Ecotrust

Become a citizen of your bioregion!

Ecotrust is a unique and amazing group working towards actualizing bioregional life way, it is my pleasure to introduce you to them if you have not allready met them...

LLB

The Ecotrust Mission: To Build Salmon Nation
Citizens of Salmon Nation want to live in a place where economic, ecological, and social conditions are improving, where a "conservation economy" is emerging.
Our bioregion: the Pacific salmon / coastal temperate rain forest region from California to Alaska
Ecotrust was created in 1991 by a small group of diverse people who sought to bring some of the good ideas emerging around sustainability back to the rain forests of home. We set out to characterize this region and articulate a more enduring strategy for its prosperity.
These efforts are predicated on the notion, gaining an ever wider currency, that economic and ecological systems are mutually interdependent. To this relationship Ecotrust and others have sought to add a third "e" — social equity — to ensure that economic development awards benefits to all the region's citizens. Economy, ecology, equity: the triple bottom line.
Five integrated program areas, supported by our sophisticated tools and services, define and guide our efforts to build Salmon Nation:
Native Programs
Continuously strengthening over a decade of close relationships, Ecotrust both draws guidance from and provides assistance to the Native American and First Nation communities of Salmon Nation. Our objective is to support a growing network of leaders, increase outdoor education opportunities for native youth, and broker resources for repatriation and improved management of traditional lands.
Fisheries
Ecotrust seeks full public disclosure of the status of Pacific salmon as well as fundamental institutional changes in the way fisheries, marine ecosystems and watersheds are managed. With our State of the Salmon project, our goal is to create the most credible single source of information about salmon and salmon dependent communities, produce new models for socio-economic and ecological analysis, and protect and restore critical salmon watersheds.
Forestry
Ecotrust is working to develop landscape-scale examples of ecological forest management that sustain biodiversity and provide more reliable opportunities for forest dependent communities. Our objective is to develop new socio-economic models of traditional versus ecological forestry, protect key remaining natural-forest watersheds, and capture market forces to encourage new salmon-friendly forest practices.
Food & Farms
By promoting the seasonal products of local farmers and striving to reduce the environmental impact of agriculture on healthy watersheds, Ecotrust is fostering a regional food system in the Pacific Northwest. Our objectives are to improve public understanding of local agriculture and increase the market share of locally grown food.
Citizenship
Ecotrust works to articulate the idea of Salmon Nation, to promote a sense of place and stewardship among the citizens of the region. We seek to reach a significant percentage of this region’s residents, inspiring them to tangibly change the way they think about their relationship to nature and to become more responsible citizens of Salmon Nation.

Salmon Nation

Salmon Nation is a bioregional project established by the organization called ecotrust.

It is a way of looking at the bioregion based upon is primary relationship with its most important food source, the other-than-human-person we have come to know as Salmon people.

Salmon Nation reminds us of the primary importance of this other-than-human-person to the great bioregion of Cascadia and beyond, through this work being done by Salmon Nation we begin to understand that making the world safe and healthy for salmon makes the world safe and healthy for human-people.

Please take a look at their web page and become an ambassador of Salmon Nation.

Become an Ambassador of Salmon Nation
Through the Salmon Nation Ambassadors project, we seek to jumpstart and support the creativity of citizens throughout the region on behalf of a civic society. A Salmon Nation Ambassador is any individual who is inspired by Salmon Nation and acts as a spokesperson to reach citizens beyond the typical avenues of environmental or social activism.
What do Ambassadors do?
They use Salmon Nation to help connect people to place and foster a new type of economic relationship with the landscape and community.
They are involved in work that enhances the vitality of the bioregion.
They work to bridge urban-rural divides.
They act as a conduit for information from the citizenry that helps inform Ecotrust's Citizenship program.
They are financially independent from Ecotrust, although they occasionally engage in a fiscal sponsor relationship with Ecotrust if foundation grants are available.
Ambassadors often resell Salmon Nation merchandise or distribute other materials to their communities. Discounted pricing on merchandise is available, and most other content is available for free.
To learn more, please contact Howard Silverman, either by phone at 503.227.6225 or
hide_email('by email','howard','ecotrust.org')
by email.

