Fandom Side Blog

Link for Mobile: Media Recs Currently watching: Superstore, Watchman, SPOP, Schitt's Creek, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and Sunnyside

[lastresovejas]

This a Master post of different Native American reservations and peoples needing assistance this winter due to weather emergencies, my links are from the Minnesota Public Radio News, especially a reporter and digital producer for the outlet, Sam Strooza.

The MPR News article about thousands being trapped on Pine Ridge Reservation and ways to help get people winter clothing and firewood. Condition right now are dire with reports of people trapped in their homes and needing to burn clothes for heat.

Thousands are trapped on Pine Ridge Reservation. Here's how you can help

Indigenous tribes in South Dakota are fighting for their lives after 30 inches of snow and severe wind blocked roads. Here are some ways you

Friends of Pine Ridge is doing a drive of both quilt/blankets/comforters and also heaters, they have links to stores where you can buy blankets that will give them to the reservation and links where you can donate money to help people buy propane, fire wood or other immediate needs

A Blankets/Quilts/Comforters Donation Drive for Pine Ridge Reservation - Friends of Pine Ridge Reservation

Pine Ridge Reservation is experiencing extreme cold weather right now and First Families Now has reached out with an urgent need for blanket

Friend of Pine Ridge works very closely and supports First Families Now that works to support children, elders and families on the Pine Ridge Reservation and you can donate directly to them below

Our Mission is to improve the quality of life for families and thereby improve the vibrancy of the communities of the Pine Ridge Indian Rese

One Spirit Lakota does a lot of work supporting the citizens on Pine Ridge Reservation and supporting the Lakota people in both firewood supplies for the winter and supporting in the youth in the Allen community around the reservation and more.

Any donation right now will be used for emergency services and supplies such as firewood, and food and other things for supporting people in need.

Donate — One Spirit

Sićangu Co typically works to provide housing, food, education, health and addressing systematic issues regarding those concerns but given the twenty feet piles of snow and emergency situation their donations right now are shifted to meet current need of clearing the snow, filing and distribution of drinking water, and donations will also be used to feed their personnel including snow plow drivers, delivery drivers, other volunteers as well as those in need.

Emergency Blizzard Relief for Rosebud

We are in desperate need of help, especially with -50 wind chills on the way

[lastresovejas]

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe official website also has link for donating directly to their disaster relief fund related to the blizzard.

Emergency Blizzard Relief for Rosebud

We are in desperate need of help, especially with -50 wind chills on the way

Also for clarity especially for people not from the Americas, while my main sources are from Minnesota Public Radio News, Rosebud and Pine Ridge are in South Dakota

[lastresovejas]

This is a link to donate to Re-member that works to support the Oglala Lakota people and improve the quality of life on Pine Ridge Reservation they have multiple donation options from their winter heating fund to donating items directly

Ways to Give | Re-Member

Donate money, goods, or time to Re-Member and help Pine Ridge Reservation.

[samirasystole]

ahhh so you're shown to be capable of recognising that people's trauma can make them act irrationally and unpleasantly! you recognised it in the white man! can you also recognise it in the brown woman? no? she's mean and bitchy and uncaring? i see

[animentality]

[crystallizedkingdoms]

Question for you: if you were to rename the Water Tribe characters in ATLA (like, Sokka, Katara, their family) Inuktitut names, what would you name them?

Oh my god what a question. Ohhhh dear god what a difficult question. But one that I now absolutely must answer!! I’m somewhat taking into consideration their current names so they somewhat resemble each other… but some things just can’t be helped lol

Katara: Qamaniq (widening of a river). I’ve always loved how the SWT sits at the end of a river, and I think that visual would be so stark to her mother. It becomes a nice reminder of home when she journeys elsewhere to the world, as when river water merges with the sea.

