#Lawetlat'la

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Ecology is one of those disciplines where there is just so, so much we don't understand yet. Yes, we know that the many species within a given ecosystem have a widespread, complex network of interrelationships, but we only have the barest understanding of a fraction of them. It's like having a symphony where you've heard everyone playing, but you only have some notes from some of the musicians' sheet music, and so you can't yet put together how it all works.

In this case, we're seeing just how important northern pocket gophers (Thomomys talpoides) are to their ecosystems. After the devastating eruption of Lawetlat'la/Loowit/Mt. St. Helens in May 1980, the land was left burned and covered in tons of ash and tephra. While some zones further out from the mountain were replanted by timber companies, the area directly around the eruption site has been allowed to recover naturally because this offers North American scientists an unprecedented chance to see how an ecosystem recovers after such a large eruption, at a place that is easily accessible.

When a small number of gophers were returned to an ash-covered area of the mountain for just twenty-four hours in 1982, they kicked off what would be a forty-year study in ecological resilience. In areas with no gophers, there were only a few struggling plants born from seeds transported by birds, while in places where the little mammals were able to burrow and turn over dirt, scientists found 40,000 individual plants. This was due to the fact that the gophers were able to free soil fungi and other microbes beneath the ash and give them a chance to repopulate closer to the surface where they normally would be found. In turn, seeds of plants that had mycorrhizal relationships with the fungi, or which otherwise benefited from the increased microbial biodiversity, flourished.

And forty years later, the pattern still stands, with the gophers' work reverberating to this day. If one small mammal can have such a profound effect in a miniscule amount of time, imagine what happens when we reintroduce extirpated species to other eplaces. The volcanic area may be left to repopulate naturally as scientists continue to study it, but there are countless badly damaged ecosystems in need of restoration. The results of this experiment clearly support the importance of returning as many native species to an ecosystem as possible, because even those that may seem insignificant have invaluable contributions to make to the whole.

[transpandaoctournament]

Transpanda OC FINALS

THIS IS IT, THE FINALS, THERE WAS A LOT OF TIES BUT WE'LL SEE WHO... SOMETHING WITH THIS. WE'LL TALLY THE VOTES AND GO FROM THERE, YIPPEE!

The rules of the tournament

Brief introduction to "Thank You For Existing"

CHARACTER BIOS BELOW

Yuni Yoshinaga

“My name is Yuni Yoshinaga, and I don’t really exist.”

Born a timid, sweet, and quiet boy, Yuni was quickly mistreated for his rare heart-shaped pupils. To avoid abuse, he donned the personality mask of “The Demon Delinquent”. Years later, a major accident occurred. Yuni was medically mistaken for Mizuki Fujisaki, a well-liked girl with the same eye condition. Feeling finally free, Yuni dubbed “his” true self as “The Girly Force” to those aware while stepping into the role. Yet Yuni couldn’t shake off the “Demon Delinquent” personality mask. Why? He doesn’t actually exist…right? Yuni is the main character of TYFE.

Primary Inspiration: Masashi Rando from Pretty Face (And Chihiro Fujisaki from DR)

Plural or Plural Adjacent?: Plural

Art of Yuni Yoshinaga by: Sunnyside_Cakes

Pan Kokoro

“I’m Non-Canon and I’m proud!”

Kokoro is your typical filler character; Never appeared in a single chapter of her source, and only a single episode of the show adaptation. The problem therein lies that the peppy girl exists inside the main character’s mind, Pan Yu. Brought to the front just a couple of weeks before the series’s canonical ending, Yu’s wedding, Kokoro is determined to find the space where she fits in best! Can she assert her existence with so many people insisting she’s just a delusional Yu, including Yu’s fiance Bow Botella? Whatever the case is, she’s surprisingly comfortable in both forms she has. Pan Kokoro is the main character of TYFE part 4: Filler Turf.

Primary Inspiration: “The Girl” from the anime of Ranma ½

Plural or Plural Adjacent?: Plural

Art by @starredfishing, commission them!

Maya St. Fleur

“I’m Maya St. Fleur, and I’m gonna blow your mind!”

