Community members gathered once again to welcome home the returning salmon to the Methow River at Homestream Park in Winthrop on Sunday (Oct. 4). Salmon chefs Ira Stevenson, Aaron Naumann, Randy Lewis, Peter Baldridge and Kathryn Lam grilled, flipped, and buttered fillets. Arnold Cleveland likened the event to Thanksgiving before offering a blessing with his […]
Methow Descendants’ tradition honored at Hummingbird Open House
It was a gorgeous late summer day for the third annual X’NAM X’NAM Hummingbird Open House. On Sept. 26, Methow Descendants welcomed visitors to learn about their traditional homeland through family history, art, architecture, weaving, and ethnobotany. John Sirois, Traditional Territories Coordinator, opened the day by sharing a traditional Interior Salish greeting, “stem̓ a spu?ús?, […]
Valley Life: Lower Valley
As a kid, my summers were filled with harvesting and preserving food for winter. Different “stations” were set up in our tiny kitchen: washing, chopping, drying racks, vacuum sealed bags, and canning jars. At the end of the season my mother’s work was a brilliant reflection of art and taste: jars of red tomatoes, orange […]
Methow Descendants host cattail mat weaving workshop
Methow elders Elaine Timentwa Emerson and Cyndy Miller welcomed nearly two dozen students last Saturday to x̌wnámxwnam/Hummingbird Ranch to learn how to weave cattails into a mat. Emerson and Miller were joined by fellow artists and instructors Sylvia Jane Peasley, Bernadine Phillips and Omarian Hance. In the weeks prior to the class, hundreds of cattails […]
Valley Life: Lower Valley
Ahhh, early fall. That time of year when both the temperature and the leaves drop. Sweaters and jackets come out of storage, iced coffees are swapped out for hot teas, and clothing lines try to convince everyone that plaid never went out of style. It is that time of year when “fire prep” and “winter […]
Valley Life: Lower Valley
One of many beautiful gifts in the Methow Valley are pristine rivers with public access. The upper valley river winds through a flat-bottomed valley, narrowing into the lower valley where the river rushes through steep canyon walls to join the mighty Columbia. Ten bridges crisscross the river from Carlton to Pateros. On hot, smoky days, […]
Valley Life: Lower Valley
I am not the “sky is falling” type of gal … but folks, the sky is literally falling. Despite the smoke and ash, my mental health is best when kept outdoors. I’ve sat on the porch after work every day this week, watching ash fall from the sky and drift onto my clothes, my bare […]
Valley Life: Lower Valley
In the early hours of the morning, I awoke to crashes of thunder and brilliant lightning flashes. I started counting. One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand … five one thousand, boom! Five miles away. Another flash, another countdown. I calculated the size and age of burn scars around us. Was it enough […]
Roth’s new book cites history of American resistance
In his latest book, “Saving the American Dream: Meditations for Dark Times,” Methow Valley author John K. Roth aims to provide awareness and a path for committed resistance. Anchored in the U.S. Constitution, “Saving the American Dream” features meditations for dark times through guidance from American philosophers, historians, novelists, poets, essayists, and religious thinkers. Roth […]
Valley Life: Lower Valley
“Recently someone graciously referred to The Methow Store as a much needed third space in the valley. That really spoke to us and our original idea of creating a community gathering space,” wrote Shayne Naudi and Allen Giernet, reflecting on the second anniversary of revitalizing a community space in a restored 130-year old general store. […]
