necessary by
the ume just after the War Between the
States. Then he told us it wa.,; the time of year
when cherries were ripe. The trees had a
bumper crop and a bushel or more had been
seeded and made into cherry preserves. The
seeds had been left on the back porch for
several days. One morning my grandmother
told a little helper boy 10 empty these seeds
into the chicken ya.rd.
The next time anyone noticed the
chickens they were all lying prone around the
yard. Grandmother was not only sorry to
lose her prized chickens. but since she did
not know what had kilkd them. she could
make no use of the meat. But she decided she
would not have 10 lose the feathers too • so
they brought the chickens in and plucked the
feathers to use in pillows and feather beds.
The chickens were thrown our into the
yard to be buried later. About an hour after
that, someone exclaimed, "Look at the
chickens!'' They were gawking and walking
around stark naked. Their little tipsy spell had
worn off! The sun was beaming hotly and 10
keep them from getting sunburned, the girls
took some calico and made clothes for them.
by Bess Hwbison
The Slide
lt was a hot day in nonheastern
Tennessee. Leslie had been bugging her
parents for hours 10 take her and her little
brother to a campsite with a water slide. After
driving for hours, the family finally found
one and pulled in. Leslie's dad paid the fee
and made some small talk with the rotund
female auendant.
After they chose a spot and got the
camp ready for the night Leslie's mom let her
get her swimming suit on. At long last she
took her younger brother by the hand and
\\Cnl over to the big double tunneled water
slide that emptied into a cool pool. Her
brother wus more than a little scared at the
idea of whizzing around in these coiled
slippery runnels. so Leslie 1old him to stay at
the pool while she went to the top where au
the action got staned. She saw the water
gushing out of the pipe when she got to the
top. and the excitement was growing inside
her. The man watching the entry instructed
her 10 lean into the curves and off she went.
She squealed with excitement around
the first bank. Then aU the sudden the people
at the pool noticed a distinct change in the
pitch of her squeals. They had transformed
into blood curdling yells, as her brother and
some other grown-ups watched her come 10
the end of the ride twirling a large copperhead
above her head like a wild laso rope. As she
hit the water her grip on the snake loosened
and it was flung into the woods, where
presumably it got away unharmed. That
water slide has been closed ever since.
by Rob Messick
How Can You Lose
Anything as Big
as This Ego?
Back in my formative years. Actually a
little after what is considered the normal
formative years in terms of physical maturity.
but 001 in mental maturity, or emotional or
spiritual or whatever you want to call that
other pan of us that isn't the meat. Of course,
I'm still in my formative years for that other
thing. or stuff, and probably always will be.
Hopefully. a1 least. I wonder how many
parenthetical thoughts you're allowed 10 hnve
in a row? Sometimes I think all of my
thoughts are parenthetical. And so on.
Anyway, back in my formative years
during college, when r became exposed to a
world of ideas and the evolution or revolu110n
of the human being.
Being human.
f vowed 10 become a better person. By
God, or nature. or whatever, I was' going to
become a near perfect human being!
raft. 199 1
�No one is perfect.
The fust step on that evolurion, I
learned, was to lose your ego. r should have
seen it coming. The idea of striving to be
perfect and at the same time losing your ego
is, to put it lightly, a quagmire. Perhaps the
contradiction is obvious. The closer you feel
(your ego feels) that you (your ego) is
corning closer 10 perfection, the beuer your
ego feels. In fact, it's damn pround of itself.
And the bigger it grows.
I suppose that is the pitfall the mystics
always talk abouL 111ey always warn amid
their other mumbo jumbo that all of this
mumbo jumbo, and ego losing, can be
dangerous. I never understood that. Sitting,
contemplating one's navel, or chakras, or
marimbas or whatever. Never seemed very
threatening to me. It now occurs to me, that
what is really dangerous, and what they were
probably talking about, is thinking, or
suffering from the delusion, that one is
actually losing their ego. That's because,
while you think you're losing your ego, it's
actually growing. And your life becomes a
hypocrisy. In other worlds, you think you're
o ne thing but you 're actually 1he
opposite. Which leads 10 lots of embarrassing
moments when you're suddenly acting unlike
the perfec1 person you arc supposed tO be. As
a matter of fact you're acting like a perfect
asshole, but you're ego's so big that it's in
control and won't let you blame it. As a
ma uer of fact, it's telling you that it doesn't
even exist. A clever subterfuge to keep the
rest of your meat ignorant of the fact that
everything it's doing is to feed this ego that's
grown so large it needs constant nourishment
to keep from collupsing into a stinking rotten
heap that can be smelled by anyone within
visual distance.
So it blames others. It couldn't be
because you're selfish. Only people with
egos are selfish. You don't have an ego so it
must be them. It couldn't be because you're
not envious. Only people with egos are
envious. You don't have an ego. So they
must be assholes. Eventually. everybody
becomes an asshole, except yourself, of
course, and the world no longer deserves
your unselfish administrn1ions of good
works. Actually, 1he whole damn world can
go to hell in a handbasket, for all you care.
because you have your own world which is
your ego, which by now has grown 10 the
size of a small plane1oid. I measured mine
recen1ly, when arter ten years I found i1
hiding behing the nas1y remarks I was
making 10 my wife in order, I have since
learned, 10 make pillars for my enormous ego
10 rest on since it had grown so large that
even in the airy netherworld of egos, it could
no longer suppon its own weight. It is
currenly the size of Pluto.
How did all this come abou1?
rnnocently enough, at least if you were 10 ask
FausL It was initiated by a commendable
desire. I wanted 10 become an enlightened
individual who would nunure the
splendorous miracle of life and make it reveal
its most beau1iful aspects 10 me and those
around me, and eventually the whole damn
world. Yes. l was going to improve the
general lot of humankind through the exercise
of my perfec1ed egolcss will. Of course, it
would take me a few years to reach this state.
The method by which I would reach it was
meditation and aceticism. Hedonism,
raCC., 1991
ac.rually. We!I, a[rcr all, I wasn't going 10
nuss out on hfe JUSt because of this ego crap.
And soon.
Actually, just pure naked experience
was my goal, and women. I was actually the
product of a damaged ego. Damaged by
was doing. Of course, it probably assumed
from past experience that if l did know I
would have stepped in somehow and
screwed up the whole process. Which I think
is the whole point of meditation - gcniog
yourself out of the way so that you can just
constant female reJection during those
aforementioned formative years, meat and
01herwise. So I strutted my naked experience
among the dregs of society. Playing wi1h
1hem. parrying with them, but always (of
course) somehow feeling above it all.
Superior.
Each day expanding my awareness
through mcdiiation ... consciousness
expansion (i.e. ego expansion). Whal is ;1
human being without ego? Whom am I,
anyhow? A boneless chicken. And so on.
All throughout my stru1 I was doing
great acts. Or so I thought. Trying to s1op
nuclear weapons by having a conference of
six hippie college students in West Virginia,
and sleeping with the best looking one after
she played wilh my knee under the.: table.
Didn't do much to stop nuclear weapons, but
it did wonders for my ego. More fuel for the
fire Very linle effect on world peace.
But a great person (i.e. perfect human
being. Don'1 forget, that was my destination)
must do great things. Or at least things with
the stamp of greatness to feed 1hnt giant ego
which I was supposed to be losing. What I
was losing, was my meat. I staned 10 gel
quite thin. This ou1sized ego, which I had
convinced myself. was diminishing, drove
me 10 do all kinds of ~trnnge things. II used
my intellect to r.itionaliz.e every ego foeding
acl as a philanthropic act. It used my meal 10
take it places where it could feed . But it
didn't feed on organisms, ii fed on ~piri1s.
As I said, I now realized 1hat this was,
all along. the pl:in of a severely damaged ego
(an ego which had been victimized and
punished again and again for no apparent
reason, by a very confused piece or meat), to
save icself. First, confuse the meat with all
types of inscrutJble mysuc mumbo jumbo
and convince it that you are leaving entirely.
Next, make the meat go into self-induced
comas periodically so it won't be aware of
you as you sneak back in and take con1rol of
nerve central. Then make the meat go ou1 and
do all kinds of things with the veneer of
goodness. no matter how ineffcetual the acts
are. Make the meat think it is on a Godly
mission, maybe even a messenger or disciple
of God, so that it's willing to put up with all
kinds of nasty physical deprivations, while
the ego feeds, and feeds, and feeds.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not
saying this is all bad. My ego did need
fixing. I just wish it had let me know what it
take over. But now it really has gotten om of
hand. My ego has grown much to large and
has become an independent agent which
seems 10 care little, if a1 all, for myself, and
only keeps my meal around so tha1 it can
have corporality.
But I chink its beginning to be
confused. For instance, it can't understand
why world leaders haven'! noticed its
magnimity and come to it for advice. Of
course it probably has something 10 do with
the fact that it has ignored its meat to the point
that it has got it working in a sewer plant.
Maybe tha1 is all pan of its mas1cr plan. It
stuck me in a sewer plant shoveling shit, and
gave me a beautiful little boy and wife, to
show me, finally, that it really isn't gone, but
is actually the.: size of Pluto. Really much too
big 10 ever be s:uisfied. It needs to trim itself
down. Get back to fighting weight. Big egos
are seldom happy. They're always hungry.
Maybe I really can lose it this time.
Maybe the stink of the plant will drive it
away. Maybe I need to meditate, not on my
connection 10 the cosmos. but on the true
insignificance or my acts 10 the world at
large. and the very real significance of my
acts 10 one very litulc boy and one very
~pccial woman. The only good things my ego
ever did for me.
Actually working at a sewer plant has
probably done more to help me lose my ego
1h.in all the meditation and good acts could
ever do. Not JUSI because of the work, but
because of the male bonding of 1he work
crew, which consists of the mutual
destruction of self-wonh. Maybe it's due 10
an inherent understanding 1hey have of the
immensi1y o( the male ego, and they practice
this form of humiliaton 10 keep it in check.
While we of the enlightened new age SIJ'Oke
each others ego. until they devour our very
relationships.
In any evem, my ego is now shrieking.
Ifs starved, and it has revealed itself. It can
no longer hide (amazing that something as
big as Pluto could hide all that time).
Though, actually, I think everyone else could
see it. Everytime I looked around, however,
10 see what they were looking at. it ducked
··
out of the way.
Preuy nimble for such a big fellow'/'
/J!f
by Maxim Didgct
�..
,J.''',•
' ,
....
-
Mountair
t
.u
Near Todd at a bend on the New
Rh·er there is a spot b-.nown as Peggy's
Hole. It was named that because of an
incident that occured there at the
beginning of the 1800's. An elderly
woman named Peggy Clauson \Vas
going to church on Sunday morning
when she saw a dog run a bear off a cliff
at that spot. The bear landed in the
water and was stunned. Peggy waded
in, grabbed the bear by the ears and held
its head under the water until the bear
was drowned .
~ .... T..-.i. ,.,; .. ~ ... 'lb. 11- .-11... ... ... ~ . _
- p"'!!:'I,> !>..lo li-.,.._......1:Do.t..,__.,_-,..:,:-».t~
°" ~-----' r~ :.,_....,
.. """ ,._ .. ~...
... ~ c!-i<iDo1t..,.t11.i-'l....w
-.i-.J f-m
p,....z11oo.~.jt>.-..
-
.....-i,;1:)-i, - ~ ~ ... -
i.. • - - - ~
:u. ..... L\~ .... .....l ~J.l. a.;.~-..
.,.J:;,.. ....:;r..l,1>.i..o.....-.i..-...J.
~tJfl..-
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•
An old lady near Canton told me
her grandfather was hiking near
Shining Rock when he was a young
man. A panther started following him.
I Ie started running and the panther
sped up. To slow him do""'ll, lhe man
took off his shirt and threw it down.
The panthc>r stopped long enough to
rip it to shreds, then started chasing
him again. The man kept throwing his
clothes down as he ran down the
mountain. By the time he got home, he
was completely naked.
This series of paintings came about while 1 was hiking and drawing in remote
areas of the mountains of Western North Carolina. There I met mosUy older people
who had grown up in the Southern Appalachians. Many of these people were very
friendly and once a conversation started, they would communicate their knowledge
of an area by telling stories.
These paintings are not meant to be illustrations of the stories, but a freer form
that incorporates commentary, associations, my own subjeclive reactions, and
elaboration on the images provided by the story and its place of origin. I'm attempting
to develop a fonn between illustration and pure painting.
As each day passes, we tend to lose our intimate connection to the Earth, and also
�n Stories
..",
,
I
1,
by Robert Johnson
At Cranberry when the old folks
there ~ere young, the parents used to
tell them that the pools of water in the
iron mines didn't have a bottom. If
they ever became unstopped, all the
water would go rushing out and take
the children, all the people and the
whole town of Cranberry with it.
I asked a young man how Standing
Indian Mountain got its name. He said.
"1 don't know. I guess an Indian just
stood there."
I asked a middle-aged man. He said,
"During the Civil War a band of
Cherokee Indians fought bravely here
and stood up to the enemy."
I asked an old man. He said, "Before
white men came here, Lhere was a
monster who lived on Lhe mountain
and would carry off people. So the tribe
posted a brave up on the mountain to
keep watch. The thunder spirit saw Lhe
monster creeping up on the brave and
sent down a bolt of lightening,
shattering rocks, destroying the
monster, and turning the brave to
stone. Today one can see shattered
rocks and a stone Indian on top of the
mountain."
stories like these that come from the pre-industrial culture of the Southern
Appalachians. These simple but powerful stories have an almost mythical quality,
and they embody a connection between the land and oral knowledge of the land,
which is a culture that is dying out. This project is my attempt to get to know Lhese
stories and to keep them alive a while longer.
Robert Johnson's paintings of ''Mountain Stories" are on display until September
27th 1991 at the Blue Spiral I Gallery; 38 Biltmore Avenue; AshevilJe, NC 28801 (704)
251-0202. The paintings will later be shown in the six counties from which the stories
came: Yancey, Macon, Haywood, Ashe, Avery and Rutherford.
�, ~~TER~HEQ.JWI..J?.S" ,,,.,.,t.
NIIIUnl World News Service
In 1989 the Water Supply Watershed
Protection Act sailed through the Nonh
Carolina legislature. The bill w~ passed
unanimously in the Senat~ and 1ll .~e House
there were only six votes ~ opposmo~. !he
legislation enacted protecnons for mumCJpal
drinking water supplies so that n~w .
development did not endanger Lhts basic
resource.
. ,
In August, 1991 North Carolinas
Deparnnent of Environmental Management
(DEM) held public hearings across the Slate
on the implementation of the new water
regulations. Public reaction was
.
unprecedented. Across the state the heanngs
were long and stormy. Each of the eight
meetings drew more than l.~ people. The
hearings in Asheville and Hickory were
anended by more than 1,500 people each.
The state was completely unprepared for the
surge of public interesL In Hickorx, the .
meeting site was changed 10 ~ locan~n with a
larger capacity, but after heaTlllg tesumon~
for one full day the speaking roster ~s soil
only one-half completed and the heanng had
10 be continued at a later date.
There was clearly-defined, and
sometimes biller, controversy at the
watershed protection hearings. The theory of
the Watershed Protection Act is that
development must be contr0lled in
.
watersheds that provide drinking water in .
order to protect the purity of the supply. This
raised the boogie of land use management,
the "Z word - zoning," in the mind of many
traditionally conservative landowners and
farmers. Some saw the bill as a direct threat
10 their property rights. Others saw it as the
first step in an insidious government plan to
gradually enact a full set ofland use
management contr0ls. As ~'lolly Di~gins of
the state Sierra Club orgamzauon said,
"Where locru governmcntc; should be seeing
'protection,' many are seeing only
'restriction."'
Development interests played on these
fears with a concencd public outreach
campaign, and aroused a strong opposition to
the w:uer protection measures. These . .
interests see a loss of profil in any rcstncuon
of development
The opposing pole at the public
hearings were environmentalists who
supponed the protective regulations and
protested that they were not strong enough.
Agricultural and silvicultural opcr.itions
should be regulated as strictly as
construction, they said. Presently the rules
provide water bodies only a IO foot buffer
against agricultural activities, which often _arc
major sources of erosion and wnter polluuon,
whereas buildings have to be outside a 100
foot buffer around protected streams.
There was also concern that
"grandfather" clauses. under which existing
buildings and projects would be exeml)t from
the provisions of the watershed protecuon
measures, would weaken the regulations to
the point of uselessness.
Also supporting the regulations were
town residents who did not take a supply of
pure drinking water for granted and wanted
10 ensure protection of their !Own wa_ter
supplies in the face of ever-encroaching
X.Otuof, Journal'. poge 20
development.
This round of the drinking water
protection fight is not yet over. ln light of the
controversy generated by the regulations, the
DEM has extended the public comment
period on the watershed protection
regulations until October 31. It is particularly
imponant that the DEM hears from the people
of the mountain region.
Direct co=nt.f 10:
Sttvt Zoufaly
Division of Environ~IUQI Management
8ox29535
Raleigh. NC 27626.
YES MORE WILDERNESS!
N1111r.il World Nev-s Sa-vice
Saturday, July 6, one of the bu~iest
rafting days of the year, there mystenously
appeared across the Nantahala River a long
banner saying "Yes More Wilderness! Save
Cheoah Baldi"
Rafters taking out downstream were
met by activists from the organi1ation
SouthPA W requesting responses for a
"Forest Service Evaluation Sheet."
.
"Did you know that the Forest Service
is planning a timber sale only 1/2 mile above
the Nantahala and within sight of the river?"
More than 95% did not know
"Do you think that the Cheooh Bald .
area, the: largest unprotected roadies.~ area in
the Nantahala-Pisgah National Forests should
be allowed to return 10 old growth?"
99% thought it should.
"Do you think that the Forest Service
should stop logging in the national forests?"
98% thought they should.
South PAW struck again at Forest
Service credibility at the agency's Reanalysis
Checkpoint meeting concerning the
re-evaluation of the Land and Resource
Management Plan for the Nantahala-Pisgah
National Forests. South PAW calJed for a
boycou of the meeting, saying that the Forest
Service refused lO consider the relevant
ecological issues in its planning.
The meeting was billed as a scoping
meeting, but a SouthPAW handout said
"Wrong End of the Scopel" declaring that
the Forest Service had its priorities reversed,
since it seemed to be more interested in
sellin-g,tirpbgr:,tJw!,pwJe:C~Jlll~~// i,
diversity o( the forest. In the flier the group
reiterated their position that the national
forcstS in the Kaninh Province should be
habitat areas free from roads and commercial
exploitation.
There were about equal numbers of
people inside and outside the Owen
Conference Center at the University of Nonh
Carolina Asheville where the Forest Service
meeting was held. But in C<?n~st _10 the
restrained and orderly mcenng ms1de the
building, those out on the lawn boisterously
chanted, laughed, and played drums and
kazoos.
At lunch time the activists congregated
at the student open forum in the lobby of lhe
university center to hear Buddy Newman
read lhe alternative forest protection plan he
authored for SouthPAW. Nantahala-Pisgah
Forest Supervisor Bjorn Dahl was among the
audience listening 10 the proposal and later
invited South PAW representatives to a
meeting with Forest Service personne! to
discuss 10 their ideas for the Appalachian
forests.
To take action on behalf oftlu: Appalachian
forest habitat. write:
SouthPAW
Ba:d/41
Aslu:ville, NC 28802
KILLING Lm'LE FISH
NIIUnll Wodd News Scrv,cc
A series of five different spills over a
seven month period last year that dumped
untreated wastewntcr, oils, and concentrated
foams into the Pigeon River will cost the
Champion International paper mill in Canton,
NC $60,000. These are the first fines ever
levied against the company by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)..
According to Champion .~pokespe:Son David
Craft the mishaps were the first m recent
mem~ry" at the plant. The ftrst spill, of an
unknown quantity of untreate~ wast~":'ater,
was evidently the most damaging, killing,
according 10 Craft, "270 little fish." Croft_
maintained th:u neither the foam nor the oils
were hazardous to human or aquatic life.
Champion had originally faced a
$125,000 fine from the EPA;the m~imu~
allowed by law. However, after meeung wuh
mill officials last February and March, t11e
agency downgraded the fine. The company
representatives maintained that Champion
should not be assessed the full fine because
the spills were caused by malfunctioning
equipment and not by human error or
deliberate neglect The EPA seemed to agree.
Craft said that another reason for the reduced
fine was evidence that "Champion has taken
steps 10 mitigate the damage," from
skimming escaped oil off the nvcr banks to
closing the malfunctioning valves that
Champion maintains caused four of !he
spills. However, the EPA also penalized
Champion for failing to file a formal repon of
one of the spills within the required five
days, an oversight Craft blamed on an
"administration problem."
Oaft said that Champion would
probably not appeal the fin 7 "~e.~o bel!eve
that the amount of the fine 1s fair, he said,
calling the accidentS "a series of unintentional
and unrelated failures within the mill."
1'c:afL, t99l
�NEW PERSPECTI•VES 0N TRE "~'·
CHATTOOGA ..
Natural World News Sctvice
EnvironmcntaJ groups from three states
and three national forest administrative areas
have combined 10 form the Chanooga River
Watershed Coalition (CRWC).
The Chatto0ga is a beautiful river, one
of the most popular recreational rivers in the
Karuah Province. Pan of itS length has been
designated a Wild and Scenic River, and a
large tract in its headwaters area beneath
Devil's Courthouse near Highlands, NC was
recently bought by the Trust for Public Land
and transferred to the US Forest Service 10
preserve its pristine character.
The CRWC has wriuen an alternative
Land and Resource Management Plan for the
watershed which they are requesting the US
Forest Service 10 adopt. The plan is
important, first of all, because it proposes a
unified forest management program based on
watershed boundaries, rather than along state
or national forest tines. At present, the
Chauooga watershed is managed under three
different, and somerimes conflicting, national
forest management plans.
"A landscape with natural ecological
integrity is the desired future condition of the
watershed," says the CRWC proposal. The
coalition suggests a new, standardized
management unit, the Ecosystem
Management Area, 1hat would base
management on complete forest habitats
rather than on timber sale companmems.
The CRWC is requesting a meeting
with Forest Service supervisors and regional
and national personnel to discuss
implementing their plan in the Chattooga
watershed.
interest. the DO.Ii e11ct&fup with nver four
days of testimony which they scheduled
concurrently in auditoriums in two different
locations over a two-day period. ("Divide and
conquer," said one activist. "It's an old
tactic.")
Attendance at the hearings ,vas about
equally divided between opponems of the
plan and workers from Oak Ridge nuclear
facilities bussed to the hearing from work.
Although the workers, wearing T-shirts
saying "Complex 21" superimposed over n
map of Tennessee. made their presence felt,
of the 376 speakers more than 68% were
opposed to the pluronium plant, in the
estimate of the Oalr. Ridger newspaper.
The testimony was sometimes brilliant,
always heartfelt. Speakers talked about
cancer risks. damage 10 the environment, the
possibility of nuclear accidents, and the need
for disarmament now that the primary
adversary had dropped out of the game.
In the afternoon of the second day
srudents from Oak Ridge schools testified a1
the hearings. One student presented a petition
with 65 names of students against Complex
21 in Oak Ridge or anywhere else on Eanh.
Several high school students also testified at
the hearings, all opposed to the planL
The DOE will ruei~t written comme111s 011
tht Rocky Flats pluto11ium plant rdocatio11 until
Ocrotn~r 30. Mail r.omme111s to the Dtpartmi!fll of
Energy. clo:
Oak Ridgt E11vira11111t11tal and Ptace Alliance
Box 1101
KnoX\/ille. TN 37901
T~ Chattooga Riw!r Wattrs~d Coalitio11
Box368
Clayton, GA 30525
PLUTONIUM OR. .. NO!
Narun! World Ne..,, Service
"Please let me introduce myself. I am
Plutonium, the God of unnatural death and
suffering."
The black-robed figure with the grisly
skcleial face stood before the impassive
bureaucrats presiding at the "Reconfiguration
of the Nuclear Weapons Complex" hearings
in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. At issue was the
future of the nation's nuclear weapons
program, specifically the plutonium
processing facilities at Rocky Flati.,
Colorado. The plant has contaminated its site
in Colorado and has to move. The DOE is
considering locating it either at Oak Ridge or
the Pantex plant near Amarillo, Texas.
For the first rime ever, the Depanment
of Energy (DOE) had called for public input
on the future of the program. The agency
scheduled 15 hearings around the country.
TheorericaJly, they would listen 10 what was
said and consider the opinions offered in their
program and policy decisions.
People responded, aroused through the
effons of area peace groups spearheaded by
the Oak Ridge Environmenuu and Peace
Alliance. The hearings were scheduled to last
one day. Because of the outpouring of public
Tai(, 199 1
"WE DON'T BUY YOUR LINE"
The Appalachian Power Company
wants to build a 765,000 volt power line
through southern Wes1 Virginia and
southwestern Virginia. The tine is ostensibly
10 provide extra power in Richmond and 1he
eastern pan of the state of Virginia.
To sell their idea, the ucility company
se1 up a series of hearings along the line's
proposed route. They met with solid
opposition aJI along the way.
The company came to the meetings
well-prepared. They brought a 30 page
handout, coinplett Willi ~li~.'gl-Jphs:'~d
maps. They also distributed a report. "Faces
on EMF' (electromagnetic fields) to dispute
scientific evidence that high volrage Lines
cause genetic damage and degenerative
disease.
But the people were not buying it More
than 50 people opposed to the power line
showed up at the meeting in Giles County,
VA and 300 people attended the meeting in
New Castle, VA. Another meeting in Hinton,
WV also brought out strong opposition to the
line. A meeting in Monroe County, WV was
canceled because hearing officers feared
violence. The meeting was rescheduled,
however, and 300 people peacefully declared
their strong opposition 10 the power line.
As well as health concerns, people
attending the hearings feared that herbicide
spraying would contaminate their water
supplies, and that the power lines would mar
the scenic beauty of their area, which they
considered an imponant asset. Critics also
questioned the value of the plan, saying that
the new power line would encourage higher
levels of energy consumption and sidetrack
attempts to promote energy conservation.
Baud 011 a report ill the New River Free Pre,;.,;,
available from Box 846: Blacksburg. VA 24063.
1165 MEGAWATTS OF
POLLUTION
Nawn.I World New. ScMc:e
The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense
League (BREDL) is warning thar Duke
Power Company is planning to build a 1165
megawau electric generating plant in
Lowesville, NC in the piedmont county of
Lincoln. The plant would be fined to operate
on either diesel fuel or natural gas, but the
primary fuel source would be diesel. When
running on diesel fuel, the plant would tum
out 4,278 pounds of sulfur dioxide per hour,
according to BREDL director Janet Hoyle.
Sulfur dio,ude is a main component of the
complex of pollutants that produces acid rain.
The plant is proposed as a peak power
generating plant. meaning that it would only
operate at times of peak power demand when
electricity is most profitable. Duke originally
asked that the plant be allowed to operate
3,500 hours per year, but later reduced their
request 10 2,000 hours per year.
The proposed site for the plant is 56
miles southeast of the Linville Gorge
Wildeme:.s .Arca. Data collecred by Duke
Power and the NC Department of
Environmental Management (DEM) show
that prevailing wind patterns would bring the
acidifying pollution directly into the Class I
wilderness area. In their initial application.
Duke admitted that operating at 3,500 hours
per year, the plant would inetcase acid
deposition in Linville Gorge 400-500%.
Even at the scaled-back operating time, acid
pollution from the plant would be
considerable. The US Fore.st Service will
have the right to review the plant to see if it
would adversely affect the air quality of the
gorge.
For mare information·
Bl~ Ridgt E,wironmenra/ Dtfe11St uag~
Box8JJ
Gltndalt Spr111gs. NC 28906
�DYING SOILS, DYING WATERS:
Natural World r-iews
SPECIAL REPORT
Pollution, Collusion, and the Future of the Eastern Forests
by Emmett Greendigger
The 1990 Clean Air Acl seemed to
many citizens to be a sign that lhe federal
government would finally begin to rectify a
decade of willful neglect of envirorunenlal
issues. Now, however, little more than a year
after the act's passage, scientists are
beginning to conclude that the reductions in
atmospheric emissions mandated by the bill
will not be sufficient to protect sensitive
forest areas or mountain streams.
Resean:hers are discovering alarming
damage to forests and streams, damage that
to a great extent was ignored or soft-pedaled
by the government studies that led to the
Qean Air Act, and many scientists and
environmentalists charge that the research on
the effects of acid precipitation carried on by
the Reagan and Bush administrations was full
of design flaws, done in collusion with
industry, and guided by politics more than by
objective science. They charge that the
research was, in effect, rigged in favor of
"business as usual," rigged to such an extent
that many feel that the Oean Air Act is merely
a baby-step toward protection of the natural
landscape.
Scientific srudies of atmospheric
deposition began in earnest in the late l 970's
when the governments of US President
Jimmy Carter and Canadian Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau initialed cooperative research
of the freshwater acidification that was
beginning to appear in eastern Canada and the
Adirondack Mountains of upper New York
State. The bilateral rcseareh was carried out
with the understanding that by 1980 an
agreement to reduce sulfur emissions by 50%
would be in place in ordec to protect
freshwater bodies in eastern Tunic Island.
But the regressive environmental policies of
the Reagan administration delayed nnd diluted
the bilaternl rese~. and several imponam
US researchers were fired from the study and
replaced by scientists who were willing to
tolerate the new administration's stalling.
Throughout the I 980's, to deflect crittcism,
Reagan's people pointed to the $570 million
National Acid Precipitation AsS¢ssment
Program (NAPAP) established by Congress
in 1980.
By 1982, the US-Canada project had
been terminated. [n its place was I\APAP.
whose smted purpose was to gather a
database of information about the effects of
atmospheric deposition to guide Congre~s
through the rewriting of the Clean Air Act.
llowevcr. throughout NAPAP's history,
scientisis of both the public and priv:11c
sectors ha~·e tried to \\1lm environmentalist,
of collusion between government and
indwmy on the study. Funds from electric
unlity companic~ and the papc-nnaldng
industry - obviously not dis1nten.:stcd
observers - backed large portions of the
study, ,, hteh intlucnccd the condusions
brought in by the NAP AP research. These
charges are based in part on the otherwise
inexplicable w:iy that NAPAP nam)\\t!d thc
Xn111nf1 )0111110{
ne:::
==
scope and range of acid-induced forest
decline studies. Vermont's camel's Hump
and Hubbard Brook in New Hampshire were
omitted as study sites, despite the fact that
these rwo eastern sites have the longest
record of soil changes related to acid rain.
Until 1986 forests in the Ohio River Valley the source of many of the pollutants that
cause acid rain - were not studied, simply
because there had been no papers published
in scientific journals suggesting that there
was a problem in the region.
Scientists also assen that the results of
the research were manipulated by a design
flaw: NAPAP's forest studies were limited to
a single measurement of the nuaieru content
of the soils at study sites, rather than a
methodology developed in Europe which
measures the rate of change in values over
time. Again, it is difficult to figure out why
NAPAP researchers chose the older method.
when a study of true rates of change would
have been far more useful to Congress.
Not until 1985, halfway through the
research period, when William Ruckelshaus
replaced Anoe Gorsuch Burford as
administrator of the EPA, did serious
research into forests and soils begin in
eamesL But by then it was too late. There
was little time for the imponant "reality
checks," field work, or the peer review and
publication required by NAPAP of all its
researchers. Consequently the Clean Air Act
was rewriuen while important new findings
about acid-induced forest decline were still
being evaluated.
Nonh Carolina State University
pathologist Roben Bruck received NAPAP
funding for seven years lOstudy forest
decline in Kalllah's high-altitude spruce-ftr
forests. I !is findings were largely omitted
from NAPAP's final repon to Congress
(despite the fac t that they were completed,
tested, nnd reviewed as specified by
NAPAP).
The final repon asserted that an
invasion of aphids was responsible for
spruce-fir deaths on some of Kaufah's
highest peaks. According 10 Bruck, this flies
in the face of the research he submitted 10
NAPAP, which showed that only 35% of the
dead trees at such sites as Mount Mitchell,
Grandfather Mountain. and the Grc:u Smokv
Mountains National Parl.. were infested with
aphids. What Bruck found were soil pH
levels as low as 2.7 and 2.8 and rampant
aluminum toxicity levels in the forest soils.
(See Kattialt /()11mal #9). This kind of data,
for obviou~ reasons, is not pleasing to
electric utilitr and paper companic~. and
evidently the .government shan.:s the corporate
distaste for emissions reductions. a~ it chose
rather to blame nature for fon:M decline in
Katuah.
Bruck and other scientist~ now tlclie,e
that one of the m:ij(.)r cause~ of fir die-back
and forest decline in eastern Turtle lslnnd 1s
the change m soil nutnents that occurs a~ lhl"
soil becomes increasingly acidic. Nurogcn
compounds found in acid min an: 1hought to
be a primary culpri1. Levels of nitrogen
exceeding by 20 to 40 times the wnounts that
soil could assimilate have been found in
declining forests all over the East. These
findings correspond to research results in
Germany, too, where nitrogen deposition is
thought to be a primary factor in the
catastrophic waldsrerben ("forest death") in
the Black ForesL Recent European findings
also indicate that in order to halt the damage,
nitrogen emissions must be brought down as
close as possible to the levels found in
unaffected soil communities.
Despite all this, NAPAP still seems
determined to understate the problem. In a
position paper published last summer,
NAPAP officials stated that Eastern forests
do not show any "widespread problems," a
position that seems unforrunatcly consistent
with their apparent lack of concern about
forest decline. Already, the much-ballyhooed
Clean Air Act begins to look like nothing
more than a "first step" toward reversing the
acid-induced damage to the forests. Scientists
now believe that nitrogen emissions must be
reduced by 75% (rather than the 15-25%
required by the Clean Air Act) to halt the
damage from atmospheric pollution.
In contrast, the NAPAP repon to
Congress stated that fonnerly "nitrogen
deficient" soils in commercial pine forests in
the South were being "enriched" by nitrogen
deposition, and its comments about the
effects of nitrogen compounds on other forest
types is so rife with qualifying phrases like
"might ...could...potentially" that it seems
bent on dismissing or discounting the
findings of many of its own researchers.
It seems that it will be quite some time
before we will see any tightening of the Clean
Air Act's controls on nitrogen emissions.
Meanwhile, concerned researchers believe
that eastern forests will collapse within fifty
years, as undernourished and weakened trees
give in to insects and disease, not to men1ion
a newer nemesis: lhe stress from climate
changes associated with the "greenhouse
effect."
As if the sl)\.-Clre of forests thinning,
browning, and dying were not enough, it
also appears chat Kauiah's seemingly pristine
mountain stream.\ are also extrJordinarily
vulnerable to the effects of acid pn.-cipitation,
A spate or recently released studies shows
thc11 extensive damage has already been done
to manr headwmcrs and streams in the
Central and Southern Appal,1chians,
including heavy losses to native brook trout
popula1i(.)ns. Like the forest rescar\:h, these
studies indica1e that the emissions reductions
mandated by the Clean Air Act \\ill barely
begin 10 solve 1hc problem. 111c dire
condi1ion of Appaktchi,1n mountain \\aters
has been rnost thorough!)' documentL'<l by Dr.
James Gallov.uy of the Environnk'nt:il
Sciences Dcpanmcnt at the University of
Virginia. who since the mid-1970\ h~s
published widely nbom Lhe many ,1spccts of
the acid precipitation problem. In 1979,
rnrr.
1
in9c 22
-
1991
�Galloway and a research team began the
Shenandoah Watershed Study (SWAS), a
;om1 project undenaken by the University of
Virginia and the National Park Service 10
"understand the processes that govern
b1ogeochemical cycles'' in the streams of
Shenandoah National Park (SNP). Since the
SNP receives the highest sulfur deposition
load of any national park. the SW AS turned
out to be a far-sighted study of the potential
effects of acidification in freshwater aquatic
ecosystems in the Southern Appalachians.
After a decade of research, the final SWAS
repon indicated "a poor prognosis for aquatic
watcrsystcms in Shenandoah National Park,
due to a combination of watershed sensitivity
and elevated acidic deposition."
The Galloway team concluded that 1hc
dcposi1ion of sulfur, hydrogen, and nitrogen
had increased as much as tenfold from
preinduslrial levels. The SW AS process of
sampling streams on a weekly basis over the
ten years of its research enabled it to make
three primary conclusions: "1) that a large
number of SNP streams were poorly
buffered against acidification; 2) that the
acidification process was being temporarily
delayed by sulfate re1en1ion in v.a1ershcd
soils: and 3) that the acidification of SNP
streams was an ongoing process.''
SW AS researchers predict that some
38% of 1he streams will end up with pl I
level~ below 6.0, the "biologically critical"
level for such streams, while the pH levels of
25o/i: or the streams will decline 10 a pl I level
of 4.7, near-total acidity.
In 1987, 10 broaden his study area,
Galloway and his researchers and a crew of
volunteers from Virgioiu's Trout Unlimited
organization began to monitor 350 streams in
Virginia's mountains. Preliminary repons
were alarming. The researchers found that
93% of the streams were sensi1ive to acid
deposition, and that some 49% of those were
extremely sensitive. Only 7% were found to
be adequately buffered by watershed soils.
Additionally, 10% of rhc streams were
already found to be acidic; in a natural s1ate
3% or less would be normal.
Galloway then chose 65 of those
streams for further monitoring. In June 1989
his research team reponed its findings,
concluding tha1 in spite of the fac1 that the
state's mountain streams drain "relatively
TnCt, 1991
pristine catchments proteeted from direc1
man-m.'lde impacts," they were ''receiving
heavy loads of sulfur from man-made
sources." They predic1ed that, assuming
l 990 deposition levels, at least 32% and
possibly as muny of 88% of the states 450
native trout s1reams will become acidic, with
pH levels 100 low 10 support the forage fish.
trout, amphibians, and aquatic insects who
presently live in and around these streams.
We can expect to see che same here in
Kaufoh, and soon. The Great Smoky
Mountains National Park receives the second
highest level of acidic precipitation of any
region of the eas1~rn United Srntcs. While the
lower deposition levels in Katuah have
delayed the kinds of effects seen in Virginia,
as early as 1978, NacionaJ Park Service
researchers had no1ed 1he poor buffering
capabilities of the streams in the park\ higher
elevations. And in 1984, EPA researchers
found the Davidson River near Brevard in the
French Broad River watershed had a pH level
of 6.55, dangerously near the biological
threshold of 6.0, placing it in 1hc "extremely
sensiuve" range.
According to scientists. this rrcnd will
worsen with 1ime. Among them, conscrva1ive
estimates hold that sensitive streams in
Kattiah's watersheds will undergo coipplete
alkalinity loss within 40 to 50 years. Since
levels of acid deposition follow a nonh-south
gr.tdient along the Appalachian chain, we can
look to moun1ain s1reams farther nonh to
predict our own future. In the Pennsylvania
highlands, researchers found no living trour
in 20%.ofthe
headwater streams
and concluded that
"the streams having
no fish as a group
had significantly
lower pl-I and
alkalinity and higher
dissolved aluminum
than those with
fish."
More ominous
evidence comes
from West Virginia.
According to Don
Gasper, a fisheries
biologist with the
Wes1 Virginia
Department of
Natural Resources,
the Cranberry River
rqrinllXI rrorn TMG/acu,J E.rr01ic
in the south-central
pan of the stale is
already "lost." Fish
population data for the Cranberry have been
kept since 1957. making it one of the few
eastern rivers for which historical change can
be documented. Over the past 30 years, fish
biomass in the Cranberry has decreased from
15 pounds per acre to less than five pounds
per acre, and 1he number of fish species in
the river has declined from 15 to eight. Since
the Oanberry drains one of the largest
wilderness areas in the East, Gasper believes
that "the only disturbance in that watershed is
that acid rain has been falling on it for 40
years."
The higher deposition levels in the
north account for the rapid changes and
drastic losses, but Katuah's lower acid
deposition levels do not mean that we will not
see similar effec1s. In fact, the reduced pH
and alkalinity levels found now in our
streams are familiar 10 chose who have becm
tracking the nonhem streams for the pasr
decade. According to Mark Hudy, a fisheries
biologist who studied the St. Mary's River in
Virginia as it died from acidification, "The St
Mary's may be a precursor of things to come,
what we'll all be looking at in 10 years...the
water quality on the St. Mary's when I
sampled the river 10 yean; ago was like what
we have now on rivers farther south."
Whal can be done 10 reverse the
acidification of Katuah's streams? Can we
learn anything from the damage to northern
streams? Most scientists arc pessimistic.
They lament that the region's streams were
neglected during the I980's as the Reagan
and Bush ndministra1ions stalled essential
environmental research. And, like their
colle,igues in soils and fores1 research, the
freshwater biologists do not feel l_ha1 the
reduc1ions mandated by the Clean Air Act
will be able to reverse the damage done. They
believe that a 70-80% redui;tion in emissions
might begin 10 restore acidifying streams.
According to Rick Webb. professor of
Environmental Sciences at the Universi1y of
Virginia, the n:quired 50% reduction in sulfur
emissions will mean that "only a small
number of the strea,n~ will incrca-.e in
:ilkalinity; most will still decline."
The state of West Virginia and the US
Forest Service are trying mitigation measures
- adding limestone to streams and lakes to
bolster their alkalinity - to reduce lhe damage
done by acid precipitation. But this method is
costly and strictly temporary. It is not a
means of rcs1oration for mountain streams.
Most biologists feel that the the money and
effon devoted to mnigation would be better
spent on funher research, and they believe
that only one thing will begin 10 save
freshwater ecosys1ems in the East: drastic
reductions of acidic emissions.
Political analy~ts think it unlikely that
there will be any funhcr emissions control
measures from Washington for at leas, a
decade. They point out chat even the Clean
Air Act levels represent a compromise, that
allies of the coal and u1ili1y industries
auempted to drive sulfur emissions
reductions as low as si:it million tons, from
the original call for a 12 million ton
reduction, and did succeed in having the
number sliced to 10 million ions in the finnl
version of the net.
This does not leave many scientislS
optimistic about the future of forests and
streams in the East Aske.cl if he 1hough1 that
Southern Appalachian streams would ever
recover, Jim Galloway replied, ''Some will
recover," he said, .. but not most"
It appears that after the long twilight of
environmental neglect in the 1980's, the
Clean Air Act is a case of "roo little. too late"
- a political pacifier too rife with compromise
and collusion to address in any honest,
meaningful way the damage already done by
acid min and atmospheric deposition - not to
mention the damage not yet e1,ident and the
damage still occurring.
An old maxim says tha1 politics is the
an of compromise. But unless politics can be
put aside, dead forests and dead streams will
bear out another U\lth: nature bas its own
bottom line. And nature bats last. /
X.Otuaf, )ournn( poCJC 23
�SONGS IN THE WILDERNESS
From the time I was two years of age J
spent most or my childhood summers on my
grandparent's farm in nonhem Colorado. In
the small town where I lived I was
surrounded by a warm extended family.
There was plenty of activity and always
another child to play with. But on the farm
the days dragged on. l can remember walking
up the dirt road away from the farm, acutely
aware of my loneliness, feeling overwhelmed
by the vastness of the rolling hills and
endless grasslands that extended for miles in
every direction. It seemed that I moved
aimlessly through a landscape which had
nothing to do with me. In this
self-consciousness of monality I became
aware of myself as separate from nature. It
was a moment of primal loneliness such as
everyone must face.