An ex-demolition woman turned psychic therapist (and a zombie descendant), Maya is employed by a recap therapy organization. Despite this, she’s actually never faced her past grief of losing several close people, choosing to forget instead. Trouble strikes when she needs to attend her own recap therapy, due to an actual total memory loss accident caused by Yuni. With slightly different circumstances, will Maya finally build on her past events? Or simply continue to demolish what shaped her...? Maya is the main character of TYFE Part 1: That’s Life.

Primary Inspiration: Razputin Aquato from Psychonauts.

Plural or Plural Adjacent?: Adjacent

Art of Maya St. Fleur by: Sunnyside_Cakes

Jilly Bean

“I do not feel emotions. I hope that this does not cause you distress of any kind.”

Appearing quite emotionless at first glance, Jilly Bean is actually a severely self destructive individual focused on others first. Much of this stems from her assuming she fakes all of her emotions, when in reality she’s an undiagnosed system with one low emotion alter. She has a tendency of intervening with stories she feels demonizes someone unfairly. This need to be someone else’s anchor has led her into much trouble; the lemon coloring on her body is actually scar tissue for example. With the loss of one reformed villain turned friend, Shirley A. Gonna, Jilly’s low emotion alter gets front stuck, worsening her mindset. She is a recurring character in TYFE.

Primary Inspiration: Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece

Plural or Plural Adjacent?: Plural (Unaware)

Art of Jilly Bean by: ragingwoodcock

[transpanda-1]

POV: You watching Thank You For Existing

[bettergeology]

Mount St. Helens (Lawetlat'la) as seen from Oaks Bottom, Portland on a sunny April day.

Visit my Flickr to for more!

[ajomagurd]

If you are going to take decolonization seriously, you need to properly do the research on the names you are so intent on using.

You and many others have failed to mention WHAT languages these names are from or what tribes and nation speak these languages. You didn't use the writing system made for the languages. This is like writing croissant like Kwassaunt or Kwa-Saunt. It looks stupid and its disrespectful to existing languages.

You didn't include the meanings of the names either. Its important especially because sometimes the names are given a made up meaning by settlers (I like to call this settler etymology). This is an overarching issue with misinformation about indigenous place names so I'm going to do my best to educate you.

Also many places have multiple names and not one 'official name'. The reality is, Cascadia (or PNW if you prefer, both are settler names) is linguistically diverse. Different tribes and nations have different words to call the same mountain they can both see looming in the distance. So its hard to pick one name for things without having everyone agree on it.

I'm gonna go name by name and explain:

Mt 'Baker'

'Koma Kulshan' probably comes from the smashing of two names, təqʷubəʔ, from Lushootseed, and Kwelshán, from Nooksack. Kwelshán means 'shooting place' and refers to the high meadows around the peak that were a good hunting spot. The peak of the mountain is reffered to by a different name, Kweq’ Smánit meaning 'White Mountain'.

Kwelshán was borrowed into Lummi as Kwelshán and into Halkomelem as Kwelxá:lxw, and in both it refers to the entire mountain, because they would have only seen it from afar.

Mt 'Rainier'

'Tahoma' derives from the Lushootseed word təqʷubəʔ, which refers to any permanently snow covered peak. Both Glacier Peak and Mt. Baker also have this name in Lushootseed speaking tribes that live near each. The word was also borrowed by the Yakama to refer to the mountain, in Sahaptin its Taxúma.

The Puyallup (a Lushootseed speaking tribe) have another name for the mountain, xʷaq̓ʷ, which means 'sky wiper'. For a while a guy from the tribe advocated for Ti'Swaq', but this is just adding the definite article, Ti sxʷaq̓ʷ , 'The Sky Wiper'.

Tahoma is well accepted by people at this point so I think if the name is changed that's what people will go with. But its important to actually consult the tribes on any naming changes.

Glacier Peak

'Dakobed' is an anglicization of təq̓ʷuʔbəd, The Northern Lushootseed version of the southern təqʷubəʔ, which again, means permanently snow covered mountains. The English name is probably the most accurate out of all of these because permanent snow is quite similar to glaciers.

