The Pacific Green Party of Oregon
B y M argi Shindler
HAMLET BUILDERS, INC.
436-0679
Chris Beckman
I have gotten to know this north coast landscape of ours through years
of exploration, walking every stretch of its beaches, hiking the length
of its creeks, climbing to the tops of its mountain peaks. Seldom do I
travel alone. In recent years, 1 have walked alongside one of my
closest friends: a big dog, shaggy and black, an exuberant Newfoundland
mix who weighs in at one-hundred pounds. Perhaps you have seen her,
carrying industrial-sized sticks on the beach or jostling with ravens
for a carcass-front view; swimming laps in the creek, galloping down
trails, tracking elk; rushing up to greet anxious and cringing
suburbanites. Shedding and drooling profusely in our town's many
wide-open spaces.
Yes, this is a dog-friendly town, a place where people take their dogs
seriously. The residents of this town walk their dogs in driving winter
rain. They bring their dogs to work in the daytime and sneak their dogs
into public eateries at night. They will face down bears who threaten
their dogs in the woods behind town, and they will carefully rid their
dogs of burrs, fleas, sticks and ticks once they've returned home. Some
dogs are as widely known as their owners, and I have heard more than one
person identified socially - not by their proper name - but, rather, as
the owner of some well-known canine about town. They know where to find
the good scraps and the suckers who distribute them freely. When dogs
die in this town, they are mourned publicly. They receive newspaper
eulogies; grown men, gently sobbing, carve grave markers of cedar in the
privacy of their own garages. Dogs are revered. Dogs are locals. It
is a good place to be a dog.
And dogs have been here for a very long time. Northwest coast native
peoples kept dogs as working pets. Many local dogs were bred and
trained to hunt in teams, trekking out into the forest, doubling around,
flushing elk and deer to well-armed human hunters lying in downwind
wait. In some places along the Northwest coast, a particularly shaggy
breed of dog was raised as a source of wool. The dogs' hair would be
trimmed and mixed with the "cotton" of fireweed seed pods or the hair of
mountain goats; spun like other types of wool, this mixture could then
be dyed and woven into clothing and blankets with totemic designs. In
Tillamook legends, a very powerful dog, Kashelweet, could capture whales
in his teeth and bring them to shore. As Tillamook orators would
explain, Kashelweet was just "that kind of dog." Elsewhere around the
Pacific, dogs were equally important. Among some indigenous peoples of
coastal Siberia, between northern Japan and Alaska, dog teams were often
used for fishing. Like hunting dogs, these fishing dogs worked in packs
to "herd" fish toward shore. They would swim out in two columns, until
a call from shore instructed them to change course. The heads of each
column would converge, and the whole line would begin paddling shoreward
- a wet dog dragnet, chasing the fish to nets and men waiting near the
beach. Our kind and their kind are both social critters, capable of
some level of loosely 'symbolic' communication; under the right
circumstances we work well together.
I have never attempted to make clothing out of my dog's hair, though
this is a growing craze among contemporary knitters with quirky
sensibilities and time on their hands. (If the terrier-sized balls of
newly-shed hair 1 find in the comers of my home are any indication, she
has plenty to spare for the future production of socks, sweaters, or
even entire jet-black jumpsuits.) She is a dog of few super-canine
feats - no captured whales, no herded fish. This is not to say she
lacks any marketable skills. She can, for example, guard the house. As
one Newfoundland owner's guidebook notes, these dogs "can sling slobber
up to 20 feet," a skill certain to discourage even the most daring of
intruders. As the Tillamook would say, she is just "that kind of
dog." Some portion of each Newfoundlands' ancestors were working pets
to Native Americans long ago, serving as small pack animals, pulling
travois until the horse arrived from Eurasia and put thousands o f Newfs
out of work. They were popular dogs on the frontier, good at water
rescue and strong enough to pull a canoe around portages. Samuel Adams
had one of these big black dogs, and Lewis and Clark Expedition would
bring one along on their western trek, taking uncharacteristic risks at
one point so that they could retrieve their dog from Native Americans
who had briefly "borrowed" it. This is not to suggest that any breed
should be held in particular esteem above another. There are people in
this town with strong brand-name loyalties: a German Shepherd set, a
Golden Retriever group, a Corgi contingent. Many local dogs, some of
the most intelligent of the bunch, are mutts.
