All tagged Indigenous

The Columbia River and its People

The Columbia River and its People

Aromatic Arts

In May of 1792, American sea captain Robert Gray commandeered the Columbia Redivivia down the Columbia River and named the river after his boat. A short while later in October of that year, a British naval officer by the name of Lieutenant Broughton sailed up the Columbia River as far as the Sandy River, just east of present day Portland, Oregon.

More ships came with British and American sailors ready to trade and just 13 years later in 1805, Lewis and Clark traveled overland and met the Chinook tribes who lived along the banks of the Columbia. A Chinook tribe known as the Clatsop took them in for the winter along the coast. This was a turning point in history. From these momentous meetings, the land and its people would never be the same.

In a short few decades the ancient indigenous civilization that grew around the wild massive Columbia River would be decimated by plagues, campaigns of extermination and war. The steady quickening march of settlers would come to dramatically reshape the Northwest landscape.

Devil’s Club: Sacred Plant of the Northwest

Devil’s Club: Sacred Plant of the Northwest

Aromatic Arts

This summer I spent quite a bit of time with a plant known as Devil’s Club (Oplopanax horridus) that grows wild in the northwest and up through the west coast of Canada to Alaska. If you have ever come across this plant you will never forget it. It grows upwards of 12 feet tall with a tall sharply thorned stalk and wide branching palmate leaves that are also lined with spiky spines. The stalks fall along the ground in snaky decumbent stems that criss cross each other before climbing up to the sky. In early summer, a raceme of greenish flowers bursts forth and then turns into a cluster of bright red berries. This is a big beast of a plant which inspires both awe and frustration depending on the person.