Wyrd & Groovy

Clara Welsh

Source:

The largest dam removal in U.S. history. So successful that the salmon that haven’t run freely in the river for literally over a century came back the next year. Not steady progress over a decade as expected, the very next salmon run they came home. No one alive saw salmon in that river outside the hatcheries kept by native’s tribes and the Department of Fish And Wildlife scientists desperately trying to save them. One of the activists who helped bring the suit spoke of their dying grandmother making them promise to bring the fish home, and they didn’t know how that was possible, but they spent decades doing it.

The legal basis for successfully suing the power company who owned the dams was Indigenous treaty rights to eat the fish. Eating the fish was the one thing in a century that succeeded in being a clear and legally binding right that superseded the desires of white capital and industry. I have been going to the public interest environmental law conference off and on for 20 years where a lot of organizing for Undam The Klamath happened. I’ve heard updates about every legal tact they tried as they happened, and they tried everything.

There are healthy, thriving salmon, trout, and lamprey in a rewilding and recovering Klamath River right now as a direct result of Indigenous people eating them. Of their legally binding right to eat them. They sure as fuck care more about those fish than any white vegan ever could. They are salmon people that the Creator sent Salmon to feed, while charging the People with protecting and stewarding them. It’s not possible to learn about salmon and trout in the Pacific Northwest without learning this, and it’s unambiguously racist to dismiss this symbiotic relationship.

The white vegans are trying to get all hunting and fishing banned in Oregon, and that’s quite possibly the single most catastrophic thing that could be done to the animals here because we killed off all the major predators of creatures like deer and without anything hunting them their numbers will explode, eat all the vegetation, destroy the ecosystem, and then die along with everything else in that failing ecosystem. Controlled hunting of deer is vitally necessary for the deer to survive. This is something Native people know, but patronizing racist savior-complex white people refuse to listen to.

I have a whole collection of Oregon’s Public Broadcasting’s documentaries about Klamath River or the larger story of fish and people in the region. If you watch nothing else, watch Klamath Dams Are Coming Out, First Salmon Ceremony, After The Dams, and First Decent (Native made). It could not be clearer that the salmon are being protected and nourished by the people who eat them, and that stewardship is a massive part of their creation myths. But it contradicts political vegan dogma so they don’t listen.

Vivec’s gingergreen chai

The Warrior-Poet Saint Vivec was one of Morrowind’s living gods until his mysterious disappearance which triggered the collapse of Morrowind in late 3E. Up til that stage, he was known to enjoy a beverage daily that was said to sharpen the mind and senses. This drink was nicknamed “gingergreen chai” by his Ordinators due to its colour, and spicy ginger aroma. It’s just the sort of pick-me-up that will make you feel like you’ve reached CHIM!

This recipe makes for two servings of tea, adjust the amount of ingredients to how much you plan to serve.

You will need:

500ml water

2 tsp matcha powder

10 cardamom pods

1 star anise pod

1 cinnamon stick

1 tsp allspice

½ tsp green fennel seeds

2 black or pink peppercorns

1 tbsp fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced

Milk or milk substitute, to serve (optional)

Honey or sugar, to serve (optional)

Method:

Bring water to boil in a saucepan, and add all the spices and ginger. Boil for 2 minutes then leave to cool until about 80C/176F.

Strain the liquid into a teapot and add the matcha powder. Stir or whisk vigorously to combine until frothy.

my mom is in fact aware that dandelions exist. she temporarily forgot the name and there was some miscommunication.

the truth is actually weirder

she’s aware dandelions look like this

she is familiar with this flower. she knows the name of this flower. she declines to believe, however, that these are also dandelions

she does not believe these are the same plant. I tried to explain, and she thought I was either misinformed or lying. so I asked her what exactly did she think the yellow ones were called?

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