Sokka: In my heart I really love Sagvik (chest) as representative of his grounded human condition and strength as a strategist/warrior. However I know Elder men like Hakoda would definitely name their beloved only son Irniq (son) so its up in the air lol

Kanna: Kanaaq (shin/lower leg) is honestly perfect for her. The most stable part of the body that bears the brunt of a lot of force to be sure that the overall system keeps moving. I love her so much. (inb4 yes weve got a tendency to name kids after body parts It is what it is)

Hakoda: Piuangut (great man). Is it on the nose? Yes. But I’m a sucker for a young Sagvik having to live under the guidance of a man that embodied greatness up to his literal name and all the pressure that put him under as he was growing up.

Kya: Am I to be even more on the nose to say that Kiinaq (face) would go crazy? Yeah probably. I love Qilliq (to shine/sparkle) a lot too though, and would likely fit better.

Yue: I in part feel a little bad about renaming her since she and the Northern WT have more overt Chinese influence so it’d feel weird to deny that. And her name is literally just moon. But Taqqiq (moon) as a second name is really cute. Yue Taqqiq. oh god her name is Moon Moon now whoops

Hama: Amiaq (colour/paint). I hold a lot of love for her character, and I think she deserves a name as cute and lovely as she once was and deserved to be before she was imprisoned.

I’m less familiar with the Legend of Korra characters since I never finished it, so I don’t think I could confidently give them names justttt yet. I’ll reblog this with my names whenever I do some quick wiki refreshers on the characters. Or actually just rewatch the damn thing.

But isnt it crazy that ATLA only started really using names that actually resembled Inuktitut in the sequel series and basically only for primarily antagonists (at least when theyre introduced). And one of them is named Eska. Okay that last bit is a stretch but god I hate Eska and Desna’s names lol

[neechees]

All lovely answers!!!

[zeelatunes]

hrt and transgender surgeries being positioned as dangerous and experimental despite being around for much longer than ozempic, which many people are pushing as a miracle weight loss drug while ignoring its real medical indications and any possible negative side effects

it seems like hypocrisy but it's really the same idea: your body is not yours to control. you are not allowed to be fat, you are not allowed to be trans, we will say whatever it takes to keep you in line

[minart-was-taken]

So I have this headcanon about Larry...

[pokemonheritageposts]

Pokemon Heritage Post

[pokemonheritageposts]

not to revive the palworld discourse from earlier in the week but it's insane how much people are blatantly caught up in a broader online argument about this game and bringing that shit to posts that aren't about that. there's been more than a few people mad at me who are clearly just using me as a standin for the broader pokemon fandom.

i get a lot of you disagree with me and that's fine but it's not a big ask for you to engage with the actual post you're replying to and remember that i'm an actual person who hasn't done shit to you

[dogpuppy]

He is my princess diana

[mrspizzle]

I’m actually fucking dying

[3rd-r8-watrbendr]

[the-crying-bitch]

[brarchives]

kaê guajajara by mario epanya

[dailymanners]

Anger and aggression are not the same thing as strength or power, by the way.

[dailymanners]

I really mean this, by the way. Not just in some feel-good-but-ultimately-meaningless sort of way.

If you are an angry and aggressive person, you might make other people nervous or scared even, but ultimately people will not genuinely respect you or take you seriously, or see you as a strong or authoritative figure.

Leaders and authority figures who are able to conjure genuine respect from other people (and wield that respect as a form of social power) are rarely overtly angry and aggressive people.

They are calm because they are secure in their power and strength as an individual. Anger is an expression of feeling threatened. Anger evolved with the purpose of protecting us when we are threatened or in danger.

Perpetual anger and aggression will make you look afraid and insecure to other people, even if only subconsciously. With genuine strength and power comes security, and security looks like calmness.

[dailymanners]

#i think this is also good to remember bc a lot of us with trauma backgrounds (or at least i do)#associate anger with power in some way shape or form#like abusers with authority over you taking out their anger on you#and it can make us fearful of actually having power#because we assuming having power is the same as abusing it or having it makes us “bad people”#(i will not get into power vs privilege in the tags here but please know my intention is not to equate the two here)#but having power isnt inherently a bad thing and as this post says its about how you wield it#also i know this isnt what op is implying with this post but we are on the piss on the poor site so:#being angry isn't inherently a bad thing#feelings are morally neutral#they are tools#it is your response to the feeling tgjat makes it an issue (or not) for the people around you

Oh good points all around, and thank you for clarifying that. As someone with a trauma background as well, it took me almost a decade of therapy to stop feeling ashamed or like I was a bad person for ever feeling angry, and to accept that my anger exists to protect me, and specifically as a nudge (or a shove) to assert my boundaries when I need to.