This modem human condition is not
that far removed from the tribal legacy. We
still require a personal initiation, a way for
each person to make peace with the natural
world. We have separated ourselves by our
ability to create worlds outside the cycles of
nature, yet ii is our creauve abilities that offer
us ways back in - into wholeness, communication and love. The pathways, the links, the
mediations, the magic needs to be made at a
personal level. We must ovcreome our animal
fear of isolation and death, and reach out with
our consciousness if we are to mature as
human beings. IL was at this moment of acute
loneliness that I first began to sing to the
Eanh and the sky.
I found that the ttan~fonnative power
of song was miraculous. From that day on,
there was a connection for me between the
Earth and my walking on the Earth and the
song. I remember walking down that same
din road in a state of bliss, singing my heart
out in thanksgiving for yet another spectacular sunset I found that when I sang, the
world seemed 10 light up and lighten up.
Phenomena that was of n transitory nature,
such as a cloud shadow passing over a
rolling hill, was suddenly revealed to me in
breath-catching splendor. Sometimes I sang
loud, sometimes soft. Sometimes r skipped
and sang, or danced and sang at the same
time. Special evencs, such as the bright
crispness after a summer thunderstorm called
for celebration songs. There were songs
waiting for me everywhere; songs in the elm
grove in the pasnm: and dJffcrcnt songs
down by the river.
Singing is a great protection. It sets up
vibration which cuts through time and space.
With our voices we extend the boundaries of
our bodies. In metaphysical terms, singing
causes the aura to radiate, which strengthens
the body.
In ancient primitive societies, everyone
danced and sang their feelings about the
inevnable passages of life. There were min
dances and war dances and songs to help rhe
com grow. There is evidence that the use of
music as transforming was much more
sophisticated than the simple melody, lyrics,
and rhythm format that we use today. ror
instance, at many ancient sacred sites the
acoustics arc very unusual. Circular walls
and passages can warp, bend, and amplify
sound. ln such a place, a single voice could
have created modulations, ovenoncs, and
vibratos. Add on the possibility of a chorus
with echoes, a drum or two, and a flute, and
the sound must have been magnificent. What
these sounds were used for, whether for
healing, initiation rites, or simply for the
sheer joy of creation, we no longer know.
The Peace Chamber being built by
Joseph Rael, at the Earth Center in
Swannanoa, NC and scheduled for
completion this fall, is a modem example of a
Native American sound chamber. Joseph's
vision of an oval shaped sound chamber has
resulted in the construction of 17 of these
chambers worldwide. The purpose of each is
to amplify chants for world peace. I visited
the roofless building at the Earth Center in
spring. Even without a roof, and possibly
because of the circular walls, the acoustics
were already unusual. Also worth noting is
that the chamber is on a very potent earth
energy site. The combination of sound, eanh
energy, and architecrual design should pack
some real power into songs for peace.
Looking back at my childhood songs
from the adult perspective, I realize that the
singing put me into an extended altered state,
that it was magic at its height. ft pulled me
completely out of the depression of loneliness
and gave me practical tools for survival. It
taught me to appreciate solitude. It is only in
solitude that songs come to me again. If there
is a song waiting for me, J try 10 leave my
adult cares behind and enter into the woods
with the innocence of a child. I make no
judgement about the quality of my voice or
how ridiculous I might sound if someone
should happen to hear me. There is a great
joy and freedom in this.
by Charlotte Homsher
Dnawmg by Rob Mcs,ick
/
(<ontin~ rram l"'i• 9)
We must convince the public and our
officials that a healthy environment is an
absolute requirement for a healthy economy
and not the other way around. The measure
of what should be done 10 protect the
environment is nor a mailer of good
"business as usual" economics.
We must work ar the local level to do
whatever is possible to move toward a
society that protects its ecosystems.
We must lower as quickly a.\ we can the
strains society places on our ecosystems.
This includes land use practices, development
of less damaging and less energy intensive
transponation, protection of enough critical
area 10 suppon all native species, and
controlling our population within geographic
areas so that the carrying capacity of the area
is not exceeded or is balanced within a larger
regional complex.
Finally, we must lead in an accelerated
movement to lower the environmental impact
of human habitation on Eanh. This involves
limiting the numbers of of humans Earth is
.
JCnt.i'mfi Journnl pQ(Jc 24
asked 10 suppon, making marked
improvcmcnis in our use of natural
resources, and bnnging human activities
down within a safety buffer set by the rates
of geological, geochemical. and biological
processes.
John Freeman is 1he chair of the Pisgah
Group of the Sierra Club. lie was a
profcs.'ior of billlogy at Wimltrop College fnr
30 years. He is al.w uwhor of 1he b()<J/c
Survival Gardening, which he and lu"s 11'ife
Grace self-published. The Freemaris are
presemly retired in Brevard, NC i11 the
headwaters of the French Broad River
waterslted.
This article 11-as reprimedfrom
Foor notes. the 11cws/e1ter of the North
Carolina Clwp1er ofthe Siella Club. The
11ewsletfer is al'ailable to Sierra Club
members ill the Stale For membership
i11fonnatio11, write the Sierra Club, 530 Bush
St ; San Francisco, CA 94108.
(conllnucd from P"te 11)
Overall, I think it was Sequoyah
himself who best evaluated thi: impact of his
\\1'lting sy:acm: ''What I am doing will not
make our people the less respected."
- r«orded by OW
Tom Undi'rwood. a liftlong rt.<id,·nt of the
Qua/la Boundary Rt.<en•aJion has always been
rnlt!rtsred ,n tht Clu:rol.Lt! cultural and arti.<tic
traditions. lie 1s a con1tnuing .rouru of knowledge on
the old wuys oftht tribe (stt Kn1tfah Journal 115) as
wdl as be1n11 a mo1or suppoNu of conttmporary
Indian arnsu.
1'om had ,.,;urn a manuscript for a hworical
booklet on tk lift qf St!quo>·ah which was,,, his
Mt:d1cint: Man Craft Shep the night tht! building was
thstroycd byjirt!in 19..~Z. llt: has since bun
rebwlding hisf/lt!s on the nativt! gcmus. llt! is ._·ell
acquaintt!d With thl' life of ti~ man who brought 1k
Chuoktt 1ht ,.,illt!n "'ord
:Fa(f., 199 I
�S00YEARS OF
RESISTANCE!
In October of 1492, as we all learned in
grammar school, Christopher Columbus
sailed the ocean blue and landed in the
Antilles to become the first European to
record his encounter with the land and people
of the Tunle Island conrinent.
Of the land he found, Columbus wrote:
"Large and very green trees, and great
lagoons, around which the trees stand in
marvelous groves. Flocks of parrots darken
the sun and there is a marvelous variety of
large and small birds, very different from our
own; the trees arc of many kinds, each with
its own fruit, and all have a marvelous
scent."
Of the native people he met in the
Antilles, who later were named the Taino,
Columbus wrote: "They are so affectionate
and have so little greed and are in all ways so
amenable that there is in my opinion no better
people and no better land in the world. They
love their neighbors as themselves and their
way of speaking is the sweetes1 in the world,
always gentle and smiling."
Within a year of Columbus' landfall,
the "miraculous groves" were gone, cleared
to make way for the rancheros and
plantations that would make the large
contingent of Spanish seulers wealthy, and
mining had spoiled the "great lagoons," not
to mention rivers, mountains, and native
farmlands. Within that year too, several
thousand Taino were shipped 10 Europe as
slaves, marking the beginnings of the slave
trade. Those who remained fell victim to
European diseases against which they had no
resistance, and to the barbarism and tyranny
of the colonists.
Thus was set the pattern of ecocide and
genocide which has been the dominant force
in the modem history of the Americas. As the
500th anniversary of Columbus' "discovery"
of the "New World" approaches, it appears
unlikely !hat the myriad official festivities
sponsored by governments of Europe and the
Americas will expose the darker legacy of
~uropean conquest. What they will offer
instead is a "QuincenteMial Jubilee" marked
by all the hoopla, pride, and patriotism that
modem technology can stir up.
fo!C, 199 1
r However. a grcA1nd weft qf publi{ ,
opposition. led by moigendus groups in
Nonh and South America, is gathering force
to assure that the celebrations do more than
glorify the ecocide and genocide wrought by
Columbus and the other colonists and
missionaries who followed him. In July of
1990 representatives of 120 indigenous
nations, tribes, and organizations met for the
first time in Quito. Ecuador to discuss their
peoples' slruggles for self-de1ermination and
10 organi1..e a unified lndi:tn response to the
official 1992 Jubilee celebrations. Their plans
call for alternative gatherings 10 celebrate 1he
resistance chat has enabled Indians 10 survive
the centuries of genocide and opprei.sion chat
1hey have suffered at the hands of the
Euro-Americans.
The coali1ion is also recalling that many
myths and prophecies of native peoples
throughout Turtle Island say 1ha1 chis period
of oppression would la.~t for 500 years, when
it would be replaced by a period of change
("Pachakutek'.) that will lead ro a better life
for the people, a life lived once again in
harmony with Molher Eanh.
At a time when the Euro-American way
of life is threatening lhe survival of all
peoples and of the planet itself, we all would
do well to listen and 10 follow lhe example set
by the indigenous people of a more
harmonious way of being.
It is up to us to make 1992 the first year
of Pachakutek, not the 501st year of
colonialism.
Resource pacuis for those inttrtsted in
organiting local alttrna1i11ts to the official/ts1111i11ts
art availablt from the following:
- Scarborough Fortign l,fiS$ion; 2685
Kingston Rd.; Scarborough. 0111ario. Canada MI M
IM4. Jnclude a nwney donotion 10 CO\ltr prillting ONJ
postagt.
- Cltrgy ONJ Lairy Concerned; Box /91J7;
Decatur, G~ 3003/ for $5.00 postpaid
The Sowh and Mtso-American Jndim,
Information Ctnttr. which strvts as a liason betwun
Indian people of the sowhcrn and the northern
con1intn1s. Is a good sourct of1nforma1io11 aboUJ the
alttrnativt ac1ivi11es plan11td throughow the
Americas. Write to SAJJC: Box 7550, Berktlty, CA
94707.
1/'Jf)U art illltresttd in helping 10 organiu
ahernativt 1992 t~nlS in Kataiah, write Jeff Smith at
207 Coxt A~.: Ashevillt NC 28801 or call (704)
259-5333.
- by cmmtll Grundiggu
Save James Bay
Stop Hydro-Quebec!
Ancestral lands of the Cree and Inuit
cultures as well as the entire James Bay
ecosystem are being threatened by a
mega-hydroelectric project known as the
James Bay Project James Bay, a shallow salt
water bay which forms the southern tip of
Hudson Bay in Canada, is the largest
nonhcrn river drainage system for Tunic
Island. Fresh water from vinually every
major river in the hean of 1he continent flows
into James Bay where it mixes with the Bay's
snit w:lter over marshy tidal flats to create a
vast and diverse ecosystem.
'These rivers make the Bay a rich
ecosystem teeming with caribou, moose,
:i: ~;wer as wellbearseals.1he manyl3cluga
as
walrus,
whales, polar
and
anadromous
fish that return from the ocean 10 spawn in
the fresh water rivers of James Bay. This is
also the nesting and s1aging ground for the
'central flyway' for most migratory birds
from geese and ducks to some shore birds
who may carry ou1 a migrncion that brings
them as far south as Tierra del
Fuego.....(Thc land around James Bay) has a
dclica1e ecology of coastal mmhes, muskeg
and pinelands that provide a rich garden in
which the animals and Native people have
lived for tens of thousands of years."
(Winona l..aDuke)
The fames Bay Project is a
mega proJect of Hydro-Quebec. Quebec's
Premier, Robert Bourassa. sees 1he entire
province as "a vase hydro·elcctrie plant in the
bud... ". Phase I (1971-1985) of the Project
has already destroyed a great deal of habiUlt
and lands. Phase II and Phase lll are even
more massive undertakings. Phase II would
impact an area greater than New York State
and New England combined and would
destroy 15 major rivers.
However, Phase III is the most
extravagant. h is a $JOO billion scheme to
build a 100 mile dike across the mouth of
James Bay so that freshwater from 1he Bay
can be pumped (possibly by nuclear pumps)
to the Great Lakes, and then to the Midwest
and Southwest United States!
This project if completed would cause
devastation of the entire James Bay
ecosystem which is the hean of the largest
remaining wilderness in Tunic Island as well
the cultural genocide of the native people
who would lose their traditional means of
subsistance through hunting, trnpping and
fishing.
Already ten thousand migrating caribou
have drowned crossing the Caniapiscau River
during a 1984 Hydro-Quebec water release.
If all the dams proposed by Hydro-Quebec
arc built, 350,000 square kilometers will be
directly impacted, Over 25,000 ~uare
kilometers \I.ill be flooded. Countless lakes,
ponds and temporary ponds will be
drowned. Critical wildlife habitat will be
fragmented and migration routes destroyed.
Destruction of chis habicat will doom
thousands of migratory bird~.
In September of 1990. the Canadian
National Energy Board approved the expon
of Hydro-Quebec electrici1y 10 the US. There
are formal efforts in Maine. Vermont, and
New Yorlc to call for the cancellation of any
contrnc1s with Hydro-Quebec. lndividuals
and organizations around North America art'
joining the fight to save James Bay.
For more informa1ion. contacr:
Northeast Alliance to Protect James Bav
139 Anrrim Street
/
Cambridge, MA 02139
..
(617) 491-553 I
•
X.Ot uc:ih Journot J>CIIJC 25
�. ",
DRUMMING
LETTERS TO KA TUAH
Dear Kmualt,
This kulwie says that idle hands arc the devil's
wockshop when iJs preuy damn obvious IO anyone
who sits down and thinks about it that idle hands nrc
definitely not a workshop and that the devil's
worbhop has m1111y many busy busy hands. Ovec
achiever type A workaholics with hyperactive
thyroids have predictably lllken over at the throUle of
neatly everything and ate proceeding to make the
world a miserable place to be for anyone who likes to
go fishing or read a boolt or simply to do her pan in
the effort to conserve energy by silLing down and
bcmg quiet.
Motorboats chum our lakes into oily froth.
AirpLllles arc aJmo:.t always whining in our cars. All
terrain vehicles defile the America others pass by.
shnttcring silence and leaving ruts that open into
gullies lhat are geo logical re minders of the passing
of some busy idiot who wos out SpiMing his wheels
and wasting all sorts of resow-ces when he should
have been home playing with his luds or l:lying in a
hammock.
Poople in general and rncD m particular QJ'C
taught that Ill order to be respected we should make
our mark on a world. The world is nlrcady llWkcd up
with graffitti-like doings of the do-do culture and what
we now need 10 learn moSt is s10pping. Don't just do
something, Slalld there.
Will Ashe Boson
Floyd, VA
DcarKmuoh.
Vour article about dowsing slruck an
inu:rcsting chord with me. I have been fortunate 10
get to hike with a group of Retired Citi,..cns or
Gatlinburg over the past sevcml months, and because
of that have met some very fascinating people not the
least or whom is a man named Herb Oabo, a real
mountain man who gi-ew up in the Roaring Fork
section of what is now the Great Smoky Mountnins
National Park:. He now lives in that same area about
two houses from the Park bouod:IJ'y. He still climbs
the mowitnins and walks the ridges almost every day.
At 80 he is still ahead of the pack except when he
siops IO share a bit of history or a talc of sons. It i.~
one of t!lcse talcs that came tO mind when I read your
article. Herb can divine for bodies! • and find them.
The rods arc held loosely in the hands and when he
comes IO the grave. they tum in. I have watched him
do this and it is exuemely fascinating.
The Parle Service asked him and Frank Cart.er,
another dowser. 10 help them with a cemetery in the
Roaring Forlc section which had been badly damaged
by tourists - roc:ks which were really old grave
m:utcrs had been knocklxl over and some even canicd
out of the cemetery. With 1he1r dowsing rods, Hcrb
and Frank were able to rcnlign the graves, replace the
m:IJ'kcrs, and arc now c:nrrying fill din to cover the
IOOlS and ftll in washouts caused by the he.Ivy lrllff'ic
of many feet. For the umc being. the ccmelCI)' is
fenced off and will be unul the n:pciiring and =ding
arc compleled. In that ccrnclct)'. thctc iS a grave for a
leg. A man lost his leg in a logging occident and
Xnti1af1 JounmC p119c 26
insisted on having it buried with a formnl funeral.
Herb u:11s another inlelCsting story about
finding the grave of Jasper Mellinger. Years ago
Jasper had "l:ud-by" his com crop and was going to
Nonh Carolina 10 work a few days tn a blacksmith's
shop. Instead of walking the long way around, he
took the "nigh" way through the hills. Art Huskey
had a bear uap set and Jasper got caught m 11. On
finding him there. it is alleged, Art or his son
knocked poor Jasper in the head with a pine knot and
buried him m a shallow grave. Herb was detenmncd
to find lhnt grave. long since heavily overgrown. He
walked the hills for about a year bcfo,e he loaltcd the
grave only 10 discover there were four bodies buried in
the =e area. He ha.~ cleaned out lllOUlld the graves
• and a path lending 10 them and 1s now placing
mnriccrs for t!lcse people. He has deccnnincd who
three or the bodies arc and will mark the other
"unknown: Hero is a real storehouse of knowledge
and mountnin lore.
Barbara Wickersham
DcarK01111Jh,
I read with great in~t the interview with
Tom Hendricks, "The Responsibilities of Dowsing,·
in the Summer "91 issue of Kmu.o.lt JournLJI.
Hoving recently writu:n IO the Amctic:ln
Society of Dowsers expressing concern at the
non-holiSllc actions of some dowsers, I found Tom's
comments cncoumging. I have been dowsing for a
number of YeaA, mostly locating with L-rods. More
recently I hnvc been conccntroting on trying to
undcrslll.nd Eanh energies. I rend, and dowse., and find,
but feel the need to work with someone who really
knows what they arc doing. Look forward to hearing
from you.
Yours sincerely,
Joy Doheny
DeatKmuah,
s
Something a wrong with the U.S. Forest
Service le:idcrship. They can't 11\llnage our forests
properly due to a spurious pl31l they adoJ)led 25 years
ago. h can be likened 10 a disease in its effccL Call 11
"clcarcuHLtS." Ever since they've been obsessed with
denuding our forestS. They promoted the spread of
this infection to colleges and univen;iucs th.It prcp:ire
future foresters. Certain limber interests, long
affiicu:d with th IS dlSCaSC. have wdcd and supponcd
the Fore.st Service leadership m iL~ addiction and arc
confusing us with a SS0,000.000 misinformation
campain. Their purpose: 10 cut the 5~ left of our
ancient forests at huge profits to them.,;elves within
the neitl 5 to 10 years using the befuddled Fo~
Service leadership to gnm their end.
Once it was the people and the Forest Service
versus timbcrers. Now it is umbcrcrs and the Forest
Service versus the people. A tide of public concern is
rising IO stem this disease in its devnsiation with
powerful mcdicruion to be pn:scribcd by Congress.
Previous prescriptions have failed because the Forcst
Servioc leadership refuses 10 swallow the medicine
that would return it to its fonner stnte ofhc:llth. The
"Santa Claus syndrome." of practically giving away
our trees hntvesu:d at our expense. is also of gi-eat
concern to people.
tn lodinnn 120,000 people signed petitiOns and
wrote thousands of leuets, including congressmen and
lhe governor, ealling for protection of biological
diversity and regeneration of old growth. A poll of
voiers 31'0und the Hoosier National Forest showed
69% are so upset they want to bnn all logging. The
entire congressional delcgnuon or fllinois is
demanding the Forest Service Stop being Sania Claus
with below-cost sales. Arl<ansas and Texas have asked
for a halt 10 clearcutting. South Carolina people arc
asking for a ch411ge m mn~cment. In North
Carolina over 16,000 people and over a thousand
businesses signed pctiuons in a shon period of time
10 halt clearculting. A number of Forest Service
employees and supervisors, not willing to allow this
disease to reach epidemic proportions. are organizing
and asking thru the infected leadership accept
prescribed congressional medication so that the Forest
Service can survive.
I must add that a number of private forest
growers with large and small forc.~ts arc not infccu:d
with "clenrcu1-1tis." They arc surviving low prices
caused by Rnst Service leadership direction. These
forests are a JOY 10 visit compared with the shambles
pre.sent m our ll3tionaJ forests. These many growers
arc not liqu1d3tors. They believe in a tomonow for
themselves and their children. Why can't this be true
for the nntional forests?
Grandfather and Grandmother, we have the
time. We love this land and want 10 leave it beucr for
our children and grandchildren. We've seen the umber
locuslS consume our forest before. It doesn't have to
happen to the Inst gr.md trecS standing. Th.rec bills in
commitu:c need support; HR 2S01, HR 1969, and
HR 842 to help k.ill the infoction. Three congressmen
10 reach arc Harold Volkmer. Eda la Gana, Goorge
Miller (House of Rcprcscntativcs, Wnshington. DC
20015). There arc also three senators; D.ile Bum~,
Pntricl; Leahy, and Wyche Fowler (Scn.,tc Office
Building. Washington, DC 20010). Even though our
hands arc tired and weary, \YOn't you pick up a pen
and write? Let's inspire them in Washington.
Bob Gerry
Franklin, NC
Drawing by Rob Messick
rnrc., 1991
�Dear Ka1uah.
A friend gave me his copy or your Summer'!) I
Ka1uah Journal. nnd I am impressed by lhe imcgri1y
of lhe journal. One of my grcn1-grnndmothcrs wns a
full-blooded Cherokee, plus my family hns roois in
1he Miami Nation. Sadly, I never paid any heed to
this heritage until the last yenr or so. though I have
always been an enrth person. ever drawn 10 nature fascinated by forcsis, ~ueruns, wild Iire, lightning. I
rc.ili:u: that this is pan of my being, and am
beginning 10 look more closely at the wisdom of
thOl,e who came before me.
I would hkc 10 know if a publicauon s1m1lar
10 your; cxisis in the Indiana region. I would be
interested in lellming more about my foreflnhcrs, but
I'm n0t too sure where 10 start. Thank you for :iny
help you can offer. and 1100k forward 10 hearing from
you soon.
Since my return home I have fell myself often
"losing focus· with nil the technology nnd
matcriohstic vibrations that surround me. I h3ve
found th3l one thing I can do 1s make my way to a
stnnd of treeS very ncnr here and allow myself 10
recapture lhc feeling of the Smokies, the •me·
I am working with the Appalachian Women's
Guild on the Monteagle Mountain ~lion of the
Cumberland Platc3u. It seems lO me, thot this
mountain could be an exemplary bioregional
devclopmen1 - it cou.kl become self-sufftcienL ll is at
this lime extrcmdy depressed economically which
Respectfully,
Jeff Zaclulry
Dcar Ka1uah.
IC I h:id closed my eyes and envisioned the
perfect. most harmonious appro:ich 10 life in the
Soulhem Appalachians I could not have crentcd :i
more beautiful image than lhc people who conlribute
10 your journal and those who arc the rtal members of
the Katu:ih Province. I think I hove found my venue,
and my only regret is that Tdid not have the courage
10 head such a wonderful movement myself.
I'm a graduate student at Appalnchian State
University in Boone, NC studying and working lO
preserve the biodiversity and ecology of these great
mounlllins. I have struggled with 10lerance of the
modern, dcvelopmcn1-00nsumcd elite of this town and
this region. I am so happy 10 find the power in your
numbers.
Please let me know more about your cause.
your people, and your apparent passions 10 prcscrvc
the way of the conscious man and womnn. I wnnt 10
be a part of the movement, and be counted among
you.
God Bless,
J1mmy Bnrbcc
-=----
Dear KaJuah,
I was recently introduced 10 your wonderful
publication and would like 10 know more about
K01uah and how I can become involved.
In the past it seems I made less lime for myself
10 read or enjoy the beauty or life nround me.
However, due 10 a recent car occident I've found
myself with the time lO do anything and the physical
ability 10 do almost nOthing.
So I n::id.
I probably never would have come 10 know my
world, or Katuah, if it were not for the accident and a
special man in Lake Toxaway who lOOk the time 10
talk 10 me about life, healing, and Ka1uah. For th:11 I
am very thank:ful.
I thank God as I grow physically and spiritually
stronger everyday, and look forward 10 living as I
never have.
Seize the Dayl
Paula Flanks
Dear K01uah,
I live in a very popul:itcd, "built-up· pan of
Florida. and decided in June to e,;plore the Smoky
Mounuiin.~ with my friend 10 Slill, nnd re-center
myself. We had a wonderful, amazing, and
lr.lnsforming lime • and while there I discovcrcd your
publication.
Tm!, 1991
Paintina by S\1$111 Adam
rediscovered there. The Olhcr is 10 open Ka,uoli
Journal lO any page and begin IO~. The
commitment :ind dedication to Life of your writcts.
people like myself - puts me back on my chosen
pnth. Thank you for sharing and afrummg.
Yours in light,
Susan Rueter
To the Editors:
I was given a copy or lhe Kaiuah Journal.
Spring, 1991. by a friend, Cicio Myc1~k. I have just
this morning read II and am moved to find such an
enlightened group ru work. II IS like finding a pan
of your family that had been ml$mg. r want to
connect with you as projects in which 1 am im,ol ved
p:irnllcl yours in this issue.
I include my story which r have JUSt wriuen
for the Episcopal Chwch. (see excerpt below) The
opposition to a hazardous waste incinerator (three
limes the size of any existing facility which promised
to take haw-dous waste from at k:asl 20 sta.ics)
which I organized, changed my whole life. I now
work full lime on establishing a true grassroots
environmental nerwork m Tennessee that will connect
with other similar networks nationwide. (Thank God I
hnve a husband who C113bled me lO give up my
gainful employment in order 10 do this volw:uecr
work.)
I attended the Episcopal Church Envaronmenlal
Conference ,n Kanuga. NC in April llihcte I met
Jeremy Rifkin, president of the Grecnho~ Crisis
Foundation in Washing10n. He invited me to auend n
conference in Wa.mington at the end or Scp!Clllbcr
lhnt will plan a grassroots Conunental Congress for
May of 1992. I Ulke great hope that this Con tinenlal
Congress will have sufficient impact on the political
paities to change the t.otal disrcgrud for the
environment (my opmjon) that both parties have been
exhibiting.
gives llS fcrtilc ground for movmg in lhc direction of
interdependent living.
I also work with a group which ,s creating a
vision of community when: physicnlly and mentally
handicapped and non-physically handicapilcd can live
in an interdependent relationship where the arts and
celcbrauon oflife you spcalc of will be an integral
part of our circular community. We will have a
biodynnmic farm, a gteenhou~. woodworking shop,
Appalach1311 cmfis, design and making of allcmative
clOthing for the physically challenged, a printing
operation. and opportunities and encouragement for
all 10 develop their individual spirituality in an
atmosphere or love.
In fighting the evil of the inciDCnllOr, people
were brought together who have the underlilanding and
cnprabililics or making the Biorcgional Economy or
the whole mountain IOP work along with the special
community.
I celebrate your enthusiasm, your dedication,
and your Being.
Light and Love 10 all of you,
Marilyn Williams
Chau.anooga. TN
~rpttdfrom Marily11 Williams' story:
Morion County LS an economically depressed,
rural county comprised of a long valley swrounded by
mounlllins, indented wilh coves traversed by the
Tennessee River. This topogniphy results in a
phenomenon cnlled thermal invCTsion. Very often,
tempcroturc changes will force the air down and hold
it against the floor of the valley so that it cannot
escape over the mount2ins. Any kind of smoke-t;toct
indu.«ry would be unusually bad ror the area. I blcr
lcamcd that lhcnna1 invcnion was ·no problem· for
those who warued to site a haz:lJ'dous wastt
incineralor on lhe TenllCS5CC River in our county.
(c:auinued on I"'&" 28)
JC.Qtuah 1oumnl
J)(IQe
27
�(continued from pa,:c 27)
I alt.ended a meeting of our County
Commission and heard lhe president of a commen:i:il
hllzardous was1C incinerator COfflJXUlY IC.Jl lhe
commission and all present he did nOl care whwier
we voted to have him there or nol; he certainly
wouldn't icll us he wouldn't be the.re. We later le:uned
the same group had been defeated in four olhct
counhcs through use of the Local Veto Option which
we voled to hnve him there or not; he ccnainly
wouldn't tell us he wouldn't be there. We lat.er learned
the same group had been defeated in four olhcr
•
counties through use of the Locnl Vct0 Opuon which
was a Tennessee law. We knew quiic well that our
legislature had jus1 removed this law that gave
citizens ~ right to protect their property ond lhe
health and welfare of lhcir children. This 1s a
constituuonnl nght bom of n Ocmocmcy.
I C:lmC from Ilic rooeting angry. I was angry
tlmt in a land where freedom was supposed IO nng
from every mounlllln IOp, a man could siand before us
and arrogantly icll u.~ he 11o us - in so many words •
gomg 10 force on us something that we knew would
dcsll'Oy our property values and endanger our
children., lives - and for what? For profit
• My anger 1ncrenscd with the rcalm1tion that
the citizens of this Staie have every right to expect
thc,r elcc!Cd, paid official\ to make laws to protect Ilic
Jives and property of lhe people of their Staie, I snw
ourselves in the posiuon of bemg forced to do the JOb
for ourselves.
I called a meeting or friends to organv.e n
protesL I sent announcements 10 both the
newspapers, but they did not print 1hcm, We had IS
people ai the rll'St meeting. We each IOOk
rcspons1bili1y or getting others at the next mccung,
and we prepared notices to be ID.ken to the papers. At
the ncxt meeting we h.ld 26 people to plan a town
meeting to discuss the opposition to the incinerator.
At that meeting we had press from lhe city of
ChatUlnooga and 400 orderly people. After that we
had the attention of the clcclcd offici.l!s and the loca.1
press and radio stations.
Two months later, at 7 AM over 3,000 finn,
but orderly, infonned people gathered in the .square at
South PilL~burgh to confront the rcprcsentauves of
FTI who came with armed Pinkenon gu:ll'ds, The
people with their children wore T-shirts reading,
"Two, Four. Six, Eight; WE WILL NOT
INCINERATE." Cars had bumper stickers saying
"DANGER - NO INCINERATOR." Posters staung
firm opposiuon were held high. Many wore gas
mask.~. A-:. representatives of the incinerator company
Milked into the building where they had come to
conclude the mlc or the propsed incinerator site, m on
orderly fashion. the crowd began to chant, "Two,
Four, Si~. Eight - WE WILL NOT INCINERATE!"
The day b.:forc the mlly a UPl reporter who
knew the area, called me and a.,ked me how mony
people J thought we would have a1 the rally. I said
that if--.c did 001 have 01 lcai.t 2,000 I would be
sorely disappointed. He laughed, saying, "If you ha\'c
2,000 people in Marion County come out for
anything, I'll be greatly surprised. Those people luve
never been togcthcr on anything."
When I arrived m South Piu.sburgh shortly
be~ 7:0Q that morning on June 14. 1990, I lil!w
people coming "in droves; as we say. They were
commg from all over in large numbers, and icars
rolled down my race because I knew m my hcal1 that
weh3d won.
Four d.lys laicr, F11 announced they would
not build in Marion County or "any of the
surrounding area."
... I saw interesting and miraculous things
happen in this united effort. I saw shy young mo°'.crs
come forward and tell me, "l"ve never done an),1hmg
like this before. I just Silly home and talce care of my
family, but I'm not Slllying there and watching this
Juppcn."
I saw them transformed into outSpOken,
tireless worker.; who conducted meetings in their
communities to get the word ouL Some or them
called me and cried at the heanless roccplion they
encountered sometimes in the bcgiMmg when they
called on bu.'ilnesspcople to put petition~ in stores or
to tallc at city council meetings; but they never guve
up. They went right back, and !hey bccnme StrOngcr.
as they were empowered b)' the love lhey had for thi:,r
children. It occurred to me at lhc time, if the Earth i.s
10 be saved, 11 will be by mothers and those who
share the feelings or mothers.
I saw children become awurc of somctl11ng
they hlld always Uken for gmntcd. School chil.drcn
made posters and wrote letters 10 elcclCd officials.
ng
They bccrunc int.:rc.,tcd in recycling. I saw a bondi_
of people joined by a common cuus.e. I sow a commg
together of people who would prohably never have
come 10 know each other. I sa--. a ri'i<! in the
consciousnCSli of people. Then: was an elevation of
sclf-e:;1ocm. Th.:se was a knowledge gamed thm one
person can still make a dilTerencc if the)' take the hand
of their brother/sister and slalld up for whal they
believe is righL Since the mc.mcmtor fight, I have
seen others tnke the mniaiive 10 sl:llld again.st other
1njustic.!s in their communit.lc.s. •
The People are Angry! A Monual on \Va.tre
llauvdou...t to tht Ilea/th of our Cllildren in itMetsu
i.s available from Tcnne:.scc Grassroois
EnvironmenUll Network; Boll 15038: Chaunnooga,
TN3741S
Get a set of 10 assorted
folding cards with
artwork you see in
I<atuah Journal.
• You1h Camps - ~ P,ogrem1
• Family Camps· Teach0< Tra.,,ng
• Communuy Programs
• Camp Slaff Training
• Outdo« Pn,gram Consulting
(Envelopes included.)
by Rob lJlessick
Send $11.25 postage paid
to:
RM DESIGNS
r.o. aox 2601
ProgomJ to encouoge
end Earth OWOl8'l8$$.
celebrol1on. ldn&Hp and hope
$611
PO 8oK 1306
Galltnt>,,,g, terY10lSee 3n38
615-436-6203
BOONE, NC 28607
whole earth
grocery
NATIVE FLUTES
Two styles mode of cedar or walnut
woods in the traditional manner
Hawk Littlejohn
Sourwood Farm
Rt. 1, Box 172-L
Prospect Hill, NC 27314
(919) 562-3073
•
NATURAL
ALTERNATIVES
FOR HEALTHFUL
LIVING
446 c p;arkw•y craft ~ntcr • •uilc 11
gatlinburg, tcnn~ 3n38
6 15-436-6967
Xat(iah Jou r not pn9c 28
'
,,
Union Acres
A,r Alternative
-
•
Acrt.agtforSale - Smoky Moun/111n Lrving
wilh II focus on spiri/114/ 11nd
«ologit:Jll valuts
For more informalron;
Contact C. Gran/ al
RDult 1. Box 61/
Whittier, NC 28789
(704) 4974964
NATURAL MARKET
WHOLE FOODS • OULK
FOODS • VITAMINES • HERDS
• FAT FREE FOODS • TAKE
OlTTFOODS • SNACKS • NO
SALT, NO CHOLESTEROL
265-2700
823 Blow,ng Rock Rd
lloonc. NC 28607
:fnfL 1991
�,
-
0FFTHEGRID
SOLAR OVENS
by Dr. lnnnis Scanlin
This issue's 01/The Grid 1ues1 collUMis1
is Dr. Dtnnis Scan/ill, Proftssor ofApproprialt
Ttchnoloo at AppalacNIJJI State University;,.
Boone, North Carollna. Dennis is cwrrently working
on a project sponsored ITy the Su.sklinablt
Dtvtlopmelll Center of ASU to bring so/Ju ove11
ttCM()/olJ to the rural pu,plt ofGllllUma/a. Solar
o - ttcM()loo is pani&ularly appropriJJu in Ct111ral
America wlttn thert is a lot of s1111 and a probltm
with defortSiaJilJ11 as ptoplt u.sc rht forests to prqvide
woodfor cooki/11.
So/Ju ovens could, obviDu.sly. N>t ~ u.scd as
freqUUlll)I hut in Katwolt as ill Ca1ral Amtrica, bu/
rhty could ctrtamly su,,e as All OMXillary tltUf1
source IO ~ wed whutevtr possible to / - , ow
demands 011 wood, proflOM, oU ONl/or tltcrricity.
DtfortSIJJ/k,11 is IU)t cwu11tly a probkm lwre (~sides
timber sales), bUI It col/Jd ~CO/fflt OM if rht opdollS
of oil, propane and/or tltcrricily _,., too expensive
or IINIWlilabk, as is Ille t.aU ill rwol CcfllrtJJ
America. As Dr. Scanli11 lius IO poilll 0111, "lhtre is
"" silltlt tMTlJ fXIIUIUO.. 1ht suslDiJsabh t11tro of
our fwurt will come from a ~ f J ofsourcu. Solar
OVtftS w{J/ be OM of IN>U. •
·td.JimHou.su
Solar Cookers have been receiving a lot
of attention recently in both the developing
and developed regions of the world. This
attention is well deserved because these
ovens are a truly appropriate technology.
First of all, they really work. They are
also cheap enough to be accessible to
virtually everyon~ easy to construct with
locally available materials; simple to
understand and operate; utilize renewable
energy; and reduce our dependence on
centrally supplied energy or, in the
developing world, diminishing supplies of
increasingly expensive fuelwood, wi1hout
having any adverse impacts on the
environment They can be a pan of the
solution ro the many problems facing our
world.
There are two basic types of solar
cookers. The first is the direct or focusing
parabolic dish cookers, which are usually
about 4 feet in diameter and reflect all the
solar energy striking them onto a focal point
which is usually about 18 inches above the
center of the dish. A pot of food would be
supponed at this focal point. Their
performance can be very impressive,
achieving temperatures over 600° F;
however, they can onJy heat one pot of food
at a rime, can be difficult to construct, need to
be focused every 15 to 30 minutes and don't
work very well on panly cloudy days.
Effons 10 market these cookers have
largely failed because of their tempennentnl
nature and because people don't like standing
out in the sun while cooking. The whole
TaU, 1991
SOLAR OVEN
Drawing by DoMis Scanlin
process of cooking with these cookers is too
different from traditional methods.
The indirect or box ovens have been the
focus of most of the recent interest in solar
cooking. An indirect or box oven is simply
an insulated box with a glass or plastic cover,
and one or more reflectors to increase the
amount of sunshine entering the box. Food is
usually placed in dark colored pots with
covers. The pots full of food are then placed
in the solar oven and absorb the solar energy
entering the oven. These ovens reach
temperatures between 250 and 450° F, can
cook several pots of food at the same time,
work on partly cloudy days. aod are simple
and inexpensive to construct
Many indirect or solar box ovens have
been designed over the last few years;
however, most fall into one of two
categories: single reflecror or multiple
reflector.
The single reflector type is the least
complicated variety. It is an insulated
rectangular box with a shoe box type lid and
a single reflec1or attached to the lid. It was
first developed in 1976 by Barbara Kerr and
Sherry Cole of Tempe, Arizona and is the
design presently being promoted by Solar
Box Cooker International, 1724 11th Street,
Sacramento, CA 95814. They have plans
available for $3.00.
Plans are also available from Kerr
Enterprises, Inc., P.O. Box 27417, Tempe,
AZ 85282, (602) 968-3068. They also have
complete kits for a well designed cardbo:ud
oven for about $55.
Kits are also available from Basic
Solar, Harvard Square Suite 67, 1430 Mass.
Ave.. Cambridge. MA 02138.
Kits or plans are not really necessary,
however, as one could easily be constructed
with either cardboard or wood. One good
source of cardboard boxes is Xerox paper
boxes found in schools and businesses.
Banana or apple boxes found in the local
grocery store are also quite sturdy, as are
cardboard file boxes which can be purchased
for about $3.00 at an office supply store.
These boxes could be covered with contaa
paper or painted for increased water
resistance.
The box could also be constructed from
large sheets of cardboard or with peices of
wood. Plywood and lxlO's or lxl2's have
been used. There may be undesirable gases
emitted from the plywood, which would
contaminate your food, but I'm not sure
about this potential problem.
The box should be large enough to
contain the desired size of pots which will be
used. but not much larger. The inside
dimensions of the Kerr/Cole cooker
mentioned earlier arel8"x22"x7". This size
can hold 3-4 pots of food and can cook a
meal for 4-6 people easily.
Insulation on the sides and boaom of
the oven wiU help it attain higher
temperatures by reducing heat loss. The
easiest is Thc.rmax foil faced insulation
secured with foil rape (not duct tape). There
may be hannful gases given off by this and
(continued on page 30)
Xatuah 1ourna! om1e ? Q
�(coniinutd from page 29)
01hers have objected to its use; however I
have not noticed any strange odors or tastes
in food cooked in an oven insulated with this
material, and when I called the manufacturer,
I was told there have been no problems
associated with ils use.
Another insulation scheme is 10 use a
smaller box inside the outer one and put
crumbled newspapers or fiberglass insulation
between the two boxes. Still another is to
fold cardboard so that trapped air pockets are
fonned and put these peices into the bottom
and on the sides of the box. With !he last two
Home Power Inc., POB 275. Ashland, OR
97520; and The Solar Coo~ry Book, Beth
and Dan Halacy, Peace Press 3828 Wilat
Avenue, Culver City, California 90230.
A variety of foods including soups,
stews, bread, chicken, cakes, rice, potatoes,
lasagna, and a variety of other vegetables can
be cooked in a solar oven. However, it does
involve some behavioral modification. One
needs to check the weather report for the day,
plan the day's dinner in the morning, put it
together and in the oven by around 10 or 11
and point the oven towards the south.
Obviously some foods will cook faster than
others. Baked beans and hot dogs can be
heated up in about I hour. Lentils, brown
rice, and soy beans will take substantially
longer. But just about anything can be
cooked in one good sunny day, or even a
panly cloudy day, if placed in the oven in the
morning and if the oven is reoriented towards
the sun a few times during the day. Around
noon is the ideal rime for solar cooking
because that is when we are receiving the
greatest amount of solar radiation.
There is no worry about burning foods.
Dark enamel, glass or ceramic pots work
well. TI1e dark-colored pots absorb more
radiation. Most cooking should be done in
convered pois.
Several solar cookbooks are available,
including Eleanor's Solar Cookbook, Eleanor
Shimcall. Cemese Publishers, 7028 Leesburg
Place, Stockton CA 95207 and Favorite
Recipes From Solar Cooks, Solar Box ,;,!!II'
Cooker International.
schemes the junction between the inside and
outside of the oven needs to be covered.
The reflector can be consmicted from
cardboard with a reflective material such as
aluminum foil, reflective mylar or a glass
mirror glued to it. Glass, plastic cooking
bags (available in grocery stores), or teflon
can be used for the glazings. Multiple layers
of glazing will result in better performance.
The glazing can be attached wilh aluminum
tape, wooden strips and nails for a wooden
box, and/or caulk. Multiple reflector designs
(fig. I) achieve higher temperature.\ (300-450°
F) but are more complicated to construct.
These cookers usually have a door on
the back side, but can also be constructed
with a shoebox type lid so the whole oven,
withou1 a bottom, fits over a shallow pan,
which would hold the pots of food.
Plans are available for $10 from Our
Sol.tr Systems, Box 55891. Tucson, AZ
85703. Two books with plans are also
available: Heave11s· Flame. A Guidebook 10
Solar Cookers, By Joseph Radabaugh,$ IO,
Complete ovens can also be purchased
from Clevlab ($15 - $275), POB 2647,
Liuleton, Colorado, 80161 and from Sunlight
Energy Corporation ($179), 441 lW. Echo
Lane, Glendale, AZ 85302 (602) 943,6492.
Figure 2 shows an exploded view of a smnll
p
muhiple reflector oven similarly inspired by
the Clevlab $15 Sunspot Solar Oven. This
same basic construction can be expanded for
a larger slant face type mulliple rcflcct0r
oven.
