Awaken Cascadia

Klahowya ("greetings" in Chinook Jargon the trade
language that once marked an unique aspect of Pacific
NorthWest life and still remains in place names, can
still be found in slang and spoken by the elders in
both the First Nations or Native Americans and the
peoples that have resettled here within the last
hundred years).

Cascadia is geographically the Columbia River
Watershed and the area around the Cascade Range.
Cascadia's farthest extent is from northern California
to the Alaskan Panhandle and from the Pacific to the
Continental Divide. Cascadia Minor tends to be the
states of Northern California, Oregon and Washington
with the province of British Columbia. The Scottish
naturalist David Douglas named the Cascade mountain
range after the powerful waterfalls that carved out
this land and gave it so much biomass.

Cascadia may or may not ever be a nation-state as
others have pushed for, but She is a bioregion. Some
may ask if this idea is another "breakaway" movement..
well that is really up to Cascadians. The term
"Cascadian" can be found back the era of the Civilian
Conservation Corp (CCC) for the art style in the
Pacific NorthWest. This art style of the CCC build
was examplified in monumental structures in the
Cascade Ranges like Timberline Lodge that emphasized
and blended into the natural surroundings. Cascadian
style was characteristically rustic, natural material
and massive with themes being focused on Nature local
or cultural imagery. The movement to form the state
of Jefferson in the mid 20th century may have
contributed to the idea of political separation. The
Jefferson State movement has been consistantly an
movement against domineering urban centers. Oregon
Govenor Tom McCall in the 1970s was so fed up with
southern Californians moving to Oregon and
contributing to suburban sprawl said "Come and visit
us again and again, But for heaven's sake, don't come
here to live." There was even talk of building a wall
on the Oregon-Californian border. In the mid 1970s
Ernest Callenbach envisioned an emergence of
environmental awareness that would lead the Pacific
NorthWest (Northern California, Oregon and Washington)
to form the country of Ecotopia in his utopian novel
of the same name "Ecotopia". The 1990s David McCloskey
formed the Cascadia Institute. McCloskey describes
Cascadia as "a land of falling water". Cascadia today
translated back into Chinook Jargon would be "Tumchuk
Ilahee" (literally "waterfall land").

When one places a map of the Columbia River Watershed
over a map of the territory where Chinook Jargon was
once spoken as the lingua franca there is a
surprisingly strange overlap. Chinook Jargon was not
just a langauge used by Native people, but a was a
merger between all languages spoken in the region.
Today if survives among some of the Native People as
well as in thee place names of the region and in the
slang of the English of the region. Cascadia is not
just a physical place, but is a common reverence to
Nature as well as a merger between the different
cultures that have left their impact on the land. To
top this off the same territory has other bonds that
unite people culturally and economically such as
weather, timber and salmon all these stemming from the
confluence of the Pacific Ocean and the Cascade
Mountains. These two dominant geographical features
play major roles in not just the geology and
biodiversity, but also in the mentality of the people
that call Cascadia home. The mixture of marine,
alpine and even desert climates stirs a profound
reverence towards Mother Nature as well as a dark
humor that many called Northwest Noir. It is a land
where plaid became part of identity as loggers, tree
huggers and Grunge rockers. This is a land where
mythology still continues in both landscape and story.
Where a Sasquatch (Bigfoot) still lurks behind trees
or mountains and where the legend of D.B. Copper is
still a mystery that does not wish to be silenced. A
land where volcanoes are not feared, but revered as
sublime violent acts of Mother Earth. Cascadians are
varied in background and divided thoughts, but yet
hold common beliefs that the forest, mountains and
Pacific is part of their bodies. The pitch of the
fir, cedar and pine is the same substance that runs in
our veins. The moss, soft soil and bark are the skin
to our Mother. The smell of the fallen leaves after
the first frost intoxicates us. Dark grey clouds give
us a motherly comfort. Rain is our brethren in battle
against new comers that wish to steal more of our way
of life or the land we revere.

Historically a nation is a group of people with common
symbolism such as language, culture, religion and etc
that unify them as a group. The group identity called
nationalism emerged out of the Industrial Age as a new
form of political group identity and as a result has
became chauvinistic in many respects to any other form
of group identity. Nationalism with all its chauvinsim
has become yet another stumbling block to finding
harmony between people and Nature. As an emerging
identity "Cascadian" may evolve into a "nation", but
the terms "national" and "nationalism" are limited and
chauvinistic in their regards to the Cascadian love
for diversity. Cascadian identity could be called
regional nationalsim or even eco-nationalism. Yet the
term of "nationalism" has a legacy of hate and
misguided ations. Many of those who look to Nature
have taken to a new approach. This new approach to
identity through diversity in thinking, in human
experience (cultures, histories and commonality) and
ecology is bioregionalism. "Bioregions are geographic
areas having common characteristics of soil,
watershed, climate, native plants and animals ... A
bioregion refers to both the geographical terrain and
a terrain of consciousness -- to a place and the ideas
that have developed about how to live in that place."
Peter Berg. Out of the shared and merging experiences
of the people that have come to be called Cascadian
there is a hope of a new synthesis of thoughts and a
new reverence of Nature that wil be called Cascadia.



what we must do:


