by Lansing Scott
This piece was originally published in Home! A Bioregional Reader, edited by Van Andruss, Christopher Plant, Judith Plant, and Eleanor Wright, New Society Publishers, copyright 1990.
We are the Mish of Ish River Country We are a new tribe of dwellers in this land. We are a rainbow tribe— original people, new people, people with roots going back a few generations, red people, white people, black people, yellow people, brown people. We come together to protect and restore this place, to rebuild community, and to sow the seeds of a new culture— a culture of this place, in this place. We come together in community not only with the many-colored people, but also with the flying people, the swimming people, the four-legged people, the plant people, and the past and future people. Because we know that as we shape our common destiny, we must consider all our relations. We are a diverse people. We are a rainbow tribe, a new tribe. We are the Mish of Ish River Country.
Lansing “Lance” Scott (b. 1959) has been creating radical independent media since 1984. His publications include RAIN, Eat the State!, Seattle Community Catalyst, Portland Alliance, and Communities. He’s also participated in other social change movements, including many years with the Green Party. Currently, he offers freelance communications services through the company Catalytic Communications.
