In this issue, our feature highlights a Makah artist who preserves the stories of his ancestors and their reciprocal relationship to whales. We also follow two female botanists as they raft down the Grand Canyon in an attempt to make the first recorded, botanical survey of the region. Elsewhere, a FEMA contractor’s incompetence in translating Alaska Native languages shows systemic problems. In a Colorado coal town, the discovery of a 74 million-year-old fossil brings a new kind of tourism. A team of epidemiologists in Washington prepares for climate change. In Wyoming, off-rez hunting is under scrutiny. Is the Behren’s silverspot butterfly valuable enough to save? Climate change refugia can shelter wildlife if the planet doesn’t warm too much. And finally, we check in with Debra Magpie Earling on her new novel, learn about the importance of good ice for hunting in coastal Alaska and think on the meaning of ‘new animism.’
The illusion of discovery
How understanding our past can strengthen our future.
The spirit of the Rillito
‘New animism’ seeks a connection to nature’s pulse.
Good drones, coyote living and a cow-chip lottery
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.
‘We need to touch the earth’
#iamthewest: Giving voice to the people that make up communities in the region.
Alaska Natives are underserved by emergency translation services
A FEMA contractor’s incompetence in Alaska Native languages highlights a systemic problem.
Who gets a say in tribal treaty hunting?
In Wyoming, everybody wants influence over off-rez hunting — and nobody’s happy.
Seeking sanctuary on a warming planet
Scientists look to identify, map and preserve climate change refugia.
Letters to the editor, May 2023
Comments from readers.
Climate change is changing public health
In Washington, a new team of epidemiologists is preparing for a hotter, smokier future.
Where the first spring harvest relies on a still-frozen ocean
In coastal Western Alaska, wildlife and humans alike rely on good, thick ice.
Scarlet Paintbrush
A poem by Garrett Hongo.
How a dinosaur is redefining a rural coal town
The 74 million-year-old fossil of Walter the hadrosaur brings paleo-tourism to Craig, Colorado.
Tenacious specimens of the Grand Canyon
In the 1930s, two women risked their lives to record a scientific survey of the region’s plants.
The artist and the harpooner
In Micah McCarty’s art, the past and future are one, and the whales never left.
Inside the fight to save a beleaguered butterfly
In 2020, the population count of the Behren’s silverspot was zero. That didn’t stop Clint Pogue.
The many ways to see a story
Acclaimed Indigenous author Debra Magpie Earling returns with a new novel.
Meet up with the HCN community
And send us your bumper sticker ideas!