It depends on how it's used and what you do with it. There are definitely people who will lash out when it's not called for or appropriate, and the people who do this would probably benefit from therapy.

I do know several people who I am convinced perpetually act angry and always find something to be angry about because they think it makes them look stronger, tougher, or smarter even to other people. It's hard to explain why I get this feeling. Maybe it's because I can't talk to them about anything without them turning the conversation into an angry rant (which is exhausting as is) but they always have their angry rants with a tone of smug triumph and superiority, and usually end the story with victory over whoever they were ranting about. ("someone made a dumb comment on Facebook, and then I TOTALLY told that person off and put them in their place because I'm not afraid to be an asshole!").

I think it's one thing if someone is struggling with mental health in a way that they have a lot of pent up rage. But having to turn any and all conversations into an angry rant with a smug tone of superiority and triumph feels like something different, they're desperately trying to look a certain way and give themselves a specific image, and it feels like they think their angry rants make them look strong or smart or something along those lines. Either way it's very exhausting to deal with, and they certainly lack the self awareness of how exhausting it is.

[greenwhistler]

Reminded me of this quote:

“To be dominate does not necessarily mean to be in control” — Caspar Henderson

[dailymanners]

If someone opens up to you and shares a story or vents about a time they were mistreated or disrespected, now is the time to listen and show compassion. It's not the time to one-up or flex about how you think you would have handled the situation. It's also not the time to lecture them on how you think they should have responded, or to shame them if you don't think their reaction was adequate or assertive enough.

For example, your friend opens up to you about the time he tried to have a nice dinner out with his partner, but restaurant staff were being racist/xenophobic and refusing to seat them, so he and his partner just left and found somewhere else to eat. Now is not the time to flex "Well if that were ME I wouldn't have just taken it and left, I would have totally put the staff in their place and not tolerated that!"

Or, for example your co-workers tells you about how she went to the grocery store last night and right as she was about to check out someone aggressively cut her in line, now is not the time to shame her / put her down with a response like "What, and you just took that? Oh come on you can't be such a pushover!"

First of all, you don't actually know how you would have responded in these situations. You don't know if you would have actually frozen or fawned in these situations. Many people do, even if they don't think they would. And that's okay. People don't just decide to freeze or fawn, it's an automatic reaction. Stopping behaviors like freezing or fawning can take years of therapy, not just a belittling lecture from a friend or co-worker.

Or even if someone didn't freeze or fawn, they just made the conscious choice to avoid a confrontation. That's also okay, and not your place to shame them. People can have all sorts of reasons for wanting to avoid a confrontation, such as not feeling it's safe, or feeling like it will just make the situation worse.

Second of all, responses like this can come across as belittling and generally insensitive. Even if you don't mean it that way, it can come across as though you're trying to insinuate that you think the other person is lesser than you for not reacting how you think you would have reacted. When someone has already dealt with being mistreated the last thing they need to is be lectured or put down, it's rubbing salt in the wound to respond insensitively when someone opens up to you about dealing with mistreatment.

Instead, show compassion. Tell them they didn't deserve to be treated that way, and what the other person did was wrong. If they're being mistreated by a boss or co-worker, kindly remind them that they have the right to report the behavior. Or if they're being mistreated by a classmate or teacher, kindly remind them that they can speak to someone at the school about it.

You can kindly remind them that in the future they're allowed to stand up for themselves in these situations, if they choose to, but don't lecture them or shame them for not responding how you think they should have.

[dailymanners]

#i feel like these ppl view being aggressive/violent/confrontational as morally righteous by default

I think you're probably onto something there.

This is just me spitballing based on some of my observations, but I feel like a lot of people conflate bravery/heroism with being aggressive/violent/confrontational and aren't able to distinguish between the two.

