What is Cascadia and what is being Cascadian?
Cascadia is a bioregion. Bioregions are defined by their watersheds, great water cycles and biodiversity within a region. Bioregions are about dynamic interactions within complex communities that are composed of human and nonhuman. The bioregion of Cascadia is currently divided up by the political boundaries of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana, northwestern Wyoming, northeastern Nevada, northern California & the panhandle of Alaska. Cascadia is not a nation as the modern concept of nation is based on linguistic or ethnic shared identity. There are Indigenous Nations that live and are rebounding within the bioregion of Cascadia. To claim Cascadia as a “nation” by itself is insulting to the indigenous people who have called this bioregion home for countless centuries.
Cascadia is a bioregion. Bioregions are defined by their watersheds, great water cycles and biodiversity within a region. Bioregions are about dynamic interactions within complex communities that are composed of human and nonhuman. The bioregion of Cascadia is currently divided up by the political boundaries of British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana, northwestern Wyoming, northeastern Nevada, northern California & the panhandle of Alaska. Cascadia is not a nation as the modern concept of nation is based on linguistic or ethnic shared identity. There are Indigenous Nations that live and are rebounding within the bioregion of Cascadia. To claim Cascadia as a “nation” by itself is insulting to the indigenous people who have called this bioregion home for countless centuries.
Bioregionalism
is the shift from anthropocentic (human centered) worldview to
biocentric (life centered) worldview. It is the realization that
humans are not in a vacuum nor separate from the ecosystems, but are
part of a complex network interdependent communities. This paradigm
shift does not place humans at the center of existence nor as the
pinnacle of a cultural constructed hierarchy. Bioregionalism
approaches the world as dynamic systems that depend & interact
with each other. Bioregionalism does not just focus on biological
systems, but includes the hydrological, tectonic, edaphological,
meteorological and other systems.
The Cascadian awakening is not about
secession. Cascadia is not about creating a new nation-state.
Cascadian identity is not about nationalism. Cascadian identity is
not about the exclusion of one ethnicity, one language, cultural
construct of “race” nor is it about even simply a regional pride.