I cant find any other sources for names of this mountain, but that does not mean they aren't out there, they just aren't online.

Mt 'Saint Helens'

'Lawetlat'la' more accurately written as Lawilatłá, is from Cowlitz, and means 'one who smokes' or 'smoker' (Lit. emmiting smoke + personifier suffix), named after the smoke that could often be seen rising from this active volcano.

'Loowit', 'Louwala-Clough' and other names are likely derivatives of this name. There are a lot of sources from settlers trying to record folktales but mishearing or misinterpreting the names of characters and places.

Some obscure names I found from This Article alone deserve a mention:

nšh’ák’w 'water coming out' from Upper Chehalis.

aka akn 'snow mountain' from Kiksht.

Mt 'Adams'

The only source for Klickitat I have seen is from a facebook post by the USGS. Klickitat is the name of a tribe. The name is an exonym given by Upper Chinookan speakers after ladaxat, a name of a Klickitat village. Their Endonym is xwa’lwaypam 'Stellars Jay People'. It does not make sense that the name of a mountain would be named after something so unrelated.

The Yakama nation, which the Klickitat are now a part of, call the mountain Pátu, meaning 'snow topped mountain' and also sometimes call it Xwayamá meaning 'golden eagle'. Both Yakama and Klickitat speak different dialects of Sahaptin.

Pátu, often anglicised to Pahto or Pahtoe, is the more popular of the names. Even though it means 'snow topped mountain' the word is generally used to refer to this particular mountain, at least to the Yakama, who live right next to it.

Mt 'Hood'

Its a myth that Wy'east is the indigenous name for Mt. Hood. The reality is that name was invented by a white missionary's fake story from his fiction book. Heres an article with more info on that. And Another.

As far as I know there is no accurate recorded name. One article I was reading mentioned Wasq’ú as the name for Mt. Hood, but this is just the name of a tribe, often anglicized as Wasco (who speak Kiksht), and it means 'a cup or bowl', so named because of a cup shaped rock near their main village. This doesn't seem like a likely name for a mountain.

In the journals of Lewis and Clark, they referenced this mountain as 'Timm mountain' or 'The Falls Mountain' after 'Timm falls' aka Celilo Falls. In Sahaptin, the falls are called Wyam meaning 'echo of falling water'. This could be misheard as 'Timm' and is also a possible origin for the term 'Wy'east'.

Mt 'Jefferson'

Many people I've seen say that 'Seekseekqua' or 'Seekseequa' is a well attested name for this mountain, but I cannot find any source that says what language or tribe used this name.

I checked the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs website, there is no mention of Seekseequa in reference to the mountain. In their Declaration of Sovereignty they call it 'Sacred Mount Jefferson'. Seekseequa is the name of a creek and a tribal district however. But I can't find any sources on where the name is from.

Three main tribes make up the Confederation, Wasco, Warm Springs, and Northern Paiute. They speak Kiksht, Sahaptin, and Paiute respectively. So it could be a term from any of those languages, possibly lost vocabulary.

It could also be a term from Molalla, a language related to Sahaptin that is now both extinct and mostly not written down. The Molalla live on the Siletz reservation now.

Three Sisters

I checked the Warm Springs Website again and nothing about Three Sisters. It seems to be a name settlers came up with. Its at least not the name of a dead white guy.

No idea where Klah Klahne came from, no references other than articles claiming its the name for these mountains.

Bonus:

Olympic Mountains

Sun-a-do is a name that sometimes is touted for Mt. Olympus or the mountain range in general.

But its probably a complete butchering of one of the many words for mountains in multiple languages from near this mountain range.

Northern Lushootseed: sbadil

Nooksack: smanit

Klallam: sŋánt

Etc, there are a lot of words derived from the same source, each meaning mountain/rock.