FRENCH BROAD
FOOD CO-OP
•• • Co05Umcr0wncd Since 1975 • ••
We Sell Food that Nourishes
I Iumans and Sustains the Earth
OPEN TO T l IE PUBLIC
Mond,,y· FriJay 8:30 AM to 8:00 r:--1
Saturdav 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM
SundJ)' I :(l(J P\I 10 6:00 PM
(704) 255-7650
Home! A Bioregional Reader
1/o,,u:! A Biorcgional Rtader, juit publi.\hcd hy
New Society Publi$hcrs, offcrs· nn c,ciung vision :uid
slOltcgy for creaung ('.enlogic.ii ly su~btn~htc
communnics and culture., rn hannony v. ilh the limiL~ nnd
rcgcncrauve powers or the £2th." It ha.~ gathered a.niclcs,
stories. and potnL~ of O\'Cr forty writer~ and acuvm.~who
have contnbu!Cd both co ddining biortgionalism a.~ a
J)Olitic;il philosophy and to the pracuce of "living rn
place.· Comnbutors mcluJ.:: Gary Snylkr, Pttcr Berg.
Caroline Estc,, Wendell Rcrry, a, well as Mnmie Muller
of the Karunlt l<mrnnl. Gr:ipl11cs in the book include the.•
\\Ort of Katuah's Rob Mcsskl..
The book is a large-format r;ipcrhack with 192
pages. includrni; resources and a reading list. Copies arc
available by mnil for S15.70 from RM Designs: Boi
Tnlhng Lto,~.s i~ • mor11hly
JOWMI nf ~ ecoloay, in.<rircd
p,,rwoaJ 11e11,·i= rooted UJ CNtheo
~piri11111iiy. Pu1 i"'-<;ues bnc
!car~ ani,lcs by Gary Soy<kr.
St.Vba"'k, John Sec:J, Joa.nna
Macy, B111 Dc\'all. Looc Wolf
Circle!'. Barhara Mor, etc.
Tnlki11g uo1n SJICU~ for the
narural "''-'"d and for the rdcinJliog
ot our own 'l-11d 51>in1.
Suh5COpUon~ an, S 15.00 on.)Ut/$18.000U1,1dc U.S. S25.00
two yc.tn/S36.00 ouwdc U.S .
~nd ch«k or M 0 . 10 :
Tnlkwg Lto,·a
1430 W1llamcuc #36 7
Eugene. OR 97401
503/342-2974
90 8i11m11rc Avcnul! A,hevallc, NC
2 Blocks South ol Downtown
rrutoNSETc:1
+.
•
0
~
I
.
.
- tl1c new al tcnmt.h·c
•
i
to tJ1c sleeper sofa
wiil1 OYcr 4,000 vcars of
customer ~atisfacH~n built in.
--
2601: Boone, NC 28007. Print,,, or Rob Mcssick's
illustrations from the book are also avnilablc from the
same llddn=
Taff, 1991
�The Bell: A Call to Peace
'The Bell
publishes
commentary and
news about peace
events and
resources. We digest
the best an1clcs
questioning war as a
solution 10 conflict
and exploring
peaceful alternatives
of foresight and reason. We continue to cover
the aftermath or the Gulf War, the policies that
brought us to that war, and the effect of
militarism on our country. our environment,
and our world.
"We accept contributions in the way of
writings, p<>cms, artwork, etc. The Bell is an
all-volunteer project that is dependent on
donations."
Issue #6 of The Bell, which contains an
interview with a woman who has maintained a
ten year, 2·1-hour-a-day peace vigil across the
srrcet from the White House, is currently
available.
TI1c Bell is published by Col/ten Redt1w11 and
Ah,yn Moss. To rrceivt The Bell, send a donmion to
Box 634; Floyd. VA 24091.
Permaculture Conference
The 6th Annual Eastern North America
Pennaculture Conference will be held
October 11-13 at the Standing Stone State
Park, near the town of Livingston m
nonhcast Tennessee.
Friday, October 11 • Field Day at Earth
Advocates Research Facility with an
inrroduction 10 Pcrmaculture.
Presentations on Saturday and Sunday,
October 12-13 - Keyline; Pcrn1aculturc and
Spirituality; Solar Power; Bio:.helters;
Low-income Community Development/Land
Tnms,
Monday, October 14 - Tours of nearby
Hidden Springs and Long Hungry Creek
Nurseries.
Costs are: Field Day - $20, Conference
registration (sliding scale) - $50-75 single,
$75-100 family. includt!s dorm lodging and
meals. Tours are free.
For directions and additional
infonnation, write: Eanh Advocates; Rt. 3,
Box 624; Livingston, TN 38570.
•
TURTLE ISLAND
BIOREGIONAL
CONGRESS
Mark the date!
The fifth
Turtle Island
Bioregional Congress
wm be held
MAY 17-24
at
Camp Stewart
Kerrville, Texas
(northwest of San Antonio)
Rl'g1strahon fet.-s hav<.> not b<.>cn set, but lhcn~
will bc r1.-dured rat<.>S for those who apply
bcfore0cccmbcr31, 1991
For funhcr infonnation on fees and
arrangements, contact the
Turtle Island Office
Box 140826
Dallas, TX 75214
(214) 324-4629
Bioregional Congresses
01.ark Area
The Twelfth Annual Ozark Area Community Congress, OACC
(pronounced 'oak") XII, will meet September 20, 21, & 22, 1991 at
Hammond Mill Camp in West Plains, Missouri. OACC has met for 12
years as a working congress (not merely a conforcnce) developing a
vision for the Ozark region based on nature's ecological rrinciples. They
focus on a range of issues including forestry, water, sustainable
agriculture. education. health, community economics, etc. This year's
congress includes a number of workshops as well as a barter fair. For
more infonnation. contact OACC, Box 3, Brixey, Missouri 65618. (417)
679- 4773.
Great Lakes Area
The Great Lakes Bioregional Congress will meet October 4, 5, &
6, 1991 in Hell (no joke), Michigan. The Congress promises to be a
celebratory, educational, fun weekend. Zones of discussion will include:
Water/Air (repon from International Joint Commission meeting, Great
Lakes Beach Sweep, toxic issues, aquatic intelligence); Eanh ( organic
farming, land use, restoration, tenure); Justice (social justice, people of
color, 500 years of resistance with dignity); Culture (alternative
economics, children, bioregional education, art, sacred sites); Habitat
(co-housing. sustainability); Nature (biodiversity, wilderness, forestry,
land defense). Scholarships available. Contact: Bearrice Briggs, % Wild
Onion Alliance, 3432 N. Boswonh, Chicago. IL 60657. (312) 929-5565.
Ohio River Watershed
The Ohio River Watershed Bioregionnl FestivaVCongress will be
held October 11-14, 1991. Entitled "Coming I Jome: Spirituality and
Ecology of our Region", the Congress is "open to all who desire to create
ways of life which are in harmony with the natural patterns and cycles of
the bioregion." All attendees are asked to panicipate in storytelling,
camping, sharing homegrown entenainment, produce, and seeds. The
Congress will be held at the fann of the Sisters of St Fmncis outside of
Oldenburg in southeast Indiana. $ I0/individual; $25/family. For more
information, contact: John Gibson, 3038 FalJ Creek Parkway,
Indianapolis, IN 46205; (317) 925-9297.
rnrc. ,.,
t!l!Jl
REGIONAL RADIO
Featuring Crossroads music, NPR news and music
p rograms, regional news and information
concerning health, education, government,
recreation, and the environment.
WNCW • FM P.O. Box 8().1
Spind,11~, NC 28160
(704) 287-8000
Xotimh Journot pn')C ~ I
�27-29
GREAT SMOKIES PARK
"Ecological Spintuafity.• exploring our
spiritual relationship to nmure. Topics will co~cr
theology or nature, 1'a1ivc American spir11uality,
stewardship responsibility. Pre-register: SSO. For info
about this and other programs. conUICt Great Smoky
Mountains Institute at Tremont; GSMNP: Townsend.
TN 37882. (615) 448-6709.
SEPTEMBER
11- 13
llLACK '>tOUNTAlN, NC
Black Mountain Mu~ic ~1ival, featuring
HorseOics, Metropolitan Blues Alls1ars, Dnv1d
Wilcox, Dr. Bubba and Ille O.K, Bayou Bnnd, and
other traditional and contemporary mu~icions. Will
also include African Drum Festival with Darrell
Rose. Cont:itl the Black Mountain FcsLi val Office.
PO Box 216, Black Mountain. NC 28711. (704)
669-4546.
Ongoing CIIEROKEF., r-;c
Exhibit: "The Beu in Cherokee Cultucc."
Cherokee Hcri1age Museum and Gallery, Hwy. 441
and Big Cove Rd.: Cherokee, NC 28719. (704)
497-321 I.
CULLOWHEE, NC
Mountam Heritage Day. n cclcbrauon or the
music, dance, crofL~. nnd folklife or Katunh. Cherokee
songs, shape,note singing, gospel, clogging. Life
skills dcmon.s1r.1tions and more. Mountrun Hcniage
Center, Western Carolina University. Cullowhce, NC
28723. (704) 227-7129.
SW ANNANOA, NC
Wnllace Black Elk, Lako1:1 Sioux mcd1cmc
mon. will lecture and conduct h<mling ceremomics 31
the Earth Center. Friday night: S25. Weekend: S150.
The Earth Center: 302 Old Fellowship Road:
Swannanoa, NC 28778. (704) 298-3935.
21
29
11-13
ASHEVILLE, NC
2nd Annual Organic Gro.,.crs Murkct Day
Organic produce, fruit, and growing ~upplics on sale.
8-4. WNC Farmers' Market; 570 Brevard Rd. For
more info, cnll Jim Smith (704) 252-4414.
20-22
HIGIILANDS, NC
"Cclebnumg Gay Spint Visions·
conference for gay and bisexual men. Spc.ikcrs include
poet James Broughton and author/healer Andrew
R:imer. Workshops on chakra b:ilancing, life ma.~k
making. n,e Warrior, and more. Music and artists'
m:irkcL ?re-register: S169 includes food and lodging
at The Mount:iin Retreat Center. For info, contact
Conference: 104 Trouer Place: Asheville. NC
28806. (704) 252-0634.
22
DUNCOM tlE COUNTY, NC
12th annu31 French Broad River Rafting
Cleanup. Tidy up the river from shore or from a mrt:
call Quality Forward a1 (704) 254-1776 for meeting
places and space on a rofL
WESTERN NOR1 H CAROLINA
North Cnrolino Fu-s1 Citizens Big Sweep
will coordinmc river cleanup~ in 18 WNC counties.
For events on your tribul3ry, com.act Pat Brinkley at
WNC Development Associn11on, (704) 252-4783.
28
ASHEVILLE, NC
Ellen O'Grady will speak about her
expcnenccs among Palestinians and lsrnclis during ten
months spent on o Middle East Witness delegauon.
Unitarian Universnlist Church, 2 pm, sponsored by
Rural Souihem Voice for Peace. For more info,
contact RSVP: 1898 Hannah Branch Road;
Burn.svdle, NC 28714. (704) 675-5933.
OCTOBER
Ongomg CHER OKEE, NC
Exhibit: "Coowccskoowcc (Chief John
Ross)" Cherokee Heritage Museum ond Gallery. Sec
"Ongoing" • Sept
1-5
CII EROKEE,
Cherokee Fall Festival 31 the Ceremonial
Grounds. Traditional dancing and costumes. dunce
competitions, weapons dcmonsu:uions. Chcrol.;cc
HcritJgC An Show running concurrently in the
Museum. For info. coll (704) 497 9195 or (800)
438-1601.
22
23
AUTUMN EQUINOX,
FULL MOON
4-6
JONESBORO, NC
l9ch Annual National Storytelling
Festival will feature yarn-spinners from all
over, including some of Appalachia's best.
For info, call the National Association for the
Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling
(NAPPS) at (615) 753-2171.
11-13
VALLEY HEAD, AL
Brooke Medicine Eagle at Hawk wind. (See
"Wcbworking" page.)
11-13
11,EW MARKET, TN
"Building Bridges 13c{woon Community o.nd
Educational lnstitulions" workshop. Designed to
show community activists how to make good use of
university and college resources. The Highlan~ r
Center. Sec 9/13-15.
I 1-20
HOT SPRI NGS, 1'C
"The Buddhist Prcccp1s for Daily Living"
silent rc1.rea1. guided by Cheri Huber. The 16
Bhodisatvn prcceplS as guidelines for deepening one's
spiritual practice. Pre-register: S325 includes vegan
meals and shared room . For information on 1hi5 and
other rc1rcat.s and workshops. contact Southern
Dharma Rc1rca1 Center: RI. I, Box 34-H; Hot
Springs, r-;c 28743. (704) 622-7112.
ASHEVILLE, 1'C
"The Solar Wisdom or the Incas· wilh
Willaru Chasqu1 from the Peruvian Andes. Gnosuc
wisdom of the central sun, imerplnnctary mission of
the E.T.'s, revolution in consciousness, universal
community, and the lnc:in calendar. 7:30 pm at
Jubilee, 45 Wall SL Free - love offerings accepted.
For more info. contact Valerie Naiman (704)
645-5110.
12
17-20 UNICOI STATE PARK, GA
25-29 ASHEVILLE, NC
"Kituwah" - an imenribal Native
American cultural celebration. Included will
be lifestyle ans demonstrations, competitive
dancing, juried fine arts show, traditional
crafts sale, and dramatic performances. All
events will be at the Asheville Civic Center.
Admission $2-7. For info, contact Kituwah,
46 Haywood St., Asheville, NC 28801.
(704) 252-3880.
HIGHLANDS, NC
WNC Alliance Annual Membership
Meeting al The Mountain. Open 10 the public.
Worlcshops, nature walks, lcgislntivc upda1e. Keynocc
speaker: James Blomquisl. head of the Public Londs
Program for the Siem Club. Workshops on
biOJcgions, mcdj:Juon, environmental effectiveness,
and lhe timber sale appeals. ConlJICt WNC Alliance:
B011 18087: A~heville. NC 28814. (704) 258-8737.
7
NEW MOON
10-13
NORRIS, TN
12th Annual Tennessee Fall Homecoming.
a cctebralion or lrlldmonal mountain cullure at the
Museum of Appalachia. Music, crafts,
demonstrations of rural life skills, in addition to the
Museum's regular cxhJbits. For info, call the
Museum of Appalachia at (615) 494-7680.
FnJI Ennhskills Workshop will offer
serious instruc1ion in the ans and lifeways of
indigenous people. Skills include making fire
by friction, plant identification, tanning
buckskin, stone and bone tools, stalking and
tracking, native drums and rattles.
Instructors: Darry Wood, Snow Bear, Scott
Jones. For info. contact Bob Slack, Jr.;
Unicoi State Park; Helen, GA 30545. (404)
878-2201.
18-20
27-29
ll-14
LIVINGSTON, TN
6th Annual Eastern Nonh American
Pennacuhurc Conference. Field day, nursery
tours, workshops: keyline, pennaculture and
spirituality, solar power, bioshelters, land
truSlS, more. Pre-register: Weekend - $50-75
(sliding scale), Field Day - $20 additional, to
Eanh Advocates; Rt 3, Box 624, Livingston,
TN 38570
SWANNANOA, NC
Dance, drumming, and teaching with
Brooke Medicine Eagle, healer and licensed counselor,
al the Earth Cen1er. S11ong emph3s1s oo women's
ways, but bolh men and women are welcome. Friday
night: $25. Weekend· SISO. See IWl l-13.
18-20
VALLEY HEAD, AL
"Women's Ceremonial Intensive" at
Hawkwind. (Sec "Webworking" p:1gc.)
Ta([, 1991
J
�SWAl'\ r-. ANOA, NC
"Rcncwmg Worship" Conference spon.sorcd
by Asheville Jubilee Community examinmg
Crcauon SpmlU3hLy through Lhc works of Ma11hew
Fo~. S250 1u11,on + S200 lodging. Jubilee: 46 W311
S1.: Asheville, NC 28801 (704) 252-5335.
NOVEl\IDER
21-25
23
F ULL MOON
NEW M ARK ET, T N
Appalachian Writers Workshop a1 1he
HighlMdet Center. Sec 9/13-15.
25-27
25-27
HI GHLANDS, NC
"Fall Landscape Workshop" with
photographer Sam Wang. Pre-register: $250 includes
lodging. For information about this and other
photography workshops, contact Appalachian
Environmental Ans Center; Box 580: Highlands, NC
2874 I. (704) 526-2602.
26
SWANNANOA, NC
Sweat lodge at th.: Earth Center Sec
10/11-13.
HALLOWE'l-:N (SAM ll AIN)
31
6
23
SWANNANOA. NC
Sweat lodge al the Earth Center. Sec
10/11-13.
NFW 1\100"1
7-9
G REENV ILL E, NC
6th Annu:il Altcma1ivc Farm Field Days.
Tours. seminars: aquaculture. markeung. compostmg,
cover crops, f>C$t mMagement, more. For info. write
Caroli no Farm Stewordsh1p A~sociation; Box 511;
Pittsboro. NC 27312 or call Jim Smith m Asheville
4.
at (704) 252-44 1
28-30
WAYNESV ILLE, NC
"Steps 10 Pc:icc" workshop with Sanderson
Beck. Inner ond outer pc:ice nnd the principles which
bring about peace. h3llllony, jusuce, and respect for
freedom. S60 includes vegetarian meals Md lodging.
For info on this and other program5, contact
Sul-Light Retreat Center; RI. I, Box 326;
Waynesville, NC 28786. (7~) 452-4569.
8-10
VA LLEY HEA D, AL
"A Weekend lnicns1vc on Lakota Ways• at
Howkwind. (Sec Wcbworking" page.)
9-10
SWANNANOA, NC
Dhyani Ywahoo 111 Lhc Eanh Ccmcr.
"Dhyani calls on u.~ 10 become Pcacckccpcr; in our
hearts and in the world." S200. Sec 10/11-13.
16-17
VA LLE Y II EAO, AL
Healing Arts Weekend al lillwkwind. (Sec
'Webworking" page.)
20-24
HOT SPRI NGS, NC
"Tam,ng the Monkey Mind" mcdit.ition
rctrc.it guided by Ven. Thubten Chodton, M ,\mericM
Tibetan BuddhlSI nun. Southern Dharma Retreat
Center. Prc-rcgi~tL-r: $170. Sec 10/11-20.
21
DECEMBER
5
NEW MOON
7-8
GREAT SMO KIF.S PARK
Winter llighcountry C.1mping. For info on
this and other field school comses. conlllct Smoky
Mounmin Field School: 600 Henley SL (Suite 105);
Univ. or TN; Knoxville, lN J7902. (615) 974-0150
or (800) 284-8885.
DO YOU ll'ANT YOUR IIAPPENINGS US-TED IN
HIE KATUMI EVENTS CALENDAR? listings arc
free. Mail tl~m to 1/rother 8/uir; JOO Webb Cove
Rd: A.fhtvilfe, NC 28804. l.isltngs for Issue 1133
must bt submilltd by Nov. 15.
FULL MOON
22-24
NF.W MARKET, TN
An11-Env1mnmcnt:il llaras.,mcm work.shop
at the fl1ghlandcr Center, Environmental ac1h·1sts
will learn how 10 dc0ccl harn,smcnt from the
polltic,1Vcorpor.i1e power st.nJCturc. Sec 9/13-15.
"The an!,.l°s oldest
.lnd l.ugcs1 natural
ioodsgnx.:,ry"
811/k l lcrbs, Spices, & Grains
Vitamins & Supplements
Y.'11eat, Salt & Yeast-Free Foods
Dniry S11bstit11trs
Hair & Skin Cart' Products
Beer & Wi11c Makiug Supplies
200 W. King St, Boonr, :-:c 2S607
(70-l) 26-1-5220
l)r4wing by Rob Me;s.,d,
rJ
tJf.u
~ Sand_y Mush
Herb N ursery
WH OLE FOODS
VITAMINS
ORGANI C PRODUCE
WREATHS • POTPOURRI
• HERBS • TOPIARY
Complete Herb Catalog - $4
Describes more thn11 800 pla11ts from
Aloe to Yarrow
160 Broadway
Asheville, North Carolina
Open 7 Days a Week
Monday - Friday 9 am - 8 pm
Saturday 9 am - 6:30 pm
Sunday 12 pm - 5 pm
Tal.t, 199 1
A.I.A., Resource Information Analysis
Neil Thomas and Andy Feinstein
3 05 Westover, Asheville, NC
(704) 252-6816
Rt 2, Surrett Cove Road
Leicester, North Carolina 28748
Pltone for appointment to visit
(704) 683-2014
�0
•bwo~ ~,! ~
We
'
a fee of $2 .50 (pre-paid) per enrry offifty
words or less.
Submit entries for Issue 1133 by Nov. I5,
1991 to: Rob Messick; Box 2601; Boone,
NC 28607. (704) 754-6097.
Tl-IE MOUNTAINS - arc calling me home. I'll be
there in Spring of 1992. Nuds: {I) a place 10 put
a tipior s111411 camper (nc:ir a wruer source). (2) a
babysiucr between home and Asheville or
Swannanoa (ttansfering 10 school lhete), and (3 J a
JOb. Skills: (I J Organic Gardener {2) Vegetnri.an
Cook ( 3) Herbal Prcparatioos. Contact me ac
Kathleen Ashley; 1302 Two NO<Ch Road #17:
Lcitingt011, SC 29072.
MUSIC BY BOB AVERY-GRUBELavailJlbleoo three
casseues.. Treasures iii the Stream and Circles
Returning are folk/roclc-jaiz, and a JCCcnt release of
original chants and songs, Light iii tht Wind. is a
cap~ll.a. Lyric sheets included.. Send SI0 for each
tape or$26 for all thrce 10 Bob Avery-Grubel: RL I,
Box 735; Floyd, VA 24091.
'69 FORD VAN, high·l0P, very good condition. $900.
Call (704) 488-9347 (doc10r's office - leave message).
Kllty StOkely.
HlGflLANDER CEN"leR • is a community-based
cducaLion:11 orgnni:wion whose purpose is to provide
space for people to lcam from e.ich Olhcr, and to
develc,pc solutions to environmental problems based
on their values, CJtpcricnces, and aspirations. They
also put out a quarterly ncwsteucrcalled llishlander
R1:por1s. For more infoml!UJOII contact Highlander
Centu. 1959 Highlnndcr Way; New Mank.ct, TN
37820 (615) 933-3443
RAW CHEMICAL-FREE HONEY • Tulip Poplar,
Sourwood, and Wild0owcr honey rrom the forests of
Pauiclc County, VA. No chemicals. no white sugar,
no heal ever. Sunincd through chccsccloth and p:ickcd
in glass. Limited qU31ltities. Call or wnte for prices
& availability. Wade B11tkholls • Bull Mountllin
Beekeepers: RD 2, Boit I 516; Stunrt. VA 24171
(703) 694-4571.
WISE WOMAN TRADmON. Fall RooLWOtk
Wed.end with Wh1tcwolf. November 8-10. For
women and men. Dig roots, mnke medicine, I.cam
Eanhwisc healing through Joumeymg, drumming,
and dreaming. Wann donn and hearty vcgclllrian
meals. One hour from Asheville. Donation SISO 100. some worlt exchange avnilablc. Wh11ewolf; PO
Box 576; Asheville. NC 28802.
LAND FOR SALE: 10 actc privlllC cove. Large organic
field. rustic: farmhouse with spring fed water nnd liOlar
symm. SITl411 solar ,1ruc:wre. SS0.000. Call (104)
649-9266 for Tom.
NATIVE AMERJCAN CEREMONIAL HERBS • we
offer a large variety of sages. IIWCCI grass. natural
resins, and everything ncccssary for smudging. Native
smoking mixtures, flute mu.,ic, pow-wow mpcs. and
ocn:monial songs. Essential oils. and mccnscs
speciflcally made for prayer. offering. and mcdiuilion.
For catalog call or write: Essencial Drcnms: Rt 3.
Box 285: Eagle Forlt, Hayesville, NC 2890-I (104)
389-9898.
Xatimfl Journot pt19c 34
PlEDMONT BIOREGIONAL INSTITUTE • For those
who live in the Piedmont area, there's a bioregional
effort well underway. Jom Us! We would npprecillle
any donation of time or money to help meet
operating expenses. For a gift of S2S.OO or more. we
will send you a copy of John Lawson's journal, A
New Vo.)12ge 10 Carolina. Also come find out about
the Lawson Pro.,ect. PB!; 412 WRoscmnry Street;
Chapel Hill, NC27516: Uwharria Province. (919)
942-2581.
BODY R11n-,1MS from Pl311Clllly Mothers· a
beautiful and paraclical calendar for women to ch:irl
their "moonthly" cycles. Send $3.00 plus S1.00
poSUlge 10: Planclllly Mothers Collcctivc(c/o Nancie
Yonker); 5231 Riverwood Avenue; Saraso111, Fl.
34231.
FAMILIES LEARNlNG TOGETHER·
Homeschooling families organization. Discuss
issues, give mutual support. shllre ideas and
resources, and gnther for family activities. Write
Doug Woodward; 68 Lakey Creek; Franklin, NC
28734 for infonnation.
LOCAL RECYCLING CO-OP • crunched by glass
price cuts! rr you have any interest in the recent cut in
glim prices by the Owens-Brockway Company, and
would hkc to help do something about the flawed
economics of recycling, or just shale information,
please write BretNelson; 1578 Bow Hill Road;
Christiansburg, VA 24073.
THE LOVING WELL COMPANY • is a group of
people wooong together to suppon and promote what
worb 111 health and education. We arc building a
communuy dcdicrucd to pence and 10 livmg in a
healthy relationship with one allOlher. For more
infonnauon write Naomi Ross; 1433 Woodland HIiis
Drive NE: AllanUI. GA 30324-4627.
"BLOW YOUR MlND" • with the celestial sootlung
music of "Medicine Wind" by George TOCtorClli. Also
c.xouc fine-tuned bamboo nutcs in many keys nnd
modes. For more information send LO'. George
Tortorelli; 86 NW 55th Street; Gainesville, Fl.
32601. (904} 373-1837
LAND FOR SALE • Magnificent view with small
house m beautiful Spring Creek. NC. Ten miles
south of Hot Springs. NC (o!T Route 209), and one
hour west of Asheville. S25.000 f01 I.Ind and house.
Perfect for the sctr sufficient life. CaU Landa Deyo at:
(704) 675-9575.
NATJVE AMERICAN Fl.UTE MUSIC· Richard
Roberts, a well lcnown west TN new age nutist (ab
Zero Ohms), is now 3V3il~blc an the Ea!i! TN/NC
area. For rclaitiog and uplifting pcrfOrmMCC$ or UIJJCS
conlllCC Richard Robcns; Box 821; Noms, TN 37&2g
(61S)494-8828orRL I.Box 136RD;Lamar,MS
3~2 (601) 252-4283.
WE NEED. three families to complete our five family
community/neighborhood. Private south facing cove
with streams, sprangs. and views 1n Weaverville. NC
area. You get 5 to 10 acres for your home nnd equal
intueSt in I 10 acres of common land. S2S,000 to
30.000 depending on house site. Call (704) 658-2676
ror more infonnntlon.
~~
,"l' ~
HAWKWIND
Eanh Renewal Cooperative - invitcs you to
pan.icipate ma season ofctnsscs and gruhcrlngs to
tnke pince a1 our lush, 70 acre wilderness rctm1L
Ccnttally locnlCd to Georgia and Tennessee in the
Northern Alabama Mountains, our campground and
focilitics arc ava.ilablc to members, public gnthcrings
and private organizational use. Monthly prog,ams
range from Organic G:u-de'1ing, Native and Eanh
Philosophies, IO the Environment, Healing
Programs, Self Reliance, Women m Transition and
much more. Safe Family Camping. Send SI.SO for
oewslctu:r ond schedule of events to: 1-!Qwkwind; PO
Box 11; Valley Head, AL 35989. (205) 635-6304
BROOKE MEDICINE EAGLE • join this very special
Elllthlceepcr, healer. and teaehcr who has dedicated her
life 10 the people. Raised on the Crow Rescvailon in
Montana, she is a licensed counselor, and has been a
moving force behind the movement to ruum 10 the
traditional ways of honoring the Earth. Broolce will
shatc with us her lmditions, songs. dance and
drumming as well as her strong insight into the
"women's ways.• October I l-13th, $160 for the
wcelccnd intensive. For reservations & details contact
Hawlcwind at (205) 635-6304 (evenings best).
A WEEKENDINTENSIVEONLAKOTA WAYS·
Morning Star and Gilbert Wallcing Bull provide
ttaditional Lakota ceremonies 10 their community.
They teach Lakota tradiuons: the ceremony oflhc
Stone People's lodge, the S:icred c:honupa , lhe vision
qllC:il and the Sun Dance prcpru-ation. November
8-I0th, $160 for ru11 weekend. includes Clll11ping.
Ceremonies open will\ no fee. ConUICt Hawlcwind at:
(205) 635-6304 (evenings bcsl).
WOMEN'S CEREMONIAL INTENSIVE· The
Hawkwoman Cucle mvi1.es you to gather for a
wcelcend of song, dance, drumming. and ritual
ceremony for purification and crcat.ion of cen:mooiru
Loots. Together we will explore the many roles of the
Earth Women, and the ways that ceremony can be
used in everyday living. October 18-20, camping fees
and o love offering to cover materials and teacher
costs. Contnct Hawkwind nc (205) 635-6304.
HEALING ARTS WEEKEND· Hawkwmd brings :i
scncs of nawnil hc;iling systems together. Joan
professional mass3ge therapists, herbal healers, body
workers :ind join m purificntion ntU31s to remove !he
dis~ and bring the body m10 b31ancc. No,-cmbcr
16-17, S80 for lhe whole ...,eekcnd. Conuict
Hawlcwmd ac (205) 635-6304 (evenings best).
NEW MOON & SOLSTICE GATHERINGS •
Hawkwmd honors the Earth People and !he Natural
Native Rituals of clc.insing and renewal. We come
togcll1cr in lodge ocrcmony, singing, drumming,
dancing, and sea:;onal mcd1ui11ons. Native philosophy
classc~ and women's circle meet on Sunday.
Novcmb,;r 9/10, December 7/8, December 21/22 Pot
luck meals, camping fees. :ind love offering IO
suppon resource ccmcr dcvclopcmcm. ConlllCt
HawkwinJ ac (205) 635-6304 (evenings best).
rnct, 1991
�l'cl \i~e -to \We in "
5ociet_-J that )sn· -t
aysf.,nct1ona1
BACK ISSUES OF KATUAH JOURNAL AVAILABLE
ISSUE TIIREE- SPRING 1984
Sustainable Agricuhure • Sunnowcrs • 1lumnn
Impact on the Forest - Childrcns' Educauon •
Veronica Nicholas: Woman in Politics - Little
People - Medicine Allies
ISSUE FOUR· SUMMER 1984
Water Drum • Water Quality - Kudzu - Solar Eclipse
• Clearcutting - Trout - Going to Water· Ram
Pumps. Microhydro - Poems: Bennie Lee Sinclair,
Jim Wayne Miller
ISSUE FIVE· FALL 1984
Harvest. Old Ways in Cherokee· Ginseng· Nuclear
Waste. Our Celtic Heritage - Bioregionalism: Past,
Present, and Future · John Wilnoty - Healing
D:lrlcncss • Politics or Participation
lSSUE SIX - WINTER 1984-85
Wmter Solstice Eanh Ceremony • Horscpasturca
River. Coming of tile Light· Log Cabin Root·
Mountain Agriculture: The Right Crop • William
Taylor • The Future or the Forest
ISSUE SEVEN· SPRING 1985
Sustainable Economics - Hot Springs • Worker
Ownership. The Great Economy· Self Help Credit
Union • Wild Turkey. Responsible Investing·
Working in the Web or Life
ISSUE EIGHT· SUMMER 1985
Celebration: A Way or Lire - K81uah 18.000 YCD.rS
Ago • Sacred Sues - Folk Ans in the Schools • Sun
Cycle/Moon Cycle· Poems: Hilda Downer _
Cherokee Heritage Ccntcr • Who Owns Appalachia?
ISSUE NINE · FALL 1985
The Waldee Forest • The Trees Speruc • Mlgral.ing
Forests • Horse Logging • Starting a Tree Crop •
Urban Trees· Acom Bread· Myth Time
ISSUE TEN - WINTER 1985-86
Kate Rogers • Cin:lcs or SlOlle - Internal
Mythmnking • Holistic Healing on Trial • Poems:
Sieve Knauth - Mythic Ploccs - The Uktcna's Tale CryslOI Magic - "Drc:imspcaking"
ISSUE THIRTEEN · FALL 1986
Center For Awakening - Eliulbcth Callari · A
Gentle Death • Hospice - Ernest Morgan • Dealing
Creatively with Death - Home Burial Box • The
Wake. The Raven Mocker - Woodslorc and
Wildwoods Wisdom • Good Medicine; The Sweat
ISSUE FOURTEEN· WINTER 1986·87
Lloyd Carl Owle - Boogcrs and Mummers· All
Species Day • Cabin Fever Univcrsi1y • Ilomelcss
in Kauiah • Homemade Hot Water· Stovcmnkcr's
Nrumtivc - Good Medicine: lntcr.,pccacs
Communication
ISSUE FIFTEEN • SPRING 1987
Coverlets • Woman Fores1cr • Susie McMahon:
Midwife - Ahemative Contraception • Bioscxuality •
Bioregionalism and Women· Good Medicine:
Mmriarchal Cuhure • Pearl
ISSUE SIXTEEN - SUMMER 1987
Helen Waite. Poem: Visions in a Garden - Vision
Quest. First Aow - lnitinuon - Leaming m the
Wilderness. Cherokee Challenge · "Valuing Trees"
ISSUE EIGHTEEN· WlNTER 1987-88
Vernacular An:hitccture - Dreams in Wood and Stone
. Mount.ain Home - Earth Energies - Eanh-Shchcred
Laving - Mcmbrone Houses · Brush Shelter·
Poems: October Dusk. Good Mcdicino: "Sheltcrff
ISSUE NINETEEN· SPR£NG 1988
Pcrclandra Garden. Spring Ton,cs • Blueberries Wildnower Gardens - Granny Herbalist • Aowcr
Essences . "The Origin or the Animals:" Story •
Good Medicine; "Power" • Be A Tree
ISSUE TWENTY· SUMMER 1988
Preserve Appalachian Wilderness - Highlands or
Roan • Cclo Community • Land Trust· Anhur
Morgan School - 1.oning Issue· "The Ridge" •
•
Farmers and the Farm Ball • Good Medicine: "Land
• Acid Rnin • Duke's Power Play - Cherokee
Microhydro Project
ISSUE TWENTY-TWO· WINTER 1988-89
GIObal Warming - Fire ThlS Time • Thomas Berry
on "Bioregions" - Earth Exercise· Kort Loy
McWhirtcr • An Abundance of Empuncss • LETS •
Chronicles or Floyd - Darry Wood • The Bear Clan
ISSUE 1WENTY-THREE • SPRING 1989
Pisgah Village • Planet An • Green City - Poplar
Appeal • "Clear Sky" • •A New Earth" - Black Swan
• Wild Lovely Day.f • Reviews: Sacred Land Sacrt!d
Su, Jee Age • Poem· "Sudden Tendrils"
Lodge
32
,
~
UA~OURNAL
PO Box 638 Leicester. NC Katuah Province 28748
For more info: call Rob Messick at (704) 754-6097
Regular Membership........ $10/yr.
Sponsor.........................$20/yr.
Contributor.....................$50/yr.
Name
Address
Enclosed is $_ _".'""".'.'T":""'. ro give
this effort an extra boost
City
Ya!L, 199 1
State
Phone Number
Zip
I can be a local contact
person for my area
ISSUE TWENTY-FOUR • SUW.1ER 1989
Deep ListCning - Life in Atomic City· Direct
Acuon! - Tree or Peace - Community Building·
Pc:iccmakets - Ethnic Survival - Pairing Project·
"B:utlesong" • Growing Peace m Cultures - Review:
Tiu! Cha/iu and ihL Blade
lSSVE TWENTY-SIX • WINTER. 1989-90
Coming or Age in the Eco7.oic Era • Kids Saving
Rainforest • Kids Trcccycl mg Company • Connie,
Resoluuon. Developing the Creative Spirit· Birth
Power • Birth Bonding - The Magic or Puppetry •
Home Schooling - Naming Ceremony • Mother
Earth's Cl3S.$l'OOl!l - Gnrdcning for Children
ISSUE TWENTY ·SEVEN· SPRING, 1990
Transformauon. Healing Power· Pcoce 10 Their
Ashes. Healing in Katuah - Poem: "When Left 10
Grow". Poems: Stephen Wing - The Belly· Food
from the Ancient Forest
ISSUE TWENTY-EIGIIT • SUMMER 1990
Carrying Capacity - Setting Limits to Growth •
What is Overpopulation? • The Rood Gang • The
Highway to Nowhere - The 1·26 Project· "Caring
Capacity" • People and Habit.at - Design mg the
Whole Life Community • Steady State· Poems:
Will Ashe Bason • Tran$p0f!Crnativcs • Review:
Cohousing
ISSUE TWENTY·NINE • FAl.l./WlNTER 1990
From the Mount.ains 10 the Sea - Prolile of The
Little Tennessee River· Heodwatcrs Ecology· "It
All Comes Down to Water Quallty" - W:ucr Power.
Action for Aquatic Habitats - Dawn W:nchcrs • Good
Medicine: The Long Human Being • The North
Shore Rood - K:uuah Sells Out - Watershed Map of
the Kawah Provance
ISSUE THIRTY • SPRING I99 I
Economy/Eeology - Ways to a Regenerative
Economy • "Money as the Lowest Form or Wealth"
• Clarksville Mimcle - The Village· Food Movers·
Lifework. Good Medicine: "Village Economy··
Sheltoo Laurel • LETS
ISSUE THIRTY-ONE· SUMMER 1991
Dowsing • Responsibilities or Dowsing · Electrical
Life of the Enrth • Katuah and the Earth Gnd • Coll
of the Ancient Ones - Good Medicine: "On
Aggression" • Time to T:ike the Time to Take the
Time. Whole Science. Tuning In
Back Issues
Issue # __@ $2.50 = $._ __
Issue# _ _@ $2.50 = $._ __
Issue# _ _@ $2.50 = $._ __
Issue# _ _@ $2.50 = $._ __
Issue# __@ $2.50 = $._ __
postage paid $_ __
Complete Set
(3-10, 13-16, 18-20, 22-24, 26-31)
postage paid@ $50.00 =$_ __
:K.at ucih Journot. pa9e 35
�
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Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
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This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
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The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
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1983-1993
Format
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journals (periodicals)
Language
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English
Type
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Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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<em>Katúah Journal</em>, Issue 32, Fall 1991
Description
An account of the resource
The thirty-second issue of the <em>Katúah Journal</em> is a call for humans to return to a simpler way of life, following in the ways of the Cherokee, or Katúah, tribe. Authors and artists in this issue include: David Wheeler, Barbara Wickersham, Henry Wender, John A. Freeman, Tom Underwood, Lee Barnes, Will Ashe Bason, Ivo Ballentine, Brownie Newman, Robert Johnson, Rob Messick, Bess Harbison, Maxim Didget, Robert Johnson, Emmett Greendigger, Dr. Dennis Scanlin, Deborah James, Leonard Cirino, Melba Bari, and Charlotte Homsher. <br><br><em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1991
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
<p>Bringing Back the Fire by David Wheeler.......1<br /><br />A Bit of Mountain Levity by Barbara Wickersham.......5<br /><br />Climax Never Came by Henry Wender.......7<br /><br />Is the Southern Appalachian Ecosystem Endangered? by John A. Freeman.......9<br /><br />"Talking Leaves": Sequoyah by Tom Underwood.......10<br /><br />Green Spirits: Seed Saving by Lee Barnes.......12<br /><br />Walking Distance by Will Ashe Bason.......13<br /><br />Angle: Environment by Ivo Ballentine.......13<br /><br />Good Medicine.......14<br /><br />Poem: "A Rotting Log" by Brownie Newman.......15<br /><br />THE GRANOLA JOURNAL.......16<br />Livin' By Their Wits, recorded by Rob Messick<br />An Old Family Tale by Bess Harbison<br />The Slide by Rob Messick<br />How Can You Lose Anything as Big as This Ego? by Maxim Didget<br /><br />Paintings: "Mountain Stories" by Robert Johnson.......18<br /><br />Natural World News.......20<br /><br />Dying Soils, Dying Waters by Emmett Greendigger.......22<br /><br />Songs in the Wilderness by Charlotte Homsher.......24<br /><br />Save James Bay.......25<br /><br />Drumming.......26<br /><br />Off the Grid: Solar Ovens by Dennis Scanlin.......29<br /><br />Events........32<br /><br />Webworking........34<br /><br />Katúah Konfusion.......35<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em></p>
Publisher
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<em>Katúah Journal</em>, printed by The <em>Waynesville Mountaineer</em> Press
Subject
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Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Cherokee Indians--Social life and customs
Sequoyah, 1770?-1843
Appalachians (People)--Social life and customs
Ecosystem health--Appalachian Region, Southern
Acid Rain--Appalachian Region, Southern
Solar ovens
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Language
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English
Type
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Text
Source
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<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
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<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
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Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
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<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
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PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Acid Deposition
Agriculture
Alternative Energy
Appalachian History
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Congress
Cherokees
Community
Earth Energies
Ecological Peril
Economic Alternatives
Electric Power Companies
Fire
Folklore and Ceremony
Forest Issues
Good Medicine
Habitat
Katúah
Permaculture
Pigeon River
Plants and Herbs
Poems
Radioactive Waste
Reading Resources
Recycling
South PAW (Preserve Appalachian Wilderness)
Stories
Transportation Issues
Turtle Island
Villages
Water Quality
Wilderness
-
https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/files/original/5ac6c68fc9a4ef339c7624f779acbcb4.pdf
d9ea21ad706d54448902d9872b20ba5c
PDF Text
Text
ISSUE 34 SPRING 1992
$2.00
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~UAlrljOURNAL
PO Box 638
Leicester, NC
Katuah Province 287 48
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Drawing by Rob Mcssiclc
Postage Paid
Bulk Mail
Permit #18
Leicester, NC
28748
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Printed on recycled paper
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
�Paradise Gardening....................
3
by Joe Hollis
Community Sponsored Agriculture..5
by Hugh love/
"lfYouDidn'tGrowlt... "...........
by Ralph Garrett
7
Eating Close to Home.................
by Peter Bane
9
Silas McDowell's Vision............
by Perry Eury
11
Poems..................................
by Allison C. Surherland
12
Native Foods..........................
by Bear with Runs
13
Cover Crops..........................
by Mark Schonbeclr.
15
Plant For Tomorrow: Hemp........
by John Ingress
17
Katuah Cultivars......................
by Lee Barnes
18
Blowing in the Wind.................
by Charlotte Homsher
19
The Web of Life:
A Katuah Almanac...................
by Lee Barnes
and Rob Messick
20
Good Medicine.......................
22
Natural World News.................
24
"Whose Rules?"......................
by David Wheeler
26
Big fvy.................................
by Emmett Greendigger
and David Wheeler
27
Drumming.......... ..................
