A Public Statement From The Cascadia Coalition Against
Hate and Hate Filled Ideologies

CASCADIA, PACIFIC NORTHWEST – Tuesday, June 27, 2017 – Members of the Cascadian Movement have formed The Cascadia Coalition Against Hate and issue this statement:

The Coalition does not promote, permit, or condone any behaviors or actions of a sexist, racist, derogatory, or discriminatory nature.

We do not tolerate hate-filled ideology, supremacy, oppression or hatred in any form for any reason. Moreover, we outright condemn all hate groups, their actions and ideas, as they run contrary to the core Cascadian bioregional beliefs and tenets. These groups threaten to undermine the sacred relationship between biodiversity and nature, which is the crux of life. We believe these tenets; respect, justice, equality, which aid in preserving and nurturing our home, the cultures of individual communities, and their interactions.

We make this statement against hate and hate-filled ideologies because of a recurring political climate where select individuals and groups seek to co-opt the Cascadia name and its icons for malicious action and intent. We strongly disavow such hate groups and demand them to cease and desist their attempts at co-option and perversion of the name and symbols of Cascadia.

About Cascadia

The name “Cascadia,” goes back over 100 years. The first written use for the full geologic region of Cascadia, was by Bates McKee, in his geological textbook “Cascadia: The Geologic Evolution of the Pacific Northwest”, originally published 1972.

Though the name “Cascadia” is used in the geosciences, bioregionalism, and now in popular culture, we also acknowledge that this bioregion has many other names, including the Chinook jargon name of Chinook Illahee, meaning, “the land of the Chinook language speakers.” With that, we also acknowledge this region has a rich history of diverse cultures extending back to time immemorial.

The concept of “Cascadia” has its origins in geoscientific language. The history of the consciousness surrounding the name Cascadia has always been one against oppression and hateful ideologies. As a movement embedded in bioregionalism, and creating a meta-culture surrounding popular icons, like the Cascadian tricolor flag, it has always been a struggle against oppression.

The founder of the Cascadian Institute, Professor David Mcclosky was the first to fully map the Cascadia bioregion, and apply the name Cascadia to the bioregion.

The idea of bioregions evolved from Allen Van Newkirk, Peter Berg, Judy Goldhaft, Raymond Dasmann, et al. Bioregions are defined through physical and environmental features, including hydrology boundaries (watershed), and soil and terrain characteristics. Berg and Dasmann state, “a bioregion can be determined initially by use of climatology, physiography, animal and plant geography, natural history and other descriptive natural sciences.”

Peter Berg’s three goals of bioregionalism:

1. Restores and maintain local natural systems;

2. Practice sustainable ways to satisfy basic human needs such as food, water, shelter, and materials;

3. Support the work of reinhabitation.

The Cascadian flag, designed by Alexander Baretich in 1995, is a flag representing the Cascadian bioregion. The colors of the Cascadian flag represent the clear blue skies and rolling waters, the white clouds and pristine snow capped peaks, as well as the green forests and lush grasslands of this bioregion. At the center of the flag is a lone standing conifer tree. The flag is a landscape image of the bioregion and for many living, working, playing and growing up in Cascadia, the flag conjures a deep sense of belonging and home. Alexander Baretich frequently expresses that the flag is never to be used by hate groups, in conjunction with hate speech or any actions contrary to the principles of bioregionalism. The flag, and the Cascadia “movement” is NOT affiliated with any hate group and the ideas of bioregionalism are contrary to hate.

For more information visit: CascadiansAgainstHate.com
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