1.) We MUST this weekend bring the idea of Cascadia and breaking off from Fascist Amerika to consciousness of the general population and by
Monday have it be the only conversation in all of Cascadia. Also we
must bring the fact that the election was a farce (print out artcles
or give websites about this like blackboxvoting.org) and this MUST be
part of this dialogue of Cascadia! I would recommend the same if I
was in the other "blue" states for their awakening of regional
identity separate from Bush's Amerika. This should be done with
massive "spamming" and like ACT (American Coming Together.. and if any
are reading this well .. you have lists of democrats now who we can
bet are disenfranchised :))) I would recommend to the less shy to feel
free to talk to your neighbors or that person in the parking lot with
a Kerry bumper sticker (this ofcourse should not be limited to
democrats, but right now they are more visible). Our goal is simple
in this part "To get it to the forefront of every conversation". The
goal is the create critical mass. And if you are inclined to put up
sighs or wave (any of the Cascadian flags) or create pamplets or print
out leaflets talking of Diebold, secession, Cascadia and Cascadian
awakening or get on radio talk shows or whatever. The goal is
dialogue, awareness, education, generating a new paradigm.. an new
group identity with a new future! If this works then Monday even the
sold out local media will have to mention it, because everyone will
have to talk of it.


Warnings!:

a.) becareful of dismissive comments like "it will never work" or "you
are just have sour grapes" or any the other Phucting dismissive
onliners comments that the sheeple spit out. Do not let it down and
ignore the jerk and continue on as if the jerk just passed gas.


b.) the Fascist might orchastrate a "national" crisis like a terror
alert or even a terrorist act which MUST NOT stop this conversation of
Cascadia, secession and election fraud. If this happens the corporate
media and authorative figures will make lots of appeals about "healing
the nation". They will dismiss any movement to liberate us from the
fascists as small and trivial. news personalities will make light of
Cascadia or joke that they (we) are wackos. If any think is even in
the corporate media the overly paid fascist mouth-pieces (we call news
reporters) will end the story with dismissive comments or laughter.

2.) we need a time and place (while there is the energy and
motivation... maybe Friday) to have people gather. My idea it a
event. here is my suggestion "the All Bush flip off". This must be
done through out all Cascadia from Bellingham to San Fransisco and it
must be done at the same time. We could gather in a public place and put up a image of Mr Bush (maybe Cheney too) and in one big massive group give them "the finger"! And take pictures from the images perspective of all gathered flipping the Fascists off and send it to the White House. The goal of this is NOT just to give them the collective "finger", but the real goal is to get people physically together to talk of Cascadia, Cascadians and our future! At the same time this should happen in other communities.

From this we can expnd to bring in more Cascadians and eventually we
shall march down to Salem or Olympia (for San Fransisco .. I guess you
declare yourself the new administrative seat of South Cascadia) and we
demand secession NOW!

Before such an event happens we need to bring the police and leaders
into our movement. We MUST find out issues that the police and state
employees have against the Fascists.. and they do whether they
recognize it or not. We need to teach them of the budget cuts, union
busting, veteran cuts, issues related to them not being able to
effectively do their jobs. We MUST appeal to them as fathers,
mothers, sisters and brothers who have the same concerns as all of us
do over education, safety, environment, cost of living and so on and
so on.

Warning!:

a.) do not let the professional politicians nor charasmatic public
figures usurp OUR movement. Especially DO NOT LET some dump as
democrat politician tell us that we must "heal" our community or "this
will take time" or "I promise you this...." or "I am with you..." ...
this MUST be the PEOPLES movement!!! not a time for local
celeberties... infact if you see someone who is a public figure look
beyond them, smile and go hug the unrelated person behind him or her.
I hate how these personalities (remember we are counted as nobodies
until they need your vote or buy their product) steal the lime light
of the people, of causes, of public attention. We have no time for
them and no need for them. Now if they come to be a "nobody" like the
rest of us and are honestly there to flip off Fascism and to awaken
Cascadia.. then they have my blessings.. and I hope yours too.

We need annexation to Canada for now! Why you may ask? Because it would be diplomatically and geopolitically difficult for the Bush Fascists to launch a civil war on and former region that is part of a fellow NATO member (infact other NATO allies may help stop potential attacks from the Amerikans). We join Canada for now! And either Cascadian "values" and economy will merge with British Columbian as a dominate force in Canada. If that does not work out in some decades we then have a friendly parting of the ways with lots of graditude and deep respect for the rest of Canada.

What we have now is lots of disenfranchised voters with lots of energy and lots of hopes smashed. The anger will increase as we hear more Diebold "mishaps". We need this weekend to spam the Hell out of every list-serv, every blog and any other medium that we are wired into with "Cascadia NEEDS out of Fascist Amerika!!!" If we hesitate, if we listen to dismissive comments from the Fascists and those claiming to be "moderates" like "get on with it" or "it will take time" or "we need to heal" then the Fascists and the corporate media will win ... they will regroup and awake out of their gloating smirks. Here look at it this way: we are in a burning house holding children ... do we ponder how the fire started; do we tell the children hey at least we have a warm place ... OR do we (collectively, quickly and calmly) take our children out the exit!

San Fransisco http://usoutofsf.com/

Portland http://portland.indymedia.org/en/region/cascadia/ & http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/11/302065.shtml