28
Saving Wild Seeds...................
by Lee Barnes
29
Resources.............................
31
Review:
"Apple Pie in Your Face" .............. 34
Webworking..........................
37
Events..................................
38
Sprl.nq , 1992
Sustainable Agriculture and Regional Diet
It is rrom the atoms of our bioregion's
soil, water and air that our cells are
constructed and renewed. Within many
unique webs of life, we become our physical
selves and thus must share responsibility for
our impact on the delicate systems which
allow us life.
Bioregions need to become more
self-sustaining, self-governing, and
self-healing. An imponant step in obt.aining
this goal is the development of regional
sustainable agriculture and greater utiliz.ation
of seasonal diet.
Agriculture must be more ecologically
sustainable and regionally specific, since each
bioregion is unique in its combination of
climate, soils, and adaptable plants for food,
fibers and fuels. Within each bioregion:
• Cultivaled crops should be
ecologically produced in harmony with the
Earth's gifts of sunshine, frost-free growing
season, am renewable cycles of soil fertility.
• Sustainable agriculture teehniques
must maximize soil regeneration and nutrition
produced per acre, rather than simply
maximizing yields.
• All materials and energies must be
more efficiently recycled within the biaregion
that produced them. We must blanket our
soils wilh greater gifts of cover-crops and
green manures .
• We must reduce our total dependency
on a dangerously narrow base of major food
crops and monoculture techniques, and
diversify our use of currently recognized and
potentially usable wild-food plants.
• Preservation of remaining genetic
diversity is critical to prevent the final loss of
irreplaceable gene combinations. We need 10
renew the use of genetically diverse,
open-pollinated seeds to retain variability in
our fields to insure protection from
catastrophic crop loss due to genetic
uniformity. Local seed-saving could allow
independence from extra-regional seed
sources.
• Most imponanlly, humans in each
bioregion must accept total responsibility for
their region's ecological health and
self-sufficiency in food production.
A regional diet should be nuaitious and
healthy; pleasant to eat; consumed more "in
sync" with regiona.V seasonal cycles of
production; and involve foods which can be
preserved using, low-technology food
preservation techniques, such as solar
drying, smoking, salt preservation and
pickling.
We need to review each region's
traditional diets, as guides to efficient,
non-destructive food production, and
carefully learn from each region's own
unique seasonal production of abundant
crops such as fruits (berries, etc.), nuts
(chestnuts, acoms,etc.), and wild seeds
(grains).
"Getting back to the garden," as Joe
Hollis tells us, will be no easy taSk.. We must
embra.ce the best featureS of current and
developing techniques and philosophies for a
sustainable future.
In this issue, we address the potential
for regional, sustainable agriculture and
regional diet by reviewing Katuah's historical
foods and agricultural cycles. We explore
new ideas for food production and marketing
systems, and provide some specific
information on wild plant seed-saving,
recommended vegetable varieties, and cover
crops.
We hope this issue will "seed" further
investigations into sustainable agriculture,
regional autonomy, and self-healing. We are
what we eat, and are ultimately responsible
for the heallh of ourselves and "all our
relations."
May we be more receptive to our
planet's council, and our mutual future.
Dr""'Ul8 by Pcgi
- Lee Barnes
�~JAH JOURNAL
EDITORIAL SLASH:
Maria Abbruzzi
Lee Barnes
Chris Davis
Charlone Homsher
John Ingress
James Rhea
Susan Adam
Heather Blair
Emmen Grecndigger
Jim Houser
Rob Messick
David Wheeler
EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:
Sherman Bamford
Jesse Jones
Bill Melanson
Pegi
Breeze Bums
Richard Lowenthal
Mamie Muller
Donna Stringer
Thanks 10 Celo Community and RSVP for hosting Xa,uah lhis time.
Special thanks to l<Alherme Adam and Staff of ATIRA
COVER: by Rhea Rose Ormond
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
PUBLISHED BY: Karuah Journal
Here,
in the Katuah Province
of these ancient Appalachian mountains
where once the Cherokee Nation lived in freedom
between the Tennessee River Valley and the Eastern Piedmont
between the Valley of the Roanoke and the Southern Plain
on this Turtle lsland continent of Mother Ela, the Eanh
PRTNTED BY: The Waynesville Mouniaineer Press
EDITORIAL OFFICE THIS ISSUE: Billy Home and Gardens.
WRITE US AT: Kaniah Journal
Asheville
Box 638; Leicester, NC; Kaniah Province 28748
TELEPHONE:
(704) 754-6097
Diversity is an imponant clement of bioregional ecology, both narural
and social. In accord with this principle Katuah Journal tries to serve a.s n
forum for lhe discussion of regional issues. Signed articles e.xpress only the
opinion of lhe authors and are no, necessarily the opinions of the Katunh
Journal editors or staff.
The Internal Revenue Service has declared Ka1uoh Journal a non-profit
orgnnization under section 501 (cX3) of the Internal Revenue Code. All
contributions to Ka1uah Journal are deductible from ))Cl'SOlllll income c.ax.
Articles appearing in Katuah Journal may be reprinted in other
publications with permission from the Katuoh Journal stnlT. Contact the
journal in writing or call (704) 754-6097.
tNVOCATLON
The Greatest Friend I have in life
Has brought me here to dwell
Awhile among these green, green hills
And by the watery well.
The water from that wondrous well
Has made my eyes to see
And loosed my tongue to sing with joy
That such a Friend could be.
Here,
In this place we dedicate ourselves to remembering our deep
connection to the spirit of the land.
We bring lhis connection into the being and the doing of
our daily lives
When the land speaks, we listen and we act
We tune our lives to the changes, to the seasons
We respect the limits of the land
We preserve, defend, and restore the land
We give thanks for all that is good
Harmony with 1he land is no longer an ideal; it is an imperative.
The land is a living being. She is sacred.
As 1he land lives, so do we.
As the spirit of the land is diminished,
our spirits are diminished as welL
Kacuah Journal sends a voice...
with articles, stories, poems, and anwork
we speak 10 the spirit of all the living, breathing
inhabitants of these mountains
in hopes that we, the human beings,
may find our place in this Great Life.
The Edit.ors
j
• The Incredible String BQ/ld
Bonier by Jason Tueller
KATUAH JOURNAL wanrs to communicate your rhoug/,rs and
feelings to the other people in the bioregional province. Send
them t.o us as leuers,poems, stories, articles, drawings, or
photographs, etc. Please send your coruributions to us at:
Karuah Journal; P. 0. Box 638; Leicester, NC; Katua/1 Province
28748.
OUR NEXT ISSUE will be involved with the continually
controversial topic of Councils, and how to create more viable
methods of decision-making in the future. Possible topics
include: Native American sovereignty, the State of Franklin,
JCQtuah Journat page 2
Town Meetings, Council of All Beings, Regional Rainbow
Gatherings, Grassroots Groups, Conflict Resolution, and more?
Submit all material by April 30th, 1992.
THE FALL, 1992 ISSUE will be about the role of wood in
the life of the mountains. Please send articles evaluating the
present timber industry, logging stories, and visions of ecological
and sustainable ways to cut and use wood. Please also send
pictures and drawings of wood and woodworkers. Deadline is
July 30, 1992.
Spri.ng, l 992
�PARADISE GARDENING
by Joe Hollis
W c wam 10 save the world, and we
want 10 save ourselves. It's the same thing.
The problems confronting us arc enormous
and at every level: personal, social, planetary.
l will spare you a list. My aim is 10 suggest
that they are all symptoms of one problem,
and to propose a solution.
The problem: 10 find a way to live on
Earth which promotes our health and
happiness, conducive to the full development
of our innate potential, and, a1 the same time,
is "democratic," that is, available to all, not
using more than our share, and harmonious
with the biosphere's evident drive toward
increasing diversity, complexity, and
stability.
Our world is being destroyed, in the
final analysis, by an extremely misguided
notion of what constitutes a successful
human life. Materialism is running mmpant
and WILL CONSUME EVERY11iING,
because its hunger will never be sated by its
consumption. Human life has become a
cancer on the planet, gobbling up all the
flows of matter and energy, poisoning them
with our waste. What can stop this monster?
Nothing. Just lhis: walk away from iL
It is time, indeed time is running out, to
abandon the entire edifice of "civilization/the
State/ the Economy" and walk (don't run!) to
a bener place: home, to Paradise.
J
•••
1) Paradfae is, first of all, a garden. A
garden in which everything we need is there
for the taking.
2) And Paradise Gardening is a way or
life which serves to maintain the garden, and
is in turn maintained by it. Ecologist Eugene
Odum calls this being the 'ecosystem
manager:' "an organism that utilizes a small
frac tion of the total energy budget and in
return provides a service which aids the
system in its funclion and continued
survival." (This concept "illustrates the ideal
which man should imitate in his auempts 10
manage a natural ecosystem.") Genesis, with
the characteristic compression of myth, says
we were put into the garden "10 dress it and
keep it." Same thing.
3) Parndise Gardening is not work.
Work is a subjective concept: one person's
play may be another person's work. h has
nothing to do with effon: tennis, for
example, is usually "play" (unless you're a
"pro"), sitting at a computer terminal is
frequently "work." Work is whatever you are
doing when you'd rather be doing something
else. Paradise Gardening is "not work" in the
same sense that what a bear does all day is
"not work." This distinction is the same as
that which the Taoists make between "doing"
and "not-doing." Genesis refers to the same
matter in saying that only outside the garden
do we have 10 earn our living "by the sweat
of our brow."
4) Paradise Gardening is not
agriculture. From chemical to organic
sprLr19, t992
agriculture is a step in the right direction, but
only the first step. Agriculrure itself is, after
alI, half of the one-two punch that knocked
us out of Paradise in the first place. Good
farmers, to be sure, love nature; but they love
her in the context of plowing her up every
year and deciding what to grow next. Our
addiction 10 annual species and disturbed
habitats has put us at odds with the main
thrust of the biosphere (and with ourselves).
Oh, Eanlt is patient and Earth is old
And a mother of Gods, but he breaks lier,
To-ing.fro-ing, wit!, tlte plow teams going,
Tearing the soil of her, year by year
Sophocles, Antigone
Every spring, nature begins again 10
clothe the Earth in beauty. It is the process of
succession, the initial strands of the intricate
web, the rebirth of the Tree of Life. And
every autumn we scrape it off, rake it into
barns, take it to market: we increase human
diversity and complexity (butcher, baker,
candlestick-maker ...) by appropriating to
ourselves processes which are meant to
benefit all
•••
Drawina by Rob Messick
Paradise is a habitat and a niche. Mircca
Eliade refers to the universal "yearning for
Paradise": Memories coded into our genes of
our place, our fit. How, after all, does a bird,
for example, select a place to build a nes1? So
many factors to consider (and such a small
brain!). It simply picks the most beautiful
spot available. It was born with a "template"
of paradise.
Concerning this the Book ofOdes
says, "The twittering yellow bird, the bright
silky warbler, comes to its rest in the hollow
corner of the hill." and Confucius commented
"Comes to rest, alights, knows what its rest
is, what its ease is. Is man, for all his wit,
less wise than this bird of yellow plumage
that he should no, know his resting place or
fix the point of his aim?"
Like any other creature, we are our
niche. By our physiology and behavioral
programming we arc born to live a ccnain
kind of life. Paradise is our birthright and our
duty,
Now, instead, we take up a niche in
civilization. The premise of civilization is that
if everyone is a less than complete human
being (''1'11 be the brains, you be the back"),
ii will be beuer for all of us. This insulting
premise has guided us for so long that many
of us are unaware of an alternative. We
(cnnunucd on next page)
Xotl'.wf, )ourlfflt pcu_,e 3
�(COlllinucd from page 3)
equate "making a living" with "making
money." Thus we spend the best hours of
our lives pursuing our careers, being pan of
the cancer.
But everything needful to be
completely human is available to us close by
in our environment - the garden and the
ocighborhod. We can rely on the truth of this
because "human-ncss" is a creation of the
environment, the most recent manifestation of
a coevolution between our genes and all the
other genes in the world that has been going
on since the beginning of life on eanh. Much
chancier is the possibility that everything we
need to be completely human is available to
us in the city, or through money.
population level, live and coexist as foragers
(ecosystem managers)? "Caught in the devil's
bargain " how can we "get ourselves back to
the garden"? (Joni Mitchell, "Woods1ock")
The strategy here proposed, Paradise
Gardening, may be described as :'in1ensified
foraging." David Harris, in a scnes of
papers has explored "alternative pathways to
agricul'ture." Particular!~ valuable is ~s .
distinction between "agncultural mampulaaon
and transfonnatfon ... agricultural utilization
•••
The last time we lived in paradise it was
as "foragers": hunters and gatherers,
omnivorous, opponunistic exploiters of a
variety of environments. Specialists, not of
disturbance but of diversity.
This lifestyle has attracted much
attention recently (at the very time that the last
vestiges of it~ being eradicated). Toe view
that foraging is an adaptation superior to
agriculture is now well established in
academia and the same theme appears in
popular literature (e.g. Bruce Chatwin, Tl~
Song/Ines and Vargas Llosa, The Storyteller,
both inspiring).
A revolution in the study of the human
niche was prompted by the realization that
foragers, far from living on the brink of
starvation, as previously imagined, actually
had more leisure than anyone else since (Lee
and deVore, Man the Hunter).
Boserup (The Conditions ofAgricultural Growth) suggests that there have
never been any "agricultural revolutions," in
the sense of a sudden invention of a great
new way 10 produce food; but rather that
increases in food production always come at
the cost of even greater increases in labor (or
fossil fuel) input, that the techniques were
always well known to the producers, but
resisted until finally demanded by rising
population (or the demands of the upper
classes for a surplus, a 'cash crop').
"Agriculture permits denser food
growth supponing denser population and
larger social units but at the cost of reduced
dietary quality [less diversity to choose
from), reduced reliability of harvest [eggs in
less baskets], and equal or probably greater
labor per unit of food ... agricuhure is not a
difficult concept but one readily available to
hunting and gathering groups ... " (Mark
Cohen, The Food Crisis in Prehistory).
Agriculture, in rum, allowed population
to expand more rapidly. Any attempt to live a
foraging life in the modem world would
seem to be onJy an interesting but ultimately
imlcvant exercise of the "historic village"
variety. That "there is no going back" is
merely a truism. What those who recite it
mean to say is that there is no changing
direction, progress can be only a straight line
- from an original home in natw-c 10 a world
eventually completely human, domesticated,
fanned.
At this point, I would rephrase the
"problem" with which this essay began: How
can we, with our contemporary tastes and
Xatuafl Jou~ P~. 4
"better" future. "No act is good unless its
goodness is seen in the innnediacy of the act.
An act which justifies itself by appealing to a
later good ... all appeals to reason,
expediency, and necessity, are appeals to the
very forces that wreck all ideals. One must
have courage and be willing to take risks."
(William Thompson, Evil and World Order)
Ecology teaches that a "pioneer"
(disturbed) environment favors life forms that
are fast-growing but shon lived,
wide-spreading, ''greedy" - designed 10
capture the maximum of sunlight and
unoccupied soil. But eventually they are
succeeded by the trees, which, because they
invest energy in making wood, grow more
slowly at first, but are more stable,
longer-lived, and finally faster growing,
more influential, the "dominant species,"
towering above.
We have spread ourselves over the
Eanh, and used or burned just about
everything that is easy to get The age of the
greedy ones draws to a close. (They don't
know it yet.) At last, we may hope, the
'competitive advantage' passes to the
practitioners of permanence, rootedness,
slow growth and steady accumulation, the
vertical expansion of the human spirit into
realms unchanecl, or long forgotten. A tree
derives its satisfaction from the view
achieved.
•••
may - and, if sufficiently intensive, usually
does - lead to the IJ'llnsformation of a natural
into a largely artificial ecosystem: lhe
replacement of a tropical forest by plantation,
of temperate woodland by whcatfields ...
But agriculture may also proceed by a
process of manipulation which involves the
alteration of selected components of the
natural system rather than its wholesale
replacement - a method of cultivation which
involves substituting certain preferred
domesticated species for wild species in
equivalent ecological niches and so simulates
1he structure and functional dynamics of the
natural ecosystem."
Harris has recently edited a collection of
papers (From Foraging to Fanning) which
further explores the emerging realization that
many "non-agricultural" peoples were in fact
engaged in intensive and sophisticated plant
exploitation, previously unrecognized
because their plant management practices did
not fit our idea of agricuhure.
•••
Our goal is to "naturalize" ourselves
in lhe environment. This will involve
changing ourselves and changing the
environment: convergence toward "lit"
Perfect fit means the free and easy flowing of
matter and energy between ourselves and our
environment: life lived as a complete gift from the garden to us, from us to the garden.
But that is in the future; what we need
now is a process, leading to that goal, which
is justified on its own terms. Focus on the
ideal Paradise Garden wilJ tempt us to ta.Ice
shoncuts, perpetuating the same old panem
of selling out the present for some imagined
The process of Paradise Gardening
involves:
- Extricating our life-support system
from civilization/the Economy (bluntly,
money), and reattaching it to the natural
world of garden and neighborhood. This will
be a gradual process requiring a real analysis
of our needs and expenditures.
Thus, for example, cars and gasoline
arc nor needs but only the means to the
satisfaction of needs. The solution is not
gasohol but reducing the reason for travelling
(usually the getting and spending of money).
Concerning this the TM Te Ching says, 'The
country over the border might be so near that
one could hear the cocks crowing and the
dogs barking in it, but the people would .
grow old and die without ever once troubhng
to go there." (sec Joseph Needham, Science
and Civilization in China, vol. D, ch. 80) for
a discussion of ''the political program of the
Taoists: the return to cooperative
primitivity. ")
The key 10 the self-justifying nature of
the process is this: things made or done .by
professionals or machines may be technically
superior to one's own efforts, but are
generally lacking in a quality which,
following Carlos Castenada, I will call
"hean.
0
Satisfaction from things bought usually
peaks at the moment of purchase and declines
rapidly. Needs which a.re met by the
interaction of ourselves and nature are more
deeply mer.. and there are wonderful surprises
along the way. The truth of this will be
evident to anyone who has ever made
anything "from scratch." What seldom occurs
to us (someone doesn't want it to occur to us)
is that an entire life can be constructed on 1h1s
basis.
(c:on11nuod on page J2)
Drawing by Mkhacl Thompson
SprLt1-9, !9!12
�.,,..
.
..
It ,
•
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#
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••••••
,
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,.,.
COMMUNITY SPONSORED AGRICULTURE
As lhe end of the century nears,
several things must be faced. Tho food
supply is not only tainted. it is devitaliz.ed. In
particular, foods lack nourishment for
integrity, uprightness and willingness. These
qualities depend upon individual attitudes,
but they require nutritional support
Things could get worse, and probably
they will. But, here and there people are
looking at their options and choosing 10 make
a difference. They want to suppon endeavors
that remedy the problems caused by lhe
bigger-is-better mindset. One of the worst
concerns is the loss of more than seventy
percent of the world's topsoil in the last
hundred and fifty years. Instinctively people
sense a need to encourage sound agriculture.
At the same time they want 10 buy food that
not only is free of pollution, but has an inner,
vital impulse toward life. The..-.e and related
faclOI'S motivate a trend toward agriculturally
based producer/consumer communities that
regenerate the land which feeds them.
The acronym CSA stands for
Consumer Supported Agriculture,
Community Sponsored Agriculture, or
Community Supponed Agriculture,
depending on whom you are talking 10. In all
cases it indicates a vertically integrated
agricultural operation.
However it may be done, the CSA
group provides what is necessary to grow
their food. Fortunately, not everyone has the
same things 10 contribute. Usually fanners
who can work the land successfully are in the
shortest supply. But, from these farmers'
points of view, consumers are in shon
supply <>r laborers are hard 10 find at crucial
times. The CSA is not functional until
farmer, farmland, labor, operating capital and
consumers arc lined up in cooperation.
CSA fanns vary. Some are located in or
near metropolitan areas where consumer
interest is high. Olhers involve more distance
between the land and consumers. Many sell
"shares" in advance of their year's
production. Others require an advance
deposit, refundable in everything from
produce, canned goods, eggs, honey and
cheese, to meat, flowers, herbs, firewood or
wool. Tn some cases consumers come 10 the
farm to get their food. In others, weekly
deliveries to distribution points may be
necessary. One CSA may have monthly
potluck dinners, developing strong core
groups and dividing up tasks between
mothers, accountants, farm apprentices,
lawyers, fixers, and fanners; while others
may be seat-of-the-pants operations stripped
to the bare essentials.
CSA's have several things in common.
[n one way or another they all encourage
farmers and consumers 10 understand and
suppon each other. They enable participants
to invest their resources in the land and ilS
beuennenL 1be means of production belongs
to both producers and consumer.;, as they
contribute skill, labor and capital, and take
responsibility for leaving the land better off
for their use of it. Nevenheless, in some
cases the land is owned privately while in
Spnnq, l992
by Hugh Lovel
others the CSA is organized as a cooperative,
a land trust or a research and training
institute.
Besides nutritious food and a healthier
environment there are many subsidiary
benefil!i. By having the moral and financial
expenses. In 1985 I was laid off as a bridge
carpenter in Atlanta, and in 19861 tried to
farm full time, selling produce to stores and
in pl!lking lolS. It was hardly a way 10 make
ends meet. I knew there had to be a better
way. The Biodynamic Association quarterly,
support of a community, the farmer has
backing for experimentation. Members may
want exotic items like Chinese cabbage,
Annenian cucumbers. Roquefon cheese or
Louisiana hot sauce, and the fanner has 10
learn how to produce these items.
The CSA can also be an educational
opportunity for young adults interested in
becoming farmers. By apprenticing on a CSA
farm they experience growing and preparing
a wide variety of products. Moreover,
members and their children learn how their
food is produced, and there .ue therapeutic
benefits in this especially for those growing
or convalescing. Lastly, the farm is a haven
from the vicissitudes of city life. Conceivably
it will provide alternatives 10 employment in
economic hard times.
The idea h that consumers support the
farm and the farm supports the consumers.
Biodynamics, ran an anicle on CSA's. I
drew up a prospectus with a copy of the
ruticle and distributed it to a few people in the
Atlanta area. They told friends, and for the
first season l had twenty-eight members sign
up.
r did not want to promise 100 much, so
I only offered breads, honey. pollen, eggs,
yogurt. and vegetables in season. I asked for
$100 deposits, refundnble in groceries. This
money got me through February, March, and
April when I planted but had nothing 10 sen.
A1 the end of April I had my first
delivery of spinach, lettuce, and seasonal
herbs. The season went on to green onions,
garlic, English and sugar snap peas, yellow
onions, potatoes, cabbage, beans, com,
summer squash, tomatoes, okra, beets,
collards, leeks, winter squash, turnips and
Chinese radishes. The garden was finished
by mid-November, though I made one last
delivery of pork after Thanksgiving.
Because che fann, Union Agricultural
lnsutute, Blairsville, Georgia, was 125 miles
from Atlanta, I made a Saturday run 10 three
Since the only CSA I can re.tlly
describe is the one I founded, I should tell
how it was set up.
During the 1980s I directed a fledgling
founccn acre biodynamic research and
training farm, working off the farm to pay
(QOl\linued on nut page)
Drawing by Pcgi
X.awah Journot pc:a(Je 5
�(OOlllinuod &om pegoS)
drop-<>ff points. Members received a weekly
newsletter and order fonn that 100k me rwo
hours a week at the typewriter and copy
machine. Bookkeeping was on index cards
with names, addresses, dates, and sums.
Mostly I concentrated on running 1he fann,
picking the number one vegetables, recycling
the residual vegetation through forty
chickens., twenty rabbits, and 1wo pigs for
fertilizer, and n:planting with the next crop in
the rotation. Although I kept bees, the honey
and millc for yogun came from nearby farms.
1brought in organica!Jy grown wheat and rye
for bread.
Out of26 weekly deliveries, I counted
on members to order at leas1 half the time
with average orders of twenty dollars, a
gross of $7,280. I believe I took in a littJe
more than that, but my bookkeeping did not
prove it. J realize lhis may not seem like
much, but my expenses were low enough 10
make ends meet All I had was the land and a
small pic_!cup truck, rototiller. lawnmower.
scythe, pitchfork, axe, scuffle hoe, claw
cuJtivator, wheel hoe, push planter, and
seeds bred for response 10 my methods. It
was a start.
Consumer int.crest was strong simply
from word of mouth. I could expand, but a
larger investment was required. The fann
needed woods, barns, fences, greenhouses.
pastures, orehards, and fields all in good
measure. none at the expense of the others. I
did not have to hurry things. The land
consisted of mixed forest slopes and
bottomland with good water bur not
especially good sun. There was plenty of
brush clearing, rock picking and hay planting
to be done. And there were only three or four
acres that could be added to the truck garden
no mancr how I adapted 10 having more help
and machinery.
At my organii.ationaJ meetings in
February and Man:h of 1988 I asked for a
S33 membership fee as a capital invesuncn1 in
the fann, plus the hundred dollar deposit.
Again bookkeeping was only sufficient to
show how much was paid and how much
was delivered. Picking, bnlcing, and packing
orders were changed from Fridays 10
Saturdays, and deliveries were changed to
Sundays. This allowed members 10 visit the
farm and panicipa1e in picking on Saturdays,
while I caught the least city traffic on
Sundays and still picked up organic grains
and supplies for the farm
An apprentice, Matthew Persico, cut
intensive beds into three acres of sod with the
rototiUcr. We planted a fourth of it in
potatoes, for which we had compost In the
rest we inu:rplanted com with soybeans for a
modest fodder crop. We built a smaJI barn
with three sta!Js, hay storage, and an
apprentice's apartment. I bought two calves
to raise in the small barn yard, and phased
out rabbits since the cows made more
compost and were easier to feed on a large
scale.
For fcrtiliu:r I brought in hay, com,
and soy meal for the animaJs while J cleared
~ I _pastures, arch~. and hay fields. The
m~bon was to achieve self-sufficiency,
WJth the £arm producing its own feeds,
s~, and ttansplants, breeding its own
livestock:, and producing its own compost
Starting its fifth year in 1992, this
Xatiloh Jouf'nQ( PQ«Je 6
CSA, UAI Coop, can service 80 households.
We have a reconditioned 35 year old tractor,
three or four apprentices, six aCICs of row
crops, cheesemaking, three bovines, eigh1y
chicke_ns, two pigs, and a smaJI transplant
operanon.
. O_u1side_ of i1s soil: the farm is 001 ye1 a
capuaJ mtenswe operauon, despite a $16,000
gross in 1991. Dynamics and momentum arc
a large part of the operation. Herc are some
derails:
Peas must be planted as early as
possible. In Union County, Georgia 1hat is
lat~ February or early March. Lenuce,
spmach, and onions may aJso be planted
from early March on. Lettuce, cabbage and
collards should be planted under row
coverings for transplanting as it warms up.
The early plantings are better able to stay
ahead of the weeds, though frequent
cultivation - weather pennitting - is advisable.
It helps considerably to have pennanent sod
around cultivated beds.
In winter and early spring the cows are
eating hay in the barn and every so often it
can be mucked out to make a compost pile.
With spring warmth, the rye and clover
covers on the beds shoot up and are cut for
fresh feed or for hay. The stubble is
cultivated two or three times over a three
week period, so that it is digested and mellow
before planting.
. I set out my cabbages and potatoes in
Apnl; followed by com, beans, and cucurbits
in May; and tomatoes, peppers and okra in
June. Garlic is planted early the preceding
October, so that it and yellow onions are
harvested in June and followed with bush
beans. Crops like spinach, lettuce, com and
beans can be staggered to produce a moderate
but steady flow of each vegetable, extending
the season. Compost is given especially to
the greens, while root crops like carrots,
radishes, and turnips do much better
following behind without compost.
Since my grassy borders around beds
an: level with the beds, both borders and
beds can be mowed simultaneously for the
cows, pigs or chickens. In May 1here is so
much to cut that haystacks must be made, 10
be fed in the winter when all the summer's
com stover is gone.
During the growing season the chickens
are fenced in a long, hillside coop containing
a thick stand of bamboo and a nesting house.
At the top of 1he coop, sawmill bark,
sprin.kJed with dust from the locaJ granite
quarry, is added for bedding. My
lawnmower has a rear bagging feature, and
every day I give the chickens a heaping
wheelbarrow load of grass, clover, and herb
clippings from around the beds, which I
mow on a monthly schedule. This keeps the
egg yolks yellow while adding to the deep
litter in the coop. Every so often this is made
into a compost pile.
I use a biodynnmic planting calendar for
working crops according to 1heir root, fruit,
flower, or leaf characteristics. For example,
while potatoes are actually a swollen stem
formation, they are plamed as though they
were roots because the roo1-like characteristic
is being emphasized. Likewise, cauliflower
and broccoli, although 1hey an: flowers, are
plan1cd as leaf crops because they have to be
held back to 1he leafy stage of development.
They an: eaten only as buds, not flowers.
l also apply biodynamic preparations,
which have profound nutritionaJ significance.
And I grow speciaJ crops that do not
contribute income but contribute to the overall
balance and heaJth of the farm. Finally. I
avoid faulty practices. Planting the whole
fann in cucumbers or semng off all the
compost, 1 would never do.
One of the goals of crop rotation is to
allow for a healthy nitrogen cycle while
cropping. Compost is given liberally to leafy
crops that need plenty of nitrogen, such as
lettuce, spinach, cabbage, and collards. It
may be given more sparingly to fruiting crops
which follow the greens, such as com,
squash, tomatoes, and okra. It is withheld
entirely from the roots, such as carrots,
radishes, and turnips, which follow the
fruits. Then I plan1 legumes such as beans,
peas and lentils to draw in new nitrogen and
produce rich compost as their vines are
digested by the farm animals. Then the cycle
begins again wi1h compost to the greens.
Another goal of crop rotation is 10 vary
as much as possible the kinds of plan1s
grown. Thus it may be a good idea to follow
lettuce with carrots, or collards with onions,
but it is a bad idea 10 follow le1wce with
spinach or carrots with parsnips.
There is aJso interplanting. Planting
com with soybeans, spinach wi1h garlic,
tomatoes with sweet basil, dill with cabbages
su_mmer squash with popcorn, and pumpkins
with field com, makes for a lively variety.
Nature has ways to create abundance.
Perhaps most imponantJy, the
pennanent grass and clover walking strips
between and around the beds keep the soil
fauna heaJthy and erosion to 1he minimum
regartlless of the weather. We need to think
abou1 these things.
Not so long ago all farms produced
food out of soil, water, air, and warmth
because there was life. Nature charged
nothing for her pan.
Orawu,g by Rob Mcuid<
(continued on p. 32)
Sprl.mj, 1992
�"IF YOU DIDN'T GROW IT,
YOU DIDN'T EAT IT"
Food Production on a Self-Sufficient Mountain Homestead
as told by Ralph Garrett
Way back when Twas a boy, I lived at
my grandma's and grandpa's up above the
Lown of Sylva in Jackson County, NC. My
grandpa was a farmer and a brick mason, and
he also made bricks.
I grew up during the Depression. IL was
a little worse than it is right now, but it's
going 10 get worser than this, I'm afraid.
My grandpa and grandma owned about
three and one-half acres around their house,
but we tended a 12 or 15 acre bottom that
was up in Addie where the band mill is now.
We also planted 10 or 12 acres up on Fisher
Creek in com and different things. It was
about 25 or 30 acres all told. We grew
enough for everybody in our family, some 10
sell besides, and enough 10 feed the animals,
too.
We raised cows, chickens, and pigs to
eat, and we had horses, mules, and oxen 10
help us with the work. With them we plowed
and planted com, beans, field peas, Irish
'taters, sweet 'taters, sorghum for molasses,
and all different kinds of cornfield crops.
And grains. We'd sow a great big thing of
wheal for our flour, as well as winter oais 10
feed the horses while we were workin' 'em
in the summer time.
Then in the garden we had carrots.
radishes, parsnips, rumips, and different
kinds of greens - leuuce, onions, collard
greens, and all those.
We also had peach u-ees. I got a
whuppin' many a time for getting in the Blue
Goose peaches - big, fine, pretty peaches.
They'd get to tumin' a little bit, and us liule
boys, we'd slip around and try 10 get us one.
J remember how we used to eat. The
usual thing of a morning when we got up,
we'd have side beef or ham - fried good and
brickle · brown-eye gravy, some eggs, and
some biscuits.
Some days we'd have homemade
applesauce for breakfasL We'd heat it up and
have some hot biscuits and butter, and put the
butter and some sugar in the fruit, and you
had a good break.fast.
We'd also cut com off the cob, and
have it fried with biscuits and homemnde
molasses. That's what we had a whole lot of
mornings.
Our big meal was at dinner time, 12
noon. Supper was the evening meal. Al
dinner we'd have cornbread, hog meat or
maybe beef stew with vegetables. You can
get beef stew now in a can in the store, but
we had big pois of it, homemade, with two
or three vegetables in it, and some vegetables
on the side, too. Or we'd have great big pots
of homemade vegetable soup. We'd make the
soup with okry (olcr.1), tomaters, beans, and
onions. We put every kind of vegetable in
there.
In the summerumc for supper we'd
usually have com on the cob, new 'taters,
green beans, cornbread, and biscuits.
Sometimes we'd eat supper without meal, but
Sprtng, 1992
usually we had meat at the table three times a
day, whether it was beef, pork, or chicken.
We didn't have desserts every meal,
like they want now. Dcssens came mostly on
Sunday or Saturday when there was family
coming. We'd have plain ca.Ices with
down there 10 get some flour, some salt,
sody (baking soda), balcing powder, coffee,
and sugar. We just bought small amounts of
sugar, until it come canning time. Then we
would buy whatevercanningjars and lids
that we needed and 50 and 100 pound bags
of sugar to put up jellies and jam. We
young'uns liked LO get old-time candy, like
wax candy, horehound candy, and all kinds
of stick candy at the store. But we never had
money to buy very much there.
A year on the farm went like this:
Winter was kinda slow. We'd be cutrin'
firewood, sittin' by the fire, and relax.in'.
DrawiJI& by J.,,.,. Rhea
applesauce spiced up and pu1 in between the
layers. They called that old-time fruit cake.
They'd pile four or five of them up in a
straight pack with the applesauce in between
each layer, then applesauce down over the;
top ofic. Now, that was a dessen! Today if
someone gets two layers of cake, they think
that that's 100 much, but we had.five layers
of cake! We ate what we wanted, because it
was simple.
Or maybe they'd make a cherry pie.
What they call a cherry pie now is just a little
ol' thing. What we called a cherry pie was a
big bread pan full of cherries with dough
through 'cm. They call 'em cobblers now,
but we called 'em cherry pie.
Grandma also used 10 make sweet
potato custards and sweet potato pie and put
sweetening on it - marshmallows or brown
sugar, good things like that.
If we didn't grow it, we didn't cat it.
That's right. There wasn't no supermarkets,
there was only an old country store. We'd go
We'd spend time a-shuckin' com and
thrashin' out the peas, Crowder peas and clay
peas, through the bad days.
We also had 10 get our harness and
equipment fixed up and in first-class shape.
We had to be ready. so that when the ground
got right we could go right to work.
We didn't use no fertilize (fertilizer).
We used compost, and we gathered that in
the winter, too. We'd clean out the horse
stalls and the cow stalls. We'd throw it in a
bin that was outside the winder (window),
and we'd mix leaves in with iL That would
cause it to heat in the bin. In the spring we
wouW haul out that compost. spread it on the
field, and plow it in. That enriched our land
and made our crops do better.
We staned plowtn' in February and
March, what we didn't already have plowed.
The first crop we put out was the
different kinds of greens - cabbage. collard
greens, you could do them early. Usually,
(canlinucd on nai pqe)
Xatuah Journal POCJI'- 7
�(cullinucd from page 7)
people around here would sow a bed of
turnips or rutabagas, too.
Irish pouuoes were planted next during
the dark of the moon in Man:h, and maybe
we'd put some green peas out in the garden.
Radishes, onions, and parsnips were early
crops, we could get an early start on them,
100.
We would s1an our own S\l,'CCt pouuo
sets. We'd get them bedded down between
April 10 - 15. Then they'd be a-comin' up in
May. Sweet potatoes was a big crop. We
used to plant big fields of 'em.
Around April 15 - 20, we'd plant the
first corn. It would grow up a linle bit, but
not enough that a frost would hurt it bad.
Unless there come an ex try unusual hard
freeze, com would grow on though.
Flour com, popcorn, and com for the
livestock: those were the main kinds of com
we planted. We also had a liule of what we
called llim com. When it got hard, it was
hard as a rock, but it made real good roasting
ears. When sweet com came along, we
started planting sweet com in the garden.
Now people plant fields of sweet com.
The biggest thing was to rotate the com
plantings so that they would come in slowly,
so we could harvest them and take care of
them, instead of having all the com oome in
at once. We would plant some com on April
15, some the first of May, and then again at
the last of May.Hit's not a dry year, you can
plant com in June. It's starting to get dry
then, but sometimes a crop'll make. It's a
short season up here in these mountains, but
some years I've bad three different spaces of
com comin' in.
We always figlftd the last frost would
come around the tenth of May. 1bcn we'd set
out OUT garden vegetables. Any kind of plant
that the frost would affect - like peppers and
tomatcrs - we'd wait 'ril after the tenth of
May, after the frost line.
The cornfield peas, we'd plant them
after we worked (cultivated) the com for the
first time. I'd wait until the com was up
around my throat, and then l'd plant the peas
in between the com. We did the cornfield
beans, like the White McCaslan bean or the
Kentucky Wonder, the same way. l would
plant big com where I was going to plant the
cornfield beans. Then the com would support
'em and shade 'em. Shade is what keeps the
insects away better than any of this spray that
we can buy today.
We'd harvest the wheat when the heads
bowed and tumed yeller. The timing
depended on what kind of wheat we had. and
when we had planted it in the fall. We
harvested it by hand with a cradle. We didn't
have combines like those that cut the wheat
now. We had to do it with a cradle.
At the end of June, we'd finish up with
the wheat and we'd sun our first mowing of
hay. We mowed the hay with a mowing plate
and raked it up with a pitchfork. We'd shock
it • put it in shocks or round piles - and then
we'd come through with the wagon or the
sled, and load it 10 the barn. and put it in the
barn loft We'd pct up great barns full, and
then we'd put up big stacks of hay around
stackpolcs. We'd sUtCk com tops and fodder
the same way around the Stackpole at the
XatuQf1-Journat PCUJe 8
barnyard, where we could jusr go get it to
feed the cows and the horses.
All summer, we were mostly hoeing. It
kept us busy. We'd start work as soon as it
got light enough to sec what we was a-doin',
and we worked 'til dark.
Now at dinnertime, right at the heat of
the day, we gave them horses a good full
hour to two hours to be at rest. And we done
the same thing. We ate, we rested, and then,
when we went back 10 work, we worked 'til
dinner.
ln July when the blackberries and the
raspberries came in, we'd pick berries. We
would take a wagon up on Fisher Creek, and
we'd pick washtubs full of blackberries!
w11.i)
J'"J~
Everybody went, everybody picked,
everybody washed - everybody helped with
canning berries for a few weeks. Some of the
men might be off working on a job
somewhere, but everybody up at the house
just flew in and got busy.
Pretty soon the com would start coming
in, and we'd stan getting roasting cars with
our dinner. And we'd start canning
vegetables. too. We'd can all kinds of
vegetables. We canned beans, 'matcrs,
peaches, fresh ok:ry (okra), fresh com - all
different kinds of food out of the garden.
In the fall of the year, we'd be pectin'
the apples, and pcelln' peaches. Them Blue
Goose peaches came in about the same time
as apples. We'd boil the fruit down and make
apple and peach bu11er.
We had an apple peeler. You just stuck
the apple on and tumcd the handle, and ii
peeled the apple and took the core out of iL
Then we just cut it and made bleached fruit.
Or we mashed it up, cooked it, and made
applesauce.
Bleached fruit is made by burning
sulfur. We'd put the fruit on a rack, cover it
with a cloth, light the sulfur in a sulfur
burner, and leave it all night The action of
the sulfur makes the fruit stay white, it
doesn't tum brown, and it will keep all
winter. Then we would put it in big 60-gnllon
oak barrels, and we'd put up so many barrels
of bleached fruit.
We also P.l!t up ~ I s ofp\cld~
beans. Wr:!d !\ii up big barrels of beans
broke up and washed, put water in there and
add salt to sour 'cm and make 'em pick!~.
The same way about roasting CaJ'S. That was
our pickling stuff.
At canning time we also fixed a lot of
jellies and jams. We'd make apple jelly and
grape jelly. And we'd make peach preserves:
we'd peel sweet, cooked peaches like we
were going to can 'em, and put sugar in there
and cook it down until it come clown like
makin' candy, and 1ha1 was good preserves.
Around that same time we'd also be
cuttin' the com and puuin' it up in the com
crib. We'd cut the tops, and pull the fodder,
and put that up to feed the cows and horses.
We didn't leave nolhin' in that field that a
cow could eat. We kept the com in the com
crib, and we kept the peas in big bags inside
in the house where they'd be getting drier and
drier from the heat, so they'd shell easier.
Whenever we got that done, it was
coming to frost, and we had 10 get them
sweet potatoes out before it frosted. If it
frosted on the vines, we had LO get the vines
off right quick before it rained. so that the
frost wouldn't run into the sweet potaroes
and ruin ·cm. When we got 'em up, we'd
wash 'cm, and take 'cm to town to sell them,
anywhere from a gallon to five bushels,
whatever people wanted.
After the frost was the time to cut the
sorghum and make molasses. We had to strip
the cane down. cut all the blades off it. and
cut all the tops off. Then we'd haul all those
cane stallcs to lhe cane mill and put 'em
through the crusher. The juice would run out
into a vat. and we'd cook it off in what. they
called an evap<ntor until it came out syrup.
Several families made sorghum. Some
had bees. We didn't have no bees, but we
had some people who had bees. We'd just
get some stands of honey from them.
We also used to go into the woods and
gather up chestnuts. I'd go bacJc yonder and
gather up a 75 pound short sack. all the
chestnutS I could carry, and bring 'em home,
and we'd eat on them. I also used to like to
get pawpaws and persimmons. Now I'm
tcllin' you, them old persimmons make a
good pie.
And there were always some bear
hunters who would bring in some bear meat.
l know I ate a IOl of bear meat. Back when I
was a boy, bears were just as common as a
milk cow. It was nothin' to see a bear down
at the settlement. But they just got to bang,
bang, bangin', killin' 'em all they wanted, 'tit
there was a 101 of waste.
Right at the first of November, we'd
have to go back into the fields and clean the
'tater patches off. The usually thing was that
there was late roasting cars and some late
beans in the 'tater patch, and after we
gathered them, we cleaned all that off, weeds
and all, so we could plow our 'taters out
After they dried good, we'd put 'em in the
root cellar. Everybody had a root cellar. Lots
of them were dugouts in the bank, but they
were still root cellars where we'd keep the
bleached fruit, the potatoes, and the lcrnut
Everybody also bad a smokehouse
where they'd smoke their meat. and they'd
(ainunlllld on page 33)
Ornwing by Miehkl Thompson
Spri.ng, 1992
�~, ... .. w ...