I also think misogyny could play a part in this, but I fully acknowledge that could be a reach. Being aggressive/violent/confrontational are traits generally stereotypically associated with men, while being passive and non-confrontational are generally stereotypically associated with women. And people often do hate traits and behaviors stereotypically associated with women while idolizing traits and behaviors stereotypically associated with men.

Of course there are moments where it is brave and admirable to take a stand, such as if you see someone else being harassed and/or bullied and you decide to intervene. But you don't have to be aggressive or violent about it especially if it's risking your safety, for example pretending that you're friends with someone you see being harassed instead of yelling at or punching the person bothering them (which could be putting your and/or the person you're trying to help's safety at risk)

[dailymanners]

I also think this is pretty likely for a lot of people.

Although honestly even with this reasoning I still find it annoying and inconsiderate when people do this because it still feels like they're prioritizing their own comfort and ego over the feelings of the injured party right in front of them.

[dalniente]

I have learned to ask "advice or sympathy?" before responding to people who seem like they may just be venting, or (hopefully) to catch myself and ask before I get too far into a response. If someone is simply hoping to feel heard and validated, offering solutions comes across as patronizing and self-centered.

Sometimes it is obvious that someone is simply venting, in which case comfort & demonstrations of sympathy are of course the equally-obvious response. But other times it is less clear. Thankfully, asking has generally been well-received, in my experience.

[dailymanners]

I've gotten a few replies like this about this being a matter of advice vs sympathy, but to be honest I don't agree that this is a matter of advice vs sympathy.

If a friend or co-worker vents about say, someone cutting them in line at the store, and you actually wanted to help them by giving them advice, a genuinely helpful way to do that would be "You know you're allowed to speak up when someone cuts you in line, right? You don't have to tolerate that." That's the type of response I'd expect from someone genuinely trying to be helpful by actually giving advice.

Giving a response like the examples I talked about above, like "oh come one, don't be such a pushover! I would never tolerate that! I don't take shit from anyone!" doesn't seem like advice to me. I don't see how talking to people that way helps anyone. That just doesn't seem like the words of someone who's trying to be helpful in anyway. That seems more like the words of someone who's getting defensive because they want to convince themselves, and whoever else is around, that bad things won't happen to them because they're too "tough" or would do the "right" thing or whatever, that bad things only happen to "weak" people like the person venting to them.

[everydaylouie]

CITY!!!

[headspace-hotel]

y'all ever reach the end of google

[headspace-hotel]

I'm starting to gain insight into why people turn into conspiracy theorists. Some topics are so totally neglected that it looks like they were intentionally and maliciously erased, instead of falling victim to arbitrary lack of interest.

I think it's a vicious cycle; when people don't know something exists, they're not curious about it. Also, people use conceptual categories to think about things, and when a topic falls between or outside of conceptual categories, it can end up totally omitted from our awareness even though it very much exists and is important.

This post is about native bamboo in the United States and the fact that miles-wide tracts of the American Southeast used to be covered in bamboo forests

[headspace-hotel]

@icannotgetoverbirds It already is a maddening, bizarre research hole that I have been down for the past few weeks.

Basically, I learned that we have native bamboo, that it once formed an ecosystem called the canebrake that is now critically endangered. The Southeastern USA used to be full of these bamboo thickets that could stretch for miles, but now the bamboo only exists in isolated patches

And THEN.

I realized that there is a little fragment of a canebrake literally in my neighborhood.

HI I AM NOW OBSESSED WITH THIS.

I did not realize the significance until I showed a picture to the ecologist where i work and his reaction was "Whoa! That is BIG."

Apparently extant stands of river cane are mostly just...little sparse thickety patches in forest undergrowth. This patch is about a quarter acre monotypic stand, and about ten years old.

I dive down the Research Hole(tm). Everything new I learn is wilder. Giant river cane mainly reproduces asexually. It only flowers every few decades and the entire clonal colony often dies after it flowers. Seeds often aren't viable.