Bioregional animist convergence

new post

Bioregional Animist Convergence: Sharing Place

Today, 7:35 PM

Bioregional Animist Convergence: sharing place

This summer solstice we will be holding a Bioregional Animist Convergence- a meet and camp out- somewhere in Washington.
The location is still up in the air because we don't know how many people will be attending. So far, potential locations have been: near Spokane, Lummi Island, and the Skokomish forest near the Skokomish tribes reservation. Though the event will be hosted in Washington, the idea is for bioregional animists of all bioregions to converge and share their relationship with their place. If you have the relationship, the means, and the desire, we look forward to honoring the relations of diverse bioregions together.

Discussions on Bioregional Animism will be led by Little Lightening Bolt and specific events and groups will be organized by those attending, hopefully including such topics as interspecies communication, the importance of sacred states of consciousness to animist people, local foods and their importance to bioregionalism and animism, etc. As planning for the convergence progresses, so will the specifics of the break-out events. We will also hold a collective group ceremony on solstice, opening ourselves to the life place and its people, asking the life place and its people to guide us in establishing a sacred way of relating to the space on this important day.
It will be a camp out which will require people attending to provide for their own needs. Encouraging self sufficiency, the way of the heron- a bird person of the Cascadia life place- we will ask that you bring enough of whatever you need to sustain yourself for the days of the convergence and perhaps a little more to share. A space will be available for camping, but we are not sure if this space will require a base fee for the group... once we have a better idea of how many people would like to attend, we will be able to determine where to host it and if there will be any cost to camp. Do be prepared to provide your own food, shelter, water and toiletries.

I would like to inquire about who is interested in attending and what people would like to see happen at this convergence. It will be for you, and for us all, and for our collective spaces, so what each of us puts into it, all of us will get out of it.
please contact LLB and let him know your thoughts.
please see the invite on this tribes events list.

reply to this post

Medicine of Place

Bookmonger: Spring Thoughts Turn to Plants

http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2008/mar/02/bookmonger-spring-thoughts-turn-to-plants/

Spring has sprung up in my soul, if not on the calendar quite yet, and it was helped along by the books I read this week.

"Medicine of Place" is a labor of love spearheaded by Julia Brayshaw, with collaboration from artist Karen Lohmann. Both women hail from Olympia.

Drawing from her two vocations as a psychotherapist and a flower essence practitioner, Brayshaw makes an argument for the healing qualities of Cascadia's wildflowers. She suggests that the patterns and ecology of the native plants of our bioregion can offer not just relief for physical maladies, but spiritual tonic as well.

Medicine of Place

By Julia M. Brayshaw

Alchemia. 214 pages. $34.99.

"When we approach botany wholeheartedly, allowing it to enliven our senses, imagination, and intuition, we recognize the same patterns of creation in wild nature, in our bodies, and in our psyches," she contends.

Brayshaw provides monograms of 33 wildflowers found in the Pacific Northwest, from grass widow, which begins blooming as early as January, to explorer's gentian, which blossoms at the end of the growing season.

For each flower, she gives the botanical description and geographical range. A section on habitat and ecology discusses the plant's web of relationships, and sometimes includes the effects humans have had. The camas, for example, was a sustainable staple in the diet of Native Americans. Later, the agricultural practices of settlers contributed to the severe decline of the flower.

Brayshaw also lyrically describes the "gesture" of each flower — its physical characteristics — before moving on to the chief focus: the flower's "medicine story." These portraits propose ways of considering the flower's message or inspiration.

And the deck of over-sized cards, with wildflower images painted by Karen Lohmann, invites the same kind of involvement, with suggestions about using the cards to develop a more intuitive connection with plants. It may sound a little "woo-woo" for the more hard-boiled among us, but I found it to be a fun, mind-expanding exercise, if not quite as transformational as the author might have hoped.

Another new book that covers much of the same literal territory is the "Encyclopedia of Northwest Native Plants," compiled by three more plant experts out of southwestern Washington.

This reference features over 500 species of native plants that can be incorporated into Northwest gardens, with the aim of restoring some of the biodiversity that has been ripped out by development over the last century and a half.

The entries include advice on propagation, siting and cultivation, and there are lists of plants to include in hedgerows, meadows, and more.

Armed with multiple degrees in botany, author Kathleen A. Robson has worked for the U.S. Forest Service and as an adjunct faculty member for Washington State University, and currently operates a native plant nursery in Woodland. Her affection for these plants shines through in her authoritative descriptions of even the humblest bulbs and grasses.