EATiNG · LbsE ro HOME
c
by Peter Bane
The Logistics of a Permanent Culture
Consider your next meal: It's
mid-winter and what can be found to eat
nearby? The supermarket offers Iowa beef
and Idaho potatoes, Cnlifomia rice and
broccoli, Mexican lettuce and tomatoes, salad
oil from Brazil or Dakota, Aorida citrus,
Washington apples. The Standard American
Qiet is a marvel of technical complexity and a
sad reflection of cultural banality. Divorced
from place and season, available nationwide
and year round, itS cosmetic perfection and
shiny packaging are a glamour concealing
enonnous unmarked costs and catastrophic
instabilities.
Lurking behind the plastic sheen are the
collapse of rural communities, bankruptcy of
farm families, loss of topsoil (an average 20
tons per ton of grain produced), poisoning of
farm-workers, toxic residues in food, air,
soil, and water, cruelty to animals,
destruction of wildlife habitat, deforestation,
and the cultivation of plagues and diseases
heretofore unknown.
Most of the food we presently eat is
seriously denatured (lacking in nutrient value)
by chemical destruction of soil life and is
funher degraded by transport over long
distance. Our diet, combined with poor air
and water quality and compounded by the
stresses of crowded and hwried lives has led
directly to an epidemic of degenerative
diseases: heart attack, cancer, diabetes,
hypertension, leukemia, AIDS.
Worse than all of this, if that is
possible, our food now requires from 10 to
50 times the energy to produce and deli vet to
the table as it returns to the eater as calories of
nourishmenL We couldn't continue this way
without a huge subsidy of fossil fuels. We
are literally eating oil. And when it runs out as we know it will in 30 to 40 years - we will
starve. Of course, long before that
eventuality, our agriculture will have
collapsed from a host of other problems: the
shortage of water, excess UV radiation,
susceptibility of our genetically-narrow
monocultural staples (com, wheat, rice, and
potatoes) to insectS, diseases, climate shifts,
war, and revolution disrupting trade. The
production offiber and timber is similarly
vulnerable and destructive.
If the Standard American Diel is insane
and bound for collapse, then how should we
grow and eat our food? Imagine, if you will,
the life of our predecessors in this land. The
Cherokee, the Iroquois. and other Eastern
forest dwellers cultivated com, beans. and
squnsh; hunted deer. turkey, and small game
which were abundam in the woods; gathered
wild berries, nuts and greens. They caught
fish in lhe streams and collected mushrooms
from the forest floor. Around their
seu.lemcnts they selected and planted fruit
trees. berry bushes, and other useful
perennials.
The world of global IT3de, of oil W:lJ"S
and industrial production is a world of
artificial surpluses and scarcities, of unjust
expropriations and moral decadence. Yet we
have a vision of living in Katuah with natural
abundance, and a dedication to libeny and
1
SprLng, 1992
Drawing by Rob Messick
justice for all. How then can we move from
this disturbed and troubled world into one In
which all our true needs and wants are met
without despoiling the earth and robbing
from our grandchildren and our neighbors in
other countries?
aim of producing the greatest sum of yields in
the least practical area for the murunl benefil
of all creatures. He was certain thal small
areas dedicated to human needs could provide
net surpluses of food, fibre, and energy
while augmenting both genetic diversity and
We need a new way of thin.Icing and
seeing and new tools for problem-solving.
And we need to address fundamental human
needs: clean air, water, and food in sufficient
quantity, shelter appropriate lO climate,
satisfying and useful work, meaningful
human contact, and immersion in a natural
world.
This search for a new paradigm in the
built environment and our interaction with
nature emerged as a response to industrialism
and gradually merged into the science of
ecology. Frederick Law Olmstead, the great
I9th-century American landscape architect.
realized that the growth of cities and of
industrial work threatened the natural
foundation of human sanity. He sought to
ameliorate the effects of both by renewing
vistas of nature in urban parks and
greenways. ln this century, Lewis Mumford
extended these considerations of human scale
and sanity 10 the choices we make about
technology, and Ian McHarg and his
associates projected a concept of design
based on intrinsic capabilities of landscape.
Aui.1rlllian ecologi~t Bill Mollison
transformed his own studies of
environmental psychology imo a practice of
landscape design and coined the term
"permaculture" from "~nent agrioonm:."
or "pem1anent culture" to describe a proce,;s
of assembling artificial ecologies of crop
plants and animals to mimic nature with the
wildlife and resource conservation.
Toe understanding and application of
permaculture design over the past fifteen
years has taken several main forms: the
restoration of degraded landscapes; the
creation of naturalized food foreslS as a locus
for human habitation; the building and
retrofitting of strueturtS to incorporate
climatically appropriate energy and water
harvesting, and to suppon food production;
and the design of economic and
communication structures appropriate to local
production and trading. The work may be
found on American homesteads, in European
municipalities, and among African villages.
New towns have been created in Australia.
and long-term economic decline reversed in
regions of Nepal and India using
pennaculrure principles.
Pcrmaculrurc draws 1tS models from
patterns in nature and embraces many
integrative disciplines: agricultural ecology,
urban planning. landscape architecture.
decent:ralist economics. and shamanism.
among other.. Key insights which apply to
all living )ystems include the following
principles:
I) Design by Relative Location place all elements {house. pond, road, plants)
so as to maximize beneficial relationships and
minimize antagonisms.
2) Select clemcntS to perform \lultiple
Funclions.
(contmual on nc,1 page)
Xotuah JounlO! page 9
t
�!'
)
(001Uinuod &om pegc 9)
3) Suppon every important function
with Multiple Elements.
4) Efficient energy planning through
analysis by zones of access and Sectors of
outSidc influence.
5) Use Biological Resources favor perennials.
6) Recycle Energy on site.
7) Use and accelerate Natural
Succession to establish favorable sites and
soils. Integrate animals, plants, humans, and
StruCt\Jl'CS.
8) Polyculture & Diversity of
beneficial species to promote productive,
stable, interactive systems.
9) Pay attention to Edges & Natural
Patterns.
Pcnnaculture rcstS on an ethical
foundation of care for the earth, including all
living and non-living things; of care/or
people, so that all people everywhere may
have their basic needs met; and the
contribution of surplus time, money, and
energy to achieve the aims of earth and
people care. Permaculture also has a Life
ethic, valui.ng life and all ilS multiplicity for
its own sake. Cooperation, not competition is
the key.
How then might a permanent culture
take shape in Katuah? We can begin at our
doomeps by cultivating a diet appropriate to
our region - one based on the planlS and
animals which grow here naturally and which
have acclimated following introduction - and
extend that process into gardening and
fanning those same species regeneratively.
We can learn to eat seasonally even as we
take advantage of other cultural IJ'ad.itions to
Xatuah Journot pQ(J& l 0
enrich our diet.
Anyone can fimd space for a few leafy
greens and herbs, vegetables which
pound-for-pound afford more nutrition than
any other food category. Grown within a few
steps of the back door in mulched soils, they
will survive almost year round if given a bit
of care against summer drought and winter
frost. Even apartment dwellers in the city can
grow in containers on a balcony or in a
windowbox. Cold frames against a south
wall, a small greenhouse, or even movable
cloches can supply a steady stream of salad
which didn't have to cross the Continental
Divide to grace our table. The familiar
European and Medilerranean vegetables:
lettuce, celery, carrot, onions, broccoli, and
many others, are adapted to cold climates and
may with protection, overwinter in the
ground. Root crops and brassicas (cabbage,
kale...) are especially well-suited to this
method. These same vegetables don't grow
best in our summer heat, but that is the
season when the tropical American and
Indian plants - tomato, corn, beans, squash,
melons, eggplant, peppers, and okra
flourish.
We arc blessed throughout Katuah with
generous forests whose dominant members
include excellent nut trees: walnut, chestnut,
oak, hickory, and pecan. We should
recognize these allies for the food resources
which they offer. Let us plant them in our
yards and parks; conserve and catalog elite
trees where they Stand; and take care in
harvesting to leave the best, tallest,
straightest, healthiest, most vigorous, and
most fecund trees for seed, and tnk:ing only
the lesser examples for timber and fuel wood.
Fruit trees too should be planted in
every yard, along roadways, in parks, and in
neglected spaces in lhe cities. Besides the
traditional apple, pear, peach, plum, cherry,
and apricot, many areas arc suited to ugs. We
have the native pawpaw, the maypop vine,
and the persimmon which holds itS fruit on
the tree well into winter. And the mulberry,
which is one of the earliest fruits in spring, is
hardy, easy-to-grow. and prolific. Members
of the Eleagnus family - autumn olive and itS
cousins, provide not only a shower of tasty
fruit, but improve soils by fixing nitrogen at
their roots, as docs the
juncberry/serviceberry/saskatoon tribe
(Amtlanchiet spp. ).
~~
By inrerpianting and stacking vertical
layers into the garden, we can achieve greater
total yields than is possible with single crops.
Our naturally forested region provides the
model for a productive food forest with crops
grown at the canopy, mid-level, understory,
shrub, herb, and root layers, and on vines
running throughouL These food forests
prpvide abundant wildlife habitat and make
excellent forage systems both for humans and
for domestic poultry, sheep, and pigs where
access can be controlled. In very small
spaces, even in the city, bees, rabbitS, and
pigeons can be tended co augment food
production and household income.
Even more important than the
establishment of food forests everywhere is
the organizing of food markelS. We need to
connect capable growers throughout the
region with networks of town and city
consumers to support the development of
healthy fanns and to increase urban-rural
exchanges. These community-supponcd
farms stand a much better chance of
implementing the diverse cropping strategics
needed for ecological restoration than isolated
fanners trying to outwit the commodity
traders. Subscription farming is a way to
create new jobs in agriculture and offer
alternatives to existing farmers.
Strengthening the farm economy;
marketing food locally; and cultivating our
natural suengths in uee crops, fisheries,
berry and bulb production, can provide the
basis for many new, locally manufactured
hand tools, farm implements, craft- and
housewares. These burgeoning local
economies need methods to augment local
trading, and to retain and recycle wealth
wilhm the community. Local currency and
baner systems work well. The L.E.T.S., or
Local Employment & Trading System, is one
such example. (Further infonnacion from the
Institute for Community Economics,
Somerville, MA.).
If we ask again about sustainable
agriculture and pennanent culture, "What is
to be done?", the answer becomes clearer.
1) Eat what you grow and what is
available locally and in season.
2) Grow things that you like that arc
adapted to the area, and which do not travel
well.
3) Plant and tend food forests
everywhere people live, especially in cities,
using public as well as private space.
4) Conserve genetic diversity and
excellence by nurturing elite specimens and
by exchanging heirloom seed and
scionwood.
5) Trade sw-pluses locally. You needn't
grow everything, or even anything, if you're
a good plumber, teacher, baker, or
candlestick maker.
6) Organize food production to suppon
responsible growers.
7) Make direct market links wherever
possible. Know ~here your food come~
from and where u goes.
,,P'
Peter Bane publishu The Pcnnaculturc
Activist. a fUJlional quarttrly journalfor North
A=rico Born in Illinois, M now lives with his
family in Middle TtnnLSst.t w~re Mis putting his
itkas inJo practice. For m«e information please
contact him at Route I, Bo:i 38; Primm Springs TN
38476
· Drawing by Dawn Shiner
Sprt119, t 992
�I,
Silas McDowell's Vision Of
Mountain Agriculture
by Perry Eury
"Amongsr rhe valleys of the somhern
Alleg/UJllit!$ somerimes winter is succeeded
by wann wearlzer, which, cominuing through
the months of March and April, brings out
vegetarian rapidly, and clothes theforests in
an early verdure. This pleasant spring
wearher is renninated by a few days rain, and
the clearing up is followed by cold, raking
winds from the ,wrrhwest, leaving rhe
atmosphere of a pure indigo tint, though
which wink bright stars, bur ,ftlte wind
subsides at nig/11, the succeeding nwrning
shQws a heavy hoar frost,· vegetation is
unerly killed, including all manner offruit
germs, and the la11dscape clothed in verdure
the day before ,ww looks dark and dreary."
- Silas McDowell
On the morning of April 28, 1858,
Silas McDowell encountered this bleak scene
when he went out to inspect his fann. The
Macon Coumy fruit grower hnd spent almost
thirty years establishing his orchard of 600
apple LreCS near the banks of the Cullasaja
River. However, this late spring freeze
"made nearly a clean sweep from mountain
valleys in Western North Carolina of lhe
richest promise of a fruit crop that we have
ever had." For anyone else, the incident
would have been a crushing disappointment.
For McDowell, it was another opportunity to
examine nature's mysteries and to find a
bener way of fanning in the mountains
McDowell had deliberately selected a
shehered valley for his orchard. Only a settler
too poor to buy bouom land would have tried
to grow fruit hiJh on the mountainsides. And
yet, on this Apnl morning, McDowell
realized his mistake. While his own aces
"seemed as if clothed in a black pall," he
observed on the mountains looming over his
orchard a broad horizontal band of vegetation
left unscathed by the freeze.
Around 1780, Thomas Jefferson had
witnessed similar temperature inversions in
the Shenandoah Mountains of Vtrginia. He
reported, "I have known frosts so severe to
kill the hiccory trees round Monticello, and
yet not injure the tender fruit blossoms then at
bloom oo the t. p and higher parts of the
o
mountain."
Silas McDowell understood that this
was more than a quirk of topography and
climate. He suspected that thermal belts could
be the secret to successful fruit production in
mountainous areas. By the summer of 1858
he wrote that "all description of fruit trees
which have the good fortune to be located in
this vernal region, are now bending beneath a
heavy crop of fruit." He began to promote the
value of this zone for fruit growers and
contributed a repon to the United States
Agricu/cural Reports Jor 1861.
In his articles on the "belt of no frost"
McDowell explained, "The beautiful
phenomena of the 'Verdant Zone' or
Thennal Belt' exhibits itself upon our
mountainsides, commencing about three
hundred feet vertical height above the valleys,
SprLng, 1992
and traversing them in a perfectly horiz.ontal
line throughout their entire length like a vast
green ribbon upon a black ground."
Born in South Carolina in 1795,
McDowell moved to Asheville in his youth
for training as a tailor. He practiced his trade
in Charleston and Morganton before settling
in Macon County's Cullasaja Valley, where
he gained renown as a fruil grower, amateur
Silas McDowt/1
naturalist and story teller. His articles on the
mountains were published in popular
magazines and caught the auention of leading
botanists, who sought his help in finding rare
plants of the Southern Appalachians. When a
visiting scientist asked which college he had
auended, McDowell pointed to the hills
surrounding his farm and replied, "These
wild mountains are the only college at which
my name has ever been entered as a sruden1!"
In a tribute to Silas McDowell, T.F.
Glenn remembered him as modest and
unassuming, and also "intuitive, impulsive
and passionate. His companionship with
nature was a marked feature to the most
trivial objects of beauty and sublimity. By a
native force of genius, by dint of fiery energy
of will, by persistent application, he
sunnounted obstacles."
McDowell's tenacious efforts to raise
winter keeping apples had earned him a
reputation among southern fruit growers even
before the thennal belt episode. When
McDowell and his bride, Elizabeth, moved to
Macon County in 1830 they brought a baby's
cradle filled with small apple trees from her
grandfather's orchard near Asheville. Being
especially fond of winier apples, McDowell
chose varieties recommended by northern
pomologists. His results were like those of
other southern growers. "I made a complete
failure," he confessed, "for when my trees
began to bear fruit, it matured and fell from
the tree long before the proper time, and
though they were an excellent collection of
Aurumn Apples, there was n0t a good Winter
keeper amongst them."
For fifteen years, McDowell struggled
to raise winter keepers. Then, the editor of a
farm paper in Athens, Georgia, suggested
that he lake grafts from native seedling
apples. McDowell followed James
Cannack's advice and searched the hills
around his home for fruit stock. His quest
was successful.
"Amongst old Oterokee seedling Apple
trees - as well as other Southern seedlings, I
have succeeded in conferring on Southern
Pomology a llist of names of Winter Apples,
which both as to their highly aromatic taste,
as well as late winter keeping qualities,
cannot be excelled by as many varieties of
Winter Apples in the United States." His
catalog of new apples featured the Carmack,
Nickajack, Bullasage, Mavereck Winter
Sweet, Royal Pearman, Hoover, Golden
Pippin, Buff, Kingrussen, and Neverfail.
"None but late keepers in the list," McDowell
n01ed with delight.
ln 1870, William Saunders with the
Agriculture Department concluded, 'There is
not a doubt about it, the fmest winter apples
in America arc grown on th.ese mountain
lands." McDowell could take much of the
crediL
McDowell, always concerned with the
region's economy, believed that vineyards
established within the thennal belt could be a
mainstay of mountain agriculture. 'The
Grape," McDowell predicted, "will never fail
to yield to the husbandman a rich and
abundant crop of its luscious and
hean-cheering fruit; and had the vine
locomotion, corporal and mental sense, I
would bid it to 'Tarry not in all the plains; but
flee to the mountains for its life,' and take
refuge under the protection of lhe Thermal
Stratum!"
Much as he had in his quest for winter
apples, McDowell explored the mountains to
find superior varieties of grapes. He
speculated on the potential of hybridizing
some of the specimens, "W e cannot well
command our risibles when, in fancy, we
anticipate the aspect of that monster Grape
that will be produced by the hybridal cross
betwixt the Hon. A.G. Semmes's eight
pound bunches and the Mammoth Grape
Prof. C. D. Smith and ourself measured
yesterday, the single berries of which gined
three and a quaner inches around."
Afler the Civil War, McDowell
continued to write on agricultural topics,
presided over the Fruit Growers Association
and pleaded for extension of the Western
Nonh Carolina Railroad. He was constantly
learning more - from natural phenomena, the
culrure of the Oterokees and the latest farm
journals. In his judgement, the climate and
the terrain of the mountains did not have to be
obstacles to successful farming. Instead, the
unique character of the mountains could
suppon a distinctive form of agriculture.
Diversity was one aspect of the
mountain agriculture he envisioned.
"Dairying, grape culture, bee culture, sheep
(continued on page 34)
�Mountain People
The grey winter sky hovers over the village,
threatening to swoop down with nightfall.
A woman carries burdensome logs to her cabin
and feeds them to the wilting flames in the heanh.
She wraps a moth-eaten quilt
tightly about her sinewy frame,
to shut out the icy strands of December
squeezing through chinks in the walls.
Her hands are weathered with time like the mountain, the palms
grooved like the tire tracks frozen into the eanhen road.
These are hands that once held warm lovers,
brought orphaned raccoons in from a storm,
angry, caring hands that spanked naughty children,
and comfoned them when frightened by distant coyotes,
and scratched their backs until they found the itch,
and opened the tightest jars of jam...
The people of the mountain are quiet,
one with themselves, one with the mountain,
but in the lines on their faces, in their strong hands,
in their calm way,
they tell how they work and breathe,
and brim with life,
like the woman rocking before the fire
in that small cabin on the hill,
her heart a smoldering ember,
warm despite the howling wind outside,
whipping through the firs on the mountainside.
- Allison C. Swherland
Quintessence
Never have I seen the sun like one winter's afternoon
late last February. The wannth was drenched into those
hills of the Blue Ridge, into the stalks of yellow and orange,
rolling back finally to the dark mountains, and the still
darker clouds.
We ourselves were engulfed in shadow, steadily
approaching that sunlit stretch of road before us, that
splash of quin1essen1 light.
A gentle warmth touched !he back of my neck.
and I turned, 10 see but a sliver of silvery white light
at the horizon, light which eked out from under the stormy
tumul t of blue-black clouds.
And soon we were immersed in it, bathed in Ught,
the light of spring, or almost summer. It glinted through
the strands of hair in my eyes, and I squinted to keep looking.
So I closed my eyes and breathed, and let it seep into my
veins, and warm my forehead and my cheeks and my shoulders.
And suddenly it was gone. We were in darkness. among the
mountains, and then just shadow. We meandered through those
hills of greenblack forests like a mountain brook in early
evening, now and again coming upon a splash of sunwashed
hills, searching for that light, until the sun went down.
- Allison C. Swherland
J(Qtu.!Jh Journal
p09e 12
Drawings by Mictu,,,I Thompson
Spri-119, 1992
�NATIVE FOODS
I was brought up in the remote
reaches of the Cherokee Indian
Reservation. My family were "a-aditionals."
That means that they stuek to the old ways
of the lncJjan people, believing them 10 be
the beSL We did some things in exactly the
same way they were done by our people
before contact with the white man. As a
boy, I used to go into the woods and hunt
squirrels with a blowgun, for instance. In
other ways, our life, while not exactly
similar 10 the ways of the anc~stors, echoed
the manner in which they lived and gave a
clue to how it was done before.
In the earliest times, our people lived
off the land. They hunted their meat and
gathered plant foods in the foresL Later,
agriculture became their base, that's when
their culture really blossomed, because they
spent Jess time in gathering food.
Agriculture was a stable way of
surviving, but they also hunted and foraged
food from the wild. A srnple food in times
past was chestnut bread. This represented
the Cherokee's mixed food supply: com
from the fields and chestnuts from the wild.
An abundance of both. And if one source
failed, they could fall back on the other to
carry them through.
I heard that a professor said that a.bout
the time the white man came here the
Cherokees were spending about three days
a week for survival. Most of my life in
modern society l couldn't make a living
working seven days.
In my life. I've spent a lot of time in
the woods, and l lcamed that the secret of
survival in the forest is to puc no limits on
what you eaL Like a bear, see everything as
a potential meal. Everything! Game and
fish, of course, but also crawdads, frogs.
bugs, worms, grubs in the logs. Hornet
larva popped on a hot rock are very good.
It used to be a kid's job to sit under a
holly tree with a blowgun stuck up between
the branches to shoot at the cardinals.
robins, or any other little songbirds that
came. People say. "How did you pluck
them?" but we never plucked them. We just
threw them into the fire and rolled them
around until the feathers had all been singed
off. We treated all the little birds and small
animals like that. We never skinned a
squirrel.
I remember one time I was out, and I
ate tent caterpillars that were feeding on a
wild cherry tree. I roasted them. The fire
singed the hair off - most of it. They
swelled up into little puffy morsels. They
did have a queer taSte, but I was hungry
and I ate all of them I could find.
But we did not have 10 eat insects
except in famine and songbirds were more
hunting trophies for the young. Larger
game was plentiful. In the older rimes the
people ate woods bison, deer. birds like
passenger pigeon and grouse, and
groundhogs.
Drawing by James Rhea
But they would not eat possums. The
Cherokees thought the possum was the
lowliest creature on the Eanh. When
DeSoto came th.rough, one of his company.
a man called The Gentleman of Elvas,
wrote that when they SlOpped at the village
that was near the present ciry of Asheville,
they demanded food for their travel-s from
the natives. He recorded that they were
given "several hundred dead dogs without
any hair on their tails." He did not realize
how the Cherokees despised the possum as
a food sourt:c and what a political sutement
this was.
Plant food was plentiful as well. The
people would gather berries in the
summenime, chestnuts in the fall. When
the che~tnut trees were alive. there was a
large chesmut harvest every year • bushels
and bushels of chestnuts. Properly dried
and stored, they would last all winter.
The people also ate chinkapins.
Chinkapins are related to chestnuts. The
by Bear W ith Runs
tree looks very similar 10 a chestnut tree.
The nuts were a little bit smaller than
chestnuts - somewhat larger than a beech
nut.
Acorns were imponanl, too. They
leached them in water to get out the tannic
acid and then ground them into flour or
roasted them in the fire. They probably
preferred the white oak acorns, because
those have !he least tannie acid.
My grandmother used 10 make little
cakes out of white oak acorn nour, com
meal, and honey. She would also add
persimmons, if we had them. Those cakes
were good! They were a heavy food • a
little bit went a long way
In the old limes. the people would eat
a lot of ,mnas, the wild potatoes that grow
:llong the creeks. And in the spring. ramps
and wild greens, like branch lettuce,
s/10-1011 (or so-chan, green conenower •
ed.). Indian cucumber, and nettles, arc
(cxmlinucd on nnt page)
:KAtuan Journot ~ 13
�(continued
rrom page 13)
plentiful. Mushrooms are good, if you
know what you are looking for, but they
aren't very filling.
It's interesting. One person can
forage really well alone, while foraging for
two people is difficulL But with three
people it becomes easier, because two can
forage and the other one can prepare the
food.
When the Cherokees smned planting,
they added some new foods to their dieL
Com, of course, was a staple, beans, and
"punkins," as they called them in my
family, meaning any lcind of squash.
We ate green com as "roastin' ears,"
dried corn was ground into flour and eaten
as cornbread. Everybody grew their own
corn, and everybody thought their own was
better than everybody else's.
The com we would keep in a com
crib. We put the beans in sacks and hung
them up in the barn or under the dogtrot
(roofed, but open air passageway between
two separate sections of a building - ed.) at
the house.
The early people built very neat,
efficient com cribs. They were raised off
the ground on poles, bad a tight thatched
roof, and walls made of panels woven of
bark or wood splits that were daubed with
clay or mud to keep varmints out. The com
was stored in there on the cob.
Mother trimmed the com husks and
packed them to save for cooking chestnut
bread, bean bread, or com dumplings. The
traditional way was to wrap them in com
husks and boil them. When the corn shucks
ran out, Mother would wrap them in green
oak leaves. That would tum the com blue.
Mother ground com a litlle bit at a
time as she needed it. She never ground
very much because weevils would get in
into ground meal very quickly.
Back long ago, before they had ovens
to bake in, they made mealcakes that were
either boiled or roasted. We used to do !hat
when l was young. We would call !hem
hoecakes. We always carried com meal
when we were traveling. To prepare the
cakes, we would mix the meal with boiling
water to "kill the com." Killing the com
causes the dough to stick together. Then we
would flatten them out, lay them on a flat
rock, and let them roast as brown as lhey
could be.
In the old days, lhc warriors would
carry parched com in a long bag by their
side when they were on the trail. They
parched shelled com by throwing it into a
hot fire and leaving it until it got brown (or
more likely black), and then grinding it into
powder.
On the trail, they would trot from
dayUght to dark, heading for Iroquois
country. When they saw a stream up ahead,
they would pour some of the powder into
their hand while they were running. As
they crossed over the stn:am, they would
bend down while they were still moving
and grab a handful of water and keep
trotting. That was the only food that they
would take alo11g their route.
Beans were important to us, too. The
elderi; told me that the originnl bean was red
and white, and it came from the south.
Xatuah J~rnoL pf.UJC 14
Pinto beans were my family's
favorite, and we must have raised one-half
acre of pinto beans every year. A visitor
could come into our house any day of the
week and find a pot of pinto beans on the
stove and bread in the warmer on top of th~
stove - cornbread, and later when l was
growing up there were occasionally flour
biscuits, but lhat was not often.
We had meals only once or twice a
day, but we ate whenever we got hungry.
That was the way I was raised. If 1 got
hungry in the middle of the day, l'd just
run in, take a bowl of beans, grab some
bread, and eat up.
When people found that
domesticating livestock was easier lhan
hunting, they began raising animals as well
as growing crops. My grandfather said that
the turkey was the first animal to be
domesticated, and it domesdcated itSClf.
When the Cherokees began raising com,
they would build litllc racks in the cornfield
and assign the kids to keep watch to scare
off the crows and wildlife. The turkeys
loved the com so much they just wouldn't
scare, so the people just penned up the
turkeys and fed them com in the pen to
keep !hem out of lhe fields.
The Cherokees ate turkey, but !hey so
prized the turkeys' feathers for making
ornaments and beautiful capes, lhat my
grandfather said, "We used to care more
about 'em for their feathers than for the
meaL"
Because we ate what was provided
locally, lhe diet of the Cherokee fndians
changed with the seasons of the year.
In the green com season, when the
first com turned ripe enough tO eat, besides
the roasting cars we would cat squash and
other vegetables, fish, and chicken. But we
never ate game in the summenime, because
we were afraid of a parasite we called
"weevils" or "foxes." (insect larvae, also
called "warbles" by white people - ed.)
This was a big wonn that got into squirrels,
rabbits. and deer. You could often see two
or three of them sticking out of an animal in
the late summer and early fall. IL was large
and black, pointed on one end. It would
bore into the skin and live off the moisture
and the blood of the animal.
We never ate game at all until the
worms were killed by the first frost. There
were taboos about killing animals until after
the weevils were gone.
But we ate chickens. And we caught
fish all summer long. The old way to catch
trout was with trout baskets. They built up
weirs in the stream made out of rocks.
They piled up rocks forcing the fish into a
narrow channel that flowed into the trout
basket. As kids, we used to build weirs in
Lhe stream, too.
We also ate frogs and any turlles we
came upon during the summer season - if
we came across a mud turtle, that was just a
didn't have any lard on them at all. But they
tasted really good. We fed them some
garbage 10 keep them around, and they ate
bugs and snakes, but we would kill them
right after the acorn crop was down, and
that's when they would be their nicest.
Hogs raised on acorns and com taste totally
different than the meat you buy today. Fall
was the fat time for everything that lived in
the forest - including the Indians.
Father smoked meat, and Mother
would can trout and other kinds of meat in
jars. She would boil them outside in a big
washtub that would hold 30 or 40 cans. We
ate a lot of meat in the fall and early winter,
and then we ate dried food until the spring.
ln the old days people would put
dried food in clay pots and carry them up 10
the asi, their dugout winter shelter. The
food would store there until the wintertime
when the people arrived and would live in
the asi surrounded by their food supply.
My Mother would dry berries,
persimmons, squash, any kinds of food we
could get. We had a tray about lhe size of a
screen door made of honeysuckle vines
woven into a mat. h was hung it over the
wood stove. We would lower it, she would
lay out all the slices, and then we would
help her pull it back up. When it wasn't in
use. we just pulled it up against the ceiling.
It always stayed over the wood stove.
I like to think that is how they did it in
the old times: hung a mat over lhe central
fire in the house under the smoke hole.
We had chestnuts, and we had com,
so no one really went hungry. The diet may
not have been nutritionally stable all year,
but we had enough.
The hardest time of year was late
February and early spring. By then we
were craving greens. Tobacco helped with
the hunger. Tobacco depresses the appetite.
But we were doggin' for vegetables. In the
meantime we drank teas: sassafras tea,
birch tea, pine needle tea, which had a lot
of vitamin C, and spicebush tea.
My mother used to make cough
medicine for me, anyway l think it was for
me, but Grandpa would drink a lot of it.
She'd catch him at it, and he'd go "Hunh.
hunh, hunh (like he was coughing)." It was
wild cherry bark and pine need.Jes. They
were boiled down and after all the needles
and bark were taken out of it. she added
honey until it was really !hick, and then she
cooked it down some more. It was nice. It
was really nice. It was good and sweet.
Then, a little later in the spring, the
sho-tan came in. Everyone would have a lot
of that. get the shits, and clean out their
bodies. My grandmother would also make
us a tonic from a gray lichen called
"turkey's tail." Later the ramps would be
ready, the growing things would be getting
green, and everything would balance out
/
again.
treat.
We were meat eaters in the fall, for
sure. We never did have any cows. 1 didn't
eat beef until l was 2 l or 22 years old. But
we did have some old skinny hogs. They
were as lean as they could be. l remember
my father complaining about how lhey
In spilt ofth.t: droll nomt he has odopttd/or
this articlt, Btc.r With Runs IJ a full-blooded
Chtroku Indian. lit livl.S in quiet anonJmity ofl
tht Cherolctt India/I Rt.str.•ation
Drawing by Pcgi
Sprl..™3, 1992
�COVER CROPS
On-farm, Solar-powered Soil Building
by Mark Schon beck
During my four years as an agricultural
researcher at the New Alchemy Institute, I
chose to focus on cover crops because they
perform so many different functions on the
farm, utilizing primarily solar energy. The
only off-farm input is the seed - a few
pounds to one hundred pounds per acre,
from which thousands of pounds of organic
matter arc accumulated through
photosynthesis. In contraSt, most soil
amendments entail imponing hundredweights
or tons of materials for each acre.
A cover crop is a crop grown not for
harvest. but to protect, maintain or enrich the
soil A green mallW'e is any crop (but usually
a cover crop and/or natural weed growth)
which is tilled into the soil to add organic
matter and feed the soil biota. Cover crops
and green manures protect soil against wind
and water erosion, suppress weeds, provide
habitat for beneficial insecis, add organic
maucr, add nitrogen (legumes only), and
make other nuoients more available to the
next crop. Most cover crops can also be
grown for grain (e.g., rye, buckwheat)
and/or livestock forage (e.J/ ., clover, annual
ryegrass, alfalfa).
Cover cropping is a cornerstone of
sustainable agricultural systems in most
bioregions, and this is cenainly true for
Kawah. Why do I make this claim? I'll Stan
with a brief digression into soil ecology...
In both natural and agricultural
ecosystems, plant growth depends on the
organic matter cycle in the soil. Soil
organisms continually break down soil
humus, thereby releasing nitrogen,
phosphorus, potassium, and other nutrients
for plant roots to absorb.
The carbon from the organic matter
appears in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.
Plants convert carbon dioxide b:ick into
organic compounds in photosynthesis. In
natural ecosystems, leaves, other plant
residues and animal dung thar fall to the
ground feed earthworms and other soil
organisms. These creatures change the
residues into humus, thus replenishing
organic matter reserves. Most of the nucrients
can cycle back and forth between soil and
plant almost indefinitely, except when intense
rains wash some of them away.
Nitrogen is more volatile, and some of
ii inevitably slips away into the atmosphere or
groundwater. Fortunately, there arc
numerous species ofbac1eria and blue-green
algae in the soil that can fix (convert)
atmoSpheriC nitrogen back into forms that
plants and soil organisms can use. The most
effective nitrogen-fixing bacteria, the
rhizobia, form a symbiosis with the roots of
leguminous plants such as clovers, beans and
black locust trees.
Sprl.fflJ, 1992
Agriculture disrupts this
nutrient/organic matter cycle in three ways.
First, clearing the natural vegetation exposes
the soil surface to sun, wind and rain.
Because humus is a lightweight and
finely-divided material, a disproportionate
amount of humus is lost when soil erodes.
Extreme temperature and moisture
fluctuations at the soil surface can also bum
up the humus and deter biological activity,
leaving a son of "dead zone" in the top inch
or so. Second, tillage accelerates the r(lle at
which soil organic manerdecomposes. This
happens because soil disturbance brings
additional oxygen into the topsoil, thus
speeding bacterial action. Initially, the
resulting burst of nucrient release promotes
heavy crop yields, but the soil wears out
unless the organic mauer is replenished from
other sources. Third, harvest removes
nuoients, and these must be replaced
regularly. Because synthetic chemical
fertilizers do not feed the soil life and tend to
upset the soil's balance, biological farmers
use organic and natural mineral fcnilizers,
such as compost, leaf mold and ground
limestone.
Organic fanning often entails adding
large amounts of organic amendments to the
soil. lf these materials are brought in from
off-fann sources, this is not sustainable
farming, as this removes materials from the
organic matter cycle on someone else's land.
Also, iransporting bulky amendments from
their point of origin 10 the farm consumes a
lot of fossil fuel. Composting manure and
crop residues produced on the farm is more
ecologically sustainable, but may be quite
labor·intensive. Often, the amount of
residues produced on the farm docs not meet
all the land's organic matter needs.
Cover crops use sunlight to produce
organic matter in place, and, in the case of
legumes, to fix nitrogen. In contrast,
manufacture of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer
uses a tremendous amount of fossil fuel.
Once a cover crop is established, its l"OO(S
bind the soil together, significantly reducing
erosion even before the foliage fully covers
the ground. As the cover crop canopy closes,
it effectively stops erosion.
Cover crops such as buckwheat
suppress weeds by growing rapidly and
casting dense shade, whereas winter rye, oats
and sudan grass release natural substances
that suppress weed seedlings (this
phenomenon is called allelopathy).
Legume cover crops often add 50 to
150 pounds of nitrogen per acre in a single
season, thus replacing the nitr0gen harvested
in most vegetable and grain crops.
Buckwheat, lupines and sweet clover have
roots that can absorb relatively insoluble
fonns of phosphorus that other crops cannot
access. When the cover crop is tilled in, the
phosphorus is released to the next crop.
Some cover crops and deep-rooted weeds can
extract potassium, calcium, or ccnain
micronurrients from the subsoil or from
insoluble minerals.
A mixed gra:.s/legume cover crop (e.g.,
clover/timothy, or winter rye/hairy vetch) can
produce three to four tons of dry organic
matter per acre in a year, and the proportion
of nitrogen to carbon in such a mixture is
often ideal for humus formation. A three ton
cover crop provides about as much organic
matter and nitrogen as a 10 to 15 ton manure
application, and the cover crop does not need
10 be hauled into the field, but simply mowed
or tilled in.
The biggest challenge in using cover
crops is allowing them enough time to reach a
good size without sacrificing a whole season
of vegetable or grain production. The
simplest approach is to plant the cover crop
immediately after harvest, but this is often in
fall, leaving the cover crop little time before
winter.
One altenullive is overseeding, or
planting the cover crop while the production
crop is still growing. In moist, fine•texturcd
soils, small-seeded cover crops like clover,
alfalfa and ryegrass can be broadcast on the
soil surface between rows of com. squash,
1oma1oes. broccoli or other widely-spaced
crops. Jn coarser soils or drier conditions. the
se.ed can be incorporated by light hoeing or
cultivation. The cover crop grows slowly
beneath the esmblished vegetable. then spuns
ahead after the lauer is harvested and cleared.
Another method is to plant a slowstaning cover crop such a.\ clover~ the same
time as a grain is planted. After gram harvest,
the clover is grown until the following
spring, then tilled in. Clover plus grain
(ciontinucd an p1gc 16)
Ora..,ing by Rob Musick
�stubble give excellent wintertime erosion
conuol, and provide a lot of organic matter
with a good c:irbon-nitrogen balance.
When a green manure is ,tilled into the
soil, a burst of biological activity occurs
which can be detrimental to crop seedlings
for a shon rime. Thus it is a good idea 10 wait
two or three weeks after turning the crop
under before direct-seeding vegetables,
especially small seeds like lettuce and carrots.
An alternative method is to mow the
aboveground pan of the cover crop, and
gather the clippings to mulch another bed or
build a compost heap. 11 is much easier to
spade or plow up the crop stubble withou1 all
that shoot biomass there, and the waiting
period needed before direct-seeding should
also be shoncr. Some cover crops can be
killed by mowing at the nght ume. Their
clippings can be left in place and vigorous
crop seedlings (e.g., cabbage, 1oma10)
lnlnSplanted through the mulch without
tillage. Success with this varies because the
mulch cools the soil and can aurac1 slugs.
Clearing an eight to twelve inch diameter area
around each seedling reduces these problems.
Different cover crops arc suited to
different purposes. A few specific examples
follow. The first six are non-legumes and do
not add nitrogen, the rest are legumes that can
fix niuogen.
Winter rye is very hardy, overwintering
as far north as zone 3a (annual minimum -35
10 -40 degrees F). In the Katt.iah bioregion,
rye planted by early October will protect the
soil and suppress weeds effectively. Rye
planted in early November will do well and
produce lots of organic matter in spring, but
there is a risk of winter erosion, as the cover
will be thin.
Rye is useful for talcing up and
conserving any soluble soil nitrogen left over
from the growing season. The crop can be
difficult to manage in the spring because it
rapidly gets very tall and tough. When grown
alone, it can also ccmporarily 1ie up soil
nitrogen and release allelopathic substances
that can inhibit growth of the nex1 crop. If ii
gets away from you, mow-kill the rye after
the heads have emerged and begun shedding
pollen. Or let the rye go to maturity and reap
some nice grain and/or seeds for next year's
cover crop. Seeding rate is 90-150 lb/acre
(note: one pound per 1,000 square feet equals
about 44 lb/acre). using the higher rates for
later plantings.
Win~r wheOJ can be used similarly 10
rye, though it is a little less hardy, somewhat
shorccr and later to mature. It may also be
easier to manage in the spring. Sow 90-120
lb/acre.
OOJS, another small grain, is much less
frost-hardy, and is generally killed the first
time the temperature drops to 15 or 20
degrees F.. Oats can be planted in early
spring and mowed or turned under in early
summer. They can also be planted in August
or early September and allowed to grow until
killed by hard freezes. This leaves a thick
protective mulch that is easier 10 manage in
spring than a live rye crop. though the
~um of organic matter will be less. Sow
90-120 lb/acre..
Annual ryegrass is marginally
winter-hardy in zone 6b (annual minimum -5
to 0 degrees F), and can either be planted in
early spring or in August-early September.
Ryegrass fonns an unusually dense root
sysiem that gives excellent erosion
protcccion, fosters good soil strUcture and
"mops-up" leftover soil nutrients so they
don't wash away. Unlike the three preceding
crops, ryegrass ca11not be mow-killed, and
must be spaded or tilled in. Rye and rycgrass
are often confused, bu1 they arc easy 10 tell
apart. Rye has the edible, wheat-berry sized
seeds, while ryegrass has fme, fluffy seeds
that look a lot like lawn grass seed. Sow
20-50 lb/acre.
Sudan grass is a fast-growing,
fros1-sensitive summer annual that can
produce a tremendous nmount of biomass. le
requires warm, fertile soil, and is well suited
to planting after harvest of early spring
vegetables like lettuce or peas. It suppresses
weeds through both competition and
allelopathy, and can be cut twice for mulch
(prized by strawberry growers), compost
mmerial or fodder (cawion: let it grow a1 least
24 inches tall, preferably more, before
feeding to livestock, as young sudan grass
contains toxic amounts of cyanide). The
stubble may be subl.tantial enough 10 hold the
soil over winter and add a li1tle organic matter
when turned under in spring. Sow 20-50
lb/acre.
Buckwheat is a mos1 useful green
manure for shon fallow periods in vegetable
culture. It can be planted any time after the
las1 frost, up to the middle of August.
Buckwheat emerges and shades the ground
rapidly, choking out weeds. It reaches 2 to 4
feet and begins 10 flower about 30 days after
planting, and should be mowed or turned
under at most 45 days after planting 10
prevent self-seeding. Two or three successive
plantings of buckwheat, followed by winter
rye, with each crop tilled under, reduces
populations of stubborn perennial weeds like
quackgrass. Buckwheat is also excellent bee
forage, and is good for mobilizing the
phosphorus in a rock phosphate applica1ion.
Sow 50-100 lb/acre.
Clovers are small-seeded legumes that
Stan slowly, but can fix 50 to 100 pounds of
nitrogen if allowed to grow a full year.
White clover is a low-growing (4-18
inches, depending on variety), long-lived
perennial, and is suited to "living mulch"
applications (be sure you don't confuse it
with white sweetclover which can reach five
to 10/eet).
Red clover is taller (18-30 inches),
faster-growing, shorter lived and very shade
tolerant. ll is we11 suited to overseeding into
established vegetables in August if moisture
is adequate.
Alsike clover is intennediate between
white and red clovers, and is more tolerant of
clayey, wet or acid soils. Unlike the 01hers,
crimson clover is an annual, which can be
planted in August or early September and wi11
overwinter in the milder pans of Kaniah (it's
risky here in zone 6b). h can also be planted
in early spring. ln addition to fixing nitrogen
and producing 3 t0ns/acre of organic matter,
crimson clover has spectacular deep red
blooms. Sow clovers in early spring or late
summer, 4-8 lb/acre for white clover, 8-15
lb/acre for red or alsike, and I5-25 lb/acre for
crimson. Clover seedlings don't like ho1 sun,
so it helps to plant oats at 35-50 lb/acre with
the clover to provide light shade, then mow
the oats at heading. Crimson clover can be
mow-killed just after 0owering, while the
other clovers cannot.
