Macska Moksha Press

2016: A Century of Theft from Indians by the National Park Service

March 7, 2016 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

History poster about the Fort Mojave Indians, as displayed in the Hole-in-the-Wall visitors center in Mojave National Preserve.

In early February, I stopped in the men’s room at the Hole-in-the-Wall visitor center in Mojave National Preserve in southern California. Above the urinal was a framed history poster entitled, “Fort Mojave – Aha Mocave – And Then the White Man Came.” I was instantly offended by its placement. After all, figuratively, what a man would be doing under this poster is exactly what European colonialism has been doing on Indians for centuries.

The poster’s voluminous text, in three columns, along with eight captioned photographs, presented far more information than could be absorbed in even a long visit to the urinal (not that I’m suggesting it should have been hung in the toilet stall where people are likelier to spend more time). I was quite interested in its content so took some photos so I could study it more carefully later.

The Mojave National Preserve is run by the National Park Service, which, in contrast to previous times, has been including more Indian history in its displays and programs, and presumably this oddly-sited poster is part of that effort. Why wasn’t it inside the visitor center itself, where one might read it with better attention? And was it also displayed in the women’s room? I didn’t check. Among the books on sale in the visitor center, one full shelf was dedicated to the topic of Indians, and though the selection was decent, this particular poster — hung on the wall with other ones — would have given the topic visibility to more people.

Getting back into my truck, it occurred to me that someone with a mischievous sense of humour — with what some Indians might call “coyote spirit” — could have purposefully placed the poster above the urinal, so that the fact of Indian mistreatment by Europeans would be square in the face of every man who went in there, the majority of whom would be white. (According to research of visitors by the Park Service itself, “ethnic and racial minorities are virtually absent from the major parks in the system,” with Blacks and Latinos comprising only 3.5% each, well below their proportion of the general population.[1]) The idea that the poster was there as a prank gave me a wry smile, but if I was going to make a bet, I’d put my dollar on insensitivity.

Indian history, specifically as it relates to the National Park Service (NPS), had already been on my mind.
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Civilization as Symptom, Not Disease: Digging for the Roots of “Babylon”

March 7, 2016 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

I first began to consciously question the value of Civilization in 1997. I was visiting Northhampton, Massachusetts, with a new lover. We were enjoying that early stage shortly after meeting when the intensity of sensation is so strong that your world is blown apart, making space for the new to enter and blossom, including the mystical. We went a book store I had never been in, and I found myself following my feet as they led me quickly down one of the aisles to a particular shelf. There, my hand reached up and picked out a book without my eyes reading the spine. The book was “My Name Is Chellis and I am Recovery from Civilization” by Chellis Glendenning.

I devoured the book in the days that followed, sating a hunger I hadn’t been aware of. Glendenning’s lucid text explained so much of the depression I had been experiencing in my life. Among many other salient points, she demonstrated how Civilization disconnects us from the natural world and how Capitalism appropriates our instincts in order to peddle us its wares. Glendenning turned on a light in my head that never went off again and has illuminated much for me in the time since as it has grown in brightness.

Four years later, inspired by the protests in Seattle against the WTO in late 1999, I moved to the West Coast and dove head-long into political activism. (The lover had become a partner and then an ex; as is typical, the magic was traded first for the mundane and then for the wretched.) In my new circles, I met forest defenders, anarcho-primitivists and rewilders, all of whom shared Glendenning’s disdain for Civilization, and some of whom took it much further, in both attitude and in action. This is when I first heard the name “Babylon” applied to Civilization in general and to Cities in particular. I’ve never been too fond of the term — Bible stories don’t inspire me much — but I’ve often shared the anti-Civ sentiments of those who use it.

Babylon, after all, has wrought annihilation seemingly everywhere:
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Dinners with the Dipos

March 7, 2016 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

Dipodomys merriami – Merriam’s Kangaroo Rat!

The first thing I did after picking out my most recent campsite was scatter some sunflower seeds on the ground by the fire ring. I have been doing this at various sites on my current trip for two reasons. First, as a kind of ritual offering, to acknowledge to the space itself that I am a visitor who arrives with respect; similar to how a person might light a candle in a church. Second, I am imitating Edmund C. Jaeger, a 20th Century naturalist and author, known as “Dean of the California Deserts,” who did the same thing in this very desert in order to attract local wildlife so he could observe them; this is more similar to giving a bottle of wine to your host when you’re a guest.