The Quileute are the only tribe with a name for the entire mountain range that doesnt just mean mountain or rock:

t́ist́iláalati “Thunderbird’s Lair” or “place of Thunderbird”

Sources:

Western Oregon Klikatats (Klickitats), By Robert Boyd, R. Scott Byram, David Lewis (Takelma, Chinook, Molalla, Santiam Kalapuya), Oregon Encyclopedia

Recalling Celilo, By Elizabeth Woodsy

Warm Springs Declaration of Sovereignty

MAKING THE LIST: MOUNT ST. HELENS AS A TRADITIONAL CULTURAL PROPERTY, A CASE STUDY IN TRIBAL/GOVERNMENT COOPERATION

Wasco Tribe, Access Geneology

The Misplaced Mountain: Maps, Memory, and the Yakama Reservation Boundary Dispute

Restoring a Native Name for Mount Baker? Whatcom Watch

The Original Name for Mount Olympus

I'm probably missing some but I'm not a dang academic.

Also this is all directed at OP lol

Maybe I'll do more research some other time about more mountains, but this took a while.

It's time we decolonize the Cascadian volcanoes

[micah-is-a-rock]

Which mountain is that?

Lawetlat'la/Mt. St. Helens!

[seattlereddit]

Mount St. Helens, known as Lawetlat'la to the indigenous Cowlitz people, and Loowit or Louwala-Clough to the Klickitat. Castilleja, commonly known as paintbrush, Indian paintbrush, or prairie-fire was the perfect foreground... photo by Jonathon E. Kraft

https://www.reddit.com/r/SeattleWA/comments/14q5g5k/mount_st_helens_known_as_lawetlatla_to_the/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

[normalmountain]

[washington-offical-2]

Koma Kulshan (indigenous) Mount Baker (colonizd name) is 10,786 ft 3,286 meters and is the closest volcano to me.

Tahoma(indigenous) Mount Rainer( American name) is 14,411 4,392.5 m and is technically the height peak from sea level outside of Alaska in the United states

Dakobed(indigenous name) Takobia(Sauk-Suiattle indigenous dialect (most.local name) Glacier peak (colonized name) 3214 m, 10,544 ft

Pahto or Klickitat(depending on dialect or language of the salishian languages) or Mount Adams (colonized name) 12,281 ft 3,743 m it's the second height peak in Washington and the largest mountain by volume it hadn't erupted in 1,000 years so while it's not considered extinct yet while the rest of the volcanos are active this one is only potentially active

Lawetlat'la (to the Cowlitz people) Loowit or Louwala-Clough (to the Klickitat) mount sint Helens (colonized name) is the smallest active volcano here before and after blowing it's top

All off there are strato volcanos meaning from their base their complete built up for their own lava flows and eruptions

@offical-liechtenstein

Since some of you need a geography lesson

I am here

Hope this 'helps'

[ashleybenlove]

I’m thinking about the Mount St. Helens eruption in 1980, and I found this on the Wikipedia page:

A film crew, led by Seattle filmmaker Otto Seiber, was dropped by helicopter on St. Helens on May 23 to document the destruction. Their compasses, however, spun in circles and they quickly became lost.

Their compasses... spun in circles. That’s so crazy. Like the volcano was that impactful that it made a thing that’s supposed to point magnetic north always... not do that.

[transpandaoctournament]

SEMIFINALS ROUND TAKE 2!!!

The consensus seems to be overwhelmingly for redoing this poll!

REMINDER: If Yuni OR Kokoro get the most votes they both go forward, if Maya gets the most she goes forward, it they tie: I subject you to an even longer version of this image

The rules of the tournament

Brief introduction to "Thank You For Existing"

CHARACTER BIOS BELOW

Yuni Yoshinaga

“My name is Yuni Yoshinaga, and I don’t really exist.”

Born a timid, sweet, and quiet boy, Yuni was quickly mistreated for his rare heart-shaped pupils. To avoid abuse, he donned the personality mask of “The Demon Delinquent”. Years later, a major accident occurred. Yuni was medically mistaken for Mizuki Fujisaki, a well-liked girl with the same eye condition. Feeling finally free, Yuni dubbed “his” true self as “The Girly Force” to those aware while stepping into the role. Yet Yuni couldn’t shake off the “Demon Delinquent” personality mask. Why? He doesn’t actually exist…right? Yuni is the main character of TYFE.