Hairy vetch is a legume which has
recently enjoyed a resurgence of interest. h is
a winter annual vine with small purple
flowers and can fix 100 to 250 pounds of
nitrogen per acre. Vetch is hardy to zone Sa
(annual minimum -15 to -20 degrees),
although frost-heaving can be a problem if
harsh freezes alternate wilh !haws. It can be
planted in September, either alone or with
rye, wheat or oats, at 20-30 pounds of vetch
plus 50 pounds of grain per acre. Vetch/rye is
an excellent combination because the rye is
strong enough tO support the vetch vines in
spring, 1he rye roots help prevent frost
heaving, and the combination is more
effective than either crop alone in stopping
erosion, suppressing weeds and building
humus. Also, vetch can be mow-kilJed once
it has begun to flower, which happens about
the same rime that rye sheds pollen. Other
vetches include bigflower vetch (hardy in
most of Katt.iah), common vetch and purple
vetch, both of which are winterlcilled at 10 to
20 degrees F. Their residues release nitr0gen
in the spring, thus these vetches may be
valuable planted in August ahead of the next
year's early spring greens.
Sweet clovers are biennial legumes with
very deep taproots that open the soil and
bring up nutrients. White sweetclover likes
rich, moist, somewhat clayey soil, and gets
very large in the second season, while ye11ow
sweetclover tolerates droughty, sandy soils
and is somewhat smaller, about 4 LO 6 feet
tall. Hubam sweetclover is an annual white
variety that produces lots of organic maner in
a short time, but may self-seed and become a
nuisance weed. Sow sweetclovers in April or
August at 12-18 lblacre. alone or wilh 35-50
lb oats/acre.
Alfalfa, the "queen of forages" can also
make a heavy nitr0gen-fixing cover crop and
provide a highly nutritive mulch. Alfalfa is
somewhat finicky, requiring deep, rich,
nonacid soils high in phosphorus, potassium,
and calcium. Under good conditions, it is a
long-lived percMial lhot can be cut for
several years for mulch, compost or forage.
Sow a1 15-20 lb/acre, pn:fembly with oats at
35-50 lb/acre and/or timothy or other
perennial forage gross at half its normal
seeding rate.
Mark Schon/Jeck Ph.D.•formuly a rcscarckr
with Ntw t\lchtmy. is now inll()/vtd with tht
fnstitutt for Sustainable Living. Wind.n..-ept Farm;
Rt. I, Box 35: Chtck, VA 24072 which products
{JII uctlltnt ncwsltlltr, TcJtinh.
Sprlll<J, 1992
�Plant for Tomorrow:
HEMP
by John Ingress
"Whal is c/wJ uncercainflush low on
the ground, tlwt irresistible rush of
mulci111di,w1LS green ? Aformigl,t later, and
the field is brown no longer. Overflowing ir,
burying it out ofsight, is the shallow tidal sea
of the hemp, ever rippling. With that in
view, all ocher shades in namre seem dead
and coUIII for nothing. Far reflected,
conspicuous, brilliant, strange; masses of
living emerald, saturated wirlt blazing
sunlight."
•from The Reign of Law; A Talc or lhc Kentucky
Hemp Fields by l=s Allen Lane (1900)
Although the Earth has always had
"environmentalists" - people and entire
cultures who respect the forces of Nature and
who try 10 learn from and work wirll those
forces - our industrial/scientific society is
coming 1ownrds environmentalism from the
opposite pole: by discovering how pollution
has disrupted the web of life.
The thread that binds these issues is
1he non-sustainable nature of our dependence
on fossil fuels (and u-ees, because forest
habitats cannot be replenished a1 the rate at
which treeS rue being cut). To dismiss hemp
as a possible solution because ii is of the
genus Camwbis with "marijuana" ( a
pejorative misnomer) is akin to dismissing
Galileo because "the world is flat." For the
moment, let's consider only those varieties of
cannabis referred to as "headache weed,"
containing little psychoactive THC.
Hemp is one of humanity's oldest
cultivated crops. The weaving of hemp fiber
as an industry began 10,000 years ago (see
Jack Herer, The Emperor Wears No Cloches,
1990). By the 27th century BC. the Chinese
cultivated hemp for fiber, medicine, and
herbal use. Since that time, cannabis has been
continuously incorporated into virtually all
the cultures of the Middle East, Asia Minor,
India, China, Japan, Europe, and Africa, and
its uses for oil, food, and relaxation were
developed.
The first laws governing hemp in 1he
Americas were those requiring colonial
Virginia fanners to grow hemp. Violators
could be imprisoned. Washington grew i1,
Jefferson smuggled Chinese seed at great
peril; the first drafts of the US Constitution
were written on hemp paper. The Census of
1850 counted 8,327 hemp plantations of
2000 acres or more, mostly in the South.
In 1916, USDA Bulletin No. 404
reponed that one acre of cannabis hemp, in
annual rotation over a 20 year period, \\0Uld
produce as much pulp for paper as 4.1 acres
of trees, requiring no polluting chemicals.
The hemp pulp technology wa~ invented by
USDA scientists in 1916, but awaited the
mvcntion of dcconica1ing and harvesting
machinery. These arrived in the mid-10-la1e
1930's. at the same time as the DuPont
Company was patenting processes 10 make
plastics from oil and coal, as well as new
Spn119, 1992
sulfate/sulfite processes to make paper from
wood pulp.
Coincidentally - some say
conspiratorially - the Marijuana Tax Act of
1937 effectively outlawed the entire cannabis
plant family on the basis of it's "reefer
madness" properties. No1 only DuPont
profits, but those of large timber holdings,
were wriuen into law. (William Randolph
Hearst, whose "yellow journalism" was
instrumental in the marijuana scare, owne-0
hundreds of thousands of acres of timber,
destined for newsprint).
A working definition of sustainable
agriculture might be those practices that
assure the means of survival - food. fuel,
fiber, and medicine. The mining and use of
fossil fuels. unless absolutely necessary. is
only "economical" in 1cnns of shon cerm
profits. As Buckminis1er Fuller poinis ou1 in
1he book Critical Patl1, it took millions or
years of pho1osyn1hesis, decay, and
accumulation of organic material 10 produce
the oil and coal we use today. By determining
replacement values. he calculates gasoline to
be wonh $2.'i million dollars per gallon! One
might say it's priceless. Or. since burning it
is killing the planet. one could say it has
negative value when removed from the
ground for applications for which a
renewable, sustainable resource, such :is
hemp. is available.
The cannabis hemp seed is a
complete source of vegetable protein, :ind the
USDA food comparisons found hempsecd
lower in saturated fats than any other cooking
oil. including soy and cnnola.The byproduct
of pressing hemp seed for its oil is a high
protein seed cake.
Hemp fiber makes fabrics that are
stronger. more insulating, more absorbent,
and tonger lasting than cotton. More than
half the textiles we use today are imponed,
due to environmental concerns and labor
costs. Hemp requires little fertilizer, and no
pesticides. Local industry could revive.
Hemp is the world's most prolific
source of plam cellulose, which is the basic
raw material used for plastics, fabrication
material, chipboard, fibelboard and other
construction boards.
For more than 3,500 years, cannabis
has been, depending on the culture or nation,
either the moi;1 used or one of the most
widely used plants for medicines. If legal, i1
would immediately replace an estimated lO to
20 percent of all pharmaceutical prescription
medicines and could be added, as extracts, 10
another 20 to 30 percent. From 1842 10 1900
ii made up half of all medicines sold, with
vinually no fear of its "high."
In 1937, the AMA and drug
companies testified against the Marijuana Tax
Ac1, because cannabis was known to have so
much medical potential and has never caused
any observable addictions or death by
overdose. It is known to be helpful in ca.~s
of asthma, glaucoma. tumors, nause:i
resulting from chemotherapy or AIDS,
epilepsy, back pain, and stress among its 100
or so kno\\ n applications.
If we would let it. cannabis hemp
could have a bright future providing
humankind with food, fuel, fiber, an~~
medicine.
fr
For addiuonol informaJu,n on w u.ses of
rhe MIii/i plan/, wme 10: Fnendsofllemp: Bo;(98/:
Mars /lilt, NC 28754,
x.cituah Journal. JJCllF t 7
�KATUAH CULTIVARS
Cultivated Varieties of Vegetable and Fruits
Recommended for Ka mah Bioregion
We received a handful of Kaniah
gardeners' lis1s of favorite fruil and
vegetables varieties. The resulting list is a
chefs' cornucopia. and generally includes
personn.l favorites for productivity, taste,
nuaition, and relative freedom from
problems. Codes for seed sources for the
more difficult-to-find varieties (when known)
are included at the end of the article. Happy
Gardening!
We invite Katuah readers to send us
your favorite varieties (esp. Open Pollinated
{O.P.) or non-hybrid varieties) and your
list of not-so-m:ommendcd varieties (this is
also imponant info!) for developing a more
comprehensive regional listing. Thanks for
your giving...
Perry Eury (Kalmia Center, Sylva, NC)
-rates Red Jewel sweet poiato as a
favorite! He continues to have problems
with disease on legumes. but has had good
luck with a crowder pea, Purple
Knucklehull (SH). He highly recommends
the recovered "Cherokee" Com, a delicious
white com with pinkish blush-- makes lhe
BEST cornbread! (from Cherokee Boys
Club).
Hueh Love! ( Union Agricultural
Instirute, Blairsville, GA) -- Hugh is a CSA
Producer, dedicated to regenerative,
biodynamic agriculture. He loves the English
green pea. Little Marvel which does not
require staking in his intensive, three rows
per wide bed spacings. Sugar Snap edible
pod peas are a favorite with his cus1omers.
He recommends Blue Lake Pole and
Yellow Wax Bean, as productive, but
recommends choosing "rust" disease
rcsistanL varieties. He recommended
Purple Top Tumips (greens and root multicrop!) and rape greens (Vates).
Cherry Belle radishe~ are recommended
for quick maturing spring radishes, and for
Fall planting, Chjna Rose radish.
Touchon is a great coreless carrot, and
Bloomsdale Spinach is recommended as a
standard. Hugh notes that spinach will last
longer in the spring (nor "bolt") if you grow
spinach with low levels of nuaients (esp.
nitrogen).
G}en Hubel (Certified Organic Grower.
Waynesville, NC) has done well with edible
podded pea Snowflake and Sugar
Daddy, and the english pea Knight. He
suggests the beans Easy Pie and the Yellow
Wax bean, Gold Crop. He likes the shon
season tomato Russian, but has had much
"Blight" disease problems with his tomato
varieties. His best crop is his potato crop
including Kennebec, Purple Peruvians,
Red Pontiac, Yellow Finn (SB) and
rates Butte average. He recommend!. agains1
Yukon Gold because of potato bug
problems (lururtm, might be a "trap-crop"! ).
He has had good yields with Black soybeans
and the edible at green-stage Butterbean
soybean. His best crops are his lenuces,
:IC4Nan JO\lf'nat PCUJe 18
recommending Red Oakleaf, Sangria,
Lolla Rossa, and Red Romaine
(SHP).
Will Ashe Bason (Floyd Co.• south.of
Blacksburg, VA) especially likes Lutz
Greenleaf Keeper (SESE) bee!li, as the
~ I keeping. sweetest and mos1 render. He
grows white, yellow and red po1a1oes, but
has had worst "Scab" disease on reds which
do 001 keep as well. He likes his yellow
poiatoes best! He notes broccoli and cabbage
do well. but need to be treated with the
biological insecricide, Dipel (B1). He
advises to plant fall varieties of cole crops
and plant these seeds in late spring. He has
found Sunroofs (the native sunflower,
Jerusalem Artichoke) easy 10 grow and s1ores
well in the l!:r0und over winter. He
recommends blueberries as a fruit crop which
tolerates warm early spells and l:11e frosts, but
recommends additional peal or organic matter
in the planting hole. Will states that Shiitake
mushrooms are relanvely easy 10 inoculate
int0 chestnut oak logs, but may require a year
to get going, but then may "fruit " for years.
He is especially happy with Scarlet
Runner Beans, which are best in flavor,
and make a ''preny good" dried bean. These
are most easily shelled when ''perfectly" dry.
He grows his beans in the garden space left
available after the spring crop of snap peas
(although this may eventually lead to disease
problems in time- ed.)
Mark Schonbeck (Instiru1e for
Sustainable Agriculture, Windswept Farm,
Check. VA) shares his favorite varieties of
"non-hybrid, good flavored, nuaitious, with
good keeping qualities, resistance to pests
and diseases, and ease of haJvest and
processing." (Whew! What criteria!)
Windswept Farm gardeners were
impressed by the grain sorghum.
Mennonite (SESE), yielding over 7 lbs. of
grain from a 100 square foot plot . The
cooked grain iasted somewhat between wheat
berries and brown rice (but had 10 be leached
of the tannins from the grain by boiling and
changing the cooking waters). Hickory
King white flour com, although it grew 10
feet tall, survived thunderstorms, showed
little earwonn damage, and had little mold or
maggot problems. They no1ed that Purple
Peruvian and Saginaw Gold potatoes had
less potato beetle problems than other
varieties. They had problems growing carrots
in their poor soil but Danvers U6 carrot
grew well withou1 becoming woody, and bad
little weed problem. They especially favored
Long Standing Bloo~dale spinach,
with its excellent flavor and winter hardiness.
They recommend several beans including
Chinese Red (SESE) azuki beans
(yielding equivalent 10 2500 lbsJacre), which
grew without any Mexican bean beetle attack!
Swedish Brown common bean had lower
yields (eqiv. 1500 lbs/A.) but have an
unusually good flavor. A local adapted
pinio-type October Bean, obtained from a
neighbor, yielded well and had slightly less
bean beetle damage than other varieties. A
Redkloud Kidney (SESE) bean was
badly chewed by beetles, but managed to
yield as much as the azulcis.
Barbara Duncan (Herb Enthusiast,
Franklin, NC) -- recommends her favorite
perennial Greek Oregano (SHP) which
she prefers for its ease-of-culture (although
hard 10 genninate) and strong, distinctive
taste.
Lee Barnes (Plantsman, Waynesville,
NC) - I've had repeatable success with
Peruvian Purple potatoes tender,
finger-sized and beautiful mixed with yellow
or white potatoes in Potato Salad! Early
Jersey Wakefield cabbage is more tender
and sweeter than other varieties. Celery
(Golden Self-Blanching and Giant
Red(actually pinkish) (SB) does well if
seeds are sown indoors early (60 - 90 days
prior to transplanting). Favorite superhot
peppers are Thai and Habanero (RCS)
(great for hot vinegars, too (()() hot to eat!),
which do best if transplan1ed after mid-May,
or when soil 1empera1ures are greater than 00°
F. My favorite eggplant is the tender
"finger-shaped" Japanese varieties, and I'm
currently addicted to the hybrid eggplant
"khiban". Can anyone recommend an O.P.
variety? Purple Top turnips are favorites!,
while ruUlbagas and kohlrobi do very wcJI if
sown 2-3 weeks earlier than for turnips.
SESE • Southern Exposure Seed
Exchange, P.O. Box 158, North Garden,
VA22959
SH - R.11. Schumway. P.O. Box
I, Graniteville, SC 29829
HA - Hastjng.s. P.O. Box 115535,
Atlanta, GA 30310
SB -Seeds Blum, Idaho City Stage,
Boise, ID 97333
SUP- Shephard's Garden Seeds,
6116 Highway 9, Felton, CA 95018
RCS- Redwood City Seed Co.,
P.O. Box 361, Redwood City, CA 94064
(See KJ # 32 Fall 1991 or master
Resource List for additional seed sources.).
By Lee Barnes
Drawing by Rob Messick
Spr\n4), 1992
�..
--BLOWING IN THE WIND
by Charlone Homsher
When 1 was growing up in
southeastern Colorado, my family hnd a
Sunday afternoon ritual. Every Sunday we
drove to the wheal fields south of town lo
check the moisture content of the soil.
There were usually live or six children;
sisters, brothers and cousins who piled out
of the pickup. My father knelt on the
ground and dug into 1he soil with his bare
hands as we surrounded him waiting
breathlessly. If the subsoil was moist Lhcn
he held up his handful of din, triumphant.
If it was dry, then the eanh sifted Lhrough
his fingers. We all goL a chance to look at
lhis little piece of eanh, wrenched up :IIld
turned over by the sweat of man, the inner
eanh which in some mysterious way would
either give us an ample crop or wither the
grain on the stalk.
This memory of my father, first
digging and than holding the soil in his
palm in a gesture of triumph, is stlU vivid in
my mind. More than anything else it
symbolizes to me the ambivalent
relationship he had to the eanh and 10 his
inherited occupation of farmer.
Before the Homestead Act of 1862
brought white seulers in hordes, there were
no towns or setdements on the prairies. The
Cheyenne and other Plains Indians were
nomadic hunters and gatherers. They found
an ample supply of wildlife sheltered in the
tal1 prairie grasses that grew as high as a
man's chest. By the I 930's the virgin
prairie grasses had been plowed under.
Everyone knew the plowing was out of
contr0l but no one could stop it. There was
always a new wave of homesteaders
detennined 10 farm. One of the excuses
used for plowing up the prairies was I.hat
the grasses were just weeds, after all; and
like weeds everywhere, they would thrive
on their own. Unfonunately the grasses
never returned. What did grow back was a
scraggly grass, euphemistically called
buffalo grass, only a few inches high, nor
high enough 10 sprout under the layers of
sill deposited by the high winds.
Not many people realize I.hat I.he
dusrbowl didn't stop with the depression
era. Even in the fifties, the fields were still
blowing. A dustsronn that would lai;L for
days could be sianed by one farmer. If a
fanner plowed his field in a dry spell and
the farmer next door happened to plow his
at the same time, it could stan a chain
reaction. The lifegiving topsoil from one
field could blow overnight into the next
county suffocating all vegetation in its path
and causing the hair 10 fall off the backs of
grazing animals.
Once 1he prairies were plowed there
was never a settled farm life. The eanh
simply could not sustain the population.
The first mass migration off the prairies
were the Okies of the dus1bowl era who
abandoned their small holdings for
California. The postwar era continued the
cons1an1 trickle of fanners into the cities.
SprtncJ, 1992
Since the land was no longer fenile and
intact as it was as a prairie, ii was the
evolution of fann pracrioe LO acquire larger
properties in order to make a profit This
me.int depending on ever more
sophisticated farm equipment LO handle all
that land, and borrowed financing to pay
for the whole operation. The foreclosures
and farm auctions of the seventies and
eighties where a result of the farmers'
inability 10 repay their massive loans.
Postwar govemment policies
encouraged expansion, as did the ever
burgeoning agribusiness industries. One of
the biggest hoaxes ever perpetrated on the
American fanner was the postwar sentiment
that the American fanner was responsible
for feeding the world. This grandiose
responsibility with its heavy psychological
load, was just more fuel for the
expansionist fodder of big crops at any
cost. Politicians stressed the imponance of
the fanncr in protecting democracy, a
responsibility that reached beyond national
borders. (Empty bellies not only cause
suffering but foment revolution.) The
postwar farmer had a mission and a duty.
Fanning is a pan of the myth of
creation. The farmer is supposed to
understand things 1ha1 other people don't.
He works in cooperation with nature. He
knows when to plant and when 10 harvest.
The farmer feeds everyone. A land without
its local farmers soon shrivels up and dies.
or so the myth goes. Or at the very least the
food prices escalate. The farmer as
supposed to be the sail of the eanh, the real
backbone of America, the man who keeps ii
all going while the rest of the country runs
amuck in the cities. At the same time he is
expected 10 remain isolated, cut off from
the mainstTCam of society, a laborer whose
opinions are considered wonhless. The
fnnner is dealing with some heavy
propaganda from without and expectations
from within. The fanners of the fifties ond
sixties were nearly frantic in their push to
mtiinstream fanning into the standnrd of
living of the while middle class. Fanners
wanted cash in the pocket, brick ranch
houses and college education for their
children. The very idea of making fanning
a respectable profession is a historically
brazen tissurnption. ln every civilized
society the farmer is the low caste, the
ignorant, humble servant of the soil.
Here is another sticky contraclictlon.
Farmers were forced off the fa.nm that they
said they wanted 10 keep and lost a way of
life that they professed 10 Jove, yet they
pushed their children into learning skills
that would be of use only in the cities, thus
assuring that the way of life could not
possibly be handed on. This could be seen
as either a foresighted concern for future
generations or a disinheritance. I never did
find an easy answer 10 Lha1 one. When I
was about fifteen my father drove me to lhe
original family homes11:ad. We walked 10
the middle of the field behind the rock
house between Lhe apple ort:hard and !he
sandy banks of the dry creekbed. I hadn't
been 10 that field in years.
Dad pointed ar the bare eanh under
the stubble of lhe last crop. With great
solemnity, he told me that he had hired a
water witcher (a dowser) who had said that
there was enough wa1er in that panicul:!r
spot for a well. The drilling crew was
arriving the next day and he wanted me 10
know how things really stood. If they hit
water, I would get to go Lo college. If
no1 ... well ...1here was nothing worse for a
young girl than lO rot in some dying farm
town.
I Ils arrirude was typical of the worry,
fear, and despair of fann fathers of that era.
In contrast to this dreary scenario, I am
reminded of the description of small scale
farmers in Japan in the wonderful
philosophical treatise on nature and
fanning, The One Straw Revolution. In
that book, Masanobu Fukuoka describes
how fanners of old Japan, before
mechanization and before life got so
frenetic, took off for a three month holiday
in the winter 10 hunt rabbits in the
mountains. They also wrote Haiku poetry.
Fukuoka claims that there was even a time
when fanning was considered a sacred
work.
In my family, of all the children who
knell with my father in the fields and got
that first lesson of the harshness of the
Eanh and its potential fertility, lam the
only one who still owns land and I do not
own fannland. In an ironic cwist of fare it
was the sudden, unexpected sale of my
grandfather's ranch that paid for my piece
of mountain.
Over the years, l occasionallv run into
one of the ex-fannboys with whom I grew
up. Meeting them is very similar 10 how I
have heard Vietnam veterans de..~be
encounters \loith each other. Looking into
each other's eyes we recognize the vast
expanses of psychic space between our past
and our present, the bridges that we have
had 10 bum to travel such distances
00Cllinuod on page 32
Draw111g by Rob Messick
Xatuah Jo\4rnm pQ()e 19
�~
5
E
p
T
E
M
B
E
A
0
11th
• ~fore C.1ting wild
edibles, be sure or their com!Ct
Identity and proper preparation.
Times may vary in your area.
Native and naturaliud plant
listings rcncct average beginning of
�- .-
0
18th
~
-
C
r
�"MEDICINE TRAINING"
These are the words ofa traditional
Cherokee medi'cine person:
My grandfather was one of those who
believe that everything has a spirit - the
stones, the grass, Lhe soil, everything. To
him, it was apparent that anybody could
communicate and work with these beings.
He believed that no one was any more
magical than any other person. It was just a
pan of being human, and civilization
domesticated that part of ourselves, and
turned everybody's reality around to
whatever white man's reality is. Everybody
had to have the same reality.
As soon as I was born, he saw physical
signs on my body thOt told him that I was
destined 10 be a medicine man. One of the
biological signs that he noticed were simian
creases (sharply-defined creases extending
from between the thumb and forefinger
across the palm - ed.). I have two of them.
When a baby is born in the hospital,
western doctors look at it to see if it's eyes,
teeth, nose, mouth, etc., are all in order,
and then they check for simian creases,
because they are a sign of Down's
syndrome. Eight out of ten babies who
have a simian crease have Down's
syndrome. I had one on each hand.
Now my grandfather had no idea what
simian creases were or what Down's
syndrome was. But he did notice that they
were an unusual physical occum:nce on my
body. There were other physical signs, but
I don't know what they all were.
He took the matter up with other old
people that he talked with, and they all
agreed with his interpretation of the signs.
After that, r was preordained by my
grandfather 10 be a medicine person and
blessed by the elders.
They gave me a naming ceremony.
They held me up and called in all of
Creation from all the directions and
introduced me. Then they offered my spirit
to the Creation, saying, "This is your
relative. This is how he will be known."
When I was a child, I would "make
things happen." 1t was like fantasizing. 1
would see something happening in my
mind, and it would occur. I could make
somebody come over to my house. r could
find something in the woods. Little things,
but r was encouraged 10 exercise that
ability.
I was also encouraged in things that the
white culture would consider foolish. If I
came home and said that I saw some Little
People in the woods, the adultS would said,
"Well, that's great! What were they doing?
How were they doing it?"
In while society parents would say,
"You're a fool," "Don't do thaL Act like an
adult," or, if they were very liberal, "Ooh,
he's got an imaginary play friend."
Most of culture is just habits. If things
don't work for you, over and over, then
you drop them. If something works, over
and over, then gradually it becomes part of
your reality and then pan or your identity.
And as a child the fact that r had certain
abilities just became a fact of my life. I was
encouraged in special ways 10 follow a
certain direction.
For instance, one of the very first
memories I cnn remember was seeing a
baby push out of a woman. Kids were nol
normally allowed to be present for that sort
of thing. But the elders thought that I was
good luck, juSt by being the. '".~ause
people thought that I was special, they
reinforced it b) IJ>"..ating me that way. Of
course, it didn'l take much to convince me
that I was special! Everybody thinks that
they have a special destiny. That's
unders1andable, and it's true to a certain
extent, but it very seldom comes oue in the
way that we would like it 10.
That was the way they began my
training. It was the most natural thing in the
world. A lot of it was just being raised by
my grandparents and being around old
people a lot of the time.
Most of the kids my age grew up
around fathers who had been in World War
ll. My grandfather wns 69 years old when l
was born. And as a boy he had lived with
his grandfather, who had fought at
Horseshoe Bend with Andrew Jackson.
Through my grandfather, l had a direcl
connection to those times. In my childhood
adventure games I pretended 1 was hiding
in the mountains during the Removal,
eating grubs and bugs, and running from
white soldiers with tall hatS.
I lived in a world that in many ways
was quite archaic. The Cherokee language
that my grandfather spoke was an archaic
version of the language they speak today.
Growing up among these elders, pan of my
thinking was archaic. I don't know if it was
because of the way that I was raised, but I
was more marurc than most males my age.
r also had a sense of being content to be
with myself. When I think of my
childhood, r think of myself as being alone
much of the time. That leaves a mark upon
you. For one thing, it made me more
peaceful being with myself. I never seem to
need entenainment. l don't need diversion.
My mind is all the diversion I need.
My early training was just spending
time with those old people. We might be
out collecting sho-un or ramps, and we
would run across a woman whose specialty
was birthing. She would point out a plant
and say, "This is good for teeth, cutting
teeth, cutting teeth," she'd say. Or "Sore
mouth," or "This is good for white
tongue," (thrush). Another time we would
meet somebody who had a lot of
knowledge in another area. That was the
way I teamed. lt was structured, but it
wasn't a structure. It was spontaneous. Yee
I had a sense that it was importanL
The only les.wns r learned by rote were
hem were long, but
the formulas. Some of 1
they all have basic Structures and themes
that run through them that make them
simple to remember once you catch the
pattern.
The formulas were in a special
ceremonial mode of the Cherokee language
that was symbolic in its meaning and older
even than the speech my grandparents
used. A modem-day speaker would not be
able to understand it. When you say, "Way
up on high where the four black ravens
rest, r call you down here, and r ask you 10
pull the black smoke all over this," what
does that mean to a modern Cherokee? It
doesn't mean a thing. But II is incredibly
meaningful to me.
Sprt.119, 1992
�Most of my training was learning how
to learn. Leaming how to use my mind.
They taught me by giving me the answers
to questions· questions I hadn't even asked
ye1. I had the answers; I had to find om
what the questions were. h's a good way 10
learn. It talces a lot of patience.
1 might be walking with my gr.indfather
or one of his friends, and we would sit
down and build a fire, cook a little
some1hing, and, as we were sitting there,
he might say, "Ginseng." Or he might say,
"lt's inside yourself." Or he might say, "It
comes when all doubt is cleared from the
mind." Just out of the blue. It would have
no reference to any1hing that we were
doing. The first few times, l started to ask
questions, but after awhile I stopped asking
qucs1ions.
My grandfather would say, "You may
not understand now, but you will
understand. You're not ready for it. But
lis1en. Pay attention to everything."
"Don't trot around knowledge," he
would say. "Knowledge without
understanding is worse than tits on a boar
bog, so wail Ir will come to you."
And it has come to me. I have been
caught up in new experiences, when I did
not know what to do, and, all at once, the
answer would be there, clear as a bell. I'd
had the answer all along, and I had finally
ran into the question.
People talk to me about their life
problems. Often they are going through a
Jot of suffering. SomeLimes I feel like a
third person sitting there watching myself
talk to them and helping to solve their
problems. rm not egotistical. I know
where it's corning from. Still, T feel
absolutely amazed. rm not me any more!
That's the way my whole life has been:
I've had the answers, but I haven't had 1he
questions. fve been running into the
questions throughout my whole life. In that
sense, it has made my life easier. I don't
know if I have run into all the questions
yet. I'm still looking. though, because
sometimes the answers will fit many
questions.
•
canvas bag. He kept everything · absolutely
everything • in this bag.
I would be walking down the trail past
a clump of bushes or a blackberry thicket,
and all of a sudden he would sL,nd up in it.
He scared me every time. He \\Ould just
appear. And he'd grin. A1 that most people,
even those who knew him, would run. But
he was a boyhood friend of my
grandfather, and I think my grandfather
was his only friend. He never manied,
and, when my grandfather died. in his own
way he took responsibility for me for
awhile. This wasn·t much, because he was
very seldom around. But he always
appeared when I needed him · every time r
needed him.
Owl did magical things. He was the one
who taught me how to eliminate doubt in
my mind. And that's the best gifL he ever
gave me.
Eliminating doubt makes magic happen.
I was brought up with no limits as to what
my mind could do. but then, as I got older
and exposed to other people, they put doubt
in my mind. Owl taught me how to remove
that doubt.
He did not give me a set of simple
instructions like, ~stick your nose in your
ear, and this will all go away." It was a
combination of things. He said that 10 clear
the doubt out of my mind I had to go
through a rational, linear process. It was
something that one had 10 be taught over a
period of time. And with my formal
experience of magic, it didn't talce me very
long to learn it.
Talso learned how to focus. If I can
visualii.e something, and see it in my mind,
and hold it in my mind, and do it in my
mind • and drop it! - it never fails. When I
was a child, I could do it easily. But as I
grew to be an adult and developed doubt. I
had a more difficult time. The fonnulas
would help me to keep my focus, son of
like daydreaming.
*
One of the old men was a special
person to me. He was a medicine person.
People came to him for conjuring and
docroring, and he was good at it. I always
referred to him as Owl, but that wasn't his
name.
He was probably six foot four, if you
straightened him out, but as a child his leg
had been broken and badly set, and he
leaned over to the left. He also had an eye
that hnd been damaged, so that although he
could see ouc of it, it was puckered up into
a fearsome squint. He was a fierce,
mean-looking old man, but he was as
gentle, caring, and loving as he was
scary-looking.
He always had a long World War I
overcoat with him. I can remember Lhe big
brass buuons that went all the way down
the front. When he wasn't wearing his
coat, he would roll it up, tie strings around
it, and carry it over one shoulder. On his
other shoulder he would carry a funky old
1
I remember a scene that happened
repeatedly. Owl and I would be walking
down a trail, and I would be talking to him,
when suddenly he would grab me by my
shirt and pull me into the bushes.
"Stand still and be quiet," he would
say.
We would stand there, sometimes for
ten minutes. Then 1 would hear somebody
coming down the trail and look up. It
would invariably be somebody that Owl
didn't want to see.
After the person was gone, I would
say, "How did you know he was coming?"
Re would say, "You know it, 100! You
know it, tool But you're so goddamn busy
chattering and talking. Busy! Give yourself
a break."
He would say, "You know
everything."
faery time I would ask Owl weighty,
involved questions looking for profound
answers, he would just look at me and
shake his head.
He'd say, "You kMw I.he answer," and
I.hen "Goddamn it, you don't need no
teachers."
And it's true. That's the big lesson. The
minute we become leaders or followers, we
have lost our power.
Owl also taught me the imponant
principle that most things don't maucr, and
I don't have any place to go anyhow. When
1 somehow indicated that I had learned this,
he was delighted.
"You got it!" he said." That's
absolutely wonderful! lf I've never done
anything else in my life, this is the greatest
thing I have ever done!" /..;:.!Ill"
He was great.
p-
End of PART I
)
Drawings by Troy Scwa
Sprt.mJ, Hl92
C
�., ~
PROTECTING THE PARK AND THE BIOREGION
Nanni World News Service
Since itS dedication in 1940, the Great
Smoley Mountains National Parle has been the
crown jewel of the Southern Appalachian
ecosystem. The Park is protected as a de
facw wilderness throughou1 much of ilS
550,000 acres and is the keystone of the
natural habitat in the southern mountains. The
Parle occupies a cemral location in the region
and acts as a preserve for rcmnanlS of the
original old growth forest and many rare and
endemic species of plant and animal life. It is
a natural habitat large enough to accept
~introductions of wide-ranging mammals
like the red wolf and the ouer. It is a dispersal
poim from which species can migrate to
replenish the the three million acres of less
protected national forests that sWTOund its
borders. Eoologically, the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park is of great
importance as a stabilizing factor 10 the
natural life community of the Southern
Appalachian Mountains.
The Great Smokies Parle also stands as
the ecological standard by which we judge
the health of the rest of the forest. But
although the Park is pro1ec1ed on the ground
throughout most of its area, the Park
ecosy~tem is deteriorating from pervasive
polluuon that drops from the skies. Because
of the high altitude of 1he Park's highest
ridges, clouds carrying contaminants gather
a1 their creslS and drop their deadly burdens.
Thus, atm0spheric pollution that affects the
w~ole re~on tends to be concentrated at high
alntude s11es such as those in the Great
Smoky Mountains Na1ional Parle. The Park
acts as a barometer for the ecological health
of the region as a whole.
1:"10.w the Park is also sailing fonh as a
flagship in the defense of the regional
ecosystem. Under the provisions of the Clean
Air Act, most national parlcs and some of the
larger wilderness areas are defined as Class r
meaning that no significant deterioration of '
the air quality in those areas is 10 be
permiued. Yet continued indusaial
d~elopment constantly increases the already
senous pollution that is undem1ining the
ecological health of the Park and the
mountain forests.
Thus, in the fall of 1991 James M.
Ridenour, Direc1or of 1he National Park
Service ~S) of the federal Deparunem of
the lmenor issued a statement declaring that
proposed developments near the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park and the
Shenandoah National Park in Virginia would
have an adverse ecological impact and were
unacceptable under the tenns of the law.
ln Tennessee, Ridenour's s1mement
referred specifically to a proposed expansion
b%" me Eastman Chemicals Company in
Kmgspon that would include construction of
a new$ I00 million coal-fired boiler that
woul~ spew 1,542 tons of nirrogcn oxide per
year mto the atmosphere.
Ni~gen oxide is a precursor of
atmosphenc 01.0ne. Resource specialis1s in
the Park have already identified 95 plant
species that show signs of damage from
~mne contamination, indicating that pollution
m the Park already is extensive.
NPS researchers also point out that
since 1950 visibility in the Park has declined
40%, and the famous blue haze from which
the Great Smoley Mountains derived their
name has turned into a siclcly gray or a
poisonous-looking yellowish white pall
depending on the season.
'
Because of aonospheric contmination
"Soil and water resources are at serious risk "
wrote NPS Regional Director James Col~
in a letter 10 the State of Tennessee
expressing the Service's opposition to the
Eastman expansion project The NPS holds
that any debilitating influences within a circle
tha1 extends 120 miles around the Park in all
directions would adversely affect the air
quality of the protected area.
LICENSE TO DUMP
Nanni World News Service
. ~n E~vir?nroental Protection Agency
adm1mscranve Judge on February 12 struck
~own challenges.to the discharge permit
ISsued to Champion lmemational Co.
allowing them 10 put was1es from its Canton
papermaking plant in10 1he Pigeon River.
The primary objections came from the
Dead Pigeon River Council, an organization
of downstream residents. The group's ma.in
complaint is that dioxin produced in the plant
is affecting 1heir health and the health of the
environment below the mill. They are also
concerned about the color and odor of 1he
river\ "':'hich are evidence of the heavy waste
load It 1s forced to carry and are hurting the
economies of the towns below the Canton
plant
The five-year discharge pem1i1 has been
stalled in coun since 1989. Confident of
victory, the company has proceeded with a
$250 million modernization plan for the
antiquated paper mill, installing new,
non-chlorine bleaching lines and water
mwcrs for recycling water that may cu1 river
use by one-third. The company hopes 10
approach a 50-unit color limit that during the
~nnit c~ntt;?versy ~our years ago i1 &aid was
1mposs1ble 10 attain and would force
closure of the plant.
The Dead Pigeon River Council is
deciding whether 10 appeal the judge's rulmg.
ECOTAGE,
Nanni World.Newt Service
''
In what might be another case of
"ecotage" in Karuah, over $50,000 wonh of
damage was done to various pieces of
logging equipment in the Buck Creek and
Rich Mountain Areas of Macon County on
February 2, 1992. lnves1igators claim that the
incident is the worst recent example of
apparen1 ecotage directed at the timber
industry in western Nonh Carolina, stating
that virtually every piece of equipment on the
rwo sites was affected. The saboteurs
punctured truck and skidder tires, cut
elecaical wires on bulldozers, cut hydraulic
and air lines on other equipment, and placed
tacks on roads leading to the sites. According
to officials of Hennessee hardwood, one of
the timber companies hit, new skidder tires
will cost $1025 each, and the hydraulic lines
will cost from $60 to $400 apiece to replace.
Hilton C3bc. an independent logger whose
equipment was damaged, said he has no
insurance 10 repair or replace his equipment,
and Jack Hennessee, Jr. stated that the
deductible is so high on his insW'ance that
damage suffered by his equipment would not
be recovered.
No individual or group has come
forward to take responsibility for the action,
but the loggers are certain the sabotage was a
protest against logging in the national forcs1s.
"(lbe ecotage) is against the timber
industry," logging contractor Lloyd Cook,
also of Macon coun1y. told the Asheville
Citizen-Times. "They've started a war. 11
looks like we are going to have to defend
ourselves. They are not playing fair."
The Hennessee company plans to hire
security persoMel to guard their logging
sites. "They brought it to me," said
Hennessee to the Citizen-Times. "I didn't
take it to them."
Forest Service investigators and Macon
County law enforcement officers reported
that they bad found foot and tire prints at the
sites. On February 6 the Macon Coun1y
Chapter of the Western North Carolina
Alliance posted a $200 reward for
"infonnation leading to the arrest and
conviction" of the perpetrators. However, at
press ume no progress had been made in the
investigation.
CUB KILLERS ARRESTED
Naunl Wnrld N""'• Scr,,,cc
A mother bear and her three newborn
cubs were killed by poachers on January 3,
J992. Michael Lee Correll of Black
Moun1ain, NC was arrested and charged wi1h
the slaying. Another man and two women,
also from Black Mountain, were charged
with transponing a bear out of season.
The crimes are all misdemeanors and
carry a fine of at lea.,t $2,000 per offense
plus a restitution cos1 of $1,035 for 1hc bear.
The two men said that they were
raccoon hunting when their dogs roused the
mother bear. Apparently the mother bear was
denning on the ground and was awakened
and frigh1ened by the hun1er~. She died, nm
only a vicLim of poachers, bur also of a lack
of mature den rrees in which she could hide
during her winter dormancy.
Spr1.t19, 19!12
�RADIOACTIVE SURPRISE
Narunl World News Service
A congressional hearing held before
Rep. George Miller's Interior Committee
heard evidence that barrels of hazardous
materials sent from Oak Ridge Tennessee
came with a free surprise in every barrel radioactive waste!
The hearing was caJled after journalist
Peter Schenkel of the Stare-Times Moming
Advocate in Baton Rouge, LA collected
irrefutable evidence that the Martin Marietta
Company, contractor 10 the Department of
Energy (DOE) at the Oak Ridge, TN nuclear
weapons complex, had been mismanaging
radioactive waste. Since 1980 the company
has sent about 10,000 tons of hazardous
wastes containing small amounts of
radioactive materials to 16 commercial
incinerators not licensed to handle such
substances.
The company knew it was violating
regulations. All references to uranium were
whited out from shipping orders. Clyde
Hopkins, the president of Martin Marietta,
told the congressional committee that the
documents were altered for "national security
reasons."
Leo Duffy, specialist in waste handling
for the DOE, disavowed any DOE
responsibility, saying that if Martin Marieua
thought that changing documents was a
proper interpretation of DOE regulations, the
company was very wrong.
Martin Marieua's actions were not only
inappropriate, but also clearly illegal, in
violation of Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Environmental Protection Agency, and state
regulations. However, no criminal
investigations have yet been begun in the
case.
Ralph Hutchison, of the Oak Ridge
Environmental and Peace Alliance (OREPA),
said, "What happened was that Martin
Marietta unilaterally decided that there was
not enough radiation in the wastes to worry
about Although the toxic substances
contained more radiation than they were
allowed 10 bum in their own incinerator, they
still sent the shipments on to other private
facilities. The company in effect established
its own private BRC (below regulatory
concern) levels."
Journalist Schenkel was investigating
Rollins Environmental Services, a large
hazardous waste processing facility in Baton
Rouge, in January of 1991 when he
discovered documents indicating that they
may have received waste materials from
Martin Marietta Energy Systems that were
contaminated with radioactivity. As Schenkel
probed deeper, he began to run into the kind
of roadblocks that suggested that he was onto
a story that was bigger than he had expected.
llis persistence uncovered the Martin Marietta
activities. Fearing a scandal, the company
stopped all off-site shipments of hazardous
wastes during the summer of 1991.
Shenckel is not content that the full
implications Martin Marietta's actions have
been revealed. He was quoted in the OREPA
newsletter as saying, "I am not convinced by
any degree that they know the full extent of
radioactive material released."
Sprlf\9, 1992
He said that papers recently procured
from Oak Ridge give chemical analyses of the
shipments. They show the presence of
cobalt, strontium. and yttruim, which can
occur naturally but often arc radioactive
isotopes. The chemical analyses give no clue
as to their isotopic form. When Schenkel
asked, "Were any of these radioactive
isotopes?", company representatives admitted
that they did not know and no longer had any
way of finding out.
What is clear is the nature of Martin
Marietta management. Ralph Hutchison says,
"Martin Marietta took over (as the major
contractor in Oak Ridge) in 1983 after Union
Carbide was caught with mercury on their
hands, and Martin Marietta has supposedly
been doing everything right. Now in the last
month we find out that they have been doing
the same old stuff."
"A PATTERN OF ABUSE"
Natural World l',cws Savsu
The firing of Karin Heiman (see Karuah
Jour110l #31) as a US Forest Service botanist
was not an random incidence of arbitrary
authority. Repression against employees who
arrive at conclusions contrary to agency
policy has been a common occurrence in the
Forest Service.
