Hi Tweeters,

re: Pacific Northwest

Thanx for all your posts on this thread.
I'm *really* pleased by the level of discussion. Exactly what I hoped for.

First, I should emphasise that I *love* the term "Pacific Northwest". To an
English kid in the mid-50's, those two words were redolent of adventure and
romance; even as an adult, (or as a bigger kid, some would say) something
in me still thrills to hear them. As I grew older and learned more about
the region, the more blessed the area seemed (and, for all its troubles,
still seems). No matter how personally suggestive of Utopia the term is,
though, that's not where the issue lies for me.

Often it is useful when trying to resolve a difficult issue to try to
examine it from the opposite perspective. In this instance imagine that a
Canadian journal (pace Dennis) incorporates all sightings of birds in the
New England states in a section of the journal called The Maritimes (the
term used in this country to describe those Canadian provinces which face
the Atlantic Ocean); imagine further that those New England birders have
either never thought about it or have internalised the concept that they
belong not to their own region, but a quasi-political entity defined by the
Canadian culture beyond their borders. Personally, I cannot imagine that
Maine or Massachusets birders tolerating such absorption for one nanosecond
in real life (Canadians tend to be milder, though. When Christ said, "The
meek shall inherit the Earth.", it was probably a Canadian that stuck up
his hand and said, "May we have it now, please?" ;-) ).

Where two societies abut, and where one is so clearly dominant, it is
*normal* for the greater society to become used to defining the terms of
the shared culture, and for the lesser society to incorporate and
internalise them, often to its detriment and sometimes to its glory.
Political correctness, whatever that slippery, somewhat invidious term
means, has nothing to do with it: it is a sociocultural phenomenon.

Dennis asked if Canadians had a name for this region north of the border.
The answer is no: we, too, have been conditioned to believe we are part of
the U.S. Northwest. The United States of America, the dominant cultural,
economic, and political entity, has defined, and continues to define, who
we Canadians are in this part of the world. Many Canadians have
internalised the concept to the point of non-questioning acceptance, except
for odd cranks like myself. I simply make the observation that that is so,
and do not offer it as criticism. I am old enough now to realise this is
the way of the world.

But, believe me, I never thought I would *ever* begin to make noises like a
nationalist, but I begin now to grasp how some are triggered into
nationalism (about which I have the gravest reservations). I never dreamed
that birds would provide a door to that kind of insight. The birds, the
apolitical, non-geographical birds don't care about geopolitical
boundaries. They're the smart ones.

Interesting breakdown of response; roughly:
1. what's the big deal, we've always called it this so what's your problem?
(As I originally said, "...a drearily unending chore...")
2. logical, semantic, and syntactical contortions to rationalise present
terminology and avoid//resist recognising the main issue, or to avoid
change in light of that recognition, which is the unwitting absorption of
Canadian sites into a U.S.-defined region. (Ditto.)
3. (newborn) awareness of the issue, and attempts to suggest alternatives.
4. what are we wasting time on this and not talking about birds? Well,
there's a long-held principle in law that evidence is tested as it arises
regardless of where it leads. Same here. We are talking about birds,
birders, and some of the sociopolitical context in which birding is
embedded.

Practically, I'd like to suggest discussing a more generally regional
approach to terminology describing our shared and lovely region. Most
suggestions were politically and culturally neutral. Gary Duvall suggests
adopting Pojar & MacKinnon's regional-unity term, 'northern Pacific coastal
region'; Charles Easterberg recommends 'central west coast' or
'mid-Pacific'; Doug Canning's and David Wright's 'Cascadia' is a delicious
idea and has my vote even over 'Mid-Pacific Coast' (and Doug's reminder
that Canada's "Northwest Territories" are both north and east without
including the true northwestern territory, the Yukon, was a startling
reminder: that one was staring me in the face all these years...cracked me
up, too); David Wright's 'Clearcut West' may be mordantly accurate, but--

Cascadia, hmmm....

Anyway, thanx again for the discussion. I've really appreciated the
thoughtful and good-natured tone of discourse.


Michael "North o' 49" Price
Vancouver BC Canada
michael_price at mindlink.bc.ca