Gorgeous photographs by Master Gardener Alice Richter and pen and ink botanical drawings by Marianne Filbert enhance this inspiring resource from Portland's Timber Press.

bioregionalism takes on the global heroin trade

place

back to desert »

"what could make a person strong is understanding completely where you come from," says former Rio Arriba county commision president Alfredo Montoya. "Understanding who you are. What your village has to offer. Your history. your traditions and customs. How spiritually there's places to go. And that is why the land and water issues, fighting for the acequias and the land grant movement, are so important for recovering from substance abuse."

--from the book 'chiva: a village takes on the global heroin trade' by chellis glendinning

Thu, March 20, 2008 - 10:00 PM - permalink - 1 Comment

add a comment

First peoples bioregional animism blog

Hey.. I just want to let you all know on this tribe how awesome you all are! I have grown so much because of all the interesting things that i find here and the sharing that goes on between us all, as we dance with the land. I was always an animist by nature (no pun intended), but as I've delved into the biroregional concept more fully and continued to share with all of you, maintaining the First Peoples blog...I have expanded my understanding of animism so much more...it's incredible. Today I picked up the newspaper, as I often do to find current events for the drop in kids and the first thing that drew my attention was an article about the Tech school sponsoring a community meal with local game on the menu. I realized that because I belong to this tribe and share in the understanding with all of you, that more and more I am thinking from a biroregional perspective and by osmosis, perhaps...coming to understand my biroregion in a much deeper way. I find myself much more involved these days with what's going on on a DAILY basis within my bioregion, rather than just a passing glance or in general knowledge. It's quite a different perspective that reaches beyond animism for me. I have always danced with the land and lived in an animist way, honored the spirits of the land I was on, but now it has taken on a deeper meaning for me....guess it's "put me in my place" for sure ; ) Maintaining the First Peoples' blog has been a good exercise for me and I am grateful for having been offered the opportunity. It has deepened my commitment and I would love to expand that further, and hope to see some other First Peoples' from all over the world add their perspectives. I would not want that to be all one sided from only this bioregion. If there are other First Peoples here..please come on over to the blog and check it out. I would love to gain a deeper understanding of other First Peoples experience with biroreginal animism....it will serve to educate me further and broaden my perspective. i am honored by the wisdom along your path that has made its way into my everyday thought process...you ROCK! Guess I might to give in and read that book now, huh LLB? ~LOL~ With much respect
reply to this post
from nanci at the first peoples bioregional animism blog come and join her!

We love our relations

“The Parasites:
I believe Western European culture will never endure in the Americas. I believe it is only a passing phase like the hoola hoop or the skate board. I also believe that the peoples living in the Americas will become American; that they will have to in order to survive in America. That means that a truly American culture will evolve-is evolving-in the Americas, a culture which is not a European import, nor an adaptation of an European import. That means that the sons and daughters of immigrants who strove for over four hundred years to posses the Americas will be possessed by the Americas; the descendants of those who tried to conquer and subdue the Americas will be conquered and subdued by the Americas. It means that the stubborn land pioneers cleared and cursed will be loved, respected, and revered by the great grandchildren of pioneers. And the native creatures of that land will also be loved and fostered, including the original American Human: the Indian.”-Wilfred Pelletier and Ted Poole, from No Foreign Land: The Biography of a North American Indian.

Cosmic Rains of the black sky tribe tending to the needs of the earth mother and her children.

This is what I have been shown by spirit… at our lodge at the cedar house so many years ago, doing ceremony with my tribe, we black sky people… when bioregional animism was being born in my visions and in our relationships. I saw how the Earth this land gave form to the body, the mind the spirit and the cultures of the people… how new tribes were forming peoples spirits where waking up to the reality that they are the place they live, they are the people of the land and sky they live within…
I was shown this clear as day… I could feel the land reaching up through us giving us form and instruction on how to live, how to bee kin, how to be family and live in a good way. I still see this and feel this… and I am seeing it in the people I share this vision with.
I am going to going on a long walk in the not to distant futurethis fall… looking for my people and seeking new skills… and visiting the members of the black sky tribe where ever the four winds have taken you with the hope to bring you back to the Puget Sound eventually so we can co-create a village with the land.

This is happening...

You better learn...

Posted in Excerpts by renee on March 13th, 2008
From an interview by Derrick Jensen with Thomas Berry:
“How does the wind speak to us? A biting wind on a winter’s day tells the person of harshness and the challenge of existence. It wants to make a person strong. And the softness of a summer breeze tells us of the compassionate dimension of the universe.
“People say,’Oh, that’s poetic. That’s romantic’. But that’s the most scientific thing there is. If someone says to me, ‘I don’t hear the voice of the wind,’ I say, ‘You better learn.’
The earths voices are heard...

