#owyhees

[awkwardlyaaron]

Went out hiking in the Owyhee desert and it was great

I found a hole in the rocks!

[nocternalrandomness]

Super Cub on Owyhee reservoir, Oregon

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from Inside Climate News:

Drive 50 miles from Boise, Idaho, past the suburbs, exurbs and farms into Oregon, and you’ll find yourself in the largest conservation opportunity left in the continental U.S.

In the Owyhee Canyonlands, Western sagebrush landscapes surround rock formations reminiscent of the Colorado Plateau, leading some to liken it to the Grand Canyon. It stretches across roughly 7 million acres of high desert in Oregon, Idaho and Nevada. Roughly a third of that landscape is high-quality wilderness—more land than in many existing national parks—with no roads or cell service. 

Some of the last pristine sections of the rapidly declining sagebrush habitat that once dominated much of the Western U.S., the Owyhee Canyonlands—named for the phonetic pronunciation of Hawaii after three island natives were lost in the wilderness and never found—have remained wild despite little federal protection. “Its remoteness protected it,” said Ryan Houston, the executive director of the Oregon Natural Desert Association, an environmental group leading efforts to protect the area.

But the Owyhee is under threat. The population in Idaho’s Treasure Valley and Boise, to the north of the canyonlands is growing, with suburbs expanding into the area. The south is home to a new mining boom, with the second approved lithium mine in the U.S. now under construction just over the Nevada border. In between, invasive weeds have invaded the area, sparking bigger and hotter wildfires that are turning portions of the region from sagebrush to grasslands, threatening the entire ecosystem and the cultural sites found throughout the canyonlands that are important to local Indigenous tribes. 

For decades, groups have pushed to protect the Owyhees and come up short. Current legislation introduced by Oregon’s senators to protect the area has broad local support but stalled in Congress. So a growing grassroots coalition is taking matters into its own hands, urging President Joe Biden to designate just over 1 million acres in the Owyhee Canyonlands as a National Monument under the Antiquities Act, which allows presidents to protect naturally or historically significant places without Congress. 

“It used to be you could find a place like this, write a bill and protect it,” said Aaron Kindle, the director of sporting advocacy at the National Wildlife Federation, who has helped lead the conservation group’s involvement in the monument push. But times have changed, he said, so communities and conservationists are turning to the nation’s highest office, rather than just representatives from their state.

They believe now is their best chance to protect this stretch of land in eastern Oregon. In his first few weeks in office, Biden issued an executive order tasking his administration to conserve 30 percent of America’s lands and waters from development by 2030, establishing conservation as key to addressing the climate crisis. That led to the America the Beautiful initiative, which outlined how to work with local community stakeholders to protect biodiversity, the natural resources needed to address climate change and Americans’ access to wild spaces. 

[prophet-stims]

blue owyhee opal 💙

[hinsel]

The best gifts you never ask for.

Someone apparently abandoned this kitty miles from town in country full of coyotes. My cat now; I will love him forever.

[plethoraworldatlas]

The Owyhee Canyonlands are a vast, remote land of austere deserts and deep volcanic canyons located in southeast Oregon spanning several million acres, over two million of which have no roads.

From pronghorn, desert bighorn sheep, greater sage-grouse, mule deer, and redband trout to rare native plants, there is no shortage of special and important plants and animals in the Owyhee. Anchored by the Owyhee River, the desert, and prominent mountain high points, the unique geography offers stunning vistas, some of the darkest night skies in the U.S., and historic sites that are significant to the Northern Paiute, Bannock and Shoshone Tribes that lived here for thousands of years.