It's barely been studied enough to determine its ecological significance, but there are five butterfly species and SEVEN moth species dependent on river cane. Many of these should probably be listed as endangered but there's not enough research

There's a species of CRITICALLY ENDANGERED PITCHER PLANT found in canebrakes that only still remains in TWO SPECIFIC COUNTIES IN ALABAMA

Some gardening websites list its height as "over 6 feet" "Over 10 feet" There are living stands that are 30+ feet tall, historical records of it being over 40 feet tall or taller. COLONIAL WRITINGS TALK ABOUT CANES "AS THICK AS A MAN'S THIGH."

The interval between flowering is anyone's guess, and WHY it happens when it does is also anyone's guess. Some say 40-50 years, but there are records of it blooming in as little time as 3-15 years.

It is a miracle plant for filtering pollution. It absorbs 99% of groundwater nitrate contaminants. NINETY NINE PERCENT. It is also so ridiculously useful that it was a staple of Native American material culture everywhere it grew. Baskets! Fishing poles! Beds! Flutes! Mats! Blowguns! Arrows! You name it! You can even eat the young shoots and the seeds.

I took these pictures myself. This stuff in the bottom photo is ten feet tall if it's an inch.

Arundinaria itself is not currently listed as endangered, but I'm growing more and more convinced that it should be. The reports of seeds being usually unviable could suggest very low genetic diversity. You see, it grows in clonal colonies; every cane you see in that photo is probably a clone. The Southern Illinois University research project on it identified 140 individual sites in the surrounding region where it grows.

The question is, are those sites clonal colonies? If so, that's 140 individual PLANTS.

Also, the consistent low estimates of the size Arundinaria gigantea attains (6 feet?? really??) suggests that colonies either aren't living long enough to reach mature size or aren't healthy enough to grow as big as they are supposed to. I doubt we have any clue whatsoever about how its flowers are pollinated. We need to do some research IMMEDIATELY about how much genetic diversity remains in existing populations.

[headspace-hotel]

@motherfucking-dragons

it's called the Alabama Canebrake Pitcher Plant and there are, in total, 11 known sites where it still grows.

in general i'm feral over the carnivorous plant variety of the Southeastern USA. we have SO many super-rare carnivorous plants!!!

Protect the wetlands. Protect the canebrakes because the canebrakes protect the wetlands.

[glimpsesofgardens]

Many years ago I did some (non-academic) research on native canes in the USA because I thought I remembered seeing a bamboo-like something in the wild that I'd been told was native, and I thought it might make a nice landscaping accent. But the sources I found said something like "unlike Asian bamboos, the American equivilant barely reaches the height of a man", and I went "nah, that is exactly the wrong height for anything." But if it gets 10 feet and up, I think there are a lot of people who would be VERY happy to use it as a sight barrier in public and private landscaping, and if it means putting in a bit of a wetland/rain garden, all the better. The lack of a good native equivelant to bamboo is something I have heard numerous people bemoan. Obviously it's very important to protect wild sites and expand those, but if it'd be helpful, I bet it wouldn't be hard to convince landscapers to start new patches too.

For instance, a lot of housing developments, malls, etc. seem to set aside a percentage of their land for semi-wild artificial wetlands (drainage maybe?) planted with natives, and then block the messy view with walls of arbovitae or clump bamboo from asia - perhaps it would be a better option there?

[headspace-hotel]

Good Lord. Arundinaria isn't just a better option, it's perfect.

I was in the canebrake near my house again this morning, and river cane is extraordinarily good at completely blocking the view of anything beyond it. It is bushier and leafier than Asian bamboos, and birds like to build nests in it. It would make a fantastic privacy barrier.

The cane near my house is around 10-12 feet tall. This species can reach 30 feet or more, but I think it needs ideal conditions or to be part of a large colony with a robust system of rhizomes or something.

It grows slowly compared to Asian bamboos, and seems to need some shade to establish, so it would take time to become a good barrier, but no worse than those stupid arborvitae.

[sahonithereadwolf]

plants like this were often intentionally cultivated in planter boxes as a form of water filtration and civil engineering by a bunch of indigenous nations.

[headspace-hotel]

There's a reason why Native Americans cultivated canebrakes.

Well, several reasons. As y'all may know, bamboo is stronger than any wood, and therefore it makes a fantastic building material.

