I recently became involved with a group of people who understand themselves not so much as an organization as a community, which goes by the name of Earth Regenerators. I appear now to be part of this community, but a very new one, and I’m still finding my bearings within it. It’s a vast, sprawling, planet-scaled community of places, ideas, intentions, ethos, purpose and devotion (and so much more). Its global members are largely linked to one another through the world wide web, also called the internet. But if one had to identify the geographical nucleus of this community, one would not go entirely wrong to suggest that this nucleus is in two simultaneous locations. One is Barichara, Colombia, where Joe Brewer and family live. That’s because the community basically formed around the study and practice of a book which Joe wrote, titled
Also - we're going to be putting together a bioregional mapping group shortly if you're interested. We will probably organize on Hylo if you'd like to pop in. Specifically for people interested in holding bioregional mapping workshops, to cocreate some activities, and resources, and directories
Yes, I am interested in your bioregional mapping group. And if you were to write up a little article on it I'd publish it here as well as in my other networks.
Hi Brandon! So glad to have you here with us! I was going to mention your work as well as that of Doug Aberly and the rest in part two of this series.
But even better would be for you to join us as a contributing writer at The R-Word so that I can publish some of your excellent articles on bioregional mapping under your byline! What do you think? I could send you an invitation, so we can make the byline official.
Ironically, the Substack software isn't allowing me to delete the "Image Not Found" notice which replaced the intended image, which is the next image in line, shown above. Somehow, that's fitting though. As, in truth, we as yet have no image for our bioregion if we live in Taos or Santa Fe.
Of course it should map the whole watershed and not cut it off at the U.S. border! I can’t imagine a serious bioregional map that would. Bioregions transcend nation states. It is also strongly parallel with the cultural region in which large percentages speak Spanish. https://multilingual.com/why-us-citizens-should-embrace-spanish/
I hear you Patrick! And your proposal makes good sense, of course!
Your proposal resonates strongly with the logic which must have been employed in mapping Cascadia (where you live), as Cascadia is a vast territory which extends all the way from Alaska to California.
When I first spoke with folks around me who were interested in bioregionalism, they tended to want to identify our bioregion as the *Northern* Rio Grande bioregion, though truthfully, I'm not sure why they didn't want to extend our lifeplace all the way to the end of the Rio Grande's watershed. Perhaps they simply wished to have a cultural identity which was circumscribed enough to generate a sense of cultural and social cohesiveness?
I would say more a colonial mentally. And clearly north and south are a unified cultural region! I wonder how long the artificial boundaries that divide both our bioregions will remain. I don't see them as a long-term reality.
It is striking that the two books I cite in here looking at cultural regions both map a similar transborder region heavily influenced by Mexican culture, even though they vary sharply east of the Mississippi. Maps reproduced. I think Woodward is best. Where it gets complex, and I deal with this in the article, is the sharp variance between coastal and interior regions of Cascadia. https://theraven.substack.com/p/finding-a-place-to-take-a-stand
Great article, thank you for sharing.
To take it super modern here, this is a fun old VHS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud0wKKTCNy4
Really recommend: Boundaries of Home: Mapping for Local Empowerment, essays by Doug Aberley.
Also - this is a great inspiration and guide: Islands in the salish sea a community atlas
Also, we're currently archiving some really nice bioregional mapping resources at:
https://cascadiaunderground.org/ - check out the first few articles. More coming soon.
Also - we're going to be putting together a bioregional mapping group shortly if you're interested. We will probably organize on Hylo if you'd like to pop in. Specifically for people interested in holding bioregional mapping workshops, to cocreate some activities, and resources, and directories
cascadia@deptofbioregion.org is me if you'd like to connect.
Yes, I am interested in your bioregional mapping group. And if you were to write up a little article on it I'd publish it here as well as in my other networks.
Hi Brandon! So glad to have you here with us! I was going to mention your work as well as that of Doug Aberly and the rest in part two of this series.
But even better would be for you to join us as a contributing writer at The R-Word so that I can publish some of your excellent articles on bioregional mapping under your byline! What do you think? I could send you an invitation, so we can make the byline official.
Certainly. I’m pretty open to repub of anything.
Ironically, the Substack software isn't allowing me to delete the "Image Not Found" notice which replaced the intended image, which is the next image in line, shown above. Somehow, that's fitting though. As, in truth, we as yet have no image for our bioregion if we live in Taos or Santa Fe.
Of course it should map the whole watershed and not cut it off at the U.S. border! I can’t imagine a serious bioregional map that would. Bioregions transcend nation states. It is also strongly parallel with the cultural region in which large percentages speak Spanish. https://multilingual.com/why-us-citizens-should-embrace-spanish/
I hear you Patrick! And your proposal makes good sense, of course!
Your proposal resonates strongly with the logic which must have been employed in mapping Cascadia (where you live), as Cascadia is a vast territory which extends all the way from Alaska to California.
When I first spoke with folks around me who were interested in bioregionalism, they tended to want to identify our bioregion as the *Northern* Rio Grande bioregion, though truthfully, I'm not sure why they didn't want to extend our lifeplace all the way to the end of the Rio Grande's watershed. Perhaps they simply wished to have a cultural identity which was circumscribed enough to generate a sense of cultural and social cohesiveness?
I would say more a colonial mentally. And clearly north and south are a unified cultural region! I wonder how long the artificial boundaries that divide both our bioregions will remain. I don't see them as a long-term reality.
It is striking that the two books I cite in here looking at cultural regions both map a similar transborder region heavily influenced by Mexican culture, even though they vary sharply east of the Mississippi. Maps reproduced. I think Woodward is best. Where it gets complex, and I deal with this in the article, is the sharp variance between coastal and interior regions of Cascadia. https://theraven.substack.com/p/finding-a-place-to-take-a-stand
Fortunately, I remembered that I meant circumscribed, not circumspect, above, and corrected my error!
So much to read and consider, Patrick!
May I republish your Finding a place to take a stand article here in The R-Word?