Urge Oregon Senators Wyden and Merkley to support a national monument designation to protect over a million acres of irreplaceable habitat in southeast Oregon

[malheurwoman]

December Haze

Howdy. I’ve been sick. Some virus has settled in and seems to want to stay forever. I’ve been to the doctor twice. I have a shitty job but I have health insurance through it. America, I tell ya. I have a new book out. It’s called Owyhee Days. It’s good. No monsters, no gore, no walls that scream or drip blood. Not that I ever wrote anything like that. I really do like the direction it…

[followjacobbarlow]

Centennial Park

[neechees]

Which legendary Cryptids are appropriated from Indigenous Alaskan/American/Canadian/ cultures?

Honestly, most of them.

Wend!g0: appropriated from Algonquian cultures. The word itself (at least this version that I've censored) is Ojibwe & is an evil cannibal spirit

Sk*nwalkers: Navajo. Evil medicine men

Ravenmockers: Cherokee, called the Kâ'lanû Ahkyeli'skï in the Native language

Deer Woman: various cultures, including Ojibwe, Cherokee, Seminole, Oceti Sakowin, Haudenosaunee, & more.

Bigfoot/Sasquatch/various other giant hairy humanoids: various cultures, especially the Pacific Northwest. My culture also has them, & they're called Mistapew in our language. The word & "cryptid" Sasquatch is a bastardization of the word (& spirit) se'sxa from a Salish language (might be Nlaka'pamuctsin).

Lake Eerie Monster/Ogopogo/various other lake monsters: based on Algonquian horned serpent spirit & other similar spirits. Ogopogo in particular was stolen from the Secwepemc spirit Naitaka & the Sylix spirit nx̌ax̌aitkʷ

Thunderbirds: frequently found in many cultures, but most popular in Pacific Northwest Coast cultures, as evident in their art. Also found in some Algonquian cultures, including mine, & my Cree name has this word in it. This one was just straight up stolen & had a "cryptid" label slapped onto it

Caddy/Cadborosaurus: found in various PNWC cultures, called the hiyitl'iik by the Manhousat people, t'chain-ko by the Sechelt, & numkse lee kwala by the Comox in Vancouver.

Skunk Ape: bastardization of the Seminole Esti Capcaki, fitting the same description.

Shunka Warak’in: based on the name, it sounds like it was stolen from Oceti Sakowin legends, since "Shunka" (šúŋka) means "dog", particularly in Lakota

Adlet: stolen from Inuit legends

Thetis Lake Monster/Canadian Lizard Man: very likely based on & stolen from Haida Gwaii legends

Michigan Dogman: might be a mixture of Odawa legends as well as overlap with wend!g0

Owyhee Mountain Dwarves: stolen from Shoshone and Bannock legends

Nain Rouge: bastardization mix between French folklore called the lutin, and Native legends local to the area

Wampus Cat/Wampus: appears in multiple cultures, including Cherokee.

La Llorona: this one may have been influenced by a "weeping woman" figure that is seen in a few central american cultures, like Cihuacōātl, who has a really similar story with her son Mixcoatl.

Piasa Bird: spirit from Mississippian culture, often depicted in murals and art, including at Cahokia

Pukwudgie: from Wampanoag legends, & is a Wampanoag word. I think similar spirits exist elsewhere

A cryptid is an animal or creature that may or may not biologically exist but has a lot of tall tales surrounding it, and so people into "cryptids" (specifically ones that are appropriated) will use Native legends to fuel their argument & use as "proof" that these "animals" exist/existed, rather than the other way around that these are actually Native spirits that White people got a hold of, decontextualized, bastardized, and then spread inaccurately as "cryptids" or simply "folklore", with the latter being correct. Or people who think that these are just fun stories think "here's a cryptid and oh hey here's a Native spirit fitting the exact same description and the area the cryptid originates from is in the traditional territory as the Native culture this Native spirit is from. It's just a coincidence." & don't think it's because of appropriation at all.

I'm very likely missing some so there's probably more, but I also wouldn't be surprised if multiple OTHER "cryptids" have their origins in Native spirits that we haven't investigated yet. I've also been seeing White people talk about "cryptids" and then just straight up listing Native spirits, even ones that aren't widely known and don't even have a history of being called "cryptids". Which is fucking racist.