The Cherokee used, and still use, river cane to make fishing poles, fish traps, arrows, frames for structures, musical instruments, mats, pipes, and absolutely gorgeous double-woven baskets that can even hold water.

This stuff is, no joke, a viable alternative to plastic for a lot of things. The seeds and shoots are also edible.

[thatmadscientistbitch]

Uh I know this is out of left field but I work in plant cloning - it's a lot easier than you'd think to do for plants and it's honestly a really important conservation tool, and good for making a TON of seedlings in a short amount of time. I can look into this genus for like, cloning viability?

[headspace-hotel]

I know about reproducing plants from cuttings, rhizome cuttings have proven doable with this species.

[headspace-hotel]

Hi y'all, reblogging the Canebrake Post again. It's been over a year since I fell in love with the coolest plant ever. I'm trying to bring it back but I am very small so if any of y'all have a Canebrake nearby you might wanna talk to the owners and contact some local parks and nature preserves yeah?

[headspace-hotel]

A lot of people are asking how to distinguish Rivercane from invasive bamboo species. This link should help you!

Here's some distinguishing traits I've observed myself:

River cane has a really full, bushy, leafy look that makes it really hard to recognize as bamboo from a distance, because the stems are harder to see. The shape of the individual cane with its branches and leaves is narrow, because the branches spread out very little, but the foliage is DENSE. It's like a plume.

River cane is stronger, denser and heavier than invasive bamboos I've seen.

River cane stems are always green all the way around, no yellow (unless the plant's been dead for a good long time)

River cane stems feel smooth like plastic to the touch. The common invasive bamboo I've seen here, when you run your hand upwards along it, the stem feels awful like sandpaper.

The biggest way to distinguish them: River cane grows 6-4 feet tall when it's in little patches, and up to 10-12 feet when it's in a large size patch (like, the size of a backyard) It is known to reach up to 15 feet tall nowadays and historical records claim heights of 30 feet or more in fertile river valleys. I really want to stress that it's RARE for it to get big. A canebrake will almost always be many times wider than it is tall (sometimes they grow in very long strips along fence rows)

The best time to look for it is in winter before things leaf out, because it's evergreen and grows in dense masses, making it easy to spot.

Some more cool stuff i've found out—River cane was a common food of bison! Earliest European settlers reported canebrakes so big that "100 bison could graze on a single canebrake." Apparently it used to make extremely high quality forage for livestock, before it was mostly destroyed.

European settlers apparently set their pigs loose in the canebrakes purposefully to destroy them, because the pigs would root up the nutritious rhizomes and kill the plant. Thinking of the relationship between Bison and Canebrakes, and the relationship between Eastern Native Americans and Canebrakes, and the relationship between Plains Native Americans and Bison...it seems like a pattern, huh?

In the case of both bison and canebrakes, they were a fundamental part of their ecosystem, and fundamental part of the indigenous cultures that used them for every material, their musical instruments, their homes, their most advanced arts, and even food (Rivercane shoots are edible just like other bamboo, and supposedly the seeds are edible too!) but European settlers purposefully destroyed the species almost completely. I can't help but wonder if there was a similar motivation.

Books that talk about Rivercane:

Weaving New Worlds: Southeastern Cherokee Women and Their Basketry by Sarah H. Hill talks about rivercane a LOT and gives tons of details of its uses and history.

Saving the Wild South: The Fight for Native Plants on the Brink of Extinction by Georgann Eubanks has a whole chapter about Rivercane.

Venerable Trees: History, Biology and Conservation in the Bluegrass is a book about Kentucky, but it talks about rivercane's importance including its relationship with bison. It's only a couple pages out of the whole book but it's still great information.

By the way, though, if you read any very early European account of Kentucky, the word "cane" is everywhere. It's just such a nondescript word it's hard to realize its significance.

On a more personal note...god, I love this plant. Here's another photo I took. When you're in the canebrake, it feels so cut off from the rest of the world; it's shaded, quiet, cool, and someone 10 yards away couldn't even see you.

i actually talked to my neighbor that I learned owns the canebrake. She had no idea what it was but she was excited to learn about it! It was a lovely conversation.