Bioregional animism in print

Hey community!

I am proud to announce that I will soon have a co-authored piece on bioregional animism and community based shamanry published in a book titled Feminine Mysticism in Art:Artists Envisioning the Divine: co-authored with Daniel Mirante publisher of Lila journal for Visionary Art, Shamanism and the Transpersonal Vision. Many thanks and blessings to Dan for helping spread the vision.

Deer medicine

Many years ago I sat in my brothers living room in ceremony with the sacred medicine called San pedro cactus or Achuma as it was called in Bolivia where it originally comes from. This cactus has traveled its way from there and now is grown for healing, divination, and communion with other-than-human-persons, just to name a few…
During this ceremony i had been spending a great deal of time focusing on my fellow mans pain and sickness, the problems that face humanity, my own problems as a human-person as well. We sat quietly in contemplation as well allowed the medicine to bring us visions and insight. The consumption of Achuma is the ceremonial act of bringing another person into your body to guide, cleanse protect, and teach you. This is a practice that has been called plant teacher shamanry, where a visionary plant is considered a teacher, or tutelary spirit that can be consumed and thus embodied as the method of communion with the plants spirit or intelligence. A prime example of co-intelligence via resonant intelligence, when the plant is consumed the plant and the one that consumes the plant works as one functioning system of intelligence.
Evolutionarily speaking the plant kingdom is a much older and much more well adapted species then mammals and have often been considered the elders of human-people. Within animist communities elders are often considered wiser, (thought this is not often the case in non animist cultures) so there for the plant is sought out for its wisdom. When one consumes the plant and is in a humble way working with the plant as an other-than-human-person not a tool or a drug or just a plant, but a person, the plant lends its wisdom and power to the one that consumes it. The great mystery of life cannot help but be felt via these wise ones, one may embody these wise ones but never truly know all that they know, it is a great mystery that they reveal to us and give us hints as to how we must relate to life and the mystery in order to be well. They will never give us all the answers we seek because the mystery itself must be perpetuated at all costs according to these plant elders. It is the question no the answer that drives the teacher, and with plant teachers it is no different.
Sitting in my brother Spheres living room, focusing on human suffering and its alleviation… the room shifted, it changed before me. In front of me was not just his living room, but super imposed upon this living room was a prairie, and sitting where I sat was a deer. The deer and i shared the same space, its body and mine were one. I felt the deer within me, as me, and as it moved I moved, as it thought I thought and it said to me very directly… “Don’t forget us, the work your doing is also for us.”
The Deer had spoken and living room had shifted back from a prairie/living room and I was left with a life altering change in how I viewed my purpose, in the roles i was to play in life. I had all of a sudden developed the seed for an ecologically responsible ethic. How could one sit there open to the whole of life and feel a deer speak to you ,telling you not to forget her people and all other-than-human-persons when attempting to ease suffering. It became more and more apparent to me as I opened up to more guidance from spirit that night that the the fate of human people where interrelated to the fate of other-than-human-persons, deer had pointed the way.
Being shown that one could relate to an other-than-human-person in this way was a huge lesson for me, it was also a huge shock to have an other-than-human-person choose to appear to me to give me this lesson with out my seeking it. I felt honored yet rattled, i had to at this point now find ways to change the way I lived my life. Deer had spoken to me. It wanted something from me, we had begun a long relationship.
Yesterday in the psyche ward I work as a counselor in I watched through the windows as a herd of deer chased each others young in a game of tag. I was reminded of my experience with deer that night during ceremony at my friends house while working with the plant teacher called Achuma. I saw them play and chase each other, and I prayed for them. I saw the difficulty of their lives and I saw how we added upon their already large yet joyfully burden and I continued my vow to help them through the choices I make in how I live my life and how I relate to others, how I help others. I learned from deer that to help others human-persons one must help them in a way that helps nature, that helps the deer as well. I am happy I learned of my responsibilities in this way because these ecological and social ethics have been planted deep in my soul… not in the shallow levels in my intellect.

The Bioregional Animist Art Work of Martin Bridge

Martin Bridge is a modern animist artist and teacher living in Massachusetts.
His work strives to celebrate the magic and spirit of the life place.
I am honored to show some of his art work here.
please see his full gallery as well as his web page and workshops.
father hood
ceremonial space
spider clan fetish

http://martin.ritualarts.org/

the guardian mask