Our work is inspired by the work of the early bioregionalists in the mid-70’s—friends and family all—who restored our sense of the centrality of this ancient relationship between human culture and our watershed, our homeland within the interconnected web of species and elements. [link to Planet Drum, photos of covers of seminal work from Berg to Totem Salmon to Gary Snyder’s poetry]
The bioregional framework–whose seeds gave rise to 100,000 small and large watershed organizations—grew out of Sixties countercultural experiments in community and restoring an earth-friendly way-of-life perfected by our ancestors. Like bioregionalism, the restoration of ancestral cultural practices has entered the mainstream:
Herbal and traditional medicine,
Natural ways of birthing and dying,
Integrated agricultural and husbandry systems: fibers, foods, medicines, sacramental,
Education and childrearing,
Food, drink and clothing that arise naturally from our watershed.
Respect for the four essential elements of earth, air, fire and water, along with wood and metal.
Acknowledgement that we humans are one of the species of animals whose wellbeing depends on the synergy between the plant, insect, fish/reptilian/amphibian and fungal worlds, which we imperfectly understand.
