Find your Life Place

By David Haenke and Betrice Briggs

First published in the Permaculture International Journal Issue No. 60 Sept ~ Nov 1996

An overview

A bioregion is a life region. A geographical area whose rough boundaries are determined by non-human, rather than human forces.

Bioregions are distinguished from one another by characteristic flora, fauna, water, climate, rocks, soils, landforms, and the human settlements and cultures to which these features give rise. Bioregionalism is a way of life that is both a viable path for the future and an embodiment of the most ancient, time-tested knowledge of our species. Bioregionalism sees all things through ecology, the root laws and principles of life itself. It is a unique way of defining and understanding the place where we live, and of living there sustainable and respectfully.

Bioregional principles and practices are 'new' only for people raised under the influence of western industrial-technological society. Their essence has been reality and common sense for native people living close to the land for thousands of years. At the same time, bioregional concepts are valid in terms of science, technology, economics, politics and other fields of 'civilised' human endeavour.

Using ecology as the discriminator, bioregionalism takes the best and most presently relevant of the old, and synthesises it with the most appropriate of the new. Its principles apply equally well to urban and rural regions, and have the potential of uniting people of diverse cultural and economic backgrounds.

The bioregional movement is evolving the theory and practice of integrated systems of ecologically-based economics, agriculture, forestry, technology, law, governance, politics, education, health care, energy, and everything necessary for the human dimension of a given bioregion to function sustainably. All this is done within the context of maintaining or restoring the whole-life community (which includes all other species and ecological entities, such as trees, animals, plants, bodies of water, along with humans) under ecological laws and principles.

This inclusion of the non-human in the definition of community is vital. Indeed, one of the basic tenets of bioregionalism is the notion of 'eco-centrism', where existence is seen from a life-centred perspective, rather than from a human-centred one. Bioregionalism is an active alliance with the Earth, in virtually every dimension of our individual and collective existence.

Dicovering your Bioregion — Practical Suggestions

You may be a bioregionalist and not even know it. Here are some telltale signs that identify members of this growing tribe, and some suggestions for getting started down the bioregional path.

REVISE YOUR ADDRESS

Bioregionalists tend to answer the question, "Where do you live?" in terms of the boundaries of the local ecosystem, rather than those of the nation-state. For example, my own bioregional 'address' is located in the shadow of Blue Mounds (elevation 1,716 feet (520 metres), called 'wee-hau-kaja', or 'high place with a wonderful view' by the Winnebago) in an unglaciated area, formerly oak savanna, tall grass prairie and wetlands, now primarily agricultural, under increasing pressure by housing developers, on Ryan Creek, tributary of Elver's Creek, tributary of the Wisconsin River, tributary of the Mississippi. A lot more information than if I had simply recited my postal address!

TRACK THE ENERGY FLOWS

Water and food and fuel are essential for human life. Find out where your drinking water comes from and where local waste water goes. Become knowledgeable about watershed issues. (Hint: a watershed is an area drained by a body of water, such as a lake or a river. Everyone lives in one). Know how far your food travelled to get to your plate and the conditions under which it was grown. Make an effort to eat locally grown, seasonal and organic produce. Where I live, that means strawberries in June, not January. and no lettuce in our heat of July and .August. Reduce. reuse. recycle. Kick the petroleum habit. Go solar. Support, or develop the local economy, rather than ,the trans-national one.

BECOME PASSIONATE ABOUT MAPS AND MAPPING

The minute you start looking for maps of your bioregion, you will discover the frustrating inadequacies of most existing ones. Street maps obscure the geographical features. Topographical maps ignore the vegetation. Vegetation maps leave out the historical sites. Watershed maps stop abruptly at country, state, or national borders, even though the water flows on. Consult 'Boundaries of Home', edited by Doug Aberley, for a useful introduction to bio-cartography (New Society Publishers, PO Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC, VOR lXO, Canada).

DISCOVER THE 'REAL' NAME AND TOTEM OF YOUR PLACE

Too often current place names reflect only the relatively recent human history of the area. Go beyond the names of dead royalty and foreign colonisers, to learn the ancient names, which are usually more evocative of the original character of the landscape. If the area still retains its indigenous name, find out what it means. For example, the word 'Chicago' comes from a Neshnabek word meaning "place of the wild onion". The local bioregional group, therefore. is called the Wild Onion Alliance and its totem plant is the Allium Cernuum a prairie species, one of several native onion plants which perfume the air of remnant wildlands in the early spring.

MAKE A CALENDAR

Name the Moons. Collect information about the seasonal cycles in your area. Find out when the native plants bloom, when the birds migrate, the animals mate, the young are born. Identify the times of greatest danger (of heat, cold, drought, flood, smog, traffic, gang warfare, etc), as well as the times of opportunity. Ask knowledgeable residents, "How do you know when spring/summer/fall/winter (or the applicable seasons where you live) arrives?" Based on this data, give a bioregionally appropriate name to each of the thirteen 'moons'. Avoid the tendency to identify everything from the human perspective.