For the first three days, the seeds laid there untouched. I spent one night someplace else and when I returned, the seeds were gone. I was excited! I tossed another handful on the ground and went about my day. I was hoping to befriend some White-Tailed Antelope Ground Squirrels (Ammospermophilis leucurus) like I’d met in this part of the country last year, but I was thrilled when another creature showed up instead.

A few minutes after the sun had gone down, but the stars weren’t out yet, I was finishing up my dinner preparations when I heard little scrabbling noises by the fire ring. I looked over and spotted an animal I had never seen in person before but immediately recognized from photos. The over-sized back legs, long tufted tail, and head nearly the size of the rest of its body were unmistakable traits: it was a Kangaroo Rat!
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The Malheur Wildlife Refuge Occupation: A Skirmish among the Colonizers

January 5, 2016 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

Map of Oregon showing pre-Colonial language groups

On January 2nd, a group of armed “militia men” broke into and took over the headquarters and visitors’ center of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Harney County, Oregon. As of this writing, no law enforcement action has been taken against them, though the County Sheriff has said that “a collective effort from multiple agencies is currently working on a solution” which includes the FBI.

The stated reason for the take-over was to protest the imminent imprisonment of two local ranchers – Dwight Hammond, Jr., and his son, Steven – for committing arson on public lands in 2001 and 2006. The Hammonds did not solicit the attention of the militia men, who all are reportedly from out of state.

Two of the militia men are Ryan and Ammon Bundy, son of Cliven Bundy, the rancher who, in 2014, famously prevented the Bureau of Land Management from removing his cattle that were illegally grazing on public lands. In an interview with the Oregonian, Ryan said: “The best possible outcome is that the ranchers that have been kicked out of the area… will come back and reclaim their land, and the wildlife refuge will be shut down forever and the federal government will relinquish such control.”

Ammon Bundy characterized the building as “the tool to do all the tyranny that has been placed upon the Hammonds” and the refuge as “destructive to the people of the county and to the people of the area.”

The Bundys have stated that they are prepared to occupy the building “for years” if necessary, and that they “would not rule out violence if law enforcement tries to remove them.”

This is a provocative action and inflammatory language, especially coming from people with guns.
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The Mark of Malice in California’s “Emerald Triangle”

December 22, 2015 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

Clearcut in Humboldt County, making way for Cannabis cultivation

In November of 2015, I spent three weeks working at a medical Cannabis operation in Humboldt County. My time there was filled with realization and sadness. Though the land in that part of the country is sparsely inhabited and appears wild or even untouched, it has in fact been abused for well over a century and a half, and the mark of malice lies undeniably upon it. Waves of genocide and environmental destruction have swept through it and, unfortunately, the “Green Rush” of recent years is bringing more hurt.

“Adventures in Urban Bike Farming” – Order Here

December 6, 2015 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

Hardcopy: still-life with a Dandelion

Now available in hardcopy and four digital formats!

Equal parts historical document, confessional memoir and social critique, this book tells the story of “Sunroot Gardens,” a bicycle-based urban farming operation that I founded and cultivated in Portland, Oregon, in the early 2000’s. Made famous by the local media—including the Willamette Week, Sellwood Bee, Portland Monthly, KBOO, Oregonian and In Good Tilth—Sunroot Gardens blazed trails and pushed boundaries. The text is drawn from my voluminous writings at the time and has been supplemented with freshly composed narrative and commentary. Click here for an excerpt.
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Ecosystems at Risk, #3: The Snag Forests of Olallie Lake

November 2, 2015 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

Snag forest and ponds at Olallie Lake, Oregon

In July of 2014, I was traveling in Oregon’s Cascade Mountain Range with a friend, looking for someplace to camp for a few days where we could enjoy good berry-picking. Looking over our gazetteer, we spotted a place labeled, “Olallie Scenic Area.” What we saw on the map intrigued us; the area was dotted with dozens of lakes, resembling a piece of Minnesota more than anywhere in Oregon that either of us knew. Neither of us had been there, so we decided to go check it out.

