(DIS)TRUST ISSUES
I just finished reading and absorbing “Trust Issues” (October 2024). How ludicrous. My mouth is still in gasp mode. I had no idea anything that odious still exists in the U.S.! Hasn’t colonialism done enough damage to Indigenous people?
Lynn Waltke
Tucson, Arizona
DESCRIBING THE INDESCRIBABLE
B. “Toastie” Oaster’s essay “How do you describe a sacred site without describing it?” was a revelation to this old white guy (October 2024). These were issues I’d never thought about before. Where else but HCN?
Jack Burks
Green Valley, Arizona
Oaster’s essay provided valuable insight. In many of my dealings with First Nations peoples, I found discussions very reserved, withholding some things that would have helped me understand. Your article explained that this is a way of protecting heritage: not only the land, the symbolism and the people, but your very culture.
Ron (last name withheld by request)
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
The issues Oaster raises around how best to balance reporting on sacred sites with maintaining their sanctity and privacy has been an ongoing struggle for me in my work as an anthropologist. I work with and for Indigenous communities in British Columbia within the realms of land-use planning, Indigenous knowledge, and responses to government and industry. These communities frequently struggle with the “damned if you do-damned if you don’t” issues associated with reporting on or documenting the locations of cultural practices. Governments will say, for example, if you reveal the location and uses of a place, it can be protected. But if it is not revealed, then development can go ahead. It’s an insidious trap of settler colonialism.
Oaster’s article is timely, helpful and will generate lots of discussion.
Tad McIlwraith
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Associate professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Guelph
I was happy to see another in the same uncomfortable predicament. The biggest questions are: How far is too far? And is it really a story if I leave some of it out? I know in my heart that the real depth of these stories is the part I must leave out. I open the file and read them in their entirety, then close it and rest in the beauty of their powerful ceremonies and their spirit, which I carry with me.
Susan Nunn
Joplin, Missouri
Thank you for Oaster’s brilliantly written article, for the educational component as well as clearly expressing the push/pull writers experience when writing.
When I was raising my daughters, I came across a book, The Blessings of a Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-reliant Children, by Wendy Mogel. One item from it was very liberating. It basically said: You can tell your children “no” and not owe them an explanation.
I believe this teaching applies to your question, “How do you write about a sacred site without saying why it is sacred, in a way that will help non-Natives care?” You don’t need to explain why something is sacred if it is determined to be sacred in the hearts of Native people. That is all we need to know.
Maggie Kennedy Fairbrother
Bethesda, Maryland
EMISSIONS = POLLUTION
I enjoyed Jonathan Thompson’s October 2024 article “Downballot.” When talking about the release of carbon dioxide or methane, however, I ask that High Country News not call it “emissions,” but rather “air pollution” to advance our fight against human-created climate change.
The definition of “air pollution” is “any airborne substance in quantities that can have deleterious effects.” People understand what “air pollution” is versus what “emissions” are. We can reach the public much quicker and more deeply by this one change in language.
Brandt Mannchen
Houston, Texas
REIMAGINING CITIES
A great report by Jonathan Thompson on California’s “Sponge cities” (September 2024). Impermeable concrete and its overuse increase the danger of flooding, pollution and higher temperatures during heat waves.
Urban planning and building codes should be updated to require permeable pavement, more green spaces and rainwater catchment systems on all buildings. Either green roofs, blue-green roofs or solar panels should be required on all new buildings.
These changes may seem extreme, but we must find the political will to make them happen. Urban living could be enjoyable as we work together to improve quality of life for all.
Helen Bourne
Encinitas, California
THE RIGHT WORD
I enjoyed Ruxandra Guidi’s article “After despair comes repair” (August 2024) about language for describing the climate crisis. I think Symbiocene is an apt term to describe HCN’s work as a whole, providing real news and real stories about things that matter in a way that inspires those “positive Earth emotions” about our planet, its people and other equally important life, especially here in the West.
Alex Clayton
Fort Collins, Colorado
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