The segmentation of dogs into distinct breeds is a point worthy of
reflection: "breeds" reflect our own cultural categories and
preferences, our preconceived "ideal types." Through direct intervention
in their personal lives, we have shaped dogs to fit our ideals over the
generations, sometimes to their detriment. Dogs are genetically
flexible, so that our distant ancestors could take their wolf ancestors
and, over millennia, mold them into well over 400 recognized breeds, and
innumerable intermediate forms. There are no other creatures that
exhibit such genetic discontinuity as the modern dog, where members of
the same species can outsize one-another by Great Dane-to-Chihuahua
ratios. We have done this to them because of our ancestors'
longstanding desire to produce dogs with spots, comically short legs, or
chronic bad hair, for our amusement. We have done this to them because
of our ancestors' longstanding desire to produce living tools: sled
dogs, sheep- and cattle-herding dogs, bird retrieving dogs, guard dogs,
mountain and water rescue dogs, seeing-eye dogs, tracking dogs, or dogs
that are ceremonially eaten. We have done this to them because of our
ancestors' longstanding desire to produce docile companions, to
manufacture our own best friends. In our relationships with all
domesticates, there is give and there is take. When my own dog was
younger, she would refuse to be put back on the leash after time on the
beach. I would carry dog biscuits to coax her and - somewhat
reluctantly, in exchange for a biscuit - she would agree to be put back
on the leash, brought back into civilization, back into the controlling
and antiseptic human world. Both of us, standing in the drizzle, slowly,
cautiously, would recapitulate the first act of domestication. An
ancient bargain, subtly negotiated: she gives up freedom, I give up
food, we both gain a friend out of the deal. Over time, this exchange
becomes second-nature, and it is a bargain we seldom regret. After ten
thousand years, domestication does not come immediately and naturally to
these creatures, and must - in each new generation - be relearned.
Though we have remade their extenors, there is still some slight
wolfish itch inside. Look close at that dog you see on the street, the
one that sits next to you, grinning, on the shuttle bus. They arc
enigmatic among creatures. They are sentient, social beings. They are
our oldest cultural artifacts. They are, in many different, sometimes
surprising ways, panting, furry mirror-images of ourselves.
A
Tim Davis
P O. Box 174 Tolovana Park. OR 97145 CCB #41095
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The Pacific Party of Oregon held its annual
Convention Feb 6 and 7 at Williamette University in
Salem. I attended this gathering as a newcomer to the
party, in order to learn more of what they are about,
and to attend a consensus building workshop being
offered at the end of the convention on Sunday.
I didn’t know what to expect, knew no one
personally who would be there, had no notion of how
many people, what kind of venue, or what the
promised overnight accommodations would be like.
Let me say, before I go any further, I came away very
impressed with those 1 met, and hopeful again about
activism in these strange times.
Approximately 47 people attended the convention,
representing Portland, Salem, Eugene, Corvallis, Mid-
Valley, Coos County, Deshutes County and 2 of us
from Clatsop County. The proceedings were
conducted in a lecture room of WUs Eaton Hall.
From the north window at the back of the room the
dome of our Capitol Building rose high on the very
next block. The golden man an imposing reminder of
politics as usual. What I experienced those 2 days in
Eaton Hall was not the usual political fare.
The first marked difference from conventional
political events was the overall format. A facilitator,
Lisbeth Borie, of The Alpha Institute, led the
proceedings. She acted only as a facilitator, not as a
chairperson. She skillfully employed the Consensus
structure which was first developed by the Quakers
300 years ago. The consensus model of conducting
meetings recognizes each member equally,
encouraging all to participate. A carefully timed and
organized agenda is followed. Decisions are arrived at
not by vote, but by a total consensus. This process is
markedly different and more democratic than Roberts
Rules of Order, and it works.
To give some background to this group; The Pacific
Party was formed in 1991 in response to the Gulf
War. Pacific here refers to pacifist as well as this
geographic region. Members of the PP are committed
to nonviolence, not only to each other, but to the
earth. They also support fairness for workers,
sustainable resource development, community
building, equal rights and responsive government. For
more detail, you can read their platform on the web at
/www.pacificparty.com/ .
The National and International Green Party
movements are the larger venue in which the PP takes
part. Because of this, a major agenda item at this
convention was a name change. The final outcome
after difficult deliberation is the new name of The
Pacific Green Party of Oregon. This name change
requires members to re-register their voting status
with the state quickly enough to maintain election
ballot status. The risk involved in the name change is
daunting, but members felt the confusion potential
voters have about the connection to The Green Party
needs to be alleviated.
Other items on the agenda included the welcoming
letter to The Socialist Party who has agreed to merge
with The PP; work on the by-laws, pledge gathering
for an election fund of at least $5000.00 to gain
federal matching funds and general financial and
organizational issues.
On Saturday evening, after the first days work, about
half the participants shared a potluck, which included
donated organic beer. Pizza choices tended toward
the vegetarian, but there were a contingent of
unapologetic meet fanciers as well.
The potluck was held at the office of The Oregon
Peaceworker newspaper. From where I sat, I was
surrounded by small grassroots periodicals. Right
behind me on a shelf was our beloved Upper Left
Edge. I knew then that I had come to the right place.
We were put up for the night in a nice warm room at
the Friends Hall. The only payment asked for was to
vacuum in the morning. The Sunday afternoon
workshop was first rate, and left us wanting more.
Now I believe its time for a North Coast or Clatsop
County Pacific Green Chapter. If you are interested,
give me a call , Margi - 717-1387. There is also an
office in Portland, located at 205 SE Grand, suite
#201, ph: (503) 238-1856.
"Never underestimate that a small group of committed
people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only
thing that ever has".
Margaret Mead
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