The Olallie Scenic Area is located in a bowl-like “saddle” on the ridge of the Cascadess where the Mt. Hood and Willamette National Forests come together. The Pacific Crest Trail passes through it. To the west, the land rolls down in wooded (and clear-cut) foothills to the lush Willamette Valley and on the east tumbles into the arid high desert of the Great Basin. To the south is Mt. Jefferson, known as “Seekseekqua” to some Native Americans. The elevation of the area is about 5000 feet above sea level.

We didn’t know what to expect and were very pleased to find extensive snag forests.

“Adventures in Urban Bike Farming” – Excerpt

October 24, 2015 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

To give readers an idea of the content and flavor of “Adventures in Urban Bike Farming,” here is the Introduction to the book, followed by the Table of Contents. Order a hardcopy or a digital download here!

Introduction

“When a well-packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and its speaker a raving lunatic.” (Dresden James)

This book is about my experiences as bicycle-based urban farmer in Portland, Oregon, U.S.A., from 2004 through 2010 (with a brief reprise in 2013). The arc of the narrative begins with wide-eyed idealism and ends with disillusioned acceptance. If you’re looking for a message of “rah rah, look how sustainable we are!” you won’t find it here. If, on the other hand, you are genuinely concerned about our collective future and are interested in how urban farming could play a part, there are lessons here to glean.

Bring on the “Density” – Portland’s Older Neighborhoods Were Never Sustainable in the First Place

October 21, 2015 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

Apartments and mixed-use complexes on Division Street in Portland, Oregon

This Tuesday was a perfect October day in Portland for a bike ride. So I hauled out my battered Bridgestone, cleaned up the gears and lubed the chain with 3-in-1 and a rag, filled a water bottle and took off. Only a few clouds dotted the sky, and I enjoyed the contrast of intermittent shade as they drifted west to east, although especially those moments when the sun re-emerged and bathed me in a warm, autumn-golden light. Bike rides like that in Portland in October can trigger a flavor of euphoria in me, always fleeting, but somehow—dare I say it—“transcendental.”

Five miles later, I disembarked from my two-wheeled steed, feeling a little rubbery in the knees for being out of shape. I visited a friend, whom I gifted with some pinenuts from a recent harvest in Nevada, dropped into the natural foods co-op where I ran into an old friend, purchased a slab of tempeh and a can of local cider (which is treating my palate quite nicely at this moment), and then started heading back.

I decided, as I have often done over the last few months in Portland—from which I’ve been away for most of the last five years—to walk my bike up Southeast Division Street, from the 20’s to the 40’s (in Avenues). This particular zone has changed a lot during my absence. I had lived in the neighborhood for many years previously, when it was a somewhat gritty strip of small businesses and bars, for the most part unpretentious, though a patisserie, a fancy candy shop, and a few upper-crust restaurants had always been anchored there as long as I had known it.

Nowadays, the street is newly dominated by many three-to-four story, box-shaped apartments and condominiums, lending a canyon-like atmosphere to some stretches. Shops, services and eateries inhabit the ground floors with residential units stacked above, often with balconies looking down on the scene below.

“(t)h(i/e)m: exercise in fiction” – digital re-release

October 15, 2015 by Kollibri terre Sonnenblume

front cover of original CD booklet, which was designed by Rachael McIntosh, founder of Entropy Press

Originally released by Entropy Press in October 1998 under the nom d’arte “Russ.” A novel in scope, but a collection of short stories in form, the narrative (such as it is) follows the adventures of a male character named “T.” from birth to ~27 years of age. My take on the classic coming-of-age narrative.

“(t)h(i/e)m” (which I pronounce as “the aim”) is a multimedia project featuring visual art and a soundtrack, and was originally distributed on CD. The vision was to create a Gesamtkunstwerk, a “unified work of art” that would synthesize different forms into a totality whose sum was greater than its parts.

Download it here:
[purchase_link id=”1357″ text=”Add to Cart” style=”button” color=”blue”]

The book is in the form of a website. All the files (including the MP3s of the music) are packaged in a .ZIP file you will need to uncompress. Then, simply open “home.htm” in a web browser and you will have opened the cover, so to speak. (Also included is “bonus-chapter-2015.htm,” the new story written to mark this re-release.)

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Introduction