Native spirits aren't cryptids.

[vugnasmineralblog]

may i request a nice plume agate?

Added to the queue!

Plume Agate Owyhee Mountains, Oregon

[awkwardlyaaron]

Went out hiking in the Owyhees in Idaho

Got followed around by a vulture for a little bit

[mutant-distraction]

Kim Brun

Owyhee Canyon. Oregon

[stumbleimg]

Deep in the middle of nowhere- the Middle Owyhee canyon in SW Oregon [OC][3468x4624]

[whywishesarehorses]

BLM Mustangs for Sale - Misc HMA

These horses are part of the March 2023 auction and are currently held in Wheatland WY. (Some are not included because the photos were quite bad/out of focus/blurry, and with 700 horses, I am being choosy). They are a mix of Little Colorado, Little Owyhee, Nevada HA, and Pancake HMAs.

2 YEAR OLD BAY FEMALE HORSE (4044) 13.2hh

2 YEAR OLD SORREL FEMALE HORSE (4045) 13.3hh

2 YEAR OLD BAY FEMALE HORSE (4046) 13hh

2 YEAR OLD BROWN FEMALE HORSE (4048) 13.1 hh

2 YEAR OLD SORREL FEMALE HORSE (4051) 13hh

2 YEAR OLD PINTO FEMALE HORSE (4054) 13.3hh

2 YEAR OLD SORREL FEMALE HORSE (4055)

2 YEAR OLD SORREL FEMALE HORSE (4061) 13.3hh

2 YEAR OLD BROWN FEMALE HORSE (4063) 13.1hh

2 YEAR OLD BLACK FEMALE HORSE (4080) 14.2hh

2 YEAR OLD SORREL FEMALE HORSE (4083) 13.2hh

2 YEAR OLD BROWN FEMALE HORSE (4085) 14hh

2 YEAR OLD BROWN FEMALE HORSE (4087) 13.3hh

2 YEAR OLD BROWN FEMALE HORSE (4089) 13.2hh√

2 YEAR OLD SORREL FEMALE HORSE (4093) 13.2hh

2 YEAR OLD SORREL FEMALE HORSE (4094) 13.2hh

2 YEAR OLD SORREL FEMALE HORSE (4096) 13hh

2 YEAR OLD SORREL FEMALE HORSE (4097) 13.3hh

2 YEAR OLD PINTO FEMALE HORSE (4098) 13.1hh

2 YEAR OLD BAY FEMALE HORSE (4100) 14hh

2 YEAR OLD PINTO FEMALE HORSE (4101) 14hh

2 YEAR OLD BLACK FEMALE HORSE (4102) 13.2hh

2 YEAR OLD BAY FEMALE HORSE (4104) 13.1hh

2 YEAR OLD BROWN FEMALE HORSE (4107) 14hh

2 YEAR OLD BROWN FEMALE HORSE (4111) 14hh (this one can come home with me thx)

2 YEAR OLD BAY FEMALE HORSE (4112) 13.2hh

2 YEAR OLD PINTO FEMALE HORSE (4130) 13.2hh

2 YEAR OLD BAY FEMALE HORSE (4131) ( i see pinto)

2 YEAR OLD BROWN FEMALE HORSE (4138) 14.2hh

2 YEAR OLD BAY FEMALE HORSE (4140) 13.33hh (cutest face ever)

[hinsel]

This is what I do

[jpo1960]

Bus Rider Diary

6 Orchard 05/14/24 Tuesday 0854

We are in a big hurry. Route is about 10 minutes behind schedule. Which fits in to my schedule, because I’m approximately 15 minutes behind schedule.

Derby guy is back on, as well as a new character who looks like a character from The Walton’s. Younger people probably don’t catch that cultural reference.

Driver blazes up to the Owyhee 11th stop. 0905. Hell of a ride.

Back door doesn’t open, so I go out the front.

Shining city in the sky.