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Posted inNovember 25, 2013: Ecosystems 101
A redneck hippie in search of common ground
Being a self-proclaimed “redneck hippie” and/or “gun-toting liberal,” I really appreciated Brendan Buzzard’s essay (“The lines that bind us,” HCN, 10/14/13). As Buzzard argues, we do need to remember to be human first and treat each other with the respect that all humans deserve. The judgments that are made based on the vehicle a person […]
Posted inNovember 25, 2013: Ecosystems 101
“Bear with me,” he said, and meant it
THE NATIONWhat combines the scents of musky dirt, grain and old-fashioned hay barn in a way that appeals to the discerning cow as well as to your typical wannabe cowboy, who imagines himself “with the sun and dust clouds casting a warm light across his weathered skin?” The answer is Farmer’s Cologne, reports Modern Farmer […]
Posted inNovember 25, 2013: Ecosystems 101
Beyond the bright lights
It’s hard to believe but, somehow, whenever I read about Native Americans and casinos in High Country News, I always hear only about the statistics citing the amazing financial boon created by these tributes to modern-day Babylon (“Whose Apache Homelands?” HCN, 10/14/13). Never do I hear but a passing reference to the damage inflicted on individual […]
Posted inNovember 25, 2013: Ecosystems 101
California Boomin’
Longtime contributor and former HCN editor Jon Christensen is shaking up the academic world with the latest edition of Boom: A Journal of California. A native Californian and adjunct professor at UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, Jon now edits the quarterly that, he says, “strives to bottle that lively mixture of what makes […]
Posted inNovember 25, 2013: Ecosystems 101
Redrock storyscapes
Escalante. Monticello. Manti-La Sal. Sheiks Flat. Kigalia. Tavaputs. Moroni Slopes. Spoken like mantras, these place names conjure the Utah canyon country’s bastard heritage – Spanish, Navajo, Ute, Anglo and Mormon. Today, they entice dreamers with their visionary topographies. But in earlier days it was the absence of names that drew people eager to fill in […]
Posted inNovember 25, 2013: Ecosystems 101
The tyranny of standardized tests
My wife and I taught school on the Venetie Indian Reservation in Alaska for eight years (“Cutting Class,” HCN, 10/28/13). Arctic Village and Venetie are several hundred miles from the nearest road above the Arctic Circle. Our Athabaskan students were enthusiastic learners. The school provided a place to learn all the typical school subjects like […]
Posted inWotr
On being away from my primal landscape
It was no secret I didn’t want to leave the West.
Posted inGoat
Regulations for Native American ‘artifacts’ auctions may still be too lax
Two weeks ago, a Lakota sacred object advertised as a “Sioux Beaded and Quilled hide Shirt” was set to be auctioned off in Boston, Mass. and was expected to fetch $150,000-250,000. Minutes before the bidding began on Nov. 9, Skinner auction house pulled the item in response to pressure from attorneys and tribal officials representing […]
Posted inNovember 11, 2013: Cosmic Prospecting
KDNK Radio speaks with Marshall Swearingen
On this episode of Sounds of the High Country, KDNK Radio’s collaboration with High Country News, KDNK’s Nelson Harvey talks to reporter Marshall Swearingen. Swearingen wrote the feature story, “Cosmic Prospecting: What happens when an old mining town recruits Big Science,” in a recent issue of High Country News. Past editions of Sounds of the […]
Posted inWotr
Tree-sitters have changed since the 80s
The protest tradition continues with new demographics.
Posted inNovember 11, 2013: Cosmic Prospecting
A historic climb revisited
The Seventymile Kid: The Lost Legacy of Harry Karstens and the First Ascent of Mount McKinleyTom Walker304 pages, softcover: $19.95Mountaineers Books, 2013. Many readers know that, 100 years ago, the Hudson Stuck expedition successfully summited Mount McKinley, North America’s highest peak. But fewer are aware of the integral role played by the expedition’s most experienced […]
Posted inNovember 11, 2013: Cosmic Prospecting
A survivor, searching for soul
The Old Man’s Love StoryRudolfo Anaya176 pages, hardcover: $19.95.University of Oklahoma Press, 2013. “Letting go of one’s soul mate is not easy.” So writes award-winning author and retired University of New Mexico professor Rudolfo Anaya in his latest novel, The Old Man’s Love Story. Inspired by the death of his beloved wife, Patricia, in 2010, […]
Posted inNovember 11, 2013: Cosmic Prospecting
An unfair portrait of decline
I was shocked to see a photo of an old motel here in Deming that has been closed for quite some time in a recent issue. It gave the impression that we are approaching ghost town status. We are 17 miles west of Akela Flats, the proposed site of the Apache Homelands Casino, the subject […]
Posted inNovember 11, 2013: Cosmic Prospecting
I love guns and coffee
Mishaps and mayhem from around the West.
Posted inNovember 11, 2013: Cosmic Prospecting
Mailbox surprise
The staff and board were surprised and deeply humbled by the generous check that arrived in our mailbox last month, a bequest from the late Gerald Hollingworth of Steamboat Springs, Colo. Gerald was a longtime reader who shared High Country News articles with his friends and engaged them in long conversations on many Western subjects, including […]
Posted inNovember 11, 2013: Cosmic Prospecting
A timeline of our fascination with outer space
The Southwest has long been a locus for space-related activities – and cosmic secrets. Its clear, dark skies are ideal for stargazing, while its isolated deserts are perfect for cutting-edge scientific research and for conspiracy and extraterrestrial enthusiasts. From meteorites colliding with Earth millennia ago to the dream of reaching space ourselves, we have an […]
Posted inNovember 11, 2013: Cosmic Prospecting
Regret and hope
Thanks very much for M. John Fayhee’s story, “Whose Apache Homelands?” (HCN, 10/14/13). What a sad history – doubly so because it’s forgotten and unknown by so many of us, just like nearly all Native American history in the United States. It’s good to know that there are possibilities for moving forward, that some still […]
Posted inOctober 28, 2013: Lifeblood of the Delta
Backcountry culture clashes in the North Cascades
A hunter-backpacker examines the divides between user groups.
Posted inGoat
The long and winding (and dangerous) road: Car crashes and the rural West
It was almost a normal drive home. In the nearly 10 years I’ve lived in the Colorado Rockies, I’ve completed variations on the same 4.5-or-so-hour route dozens of times on my way down to the plains and my hometown, Boulder, Colo., without major incident: Highway 24 from Leadville to I-70; Highway 82 from Aspen to […]