Apparently, she knew I had been down there a bunch of times and thought nothing of it. She said "Yeah I told my husband, If you see her down there, just leave her alone she's doing her thing." In the most sincere way possible, God bless this woman

She said I could transplant all I wanted, too. This was great! ...but I quickly learned how RIDICULOUSLY HARD it is to transplant from a canebrake of this size. The rhizomes are so big and tough, a shovel can hardly get through them, and unless you're at the edge of the canebrake, there's a thick mat of them going every which way. I was driving my whole weight down on this shovel and it kept just denting the rhizome and glancing off.

I did get some transplants but each one took like half an hour because I was fighting for my life!

Also, with a canebrake this size, it doesn't grow little canes that will later become bigger—it shoots up tall canes in a single season. The youngest canes, more accessible and toward the edge of the canebrake, were significantly taller than I was. I cut the top off of one transplant for ease of handling—I had a pair of hand pruners with me that were usually perfectly useful for small limbs, but I could barely get these things through the cane, it's just so strong and dense.

Someone research the material properties of this stuff ASAP. It's insanely strong.

[headspace-hotel]

Hi everyone, it's the river cane post again!

Here is some YouTube videos that talk about river cane!

Roger Cain of Keetoowah/Western Band Cherokee shows and talks about Rivercane. This video has a BIG canebrake, the mature canes look as if they could be 15ft tall, but he says it's only a fragment of what they used to be!

Stan the River Man visits a Canebrake in Northern Kentucky. This channel only has 22 subscribers, I feel like I've discovered a rare and priceless treasure

River Cane Renaissance, Episode 1. This guy has devoted a large part of his life to studying Rivercane and now works with the eastern band Cherokee to try and bring it back.

Chattooga river conservancy video on Rivercane, haven't watched the whole thing myself but it looks really good and detailed

These videos barely have any views or comments, but y'all can help! We can spread the knowledge.

[headspace-hotel]

Hi everyone.

This is exactly what you think it is.

[headspace-hotel]

So i'm in contact with a couple of plant nurseries.

[headspace-hotel]

Visiting some of my baby canes in the site where they were planted! They're looking good!

[headspace-hotel]

Big things are happening.

For privacy reasons, I share details online of my real world activities only reluctantly, and not very often. But don't be bamboozled into thinking I have forgotten the Canebrakes. It's exactly the opposite.

I have done a lot of networking and made a lot of contacts. I am not alone. There are other people with a story exactly like mine: first, they heard an offhanded mention of forests of American bamboo, which shattered everything they thought they knew about their environment. Next, they became crazed with fascination, searching for knowledge with insane ferocity. Then, they realized that river cane is not only a plant, it is a keystone species symbiotic with indigenous cultures for thousands of years, and it was almost destroyed due to the subjugation of its habitat and the genocide of its caretakers.

The canebrakes' devotees have been working tirelessly to compile every single scrap of information on canebrakes that exists in writing. Every record, every primary source, every historical mention, every comment and conjecture. I have been given access to some of this priceless treasure trove. The wealth of information is amazing, but even more amazing is how much is still unknown.

The history, properties, and ecological importance of the canebrakes is so much more than I imagined.

For example, the massive amounts of seeds produced by huge canebrakes in flowering events fed the passenger pigeon flocks. Likewise the Carolina parakeet was also dependent on canebrakes, and the extinct Bachman's warbler was a canebrake specialist. The destruction of canebrakes could be responsible for why these birds went extinct.

Canebrakes were absolutely fundamental to the indigenous peoples of the Southeast, providing for their every need. Food, shelter, containers, tools, music and art. The settlers foolishly thought the indigenous peoples were not "advanced" enough for metal tools, but in truth, they already had a material superior to metal. River cane by weight is stronger than steel. You can make knives and blades out of it.

I am excited for the future. It seems like momentum is building to save the river cane and bring back the canebrakes, and I am hoping to join together with all the other like-minded people to accomplish this task.

A new organization has just started in Alabama to bring back the river cane. Here is a blog post to read from a few months ago.