This was uncovered in hearings held by
the Howse of Representatives Civil Service
subcommiuee, chaired by Rep. Gerry
Sikorski (0-MN). The comnunee found that
the Forest Service offered harsh punishment
to whistleblowers, even when they were
pointing out illegalities in Forest Service
activities.
At the close of the hearings on January
23. Rep. Sikorski said, "This needs to 1,c
investigated by the Depanment of Justice.
There is a pattern of abuse. There is a pattern
of ignorance. There is a pattern of delay and
retaliation."
NATURAL WORLD NEWS BRIEFS
NO RADIA TION...THIS TIME
The truck was wheeling down I-26 on
February 27 when just outside of Asheville,
NC flame spouted out from one of the
wheels. A Buncombe County sheriffs
deputy pulled the truck over and Sgt. N. K.
Goering of the State Highway Patrol
appeared on the scene. It was just another
breakdown.
"It appears that it was a just a truck that
broke down and this particular truck
happened to be carrying a radioactive
product."
What?! Yes, radioactive waste, going
from Northern State Power Co. in
Monticello, MN to the Barnwell Waste
Management Facility in Barnwell, SC.
"Until I obtained all my readings, I was
concerned," said Sgt. Goering. State troopers
carry geiger counters in their vehicles?
Apparently the possibility of a nculear
accident has become accepted as a
probability.
"You never know what kind of wreck
you might be called to," said Goering,
"because you never know who is going up
and down the highways."
Maybe this is something we need to
know.
The fire m the radioactive waste truck
was contained. No radiation was released. It
was just another day on the highway...this
time.
tnforma1ion from ,~ Asheville Ci1i1.cn-T1mca or
'1.mfn.
"Warh.tod WatcMrs" art o,-ganizing to monitor
move=nt of truck comY>ys carrying nuclear weapons
maJcriaJs on 1-40 and 1-26 /OWdl'd tht Trilknl
Submarine base in St. Mary's. GA. For in/ormolion
on becoming a Warhead Watcher, call Amy Mozingo
(704) 253-3854.
• To protect imperiled aquatic species
and their habitats, the NC Wildlife Resources
Commission has submitted a proposal to the
state Environmental Management
Commission asking that portions of 33
watersheds in IO of the state's river basins be
protected as High Quality Waters. Included
are portions of the New, the Watauga, the
Tuckasegee, the Linville. and the Little
Tennessee Rivers.
• The "Ballenger bill," proposed by
conservative Rep. Cass Ballenger, a
Republican from North Carolina's 10th
District, has passed the House and awaits
action by the Senate. The bill would protect
the Lost Cove and Harper Creek areas in the
Posgah National Forest.
Sen. Terry Sanford (D-NC) has
introduced a companion bill in support of
Ballcnger's legislation.
• Charles Taylor is the best friend the
local timber industry has in Washingt0n. It's
true - he said so himself before a meeting of
the Multiple Use Council, a timber lobbying
group.
• A Superior Coun judge in Wake
County ruled that the town of Highlands
needs no environmental impact statement 10
build a sewage treatment plant that would
dwnp 500,000 gallons of treated sewage a
day in the Cullasnja River. The citizens group
Save Our Rivers immediately appealed the
judge's ruling and asked for a restraining
order 10 stop work on the project until the
appeal is heard
• Ten otters were reintroduced into
streams arounci the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park last February. Six were
released into Cataloochec Creek and two
more pairs were released into Hazel Creek
and the Little River. Three of the Otters
released in Cataloochee were pregnant
females expected to bear young this spring.
NII/IJroJ World N~ws I, rdilrd •,
e-m Crundit,:rr.
�WHOSE RULES?
The Drinking Water Protection Controversy in North Carolina
"ll's the biggest cave-in in the history
of the Environmental Management
Commission. lt's remarkable that big money
overpowered science and public suppon."
This was the conclusion of Bill
Holman, environmental lobbyist in the Nonh
Carolina state legisl.nrure, about the change in
the watershed protection rules proposed by
the state's Environmental Management
joined the campaign after it got going, but the
finances and the strategy came largely from
big urban developers in the three metropolitan
areas.
The development consortium had paid
little attention to the 1990 public hearings. In
1991 they turned up the heat. They called up
association. Carla DuPuy was formerly a
eouniy commissioner in Mecklenburg
County.
Barnes is from Wilson, NC and Brady
is a lawyer from Lenoir.
. . ~Wc~s~ ~~~-~:f~~i~~f~:~
, . 'liearings on regulations adopted in 1990.
The original regulations, created in
1990 under a mandate from the Water Supply
Watershed Protection Act passed by the state
legisl:uure in 1989, were designed to protect
sources of pure drinking water for towns and
cnies across the stale. They basically set up
two areas around a lake or an intake point
from a river from which drinking water was
drawn: a critical area, one mile around the
water supply point, and a protected area, five
miles around the water supply point.
Watershed iypcs were graded according to
the amount and iype of development that
would be allowed within the critical areas.
A WS-1 watershed was the highest
grade. in which the entire area was essentially
publicly owned and development was not
allowed. Residential developmenr was limited
from one house per every two acres in a
WS-Il area 10 one house per acre in a
watershed graded WS-IV.
Industrial and large commercial
development, like large shopping malls, were
prohibited in the critical areas or WS-Il and
WS-ITI watersheds, which were designated
as primarily residential or agricultural areas.
These restrictions raised the ire of
well-monied and powerful developers. ln the
words of the Charlotre News and Observer,
''The developers realii.ed that the standards
the commission approved in 1990 were real
con1rols. They actually would protect the
water permanently - and thus could threaten
the making of forrunes of the quicker, dirtier
son."
The developers argued thru the EMC
had substantially changed the rules since the
public hearing, and therefore the commission
should hold more hearings.
Leadcrniip for the eonsonium came
from a development project in Durham called
Treybum. The two developers of that project
are Clay Hamner and Terry Sanford. Jr..
Also involved were the North Carolina
Homebuilders Associntion; Duke Power's
Crescent Land and Timber Company; John
Crosland, an intluential homebuilder in
Chnrloue; the Cornwallis Development
Company, which is a subsidiary of Coon
Mills textile company; the backers of an0ther
project called Watt Creek Park, an industrial
development in the City of Burlington's
watershed; and prominent developers in
Guilford County.
Most of the energy for this effort came
from the Piedmont. Some of the smaller
developers in the mountains, and some of the
agricultural interests - like the Fann Bureau :KatilM Journm pO<Jf 26
connections, pulled strings, and contacted
local builders and real estate companies
across the state to pack the local hearings. As
a result the hearings were divided · often
bincrly (sec Koruah Journal #32). Because of
the public interest, the EMC extended the
comment period. They received 2,652 leuers,
the most comment the commission had seen
on any issue except hazardous waste. Ninety
percent of the tellers were in favor of
retaining the stricter watershed conirols.
But apparently hearing rooms are not
where government policy is formed. The
developers pulled strings W1Lh the EMC and
organized a campaign to frighten local
officials about watershed regulation. lf the
watershed protection regulations were kept in
place, they maintained, economic
development in the Stale of North Carolina
would cease entirely. The members of 1he
EMC wilted under the heal. They repudiated
1he1r fonner conclusions and offeted up a
watered-down version of their own
proposals.
Of a panel of six hearing officers, four
supported weakening the rules. and two were
opposed. The four supporters were Virgil
McBnde, Doug Boykin, Robert Griffith,
Carla DuPuy, while Cllnrlic Brady and
Michael Barnes opposed the changes.
Boykin and Griffith are developers
themselves. Virgil McBride was fom1crly a
lobbyist. Although he never lobbied for
development intercsis directly, he worked for
industries closely connecting to development
and construction, primarily the trucking
Orawu,g by Midu,el Thompson
In the end, by a vo1e of 11-5 the EMC
cul the size of the critical area in half, from
one mile to one-half mile in radius. The new
rules doubled the amount of residential
development allowed in WS-JI and WS-UJ
areas, to one house per acre in WS-n areas
and one house per one-half acre in WS-m
areas. Under the new regulations industrial
development and shopping malls are allowed
in the WS-ll and WS-lll areas (only landfills
are prohibited), if they do not discharge
wastes directly into the streams and lakes
from which people will be obtaining their
drinking water. In a WS-IV area industrial
discharge is allowed directly into the scream.
The new, weakened regulations do not
go mto effect until 1994, so developers have
two years to begin projects that would not
come under the junsdiction of any watershed
protection rules.
Bill Holman's assessment is that, ''The
hearings were only for show. Big money
working behind the scenes gulled the rules."
Whereas the earlier watershed
protection regulations were drafted with
assistance from environmentalists, business
people, local governments, and scientists,
'"There was no technical basis in the hearing
record for the changes that were made.
There's nothing in the hearing record that
said it was alright to double tl1e density of
development in protected watersheds. There_
was n01hing in the hearing records that said u
was alright to have indusoial developmenL
The changes were totally political. h was
government behind the scenes," Holman
Sprl.nq, 1992
said.
�Observations by commission mem~r
Barnes seem to verify Holman's conclus10n.
"I never saw any facts and figures 10 change
what we passed in 1990 10 what we have
here today," Barnes Lold the Asheville
Citizen-Times.
Holman said that conservation groups
are going to appeal the EMC vote on the
watershed protection regulations and that they
are going back to the State legislature to ~sk
for more specific drinking water protecnons
10 be enacted inLo law.
The threat to people's health and
well-being resulting from inadequate
protection of drinking water supplies is real
indeed. However, the drinking water
controversy also brings to light broad
questions about how decisions are made in
Nonh Carolina.
The Environmental Management
Commission is the policy-making board for
the Deparunent of Environmental
Management (DEM), part of the Depanment
of Health, Environment. and Resources.
Many of the s1affo~the pEM have.scientific
credentials, but their acnons are gwded by the
EMC, which consists of lay people, chosen
for their influence and political orientations
more than their expertise. And chosen not by
the people of the state, but by !h~ go,vernor,
who appoints 13 of the comm1ss1on s 17
members, and by the lieutenant governo~ and
the speaker of the house, who each appoint
two.
The Environmental Management
Commission makes important decisions, as
the present controversy shows. These
appointed members of a government
commission have great power over sia~e
policy the future of the land, and the hves of
many people. Yet the~ 3:e insulated ~ro.m
informed scientific opinion and pubhc input.
rn effect they constitute a ruling elite,
ostensibly legal and aboveboard, duly
.
constituted by state law, yet more responsible
10 powerful special interest groups a_nd state
power brokers than to any democrauc
institutions or interest in the natural
environment.
The actions of commissions like the
EMC are shielded from public panicipation
and control, and are carried out largely
unnoticed except in cases such as the
drinking water proteetion controversy. The
public does not often get to see the degree of
power wielded by the members of _th:
Enviromental Management Comnuss10~ and
the others like them, much less to be pnvy to
the directives coming from the high officials
who appointed them. l~ their ~c~ons ~ere
more visible, the resulung pohc1es rrught be
quite different.
People need clean drinking water.
Aquatic habitats need protection from
development. And the power of "government
behind the scenes" must be broken.
- by David Wheeler
BIG IVY
The hiker moves quietly, in awe of the
great trees beneath which she walks: u_ntil she
is brought up short by a splash ofbnlban1
color on the forest floor. A small cluster of
the rare Gray's lily shine in the dim forest
light. A short way down the the trail her eye
is drawn by the bright yellow of broadleaf
coropsis, and, there! - t~e pale be~uty of~
bleeding heart plant. This clearly 1s a special
place. This is Big Ivy.
.
Located in the Black Mountains beneath
the much-visited Craggy Gardens, the Big
rvy area is less well-known but. in its own
way, equally as beautiful and scientifically
perhaps much greater in importance than the
popular scenic attraction above.
Big Ivy contains large areas of
old-growth forest and a long list of rare plant
and animal species. Thirty-two rare plants
(including 18 listed as "rare" in the State of
North Carolina and 14 species that are
"watch-listed" in the state) and eight rare
animal species inhabit the area.
The large patches of old-growth
forests, a disappearing habitnt in the Sou.thern
Appalachians, account in part for the vanety
of unique species in Big Ivy. But an unusual
geological formation has given to the area
soils that are "circumneutral," nearly neutral
in pH, compared to ~e aci<l;ic soils gene~ly
found in the mountains. This has resulted 10 a
number of plants and plant as~iati~>ns n?t
found in other areas of the Katuah b1oregion.
Big Ivy is critical to the overall biodiversity
of the Southern Appalachians.
But all is not idyllic in Big Ivy. Because
of its diversity, the area has c_ome under
much scientific study, and sc1enus1s feel that
conditions in Big Ivy are declining largely
due to timber sates, which have caused loss
of endangered habitats and rare species as
well as fragmentation of the irreplaceable old
growth forest. The area is at a critical
Drawing by Mich11el Thomp,on
Spri.NJ, 1992
moment: there are healthy habitats and
populations yet in Big Ivy, but each
succeeding activity in the forest m~es new
inroads into already-threatened habitat areas
and further tips the balance toward
irrevocable destruction.
The big trees, however, offer an
irresistable lure co loggers and the US Forest
Service which concrols the area. In July of
1991 th~ Toecane Ranger District rel~ a
draft environmental assessment for a nmber
sale in Sugarhouse Cove. The assessment
designated approximately 2,3~ acres of
timber in the project area as ''swtable f~r
cutting." Mentioned in the plan altem~nves
was the construction of about four miles of
new road into a previously undisturbed area.
The response from area scientists and
environmentalists has been blunt and
passionate. Local biologists and botanists in
particular, have offered Lhe USFS the
benefits of their research and learned
opinions about how a logging ope~tion.
would affect the rich diversity of this unique
area.
Among them is Jim Patrenka, a
.
biologist at the University ofNonh Carolina
Asheville, who in a scoping letter.to the
USFS informed the agency that his research
indicates that every acre that is clearc~t in
Sugarhouse Cove will mean the derruse of
some 3 200 salamanders, including members
of rare ~d threatened species. This is a death
rate, according 10 Patrenka, that will ~ a
chronic depression of salamander populanons
in the area.
Biologists in other specialties share
Patrenka's concerns. In the past, accord!ng to
local activist Haywood Greer, planned umber
sales in the Big Ivy area hav~ caused. some
friction between Forest Service officials and
scientist.s working with the Nonh Carolina
Wildlife Resources Commission, who
objected to the damage that would be done by
the logging activities. Other i:e~hers have
found lhm p1m timber upc:niu~~~ in the area
have decimated local commumues of
sensitive plant species, such as goldenseal,
whose recovery has been very slow, if the
species is recovering at all.
Right now the proposed lo~ing in
Sugarhouse Cove is on hold.~n~ng further
studies of the plant commumn~,; 10 tJ:ie
planned sales units. These s1ud1es will be
carried out this spring. Hopefully they,
combined with the weight of scientific_
opinion, will dissuade the Forest Se~1ce .
from carrying out their plans to cut umber m
Sugarhouse Cove.
AnOLher action being considered by the
Forest Service is the construction of riding
trails through Big Ivy for the benefit ~fa
nearby commercial riding stable. While.some
people would be able to have pleasant rides
through the old growth f~st areas, they
would unwittingly be cau~m~ severe effects
10 the forest they were enJoying.
Big Ivy does not need 10 be logged or
suffer rides-for-pay 10 be of value. The area
is of greater value as it is: This val_ue can be
maintained by only one sunple acnon: to
leave it alone. Big Ivy is just too special to
end up being just another timber sale.
• by Emmm Grw1djgger ond David W~elcr
~
�Wblz Wisdom (01' the Two Uggeds
DRUMMING
DearKatuah,
I found your anicles on the past
history and possible future desirability of
human use of fire to influence Southern
Appalachian ecology t0 be most interesting,
and l believe that fire could be a valuable tool
for ecosystem management At pxescnt we
have 100 much early successional habitat in
Kauiah, and we should, for now, lay down
the tools (such as fire) that reverse
succession.
Organic matter is a critical element in
the regeneration of new forest soil. The soil
organic mauer harbors the life of the soil. It is
where microorganisms live, grabbing
nutrientS and cycling them back into plant
growth, instead of losing them to erosion or
leaching. Microorganism.~ also attack rock
particles, breaking them down 10 create new
soil.
Organic mauer also keeps I.he soil
cool and moist, protecting plants' fine root
hairs and giving I.hem a fertile medium in
which 10 grow, thus keeping up plant growth
and production.
Burning destroys organic mancr, and
we should be encouraging and conserving it
to nourish the next generation of I.he forest
There is also I.he possibility that the
greenhouse effect will result in massive fires.
We need to protect the forest against that as
well.
Since the arrival of the white man,
cool, moist habitatS have been greatly
decreased, and xeric, hot sites have been
greatly increased throughout the region as a
whole. There arc plenty of overgrazed slopes
near human habitations which would suppon
pines and oaks. If we want pines, let's plant
them on overgrazed hillsides. If we want
oaks, let them invade our pines.
Cool, moist, habitats are under auack
in Katuah, while hot, dry ones are all too
abundant Don't play with fire.
Sincerely,
Jesse Jones
Asheville.
Swannanoa River Watershed
Dear Ka11lal1 staff,
What I'd like 10 know is this: how
do you do it?! lime after time you people
keep coming up with inspiring themes and
relevant materials and then laying it all out in
visually inviting spreads which seem to get
beucr and better all the time?
David Wheeler's anicles in the recent
Fire issue, as is usual with his work, speaks
so clearly and comprehensively. Rob
Mes~ick's excellent organic artwork produce
depth and flow. I can't imagine the
tremendous amount of work, much I'm sure
donated, going into the production of each
Katuah! What a sense of pride it must be for
all involved when it finally slides together
and goes to print.
Being an "outsider" from over in the
Ohio ruvcr Bioregion, I find the journal none
the less relevant and immediluely meaningful.
At our Solstice gathering l passed the latest
issue around and many jotted down your
address, so expect to hear from Lhem soon.
(Raves on Rob's tunle on the back cover).
Hoping the coming seasons bring all
of you much peace and contentment,
inspirations and joy.
Sincerely,
Dave Ort
Phoc,, councsy or lhc Mounl.lDI Hcriiqc Center
Dear Editors,
l discovered Ka111ah Journal at
Mountain Crossings in Blairsville, GA last
summer. That well worn issue has been
re-read on many occasions - its time 10
subscribe!
While I currently don't reside in
Katuah, this summer I'll be moving closer 10 Cherokee County, GA. r wani to rap into
the Kauiah spirit and become aware of the
environmental issues and concerned people
of the area. The Appalachians have always
been like home for me, maybe because I
spent my childhood summers there.
Keep up the good work and positive
efforts.
Piss not into the water,
nor on any mother, child, or father.
Water is not the proper medium
to relieve repeated bladder tedium.
Piss off the walk, path, pavement, or road,
piss not on flowers, birds, or toads.
Piss near, never on, the plants and trees
where no one cares, hears, or secs.
To kill poison ivy or athletes feet
join Latinos: peace on cet.
Never piss in the same spot twice,
not anywhere that h's not nice,
nor within the sight of prigs or wardens.
Piss near borders, hedges, gardens.
Piss on national, state,
jurisdictionnl boundaries
on conventional and nuclear weapons
foundaries.
Follow wolf and coyote
10 the reaches of your domain.
Piss on dogturds and cowpies,
mountain and plain.
Piss not on the trail, campflIC,
bed, or nursery,
nor writing cursive, cursorial, or cursory.
Piss not on any creature, especially fishes,
nor hasty love, slow rage, good wishes.
Piss not on tools, machines,
electrical devices,
electric fences, antennae,
nor ho1wire splices,
not TV sets nor video games,
tho' temptation may be great.
Piss on prejudice, injustice, hate.
Piss on all oil spills and spillers.
Piss on dream-, plant-, or animal killers.
Piss on soil and compost heaps,
never on sailers, flyers, or creeps.
Piss on dirtied or painted stones
on sca1tered or unburied bones.
Put piss little by little where it belongs,
nor in sink, creek, spring, or ponds.
Give proper pisscrs privacy and honor.
Piss on llfe-pissers, messers, conners.
Piss on anyone caught on fire
with anything less than true desire.
Piss not intO Lhe wind nor in the water
but on the idea that it doesn't mauer.
- version read at Coifee House one night,
Fall,1990
by Erbin Crow.from his legacy
SPRJNG
Sincerely,
Nancy Moreland
Kasuah Peoples,
Another tender, angry, beautiful, and
compelling year of Kamalr Journal! This last
year's writings and illustrations were
exceptionally insuuctive and reverent. In
what other publication does lhis combination
of an, education, acnvism, and prayer exist?
1 love you very much,
Nancy Ligni12.
Old winter has retreated
10 the nonh, her snowy remnants
wasting into pools that feed
the swelling bulbs and heave
life fonh • all bursting cells
and swarming molecules.
· Caroline Rowe Marrens
�SAVING WILD SEEDS
by Lee Barnes
Individuals should sttive to collect,
preserve and increase their bioregions'
remaining wild and cultivated plant genetic
diversity. (See "Seed Saving to Preserve
Biodiversity," Ka11,ah Journal# 32). While
the best means of protecting a region's
genetic heritage is by preservation of large
areas of natural ecosystems, we can collect
seeds and cuttings of useful wild plants and
further increase these plants in our gardens
and backyards. The most valuable,
irreplaceable, and exportable resource of a
region arc copies (seeds, cuttings, etc.) of its
unique genetic heritage, the value of which
far exceeds any mineral or energy wealth
which could be exponed. Talce care not to
collect over a quarter of an individual plant's
seeds, leaving plenty for wild animals and
natural seed disaibution and renewal.
Wild-plant seed collection and
germination techniques vary greatly from
those commonly used with normally
cultivated fruit and vegetables. Our cultivated
varieties have long been genetically selected
and modified over historical times by
gardeners who selected for ease of harvest
and unifonn germination. It is preferable to
collect seeds of wild-plants which grow
within one degree of latitude (about 70 miles)
and from similar elevations to which they are
to be grown. This is to maximize the
favorable selection of locally adapted genetic
traits which will result in winter hardiness,
and other adaptations to local growing season
and regional micro-climate.
Wild seeds commonly mature and are
released over periods of several weeks.
These seeds are genetically programmed 10 be
released, remain donnant through winter, and
then germinate irregularly over long periods
of time. This trait serves as generic insurance
by preventing all seeds from sprouting at one
time and perhaps be lost to a major natural
catastrophe, such as major drought or fire.
The simplest seeds for the wild
seed-saver to collect and save a.re the "dry"
fruit seeds (nuts, dry legumes, sunflower,
cattail, grasses, etc.). These dry-fruits mature
and release relatively "clean'' seeds which can
be collected and stored with a minimum of
cleaning and processing. Most seeds need 10
be cleaned of any remaining fruit pans (chafl)
to reduce disease and insect damage during
storage and germination. Most "dfy" seeds
need to be dried to six 10 ten percent
moisture, then stored at low temperatures and
low humidities. Plant seeds which are usually
"dry-processed" include apple, pine, spruce,
fir, sumac, and grapes.
The most important factors affecting
seed life are humidity changes and storage
temperatures. Seeds for planting should be
stored in moisture-proof (also insect and
animal-proof) containers. Save only "sound"
and firm seeds and nuts. Some seed-savers
place a bay leaf in their storage containers to
repel bugs. (Anyone know of local herbs for
~is purpose?). Storage in wide-mouth glass
Jars with rubber gaskets is ideal. Preferably,
store these at low temperarures between
Drawing by Rob Messick
Spri.nq, 1992
40-32° F. - each 9° F. decrease in storage
temperature below 80° F. (to 32°) will
commonly double seed longevity.
Plants which produce "fleshy" fruits,
(such as persimmons, berries,
jack-in-the-pulpit, etc.) require additional
cleaning and processing. Aeshy fruits
encourage natural disaibution by being
"tasty" to animals and humans. These seeds
often require additional processing by being
passed through an animal's acidic gut, or by
natural fermentation by microbes to remove
the fleshy fruit tissues. Fleshy fruits
(especially members of the Solanaceae plant
family) can be processed by a honicultural
process called "fennentation," whereby
mashed-up fruits nre allowed to fennent to
destroy pathogens and chemicals that inhibit
germination. Then the seeds arc separated
from the pulp, washed, dried, then stored.
Another technique to separate small
seeds from their fruit is called "floatation."
Small fruits are "mashed" and soaked in
water for several days, so that
microorganisms can Stan 10 soften and digest
the fruit pulp. This partially digested fruit
pulp is then mixed with additional water and
processed by being agitated in a blender
using short "pulses" (or by rapid whipping
with a whisk). Healthy small seeds then settle
to the bottom where they can easily be
collected by pouring off the floating "pulp"
(some plants have seeds which normally float
- look for whole, uniformly shaped and
colored seeds). For better results, replace the
steel blender blades with a shon piece of tire
rubber so as to cause less damage to the
seeds. This technique is successful with
fruits of dogwood, strawberries, persimmon,
holly, juniper, magnolia, and sassafras.
Most wild seeds of temperate zone
crops require additional handling to duplicate
the natural conditions of cold winters. These
seeds require a cold, moist "stratification"
period to overcome genetic and
environmental blocks to germination.
Temperate wne plantS have biological means
of counting time ("internal clocks"), and
measuring day-length and "chilling"
temperatures. These seeds will not grow until
their internal clocks are satisfied with a
sufficient number of genetically detennined
hours of effective chilling (for example,
requiring a minimum number of hours
exposure - hundreds to possibly thousands of
hours of temperatures between 4S O and 3S 0 ).
Examples of plant seeds requiring moist
stratification include beech, walnut, many
oalcs, and filbens. It is especially imponam if
you collect wild nut trees to be sure to collect
seeds from areas which have similar numbers
of chilling-hours as the location where you
plan to grow them.
Another factor to consider when
choosing to grow plants from seeds is the
mnturation period of many long-lived
perennial plants (esp. fruit and nut trees).
Perennial trees and shrubs must grow
through a genetically influenced maturation
period before they begin to flower and bear
fruit (a son of transition from juvenile to
sexually mature, adult phase). These plants
are usually propagated by asexual means (not
involving seeds, but by cuttings or grafting).
Most of these plants produce seeds by
cross-pollination, and do not reproduce
"true-to-type" (the offspring are not
necessarily similar to their parent-plants)
from seeds, and may hove long maturation
periods. By asexually propagating fruiting
trees (cuttings, budding, etc.), one can select
superior plants (such as with larger fruit, or
tolerance to pests) and produce genetically
identical rooted planrs. These rooted cuttings
from marure trees will usually produce fruit
in just a few years, thus skipping the I ~20
years (or more!) before fruiting if grown
from seeds.
Seed longevity (defined as the average
period during which seeds can survive and
then grow) falls into three categories slum-lived (need to be sewn immediately or
within days/weeks of collection, and never
allowed to completely dry out); medium-lived
(months to S-10 + years); and /011g-lived
seeds (which may remain viable IS to 100
years, and arc able to survive until
environmental conditions are favorable for
germination.
Shon-lived varieties (spring-seeded
maples, serviceberry, paw paw, persimmon,
and sumac) - must not be allowed to totally
dry or they will die. Some seeds must be
sown immediately upon release from mature
fruits to prevent funher development of
growth-inhibiting chemicals which affect
their ability to grow. This group includes
Franklinia, trillium and many
difficult-to-germinate seeds.
Most medium-lived temperate wne
plant seeds (most K.aruah native plants)
require cold, moist stratification, whereby
seeds are stored in moist conditions (in moist
peat or sand) at 32-40° F. for two 10 three
months to overcome internal blocks to
(continued on p. 30)
Xatuah
Journot
P°'J& 29
�germination. Ao easy way to treat these
species is by mixing cleaned seeds with i:qual
pans of moist sphagnum moss or coarse sand
(in a medium that is moist, but not too wet squeeze out excess water!) in moisture
retaining conrainers (zip-lock bags work
well) stored at normal refrigerator
1emperarurcs (40-45° F). Many long-lived
seeds (thick-seeded legumes, water lilies,
morning glories) require physical thinning of
thick seed coats by microorganisms, or
hastened by partially filing, or nicking
partially through the impervious seed coats to
allow passage of gases and moisture to the
donnant embryo.
Saving wild seeds for home
germination is the first step in establishing
wild-food gardens in your back yard. (avoid
trying to transplant mature plants from the
"wild" - this is rarely successful due to
massive root-damage, and also saips the
natural habitats of productive wildlife foods
and new plants). Native agriculturists first
cultivated wild plants which natu:rally
established themselves from seeds and
discarded roots thrown onto their trash-heaps
(original "compost" piles!) and disturbed
areas (fire cleared areas, etc.). ff one can
provide the proper growing conditions, the
low-input culture of these planiS will allow
easier plant gathering without excessive
demands on the diminishing wild
populations.
Earing wild and "semi-wild/
semi-cultivated" plants in "season" will
provide one with fresh, nutritious foods and
a "reunion" with the cycles of nature.
Eat weU and give thanks for 1he tasty
gifts of our Green Spirits!
C.S. Schopmeyer. 1974. Suds of Woody
Plants in tM United States Fon:st Service, USDA
Agriculture Hnndboolc No. 450. USDA. 883 pp. •
TIIE reference for seed handling and gcrmin3tlon of
188 genera of woody plants ruuive or IUIIW'lll'faed in
the U.S. Very detailed with additional rcfcn:nccs.
fbrry Phillips. 198S. Growing and
Propagating Wild Flowers. U.N.C. Press, 331 pp.
$14.95 • especially well-written !llld beautifully
illustraled rcforencc on seed nnd spore p~tion or
native NC plants. Includes calendar of blooming d:ues
and commercial plant production timetable. &ccllentl
BURNING BUSHES
Azaleas, with mouths aflame,
Plant Propagation References
Ignite the mountainside each spring:
Hudson Hanmann and D. Kester. 197S. Plant
Propagation: Principles and Practicer. 3rd Ed.
Prwlic:c-Hall, 662 pp.• the defmilive text-book on
plant propagation l The-Ory and practlcal inro.
cry out In tongues no man can claim,
lheir ancient message siuling.
Michael Dirr and C. Heuser. 1987. Tiu!
Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation: From
Sud to Tisiue Culture. A Practical Working Guide to
the Propagation of Over I 100 Spt1cies, Varietit!f and
Cultivars. Varsity Press, 239 pp. - TIIE guide 10
propagatlon or woody plants used in Nonh America.
Includes prcfcmd l)l'Oll0gation ICChniques (seed,
cuttings, cu:.}, as well as. seed treatmc,us and specific
rooting percentages, etc.
Caroline Rowe Martens
ddu of the Big Cove dance
tpeak• of traditions and tinp tb.c
Booger Danu,
Com
Dance and • dotCJI 01hcrt with
drum and ranle.
c...,.n
WHERE TIIE
Get a set of 10 assorted
folding cards with
artwork you see in
Katuah Journal.
(Envelopes included.)
byRobW~ck
Send $11.25 postage paid
to:
Rob Messick
P.O. BOX 2(,()1
BOONE, NC 28607
RA YENS ROOST
~
Chcrolcce traditional
tonp of Wallcc:r Calhoun
__,._...,...,
CA.11111'1 ANO IOC*UT
It WAIL Sil
....,..
ATTil&c:e,ru$JO
MOI/NTAJN tlurrAGl ~
Wll'l'Ul< CAIIOUl'IA Utll\llllSITY
Cuu.ow11D, NC l87ll
(704)227-7129
Spring, 1992
�I•:.,,.
tt•· r ,.
9
Sustainable Agriculture and Regional Diet:
Annotated Resources
These l'CS0W'0CS were nx:ommendcd by KJlumh
ConlribulOl'S as their favorites. Price estimates are
included for reference and may not be currcnL Most
are in print or available from Inter-Library loans. A
more complete liSt ( 11 pps. w/ 117 resowces) is
available from Lee Barnes (P.O. Box 1303:
Waynesville, NC 28786) for S2.50 ppd. or send five
or more annOla!Cd resources for a liee copy. Ho!
Sustaioab(c Agrirollocc
Trauger M. Groh and S.S.H. McFadden. 1990.
Farms ofTomorrow: Communiry Supporttd Farms;
Farm Supported Communities. Biodynamic Farming
and Gardening Associalion. Inc. 169 pp. About
$12.00 - begins with several essays on the
philosophical underpinnings of CSA's (Community
Sponsored Agriculture), then describes 7 successful
farms, and concludes with practical info on slllrting
and managing a CSA. Valuable to both CSA
growers and sharers.
Jeavons et al.1983. The BacJcyard llomuttad
Mini-Farm. & Garden I.A)g Book. 10 Speed Press.
196 pp., 58.95 • gives economic data about intensive
gatdening income profits.
Eliot Coleman. 1989. The New Organic
Grower. Chelsea Green. 269 pp., $19.95. excellent
guide 10 beginning mlltket gardeners, stressing the
8-ycar crop rotnlion developed by Coleman,
including inlClScedcd green manure crops, etc.
Robert Rodale. 1971. The Basic BOQk of
Organic Gardening. Rodalc Press. 377 pp•• a classic
(and inexpensive) inlrO to organic gardening
principles and techniques. If you buy only one Rodale
Book, buy this one!
Sustaioabtc Piel t FQQd PcrsccvaOoo
Cherokee, 19th, and 20th Century recipes used by
sculcr; on Hazel Creek, in Ille Cire.u Smoky
Mounmins. Includes information on historical
cooking Lechniqucs uulizing mostly regionally
produced foods.
Jerry Conner. 1991. Eats From IM Peaks
Carolina Mountmn lleritage Cookvy. Ridgetop
Assoc. Pubt.. 111 pp.• $14.95 - modern adap!Otions
of trndilional recipes by n mastcr cheri Delicious!
Mary Ulmer. 1951. Cherolc4!t Coolclore.
Self-publ. 71 pp.· tradilional Cherokee recipes. Great
mush!
Stephen Facciola. 1990. Cornucopia: A Souru
Book ofEdible Plants. Kam pong Pub!. 677 pp.
$35.00 • i.ncrcdibte botanically arranged guide to
edible plnnts, the best of its kind! Describes over
3000 edible plants Md lheir commercial .sources.
Extensive review of cultivars of over 100 major food
planlS. LislS 52 pages of domestic. foreign and
commercial sowces for these plants. Exten~ive
Bibliography and appendices. Chcclc It out!
Lee Peterson. 1977. A Field Guide to Edible
Wild Plants of Easttrn and Ctntral North America.
330 pp. $9.95 · illustrated with plant grouped by
habitat where they can be found.
Paul Hlltnel and Mary Chiltoskey. 1975.
Cherout Plants and Their Use.s • a 400 Ytar 1/istory
. Self-publ.. 65 pp•• reference to 450 plants used by
the Cherokee, including botanical names and uses.
Noc illustrntcd.
Tom Brown, Jc. 1985. Tom Brown's Gui.de to
\Vild Edible and Medicinal Plan1s. Berk.Icy Books.
241 pp. S7 .95 • another in a series of spiritually
sensitive guides to co-surviving with wildness.
H.ighly recommended!
Stanley Schuler and E. Schuler. 1973.
Preserving the Fruits of tht Earth; How to 'Put Up'
Almost Evuy Food Grown in the United States in
Almost Everyway. Galahad Books.· 234 pp.·
general chapters on methods or food pre.wvation
(drying. smoking. brining, etc.) followed by a most
complete encyclopedia of foods and tl1eir common
preservation methods.
USDA. 1977. Canning, Freaing, Storing
Garden Product. USDA Agric. Info. Bull 410.86
pp. Free· Excerpt from 1977 Yearbook of
Agriculture. Gardening/or Food and Fun. Ovczview
or canning and drying techniques • This is
representative of nU/ll(l'()us free publications available
through your Agricultural Extensioa Service. Be sure
to chock out other tax-paid resoun:es available.
Bcginnnl Cookbooks t wna-PJ;int Eocai:1011
John Freeman. 1985. Survival Gardening and
Survival Gardening Coolcbook. John's Press, 102
pp., $10.95 ea. · excellent guides 10 sustaimtblc.
healthy food growing and pre~n. Thorough
coverage of human nulriti011:1.I needs and how to meet
these using foods from the garden.
DW1J1C Oliver. 1990. Cooking on /laze/ Creek:
Tlit Best of Southern Mountain Cooking.
Sclr-publishcd. 261 pp., $13.95 • ll'lldiLionaJ
Spri.tuJ, 1992
Deborah Lee. 1989. Exploring Nature's
Uncultiva~d Garden. Havelin Pub!. 195 pp. $14.50 •
extmotdinary guide to wild foraging which deals with
eastern and west.em philosophy and sensitivity to
plants. Very highly recommended!
Nccessruy Trading Company: Box 305; New
Olstlc, VA 24127. offers wide vllricty of organic
glltdcning supplies, naturnl pest controls, cover crop
~.etc.
Sandy Mush Herb Nursery; RL 2, Surreu
Cove Rd.: Leicester, NC 28748 (704) 683-2014 •
extensive Iisling of herb plants, unusual perennials,
CIC. (Cat. $4.00)
Edible Landscaping; Box Tl; Arion, VA
22920 • specializing in locally-adaptCd, pest-resistant
varieties of common and unusual fruits.
Qcenoizatioos t Nmslcuccs t blaeazioes
The Mountain GardtfU!r Ntwslt!Jtu from
Organic Gardening Cooperative; Rt. 3, Box 409-N:
Sylva, NC 28779 (ncw/monlhly). sponsors
monthly moctings (3rd Wed.ncsdoy, 7:00 pm) at
Jackson Co. Library (Sylva).
Appropriate Technology Tranefu to Rural
Areas. ATTRA 1991. ATTRA l-800-346-9140 -a
fedemlly-funded resource organization aimed at tnilarcd
information-search for assisling commercial and
production-level clients (their funding limits their
ability 10 help backyard, individual growers). Have
helpful Resource LiSIS. "Videol:/Slides/Tapcs oo
Sustainable Agriculuue• (18 pp). "Sustainable
Agriculture Organizations and Publication LiSt (24
pp.), etc •• Also produce lnformation Packages on
diverse info such as "Green Crops and Gtccn
Mllnurcs; "Direct Marteting." CIC. Excellent
resource! Writennd thnnlc your officials forconlinued
funding of this experienced, J'eSOW'Ceful, enlhuswtic,
and dedicated group.
The Virginia Association for Biological
Farming; Box '252; Flint Hlll, VA 22627 •
non-profit organizalion, co-ocdimucs organic
cenificalion, seminars, Flltm Held D3ys, and
farmer-to-farmer networking. S25.00 year.
Carolina Frum Stewardship Association; Box
511; PillSboro, NC 27312 -organic ccnification for
both Carolinas. Involved in LISA grnnts, on-farm
demos, and annual Farm F'ield Days.
The U.S. Dispen.flltory. (any editioo prior
1930.) • invaluable info on plants, their makeup and
how olficially used at the tum of the century (avail.
for SS0-100 from used boolc dealets).
Tennessee Alternative Growers Association;
Rt. 2, Box 46-A-1; Indian Mound, lN 37079
Bceioool Sctd aoa r1001 Spoo(i«:cs
Georgia Organic Growers Association: 1185
Bend Creek Trail; Suwanee, GA 30174
Southern Exposure Seed EJtchange; Box 158;
North Garden, VA 22959 (804-973-4703) •
specializes in heirloom varieties adapted to the
Central Virginia Mountains. Recently founded "Seed
Shares TM: The Gardener's Seed Bank", a project 10
distribute extremely rare plant Cultivars. Also sells
Seed Saving Supplies. (OIL $3)
~
R.H. Shumway; Box I; Gmniteville, SC
29829 (C:u. $1.00) • dependable, well established
(since 1870) seed house specializing in traditional
varieties. Also southern ad:lpted fruit and nut
variclies.
Kalmia Farms: Box 3881: Chnrlotlc.sville, VA
22903 • spccialiJ.CS in multiplier onions. shallolS and
garlic,
)C.Qtuafl Journot J)O()C 31
�Parld~ Gardens
(con:linocd Crom p. 4)
- The (re)integration of needs: not to lhe
market for food, the spa for exercise, the
doctor for healing, theatre for entertainment,
school for learning, studio 10 create, church
for inspiration, etc., but to lhe garden for all
these ar the same rime.
- Enriching the garden with useful and
beautiful species and learning to incocporate
them into our lives. We begin, of course,
with the present and potential natural
vege1ation, to which may be added species
introductions from similar areas worldwide;
then sUgh1 modifications of the environment micro-habitat enhancement - and lhe resultant
possibilities for new species: a paleue of
plants, a Cornucopia• never available 10
previous generations.
- Hand labor. We all have two hands,
one lifetime, 24 hours in every day. These
are "democratic" factors. Working by hand
on a small piece of land we can create a
Paradise with relevance for all. Money, and
machines can not get us there any faster, in
fact can't get us !here at all. They only lead us
astray.
•••
We live during a narrow window of
opponuoity. Having come, at lase, to lhe
realization that a revolutionary shift of
consciousness and lifestyle is required, we
find that we have only a few generations in
which to complete the changes, before it will
be too late to make a ttansition (environment
degraded, resources depleted, species cxtinc1,
soils eroded/polluted, population doubled ...).
Our enemy is a paper tiger because it
cannot deliver the goods. The world waits for
examples: to be shown, llOI told, a better
way. Paradise Gardening is vastly more
meaningful than the 'biodomc' experiment,
and anyone can play.
We have been putting thls off for too
many lifetimes now.
Commuaity Sp(IIISC)ttd Agriculture
(continued from p. 6)
Blowing In the Wind
Now we arc told that modem farm
inputs make unprecedented levels of
production possible. Without heavy spending
on inputs lhe world supposedly could not
suppon all its people. We have absurd
quantities of petroleum and natural gas going
into food production, leaving an eroded,
salty, toxic wasteland behind. We should
know beuer, no matter what our twin "big
brothers" of government and industry say.
The most basic rule is balance. We
want balance between opposite polarities,
heaven and canh, silica and Lime, grass and
clover, bee and canhworm, give and take.
This also means balance between people,
plants, animals, microbes, and minerals.
With balanced crops and livestock, rhythms
and activities build up momentum within the
fann organism. This rule implies that the
greater the diversi1y the greater the health and
stability of the farm. That is something to
think abouL
In the past five years hundreds of
CSA's have sprung into being across lhe
continenL It is an idea whose time has come.
It is catching on. A few bits of land here and
there arc being turned into healthy farms
again. Wealth made at the expense of the
countryside is seeking its return. In half a
century we may no longer see com to the
horizon in a toxic cloud.
On lhe one hand we face slavery and
ruin due to our own hypocrisy and moral
poverty - giving ourselves up to the good old
new world order. On the other hand more
and more people are taking responsibility for
their own Lives by way of home birthing,
home schooling, alternative medicine,
recycling, edible landscaping, and building
energy smart, non-toxic homes. CSA's are a
natural developmenL We have a choice.
geographically and emotionally. Instantly
we recognize in each other a shared
experience that is purely American. intense,
evocative, and yet of which very few
people can speak.
In !heir eyes I sec bitterness, guilt,
denial and nos1algia all at the same time.
Many of these ex-farmboys are very
successful by city stanclards. They have no
more tie to the land than a vague frustration
of being tom without emotional healing
from their roots. I have often thought that
the way we, as a society, raise farmers is a
very good way to raise the kind of farmer
who so thoroughly hates the land that he
would wish to wreak vengeance upon il for
not giving him the life he wanted or was
told 10 wanL At the very least these
fannboys are suffering from heavy psychic
wounds.