TAKE A WALK

Document your discoveries. Get out and discover the sacred places in your bioregion. Go on foot or other non motorized conveyance. Invite family members, friends and young people to accompany you. Bring field guides, history books, maps, and, if possible, a local expert to show you around. If a group is doing interesting work in a particular area, arrange for a special tour. Better yet, ask if you can help out for a day or an afternoon. Whatever you do, take a camera, sound recorder, notebook and/or sketch book to record your impressions and experiences. This documentation will help you remember what you saw and heard, and will enable you to more easily share your discoveries with others.

TELL A STORY — SING A SONG

Learn the natural and human history of your area and try to tell it in a way that captures the attention of both children and adults. Learn - or invent - a song about your bioregion. Sing it at feasts, festivals, and while washing the dishes.

THROW A PARTY

Celebrate the distinctive characteristics of your bioregion with rituals and celebrations. Bring people together to honour the full moon, solstice, equinox, first snowfall, melting of the ice at winter's end, harvest, beginning of the rainy season, time of the annual grass fires, or whatever makes sense in ecosystem terms. Keep it simple. Involve both the artists and the scientists. Share food. Dance with the spirits of the land.

GET A PROJECT

Find some aspect of the bioregion which needs help: a polluted waterway, endangered species, deteriorating neighbourhood, city council, school, park, wild place, and get involved. Form a team of folks who share your concern. Make decisions by consensus. Put out a newsletter. Rock the boat. Have fun!

GROW ROOTS

Building strong local communities requires people who sink deep roots into the soil. Deal with the neighbours, elected officials, and ecosystems at hand, rather than constantly seeking utopia elsewhere. When you live where you want to be buried, you know you are home.

A BIOREGIONAL CREMETION

Patricia Michael DuBose

Blanco, Texas

A peak moment in our bioregion was when our dear young friend Bo died. A group of us met in a circle and talked about Bo's sudden death. He was in the police morgue and someone needed to identify him and make arrangements for him.

We agreed that it was not in our value system to have our dead cared for by strangers. Bo's preference had been to be cremated but his family could not gather for a week. Given that we were in the heat of summer in south Texas and knew little about caring for our own dead, we had our task cut out for us.

The strength and heart of our community of friends came through. We brought him to his home, washed, anointed and cared for him for a week until his family could gather, and then burned him on a funeral pyre at our farm. All legal, aesthetically beautiful, thrifty, and deeply meaningful. Belonging took on a whole new depth.

BIOREGIONAL GATHERING OF THE AMERICAS'

The gathering will be held in Tepoztlan, Morelos, Mexico, November 17-24, 1996. Bioregionalists longstanding and new, eco-activists, indigenous elders and spiritual seekers from all over the western hemisphere will create a week-long ceremonial village in which they will share their visions of a human culture which is both ecologically sustainable and socially just.

The program will include workshops, ceremonies, meetings and community service. This event is jointly sponsored by the VI Consejo de Visiones Guardianes de la Tierra (Sixth Earth Guardian Vision Council) and the VIl Turtle Island Bioregional Gathering. For a bilingual brochure or more information contact Beatrice Briggs (see address this page) or Fabio Manzini, A.P. 4-253, Cuernavaca, 62431, Morelos, Mexico. Tel/Fax: Int +52 +73230963, email: manzini@servidor.dgsca.unam.mx.


By David Haenke and Betrice Briggs

First published in the Permaculture International Journal Issue No. 60 Sept ~ Nov 1996

About the Authors

David Haenke is one of the founders of the bioregional movement on Turtle Island (an ancient name for the North American continent), and is director of the Ecological Society Project of the Tides Foundation. He lives in the Ozarks, where he is managing a sustainable forestry project in the Bryant Creek Watershed. He can be reached at: Box 3, Brixy, MO 65618, USA. Tel: Int +1 + 417 679473, email: dhaenke@igc.apc.org.

Beatrice Briggs is one of the founders of the Wild Onion Alliance and has helped to organise several Great Lakes Bioregional Congresses. She is currently coordinator of the Turtle Island Office, being very involved in preparations for the upcoming bioregional gathering in Mexico. She can be reached at: 4035 Ryan Road, Blue Mounds, WI 53517, USA. Tel: Int +1 +6087673931, fax: 6087673932, email: beabriggs@aol.com.

Graphics are reprodnced from 'Discovering Yonr Life Place: A First Bioregional Workbook', a practical guide to the concept of bioregions. The booklet includes methods for identifying bioregions, a comprehensive map-making exercise, suggestions and strategies for living sustainably and a resource guide. Cost: US$lO ($2 for postage in US surface mail, $3 airmail). Available from: Planet Drum Books, PO Box 31251, San Francisco, CA 94131, Shasta Bioregion, USA. Tel: Int +1 +4152856556, Fax: 415 285 6563, Email: planetdrum@igc.apc.org

New Society Publishers is a non-profit publishing company with a range of books on bioregionalism including Kirkpatrick Sale's 'Dwellers in the Land: The Bioregional Vision'. Contact: New Society Publishers, PO Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC VOR IXO, Canada.