[necronomiconiclasm]

Was gonna go in the notes for this but screw it, I've reblogged this before because river cane is so cool Nashville is actually reintroducing it at a couple of parks within the city limits! For example, Shelby Bottoms (where I ride bikes most days) has a bunch of smaller canebrakes dispersed along the river and they seem to be growing steadily Also, Dr. Jon Evans, a professor at Sewanee, recently published a paper demonstrating that there are clonal stands of hill cane there that are around 1700 years old! Still a little inconclusive regarding the flowering/reproduction issue but still! I want to see that too if I can Makes me sad every time I go to the greenways in Knoxville and am like "man you could be introducing so much river cane here, it's great"

[headspace-hotel]

1700 years old???

Holy shit okay i looked it up and HOLY SHIT. Published 2 months ago.

1700 years old.

And it says A. appalachiana, (the Appalachian species of native rivercane), has actually NEVER been observed to flower, which means ???? i dont even know what the fuck that means.

THIRTY hectares. THIRTY. That's HUGE.

Does this mean that???? Most canebrakes are so small now because they're babies????

EVERYTHING I LEARN JUST MAKES IT MORE INSANE.

[i-suggest-landback]

i have a suggestion

[treecitysessions]

????😭😭😭

[gayrat-deactivated19690420]

[wanderingthunderstorm]

THIS IS MISINFORMATION.

The United States Suicide Hotline is still active as of 26 February 2025. I just called it to check and got through to a person. They ARE understaffed due to DOGE firing people.

The number is 988 (inside the US).

You can also call the following warm lines that don't call the police (data pulled from previous screenshot + internet)

Blackline: 800-604-5841

https://www.callblackline.com/

Centers BIPOC, LGTBQ+ Black Femme Lens.

May not be well staffed? My call went to voicemail, which told me to call back until I reached an employee.

Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860 (US) 877-330-6366 (Canada)

https://translifeline.org/hotline/

Run by and For Trans People

This one has specific hours, listed at the link above

Wildflower Alliance Peer Support Line: 888-407-4515

https://wildfloweralliance.org/peer-support-line/

Trained Peer supporters

Also has very limited hours - only 2 hours during the evening, M-F; and 3 hours on Saturday/Sunday

It mentions alternative treatment in their About, which is suspicious, but all I saw listed was art classes and acupuncture and the like. Stay safe out there folks.

StrongHearts Native Helpline: 1-844-762-8483

Native American Services

Native American domestic violence services -- free, confidential & available 24/7 -- are rooted in Native cultures and tribal sovereignty.

Centering Native Americans and Alaskan Natives

Open 24/7

Thrive Lifeline: 313-662-8209 (DON'T CALL - TEXT THIS NUMBER)

https://thrivelifeline.org/

Trans-led and operated

Went to voicemail when I called - text based!

LGBT National Help Center 888-843-4564

https://lgbthotline.org/

Check hours - only open 8 hours a day

I called all of these numbers and got through to at least an official-sounding voicemail, although several did not get me to a person due to limited hours. Fact check your information and stay safe out there!

[pangur-and-grim]

wait I have one more story. there's a group of anti-abortion protesters who often set up by the Ethiopian cafe I hang out in, and when I was waiting to cross one of them held up an aborted fetus sign and said "how does this make you feel?" and I said "hungry", and then I was so satisfied by my own cleverness that I missed the lights and stepped off the sidewalk into oncoming traffic

[pangur-and-grim]

[can-i-make-image-descriptions]

[Image ID: Tumblr reply from ronAndHermy reading: Late term abortion attempt /End ID]

[goatsgomoo]

Man this store has a weird playlist, it's all Weird Al songs but with the lyrics switched out for ones that aren't funny.

[phoenixyfriend]

Hi! Bookshop.org is having a pride month sale!

I have an affiliate storefront!

I have added their list of discounted Pride Month Books to that storefront!

(Also, my friend @bethany-sensei just released a book called Balances, and I have put it at the top of the list. Go preorder!)

Please buy from them, through me, for both a discount on the books and a wee bit of kickback to me.