War is a good analogy for what we
have done to ourselves and our land.
Clcarcuts and plowed prairies are
devastated, barren places. Modem,
environmental warfare, which threatens the
fertility of the land, extends the acts of
aggression to furure generations.
Some of us have begun to sec the
Earlh as sncrcd ground. We realize that
whatever our occupation, farmer or not, we
are sustained by lhe fruits of the Earth. The
real challenge of Earth stewardship is not to
rcrum 10 some slavish peasantry, wiling
relentlessly upon the soil, but to sec the
way (The Tao) in which the rhythms of the
needs of man, can fit into the rhythms of
nature.
My vision of the future farmers of
America is men and women who are able to
combine the very best of themselves with
the cultivation of the Earth. r would like to
see farmers celebrate the fenility of the
land. I would like to sec the balance
between the needs of an individual and the
getting of nourishment. I would like to see
the plowing of a field done with grace, as
an act oflove, quietly waiting for the right
moment, then turning the earth gently,,., #
reverently.
fr
llqh lo\lCI is a biodynamic and CSA/ar~r
maruting in the Atlanta. GA ar~ At his/arm, Unu,n
Agricu/11ua/ Institute; Rt. 4, Box"63S: Blairsvilk,
GA 30512, llugh restarchn rtgtntrarive ogricult1Uc
and is tk\lC/oping local cu/ti vars of ltafy g r ~
(continued from p. 19)
"You see the beauty of my proposal is
Jr needn't wait on general revolution
I bid you ro a one-man revolution
The only revolution tlUJJ is coming"
(Robert Frost, "Build Soil")
• Corn11COf11a. S. Facciola. Kampong Pub.,
1870 Sunnse Dr., V1SU1, CA 92084. Astounding new
pubhQltion. Three lhousand edible species, many
more lhousnnds of culliva,s, sourocs of supply .ind
infonnation for c.ich entry
ltH /loll,s mttnds 10 product anothtr amclt
dtalmg mL>rt wtth local practice. /It is also
dn<tlopmg a ~,.sfe11u b) and/or fJ<fJOnJ, engaged ,n
t!M! rtaliuuu,n cf Parodi~ os a gartkn PltOJt stnd
,a-nts. and sugg6tions UJ him at 3020 Wht1t
Oai. Cruk Rd : Burn.rvtllt.NC 287/4
l'ho4o COUJ1eSy of Ille Mo11n1ain Hcn1.1sc Ccnll!r
:>i:A\hmh Journot JXUJe 32
Spnng, 1992
�o.
(continued from page 8)
I
J
!4'1 ,
•ft -,
.,.
just keep the meat out in the smokehouse. It
was nothing to kill two or three yearlings to
make the beef. My grandfather, he know'd
how to blister beef and hang it up. He'd bum
hickory wood to where it would just be
a-making the smoke. We would cure hog
meat and smoke that as well.
We'd cook a piece of that ham down,
and it would naturally-born have brown
gravy. Yeah! Not guessed at. I know by
experience.
We'd always make sure to have greens
in the spring, greens in the fall. In August,
when we was plowin' the com for the last
time, we sowed late greens in amongst the
com. We'd sow turnips and rutabagas
mostly.
As soon as everything was put up, we
started fall plowin'. We didn't have these fast
tractors that can plow everything in a day or
two, so we'd plow whenever we got the
chance. We tried to get as much done in the
fall as we could. And we plowed in the
winter, if we were able. I've plowed many a
day and it was snowing.
It was a lot of work, back then,
growing all our own food. But everybody
did it. If anyone wanted to go out and do that
now, I'd have only one thing to say ro them:
"Get busy!"
Halph Garrell is 71 years old, still
working as a mason, and still living in his
hometown · Sylva, NC in the Tuckasegee
Rivu watershed.
This article was excerpted from a
conversation with Ralph recorded by David
Wheeler and Avram Friedman on Jarwary 29,
/992.
Painting by Susan Adam
Kalmia Center, Inc.
Sylva, NC
(704) 293-3015
Custom tilling, organic fe:rtilli:ers, kelp meal,
colloidal phosphate & many more products
and services for abundant gardening and
healthful living.
f'~.~11<\
"I
told
the
Talking ua,-es isa mon1hly
JOUfDA) of d~ ecology, inspired
pm;onaJ aeriv1sm roo1ed Ill earthen
sp,nruali1y. Pa.'il tSSUeS have
fea1ured articles by Gary Snyder,
Slarbawk, Jobn s-i, Joanna
Macy, Bill Devall, Lone Wolf
Circle!>, Barbara Mor, ecc.
Ta/Jcj11g ua,-es ,peaks for the
oarural world and for the rekindling
of our oWD wild spmt.
Subscriptions arc SI 8.00 one
year/ S24.00 outSide U.S.
Talking UOl't'S
1430 Willamette 11367
Eugene, OR 97401
503/342-2974
,prl.n9, 1992
I.lo~. you "' 1n lfflc1 ul!ol9 me lo bllp UI
tlluncll II ptOpitOOWIIUlnldol\1Alld I'm ""' ff I OIi lullw lllem I woutan I
•Ill IO QIIN'CU!t II 111W datllls f«91' 11
TIii ll\S- IS IIO , - no!''
_.....,,..._'"'-
Don't Pay Taxes for War
,fc,tlT'I It
I\ 11'\d '"•
0
I! l
National War Tex Resistance
Coordinating Committee
REGIONAL RADIO
Featuring Crossroads music, NPR news and music
programs, regional news and information
concerning health, education, government,
recreation, and the environment.
PO Box 774 Monroe, ME 04951
WNCW- FM r.O. Box804 Spindale, NC 28160
12071525-7774
(704) 287-8000
�Si.las ~tcDowen -~n1inucd from p. II ,
,
husbandry supplemented by a woolen cloth
fac1ory. Are these the only iu:ms of new
indusuies our moumain section is capable
of?"
He went on 10 suggest one more. "I
have recently learned tha1 a man studied Fish
culture, constructed him a lhree-acre pond
near the city of Atlanta, Ga., and then from
Florida procured a can of eggs of the Scaly
Trout species." After hatching lhe eggs and
raising lhe fish to marwity, lhe man realized
an income of fifteen lhousand dollars in one
year.
Wanting to anempt a similar venlUie
with mountain trout, McDowell had a small
pond build amid a grove of oaks near his
home. ',Oeir feed will consist of lhe waste
from the kitchen and table, with all small
animals tha1 come my way, chopped up fine,
supplemented by a lazy ca1, in an emergency.
1bere is nOlhing but lhe lack of a pure srream
and vim to hinder any man having a mountain
fann, to do the same thing, and have fat trout
for breakfast every day lbe year lbrough."
McDowell lived long enough to see lhe
impact of extractive industries on the
mountain environment. When Western North
Carolina's first corundum mine opened near
McDowell's farm in 1871, he turned a
disaster into a blessing.
Thiny years before, a flood had swept
across the best portion of his farm, "a fertile
bonom field of about 50 acres." McDowell
described the damage, " I found !hat field, on
which I expected to make forty bushels of
com to the acre, to be a miniature Sahara of
white sand, and would no longer pay lhe
expense of resetting and keeping up the
fences." The field had remained in !his
condition until the coming of the corundum
mine, which was polluting the Cullasaja
River. "As the mine was worked by means of
a hose-pipe, a red stream of clay and water
came running down the mountain's side
defiling our beautiful river and Cb8$ing away
lhe fish."
•"
• ·,•
ft occurred to McDowell that he could
protect the river and reclaim his field at lhc
same time. ',Oanks to Sir Samuel Baker for
his suggestions in relation 10 redeeming some
of the African desens by silting chem with the
muddy watc.rs of the Nile. And I forthwilh
applied to Col Jenks, who controlled the
mine, for leave to run a ditch down the
mountain from lhc mine to my sands - a
distance of three-fourths of a mile. The next
thing I did, was to throw up a dike on the
river side off the bottom, 10 hold on lhe sands
the muddy waters until they are absorbed - a
thing not hard 10 do, as the sands swallow
them up very fast and 'thirst for more.' The
water of my ditch performs the carrying
service of ten dump cans, and does the thing
for nothing and we may add, loads itself.
This enterprise I view as my last act in life's
drama, and I feel ambitious to do the lbing
well, and make my bes! bow to my
fellow-farmers as the curtain drops."
Silas McDowell died in 1879. His life
work, promoting agricultural practices
appropriate to the region, endures. McDowell
brought curiosity, ingenuity, perseverance
and humor 10 the task, qualities that would
enhance any effons to renew mountain
agriculture as we approach the 21st century.
01992
Perry Eury and his wife, Laurel, are the
founders of Kalrrua Center, Inc.. an org011iwtion
devoted 10 Sfl!Will'dship of the land in •die,u;e to
God Kalmia Center is a ,wn-profit organiu11ion
ojferiflg sv.ices and produasfor abundant gardening
and healthful living.
Perry is completing a btx,i, entitled
Appalachian Arcadia: Mouniain Fnrms and the _~
ProvidcnceofN31Un:.
~
HAWK'S HOOPS
A unique experience in
Designing, Creating, and
Learning to Play
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Jenti1ah Journal Pt196 34
REVIEW:
"APPLE PIE IN YOUR FACE"
as American as you
a cassette by Robert Hoyl
To paraphrase Edward Abbey, "lf
you're going to fight for your country, you
have to take on the government."
Roben Hoyt remembers one moment
that had a profound effect on bis life. He was
leaving nonhem California after combatting
corporate power and FBI harrassment as pan
of the effon to save the old growth forest
during Redwood Summer, 1990. A friend
met during lhe action gave him a hug and
said, "Roben, you're a good American."
This insight crystalliz.ed in Roben's mind,
and when he arrived back home in Georgia
he wrote it down as a song:
"All you good Americans
read between the lines
Help your siblings everywhere
w open up closed minds
Stand up to those who are ro blame
For crimes commi11ed in our name,
All you good Americans
Things can't stay the same."
Roben Hoyt "grew up a child of the
military complex," moving from base to
base. Yet somewhere along the way he found
a vision of hope for a different kind of
"American." His vision includes act.ion for
peace, racial equality, and the environment; it
involves compassion for animals and his
fellow human beings. lt also involves outrage
that lhe dreamkillers have a comer on the
national vision. Roben has launched a
personal crusade to assign a new meaning to
the word "American."
Robcn's original, guitar-driven music
is about that struggle against the powers both internal and outside - that want to kill lhc
world and stifle the human spirit. His
newly-released cassette, as American as you,
is a musical treat. The acoustic folk sound
provided by Robcn, David Ormsby (bassist),
and friends is fast-moving and crisp.
Roben's unique singing voice is elecll'ic,
charged with intensity and truth. His lyrics,
too, are charged particles !hat do not abide a
stagnant complacency, and if one harbors
secre1 staShes of illusion, prejudice, or
selfishness, they can sting. Yet to those
whose hearts arc open to the world, the
songs of Roben Hoyt arc energizing nnd
enlightening.
. The S~uth has a new regional pocL
W1th his guuar, a paraplegic cat, and a lot to
say, Roben is staning to travel more beyond
his home city of Atlant3. Lisicn fOr him!
We1I be hearing more from Roben Hoyt.
-DW
'as American as you" is available on
cassette/or $JO postpaid from Folk-the-Boat,
8 ox 2355; Decatur, GA 3003 I
Spri-n9, 1992
�Emergency Appeal for
European Seed-Saving Groups
Political changes in Europe have not
only upset govemmems. but have threatened
the survival of over a dozen grassroot
seed-saving and rare animal pre~rvation
organizations. Nancy Arrowsmith, a
well-published seed-saving promoter ~ow
living in Austtia, repons that the resulung
chaos threatens the survival of numerous
non-governmental organizations (NGO's)
involved in seed-saving projects and the
potential loss of irreplaceable varieties of
vegetables, grains and rare animal breeds.
In her article, "Emergency Appeal For
European Seed-Saving Groups"(l 991,
Harvest Issue, Seed Savers Exchange), she
outlines the activities of over a dozen
organizations and provides contact addresses
to which donations may be sent. These
groups are solely responsible for the
preservation and dissemination of
open-pollinated, non-hybrid plants and rare
animal breeds.
For more information contact Nancy
Arrowsmith, clo Noah's Arie; Postfach 139: A-3500
KreMU/ Donau, Austria. (DonaJions should bt! by
checks made out in U.S. Currency).
For a photocopy of the article men1ioned, write
to Lu Barnes: P.O. Bo:;c 1303: Waynesville, NC.
28786.
"The arc.i's old~
and larg~t natural
foods grocery •
Bulk Herbs, Spices, & Grains
Vitamins & Supplements
Wlieat, Salt & Yeast-Free Foods
Dairy Substitutes
Hair & Skill Care Products
Beer & Wine Making Supplies
200 W. King St, Boone, NC 28607
(70-1) 264-5220
Listening to the Military
"Save Our Rivers":
The Armed Forces Listening Project,
created by the Rural Southern Voice for
Peace based in the Celo Community,
Burnsville NC is looking for "a few good
men and women" to survey active-duty
soldiers at miJitary bases throughout the
world.
The Listening Project (see Kanlllh
Journal #24) is an open-ended survey
designed to involve both the listener and the
speaker in a joint vemure of discovery. The
Anned Forces Ustening Project is designed
to stimulate nationaJ discussion about
alternatives to violence, bridge ideological
boundaries, and stimulate discussion about
issues of personal responsibility and national
ethics.
Topics for this Listening Project will
vary depending somewhat on the location,
but will include: solving intemationaJ
conflicts without violence; solutions to racial,
religious, and ethnic strife, civilian-based
defense, and especially questions generated
by previous Armed Forces Listening
Projects.
The Arnled Forces Listening Project
was begun at the US Marine base Camp
LeJeune, where conscientious objectors
to the Persian Gulf war were being
court-manialed The Project subsequently
traveled to naval bases at Norfolk, VA and
St. Marys, GA. The Listeners found
that sailors displayed "a strong streak of
pragmatism." They were surprised that half
the sailors interviewed were in disagreement
with the Gulf War. HaJf the speakers also
voiced suppon for nonviolent solutions to
international conflict But as important as the
stanling answers that they heard, were the
effects on the interviewers of personal
contacts with military personnel. Volunteer
Lois Miller said, "The Listening Project was
a revelation to me. I had no idea that I would
encounter such depth of feeling from big,
tough Marines."
To take pan in future chapters of the
Armed Forces Listening Project, write: Rural
Southern Voice for Peace; 1898 Hannah
Branch Rd.; Burnsville, NC 28714 or call
{704) 675-5933.
The Cassette Tape
The Town of Highlands, NC_ h!IS
obtained a permit to dump half a million
gallons of wastewater per day int~ the scenic
Cullasaja River. Appeals, both neighborly
and legal, have so far proved futile.
This river has always been used for
recreation. Since ancient times it has been
used for the Cherokee Indian ritual of Going
to Water. Since 1837 local churches have
held baptisms in lhe river.
Local musicians have rallied and
produced a tape containing original songs by
Barbara Duncan and gospel runes sung by the
Foxfire Boys. Barbara sings "Save Our
Rivers," the group's theme song; "You Don't
Miss Your Water Til Your Well Runs Dry,"
written years ago but unfonunately still
timely; "Go Fishin'," "the only real love song
she has ever written," according 10 her
husband; and the beautiful ''Rainbow
Springs."
The Foxfire Boys were recorded live in
a concen in Clayton, GA. The churches of
Macon County, panicularly the Baptisis,
have united in the effon to protect the
Cullasaja.
The tape "Save Our Rivers" is available
for $10.00 postpaid from Save Our Rivers;
Box. 122; Franklin, NC 28734.
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Plione for appointment to visit
(704) 683-2014
Sprin<J, 1992
Two styles made of cedar or walnut
woods in the traditional manner
WHOLE FOODS
VITAMINS
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Rt 1, Box 172-l
Open 7 Days a Week
Monday - Friday 9 am - 8 pm
Saturday 9 am - 6:30 pm
Sunday 12 pm - 5 pm
Prospect Hill, NC 27314
(919) 562-3073
)(.ati&an Joumm poge 35
�The Katuah Tapes
TURTLE ISLAND
BIOREGIONAL CONGRESS V
POPULATION EXPLOSION
"ln the next seven years the population
of Nonh Carolina will explode. Are you
ready?
'The August issue of MaIUTiry Market
Perspectives predicted Nonh Carolina will be
fifth in the nation as a retirement choice. This
is in addition to the regular population
movement from Florida to North Carolina.
"Seeking to escape from a nightmare of
pollution, high crime, water shonages, and
traffic congestion, these re-retirees are
heading north ..."
This is not a warning to county
commissioners and planners to have their
1.0ning ordinances in place. This is a call to
action for developers and real estate investors
from Green Watch, an environmental
newsleuer for the real estate indusuy.
(Environmental? Yes, "the financial
environment of real estate." as the paper's
masthead proclaims in green ink.)
Another word of environmental
wisdom from Green W01ch; "Remember,
they aren't making any more Nonh
Carolina."
- - life's nec1:Ssitiesfarlas - -
Tara Clayton, a long-time friend of the
Kat1wh Journal from Rougemont., NC, is
May 17-24
Camp Stewart, Kerrville,
near San Antonio, Texas
Every two years people gather from all
the bioregions of the Turtle lsland continent
10 communicate and celebrate the bioregional
movement at the Continental Bioregional
Congress. This year the event is being held in
south central Texas.
The focus of the 1992 Congress is on
Circles of Change. These are levels of work
ar the gathering and in people's home
bioregions:
- Mapping and Organizing
- Links of Communication
- The BioregionaJ Story
- Living at Home, and
- Ecosystem Conservation and
Restoration
There will also be time devoted to
sharing biorcgional cultures, men's and
women's gatherings, and young people's
activities.
Admission will be by preregistration
only and all registrations must be received
before May l. Registration is $225-300 for
adults, $100 per child aged 3- 11. All food
and lodging are included for the entire week
of the Congress. Checks should be made
paynble to "Realistic Living· TIBC V."
now recording the contents of each issue of
the journal on cassette Ulpes "for the purpose
of reaching elderly Native Americans in the
Veterans Administration Hospital in Durham
and for nursing homes as well."
Others who are interested in procuring
recorded versions of the Katuall Journal may
be able to purchase tapes from Tara.
Anyone who would like 10 send n
donation to help this idea along is encouraged
10 do so, as funding for the project is limited.
ConlOCt:
TaraClayr.on
Box461
Ballama, NC 27503
Mail to: Realistic Living; Box 140826;
Dallas, TX 75214.
FRENCH BROAD Fooo Co,oP
90 Bn.TMOR£ A ~
~ AsKEvu.LE
(704)255-7650
your community
grr,«ry•tou
....,.,....,...... 10,_.. ....,....... ,,..
....................
EARTH KIN
Programs to 81'1COU'oge
58lf and Earth oworeoess.
celetl<allon. kl~p and hope
O~<::?Jto
c\....., S c ~ s
l'\UI\"\..$
to""°'itlG- t.ool(.S
CA.~~s
~086~ 1804
~-\)~'l, M.c.
Q.871$-
• You1h Camp& • School Program,
• Fam,ly Camp& • Teacher Tnalning
• CommUOlly
Union Acres
Programs
• Camp Slal1 Tra,n,ng
• Ou1door Prog,.m Conl\Jllong
An Alternative
j
PO 800C 130C>
Gottinbl.fg. Teme~ 37738
61 S-43o-6203
NATURf\L MARKET
WHOLE FOODS • BI.Jl..K
FOODS • VITAMINES • HERBS
• FAT FREE FOODS• TAKE
OlJT FOODS • SNACKS • NO
SALT, NO CHOLESTEROL
265 2700
823 Blow,ng Rock Rd
Boone, NC 28607
Acrolgtfur Salt - Smoky Mountain living
with• focus on spiritlllll and
«ologiclll tlQ/ues
For more information:
Contact C. Grant at
Routt 1. &x 61/
Whittier, NC 28789
(704) 497-4964
whole earth
grocery
•
NATURAL
ALTERNATIVES
FOR HEALTHFUL
LIVING
-146 c J>.lrkway cr~ft center • suite 11
g;,tlinburg. tcnn~
37738
615-436-6967
�ECHOES OF AVERY • a cassellC recording or songs
writlen and performed by Avery Q>uniy, NC
elementary school Sllldcnts with artis1 in residence
Thad Beach. Historical songs with II regional
flavor, lyric reciiaLion and singing. Casscuc liner
includes lyrics. Send $4 .95 (includes posiage} io:
Thad Beach; RL 2, Box 422, Waynesville. NC
28786.
THE RJVER CANE RENDEZVOUS 1992 • is on
April 28th - May 3rd a1 Unicoi Staie Park an
Georgia featuring in-depth canhskills training,
tools & techniques for living in the natural world.
Over a dozen top.ranked instructors including Snow
Bear, Dany Wood, Doug Elliot, Tammy Beane,
Jim Riggs, John & Geri McPherson. Scott Jones,
Sieve Wa:us and Oierolcee elders Walker Calhoun,
Eva Bigwiteh and Eddie Bushyhead. $145.00
regisualion includes meals. For more info eontac1
Bob Slack c/o Unicoi SLalC Park; Helen, GA 30545
(404) 878-2201.
BEGINNING CHEROKEE LANGUAGE BOOK·
supplemenled with two casseues. Slll:Sses alphabet
& proper pronunciation. The first textbook wriuen
for use in IC8Cbing and learning the Cherokee
language. (346 pages) S39.95 plus $5.00 shipping.
Catalog also available with ca.~ . books. pipes,
dance slicks, drums, feathers, furs, buffalo products
and more. Craft supplies also available. (plcaso
specify). Send $2.00 to the Muskrat Trader; P.O.
Box 20033; Roanoke. VA 24018.
HIGHLANDER CENTER - is a community-based
educational organization whose purpose is to
provide space for people to learn from each other.
and to develop solutions to environmenlal
problems based on their values. experiences. and
aspirations. They also publish a quarterly
newsletier called Highlander Reports. For more info
contact Highlander Cerucr; 1959 Highlander Way:
New Mankel, 1N 37820 (615) 933-3443
PCEDMOm' BIOREGlONAL INSTITIJTE · For
those who Ii vc in the Piedmont area, there's a
biorcg.ional effon well undc.way. Join Us! We
would appreciate any dooalion or Lime or money to
help meet opcra1ing expenses. For a gif1 of $25.00
or morc, we will send you a copy oCJohn Lawson's
journal, A New Voyage to Carolina. Also come
find ou1abou1 the Lawson Project PBI; 412 W
Rosemary S1ree1; Chapel Hill, NC 27516;
Uwharria Province. (919) 942-2581.
EARN $200-$500 • wcclcly mailing travel brochures.
For informal.ion send a siampcd 3ddn:.sscd envelope
to: Galaxy Travel, lnc.; P.O. Box 13106; Silver
Springs, MD 20911.
I WV£ TH£ EARTH - a casseue recording of
environmental songs by the GrcaJ Smoky
Mo110U1ins JnsLi1u1c at Tremont in celebration of
the 20th anniversary of Eanh Day. Includes "SCAT
rap," "Tho Garbage Blues; and morc. S9.95 plus
$2.50 shipping for each tasSellC. Mail Otder plus
check to Grea1 Smoky Mountains N&1uml History
Associauon: 115 Park HcadqWlltCrs Rd.:
G11Llinburg, TN 37738.
NATIVE AMERICAN CEREMONIALS Hnndcrafled Native American Ceremonial supplies,
include Drums. Cus1om Pipes. Medicine B3gs,
Swcctgnw, Sage, Feathers, Rawhide R:ur.Jes,
Tobaccos. Pipe Bags, Native AuteS, and more! For
free catalogue write: P.O. Box 1062-K Cherokee,
NC28719.
• Spf1,n9, J992
NATIVE AMERICAN CEREMONIAL HERBS • we
offer a lllrge variety of sages, sweet gross, natural
resins, and evcsything necessary for smudging.
Native smoking mix1urcs, 0ute music, pow-wow
tapes, and ceremonial songs. EssentW oils. and
incenses specifically made for prayer, offering, and
meditation. For catalog call or write: Essencial
Dreams; Rt 3, Box 285; Eagle Fork; Hayesville,
NC 28904 (704) 389-9898.
SUMMER APPRENTICE WEEK JULY 3·9 Weekend opt.ion, July 3·5. Wtth Wise Woman
Tradition leacher Whitewolf. Workshops, weed
walks, harvesting medicinal hetbs, Moonlodge,
Women's Spiri1uali1y. Beautiful location one bouJ
from Asheville. Cornfonable dorm or tenting:
vegelari3n meals included. Sljding scale.
work-exchange avai.lable. Write: Wolf, P.O. Box
576; Asheville, NC 28802.
THE ALTERNATIVE READING ROOM· is an
unconvenlional library, free and open to lhe public.
Our collection interests include lhc envll'Ollllleni.
social and poliLical issues, lhe media and peace. We
have over 200 magazine suMCripLions. The book
and video collections also emphasize the
environmcot and political concems. Books and
VCR's can be checked OUI. A VCR player is
available for watehing films in lhc reading room.
Located 812 Wall St #114: Asheville, NC 28801
(704) 252-2501. Mon/Wed/Fri 6-Spm • Tues/Thur
1-8pm • Sat/Sun l-6pm
COHOUSING COMMUNITY BEING FORMED·
in lhe Asheville area Residenis organize, plan, and
design a cooperative community where individual
homes cluster around a common hoUS8 with shm.d
facilities- laundry, workshops, children's room,
dining room, cu:. Opponunitles for energy
efficient, ecologically sound land use. Inquiries
invited. Contact: John Senechal; P.O. Box 1176;
Weaverville, NC287&7 (704) 658-3740.
A VIDEO ABOUT LAND TRUSTS • has been
produced by lhe Land Trust Alliance to explain in
layman's tcnns what a land trust is. 2.7 million
acres of land have been saved by nonproli1 land
trust organizations in America, This video
documents this movement's successes. Cos1 is
S2l.00 for individuals and $14.SO for LTA
members (include $4.SO for J)OSl3gc). Contact: The
Land Trust Alliance; 900 17th SI. NW Suite 410:
Washington, DC 20006 (202) 785-1410.
HAWKWIND EARTH RENEWAL COOPERATIVE
- is o 77 acre wilderness reucot locatcd on Lookout
Mountain Parkway in norlhcm Alobama. Easy
access, safe family camping, year round weekend
programs fealUring Nalive American elders and
earth teachers from around lhc world. Strong
spiritual foundation with Earth Renewal emphasis,
membership discoun1 co-op. There is no charge for
Native American ceremonies; rescrvali.ons rcqu.irod
for all visits please. Childcare often available.
Wriie: P.O. Box I I; Valley Head, AL 35989 (205)
635-6304. For quancrly ncwslcuer 1111d program
updlucs send S10.00.
TURTLE ISLAND PRESERVE· Summer Youth
Camps nre a unique cnvironmcnlal education
experience_ Learn primitive living skills,
Appalachian Mountain living skills. ond Eanh
awareness.
• Boys Camp (ages 11-17) June 28 -July 11.
•GirlsCamp(ages 11- 17)July 12-July 18.
• Junior Youth Camp (ages 7-10) June 14 • 20.
For more info conlaCt: EuslllCC Conway; RL I.
Box 249-B; Deep Gap, NC 28618 (704) 265-2267.
LIFETIMES & AGES - a new release from Bob
Avery-Grubel full of new age vocal music
~ploring lhe mystery or life - lyrics included.
Available on casseuc for SI0.00 plus :SJ.00
shipping, and oo CD for S 15.00 plus $1 .00
shipping. Send to: Bob Avery Grubel; Rt. I, Box
735; Floyd, VA 24-091.
DAVID & CATifY BROWN • known by lheir
friends as Ahwi & Wohali arc looking 10 network
wilh people who live in lhe Katuah area and who
wan1 to form o community along tradilional
Cherokee lines as closely as possible. They are
both of Cherokee-Scots hcricage. They have lhree
home-schooled boys who would like some pen
)'31s. If you are inierestcd in ne1WOrking conlllCt:
Ahwi & WohaU Brown: 1915 Buckley Sireet;
Chattanooga. TN; Chickamaugan D1striel 37404.
• Webworking costs! T~re is now a charge ofS2.JO
(pre-paid) per entry of50 words or lus. Submit
entries for Issue #35 by May 15th 199210: Rob
Messick; Box 2(,(JJ; Boone.NC 28607. (704)
754-«>97.
Alternatives ...
The Diuctory of ln1tntio11al Conumu1111e., is lhe product or 1wo years of intensive rcscarcil, and is lhe mosl
comprehensive and accuraic dirccLOry a,ailable. II documcnis the vi~ion nnd the daily hfc of more than 350
communi1ies in Nol'lh America, and more than 50 on
other continenL~. Each community\ listing includes
name, address, phone, and a dcscnJ)tlon of lhe group.
Ex1CDs1vc cross-rclercnc mg and imkxmg makes the information =y 10 access for a wide vanc1y of users. Includes mnps, over 250 addiuonal Resource listings. and
40 rel3tcd a.rucles.
32!1 P3gcs
8-1/]:,.l l
Perfectbound
Ocwbcr 1990
ISBt,; Number:
0-9602714-1-4
$16.00
Adil S2.00 postage
& h3Jldling for first
book. S.50 for each
additional; 40%
discount on orders
of 10 or more.
Alpha Fann. Deadwood, OR
(503J964--5l02
...
�18
GIU".AT SMOKU:S PARK
·Gourmc1 Gnvin' in Ille Great Smolucs·
class will le:leh edible pl.int ID and preparation
Pre-register S30. For mfo on this and other field
courses, comact Smoky Mounlain Field School,
Un1v~1y of Tcmiesscc, Non-Credit Programs,
600
Henley St.. Suite IOS, Knoxville, TN 37902.
(800) 284-8885.
21
ASHEVILLE/CLEVELAND
National Day of Outtage Against
the US Forest Service. Let the forests live!!
Demonstrations wiU be held at 11 am al
Forest Service offices in Asheville, NC and
Cleveland, TN. For infonnation about the
Asheville action, call (704) 299-0860 or
(704) 586-3146. For information about the
Cleveland action, call (615) 524-4771.
GREAT SMOKIES PARK
Spring WildOowcr Pilgrimage. G u,ded
walks to the bcs1 wlldOowcr Siu:.s in the Parle.
lntcipretative prcscnllllions each evening. Conl3CL
23-25
evencs
SWANNANOA, NC
Annual Western North Carolina
Environmental Summit will be hosted by
Warren Wilson College and include
infonnation on current issues, workshops
and a legislative update. Pre-register:
contaet WNC Alliance; Box 18087;
Asheville, NC 28814. (704) 258-8737.
BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC
"Facing the Automobile Crisis" cransportation issues conference will
examine NC's ttansponation priorities and
feasible alternatives. Man:ia Lowe, senior
researcher with Worldwatch institute,
keynote speaker. Workshops, panels. Ar
Camp Rockmont. Pre-register: $75-125
includes meals and lodging. Contact WNC
Alliance (704) 258-8737 or (704)
689-5988.
4
28-5/3
MARCH
4
18
FULL MOON/ WORM MOON
21
SPRING EQUINOX
21
SWANNANOA,NC
Foll Moon Sweat Lodge beg.ins at
noon. Fat info about participaiing, and dau:.s of
GSMNP; Gatlinburg, TN 37738. (61S)
436-1262.
24-26
Oilier monthly full moon lodge ccn:monies, con1a0t
The Earth Cenlcr, 302 Old Fellowship Rd.,
Swannanoa, NC 28n8. (704) 298-3935.
27-29
BOONE, NC
African Drumming Workshop, presented
by Rhythm Alivcl at H1l11Dp Haven Rctrc3t Center.
Prc-rcgi5uauon rcqwred: drums available eo rent for
lbe woricshop with advllllCC notice. Coniac1 Akal
Der Shatonnc 01 (704) 264-1384. for info on Olher
dlUmming workshops and events, con111e1 Rhythm
Alive!; Box 3331; Asheville, NC 28802. (704)
255-8020.
KNOXVILLE, TN
River Rescue - cleaning up the
fLTSt 50 miles of the Tennessee River. Help
the Clean Water Project clean up the river!
For infonnation, call the Center for Global
Sustainability at (615) 524-4771.
9
18-29
VALLEY HEAD, AL
ASHEVILLF.., NC
Forestry Commission Forum w1U
Seventh generation Cherokee herbalist,
Medicine Bear (D. Walt Burchcu) will :Juw
knowledge abou1 lhc use or plants during a 1wo diay
workshop. Pre-rcgisier: $125. For info on lhlS and
n~~.ct WOllcshops, comact Hawkw,nd Eartb Renewal
Cooperative; Box 11; Valley Head, AL 35989.
inv11e di5cussion of forest use and wildlands
preservation. Co-Sl)OnSOl'Cd by Sierra Club and
other group~. Contact Nick Stcfanou at (704)
685-3881.
(20S) 635-6304.
Environmental and Earth Skills Famil)•
Gruhcring, with Hawk and Ayal HW1'1. Fire by
friction, uacl:ing and $Ulll<1ng, sptnt animal
journeys, plant and medicine walks, llinllulapping,
cordage nnd hide 13ruling. Adults: $80, chi~:
S70. Contac:1 Long Bl'OIICh Environmcnwl
Education Center: RL 2, Box 132; Lc1ces1cr, NC
28748. (704) 683-3662.
APRIL
3-5
SWANNANOA,NC
ApprcntJce cias:; with Morgan Eaglcbcar
will e.tpl~ IJlc proper use of herbs and other
'1calmg tools from the Native American
perspective. First clllS.~ in a four-pan series. For
info on Lhii and other classes, con1ae1 The Eanh
Ccnlet. Sec 3/21.
Xouiah JournaL p~ 38
'
10-12
17
LEICESTER, NC
HELEN, GA
''Rivercane Rendezvous" is
Eanhskills !raining, tools, and techniques
for living in the natural world. Instructors
include Snow Bear, Drury Wood, Doug
Elliott, Tammy Beane, Jim Riggs, and
Cherokee elders Walker Calhoun, Eva
Bigwitch and Eddie Bushyhead.
Pre-register: $145 includes meals. Contact
Bob Slack, Jr., Unicoi State Park, Helen,
GA 30545. (404) 878-2201.
MAY
1-3
TANASr RIDGE
Bchane (May Day) Gatbc:ring BJ
Morningstar Farm. May pole, song, dancing.
Celebrate High Spnng! For informntion and
uavcl directions, call (704) 586-3146.
1-3
ROAN MOUNTAJN, TN
34th Annual Roan Moun111m
WildOowcr Tours and Birdwalks. Con111e1 Ro:in
Moun111in Sl3le Park at (615) 7n-3303.
Fl;LL MOON /PTNK MOOS
Drawing by Rob Mel.Sick
Spr~»9. 1992
�··:KATUAH
2
WFSTF.RN NORTH CAROLINA
Clean SIJ'Callls Day will involve
coordinated clean.up in Buncombe, Madison,
Henderson and Transylvania counties. For info
and lrnShbags, contac1 Quality Forward. Soc 4/6.
MARSHALL, NC
Spoon Carving WOl'kshop is an
introduction 10 lmditional woodworking IOOls and
rcchniqoes, iaughl by Drew Langsner.
Pre-regis1cr: SISO includes meals and camping
(dormilory also available). For info on this and
other woodworking classes. conU1C1 Country
Workshops, 90 Mill Creek Road, Marshall, NC
28753. (704) 656-2280.
KONFUSION =·
Rob Messic\<.
coniact Great Smoky Mount:1ins lnslltulc at
Tremoni; Rt I, Box 700; Townsend, TN
37882.
(615) 448-6709.
JUNE
HOT SPRINGS, NC
"Taoist Medilation for Beginners" will
include instruction, group mcdiuuion, and periods
or silence. Led by Linda Gooding Md Sllaron Reif.
Pre-register: S145 includes vegan meals Md
lodging. For info on this and other retreats, conLaC1
Southern Dhnrma Rctre31 Center. RL I, Box
34-H,: H01 Springs, NC 28743. (704)622-7112.
5.7
16
FULL MOON / FLOWER
MOON
2·3
9-10
VALLEY HEAD, AL
Earth Slcills workshop with Darry
Wood. "Wilh a knife. on axe, and a saw, I can
mnke a life in lhe woods.· R~l and
undcrsianding are what allow us lO live ligh1ly
on lhe land. Hawkwind Earth Renewal
Cooperative. See 3/28-29.
14-18 CHEROKEE NF
Sou!hPAW Spring Council. Join
the region's biocentric environmental
group to plan forest rescue and !he
Kan1ah evolutionary preserve. USFS
appeals, paving moratorium, Earth skills,
non-violence training for direct action,
and more. At Jennings Creek area. For
travel directions and info, caJI (615)
543-5107 or (704) 299-0860.
GREAT SMOKIES PARK
Spring Naturalis1 Wccl(cnd is a chance
lO lewn about the natural hisiory oflhc park
Crom local cxpertS. lnstruciors will include Dr.
Mike PellOn, Dr. Fred Alsop, and Dr. Ed
Clebsch. Pre-register: S75 includes meals Md
lodging. For info on lhis and other progrnms,
15-17
KERRSVILLE, TX
The Fifth Tunic Island Biorcgional
Congress. Bioregional people from across the
continent will gather 10 celebrate and sll':llCgi1.e
an ecoccnlric way of living. Pre-register:
$225-300 includes meals and lodging. ConlllCt:
Realistic Living; Box 140826; Dallns, TX
75214. (903) 583-8252.
17-21
The Black Mountain Festival.
Four days of great music with Goose
Creek Symphony, Norman and Nancy
Blake, Ada Korey, The Chicken Wire
Gang, Brooks Williams, songs and
stories for children wiLh Bob Rosentahl,
Ian Bruce from Scot.land, Steelorama
reggae, the Flying Mice, other
performers, and more dancers than ever
before! $65 for the duration. For more
info, call (704) 669-2456.
CHEROKEE, NC
Sieve Moon, shell engravings. and Joel
Queen, s10ne sculplUl'C and pouery, in a
two-person show at lhe Musewn of lhc Cherokee
Indian.
30
WAYNESVILLE, NC
Bead Weaving workshop: me peyote
stilCh for medicine or spirit bag weaving.
Pre-register. $30 plus materials. For info on this
and olhcr programs, conl3Ct Sl.il-Ligh1
Theosophical Retreat Center; RL I, Box 326;
Waynesville, NC 28786. (704) 452-456
/,
-
Spr~. 1992
-
'
Kaluah Province 28748
For more info: call Rob Messick a1 (704) 754-6097
PO Box 638 Leicester, NC
Regular Membership ........$10/yr.
Address
Sponsor.........................$20/yr.
Contributor.....................$50/yr.
State
Zip
FULL MOON
20
SUMMER SOLSTICE
AMONG THE TREES
Katunh Rainbow Tribe Solstice
Gathering. Somewhere in lhe national forest brothas
and sisters will gather 10 create a magical village or
love and lighL Location Md exact dates 10 be
annoWlCed. For information wriie lO HO! Newsle11er,
Box 5455; Allania. GA 30307, or call Allanta
Rainbow Light Line, (404) 662-6112.
17(?)-21
Enclosed is $::----- to give
!his effort an extra boost
12-14
MASSANETT A SPGS., VA
6th Annual National Forest
Refonn Pow Wow will include group
discussions, workshops and field trips 10
view several forest management
techniques. Pre-register: $76-122 includes
meals and lodging or campsite. Contact
Forest Reform Network; 5934 Royal Lane
(Suite 223); Dallas, TX. 75230. (214)
368-1791.
3-10, 13-16, 18-20, 22-24, 26-27, 29-33
- - - - - - -- - - - - - - - -
Ke°UA~OURNAL
Name
15
23-24
- -- -- - -- -- - - -- -- - --- - --- -- - --
City
JOHNSON CITY, TN
"Places and the Displaced" is drama
inspired by lhe quinccntcnninl of Columbus's
voyage, written and performed by The Road
Company. Box 5278, Johnson City, 1N 37603.
(615)926-7726.
22-25 BLACK MO UNTAIN, NC
BACK ISSUFS OFKATUAH JOURNALAVAILABLE
34
9-13
----
Back Issues;
Issue# __@ $2.50 = s.--Jssue # __@ $2.50 = $•--Issue# __@ $2.50 = s.--lssue # __@ $2.50 = $____
Issue# __@ $2.50 = $_ __
postage paid $_ __
Complete Set:
(3-10, 13-16, 18-20, 22-24, 26-32)
postage paid @ $50.00 = $_ __
Phone Number
XA~ JournaL page 39
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah Journal</em>, Issue 34, Spring 1992
Description
An account of the resource
The thirty-fourth issue of the <em>Katúah Journal</em> focuses on sustainable agriculture and regional diet. Authors and artists in this issue include: Joe Hollis, Hugh Lovel, Ralph Garrett, Peter Bane, Perry Eury, Allison C. Sutherland, Bear With Runs, Mark Schonbeck, John Ingress, Lee Barnes, Charlotte Homsher, Rob Messick, David Wheeler, Emmett Greendigger, Michael Thompson, James Rhea, Dawn Shiner, Troy Setzler, Erbin Crow, Caroline Rowe Martens, and Susan Adam. <br><br><em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1992
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
Paradise Gardening by Joe Hollis.......3<br /><br />Community Sponsored Agriculture by Hugh Lovel.......5<br /><br />"If You Didn't Grow It..." by Ralph Garrett.......7<br /><br />Eating Close to Home by Peter Bane.......9<br /><br />Silas McDowell's Vision by Perry Eury.......11<br /><br />Poems by Allison C. Sutherland.......12<br /><br />Native Foods by Bear with Runs.......13<br /><br />Cover Crops by Mark Schonbeck.......15<br /><br />Plan for Tomorrow: Hemp by John Ingress.......17<br /><br />Katúah Cultivars by Lee Barnes.......18<br /><br />Blowing in the Wind by Charlotte Homsher.......19<br /><br />The Web of Life: A Katúah Almanac by Lee Barnes and Rob Messick.......20<br /><br />Good Medicine.......22<br /><br />Natural World News.......24<br /><br />"Whose Rules?" by David Wheeler.......26<br /><br />Big Ivy by Emmett Greendigger and David Wheeler.......27<br /><br />Drumming.......28<br /><br />Saving Wild Seeds by Lee Barnes.......29<br /><br />Resources.......31<br /><br />Review: "Apple Pie in Your Face".......34<br /><br />Webworking.......37<br /><br />Events.......38<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
<em>Katúah Journal</em>, printed by The <em>Waynesville Mountaineer</em> Press
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable agriculture--Appalachian Region, Southern
Appalachians (People)--Social life and customs--History
Community-supported agriculture--Appalachian Region, Southern
Cherokee Indians--Social life and customs--History
Cover crops--Appalachian Region, Southern
Permaculture--Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
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<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Agriculture
Appalachian History
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Congress
Black Bears
Book Reviews
Cherokees
Community
Ecological Peril
Economic Alternatives
Folklore and Ceremony
Forest Issues
Good Medicine
Habitat
Health
Katúah
Permaculture
Pigeon River
Plants and Herbs
Poems
Radioactive Waste
Reading Resources
Stories
Turtle Island
Water Quality
Western North Carolina Alliance
Wilderness