Primary Inspiration: Masashi Rando from Pretty Face (And Chihiro Fujisaki from DR)

Plural or Plural Adjacent?: Plural

Art of Yuni Yoshinaga by: Sunnyside_Cakes

Pan Kokoro

“I’m Non-Canon and I’m proud!”

Kokoro is your typical filler character; Never appeared in a single chapter of her source, and only a single episode of the show adaptation. The problem therein lies that the peppy girl exists inside the main character’s mind, Pan Yu. Brought to the front just a couple of weeks before the series’s canonical ending, Yu’s wedding, Kokoro is determined to find the space where she fits in best! Can she assert her existence with so many people insisting she’s just a delusional Yu, including Yu’s fiance Bow Botella? Whatever the case is, she’s surprisingly comfortable in both forms she has. Pan Kokoro is the main character of TYFE part 4: Filler Turf.

Primary Inspiration: “The Girl” from the anime of Ranma ½

Plural or Plural Adjacent?: Plural

Art by @starredfishing, commission them!

Maya St. Fleur

“I’m Maya St. Fleur, and I’m gonna blow your mind!”

An ex-demolition woman turned psychic therapist (and a zombie descendant), Maya is employed by a recap therapy organization. Despite this, she’s actually never faced her past grief of losing several close people, choosing to forget instead. Trouble strikes when she needs to attend her own recap therapy, due to an actual total memory loss accident caused by Yuni. With slightly different circumstances, will Maya finally build on her past events? Or simply continue to demolish what shaped her...? Maya is the main character of TYFE Part 1: That’s Life.

Primary Inspiration: Razputin Aquato from Psychonauts.

Plural or Plural Adjacent?: Adjacent

Art of Maya St. Fleur by: Sunnyside_Cakes

[transpanda-1]

TransPanda OC Tournament Round 1:

The rules of the tournament

Brief introduction to "Thank You For Existing"

CHARACTER BIOS BELOW

Paltinum

“O-m-g you’re, like, sooOooo funny! Prepare for annihilation.”

One day, a valley girl named Patricia sadly passed away, but luck had blessed her with a second life! Reborn into a fantasy world of slime people, she was placed in a slime body destined to be the hero of the land! …Too bad the original slime hero in that body suppressed her completely. Having gone multiple years without fronting once, Patricia got a third chance when “Absor-Corp” outfitted the hero with an exoskeleton, and accidentally made her be in front again! Determined to stay in front at all costs, she now works as the company’s main enforcer, Paltinum.

Primary Inspiration: Robo-Fortune from Skullgirls

Plural or Plural Adjacent?: Plural

Art of Paltinum by: ragingwoodcock

Helen Lawetlat’la

“Oh Marcus, sweetheart, who are yer new little friends?”

🌋Hi sweethearts! This is Helen, apparently I’m the only dang OC to become a fictive from this list! ...Yet. Anywhoo, I’m ‘sposed to be one of those big, doting, Minnesotan mom types. I’m a real accomplished single mom, dontch’a know? I graduated from college when I was 8! …Granted, cause of the gigantism, they thought I was their age, but eh, whaddya gonna do? It’s hard bein’ a single, 10 foot tall mom with multiple law degrees! But keepin’ my kids happy is what I love best. I also babysit that lil Owen fella here and there, he likes how tall I am.

Primary Inspiration: Homer Simpson from The Simpsons

Plural or Plural Adjacent?: Adjacent (By force of the universe?? She was literally supposed to be a straightforward singlet??)

Art of Helen Lawetlat'la by: Sunnyside_Cakes

[inkedmyths]

Your babygirl is a sad man from a TV show who shot a guy. My babygirl is a mountain that blew its side off devastating the landscape around it and caused massive mudslides. We are not the same

[garrett-island-official]

[daily-volcanology]

Hey everyone! One of my favorite podcasts, National Parks After Dark, did an episode on the legendary Harry R. Truman and his life and death on the slopes of Lawetlat'la/Loowit (Mt. St. Helens).

It's a really good listen but also I bring your attention to it because you can finally hear how Lawetlat'la is pronounced (although I'm not 100% sure it is absolutely correct since the hosts are non-native but at least it's a start)