Notebook

An eerie image of Bigfoot in a dense forest, illuminated by sunlight filtering through tall trees, capturing the legendary creature in its natural habitat.

Indigenous Perspectives Redefine Bigfoot in New OPB Film

A new documentary from OPB shares Indigenous stories revealing Sasquatch as sacred protector interview by Cathy Carroll Long before Bigfoot, also known as Sasquatch, became a pop-culture icon, Indigenous peoples have viewed the mythical creature as a revered relative. They see Bigfoot not as a monster but as a protector—a spiritual being who teaches humans to respect and care for the earth. In Guardian of the Land, Emmy-nominated director LaRonn Katchia (Warm Springs, Wasco and Paiute) weaves oral histories about Bigfoot sightings and stories through the work of four leading contemporary Indigenous artists and thought leaders. The twenty-four-minute film from Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) takes viewers on a sensory journey through the Nch’i-Wána, or Columbia River lands, where Indigenous cultures believe Bigfoot has long cast a watchful eye over them. How did it feel to reclaim that narrative of Sasquatch cinematically, and how did Indigenous oral histories shape your visual…

A woman smiling outdoors in natural light, representing resilience and personal growth, aligning with themes of self-discovery and transformation in Oregon.

Unfixed: Finding Meaning Through Illness

Memoir and media platform reframe upheaval and illness as a doorway to radical love and meaning interview by Cathy Carroll Kimberly Warner’s newly released memoir, Unfixed, traces her quest for wholeness after confronting long-buried family truths, New Age self-improvement dogma and the perfectionism that shaped her. After developing a rare neurological disorder in 2015, the filmmaker began creating award-winning films, limited series, podcasts, memoirs and live roundtables. Her work, a space where adversity becomes a source of creative intelligence and philosophical insight, has been recognized by PBS, Harvard Medical School and the Invisible Disabilities Association, among others. She lives on a farm in North Plains, west of Portland. What felt most urgent for you to explore in your book, film and audio work? In 2018, still staggering from a rare neurological disorder that left me with unrelenting vertigo, I sat down at my husband’s computer with the urgency of someone…

High-quality image of a videographer recording an interview at an Oregon community center or office, highlighting local media, storytelling, and Oregon-based journalism in focus.

Uncovering Oregon’s Native Boarding School History

OPB uncovers hidden Native American boarding school stories for a national audience through one Oregon woman’s quest interview by Cathy Carroll The film Uncovering Boarding Schools: Stories of Resistance and Resilience is the first in-depth look at the Native American boarding school experience in Oregon, adding new chapters, voices and context. Oregon Public Broadcasting viewers can follow Gabriann “Abby” Hall, a Klamath Tribes member, as she uncovers her relatives’ experiences among countless Indigenous children forcibly removed from their homes by the federal government. OPB producer Kami Horton discussed the one-hour film, made with a crew that included Native American tribal members. How did you honor the trauma of this narrative while also reflecting strength and survival? It was essential to everyone involved that resiliency be a key element throughout the documentary. As Klamath Tribes member Abby Hall says in the documentary, “The children fought back.” We discovered that some of…

A portrait of a smiling woman with long brown hair, wearing a patterned dress and pearl necklace, featured in Oregon's 1859 Magazine, highlighting Oregon's culture, arts, and lifestyle.

Antidote for Buried Histories

Acclaimed new novel is a reckoning, unearthing horrors and shimmering possibilities interview by Cathy Carroll Karen Russell’s latest novel, The Antidote, is her first since Swamplandia!, one of The New York Times’ ten best books of the year and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. She has received many awards, including a MacArthur Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship and The New Yorker’s “20 under 40” list (she is now 43). Russell, who lives in Portland, also serves on the board of Street Books, a mobile library and community space for people living outside or at the margins in Portland. What drove you to incorporate magical elements with brutal historical realities? I’m sure my early reading history has a lot to do with it, as does growing up in Miami, where long before I knew how to read I learned how many streaming realities can coexist on a single city block. As…

Ellen Waterston sees poetry as a unifier across Oregon’s divides.

Poet in Motion

Oregon’s poet laureate brings verse to every corner of Oregon interview by Cathy Carroll Ellen Waterson of Bend is midway through a two-year term as Oregon’s poet laureate. Poetry has always been at the center of her writing, and she is also the author of three award-winning literary nonfiction books: Walking the High Desert, Where the Crooked River Rises and Then There Was No Mountain. Waterston founded the Writing Ranch, offering retreats and workshops for established and emerging writers, and the literary arts nonprofit, The Nature of Words, which she directed for more than a decade. She also founded the Waterston Desert Writing Prize, annually recognizing a nonfiction book proposal that examines the role of deserts in the human narrative, now a program of the High Desert Museum. Her latest book is We Could Die Doing This, Dispatches on Ageing from Oregon’s Outback, a collection of essays. What are some…

Author Alison Jean Cole is redefining rockhounding for a new generation.

Modern Rockhounds

Portland author’s new book harnesses fresh energy and ethics around rockhounding interview by Cathy Carroll Alison Jean Cole is at the forefront of a new interest in the Northwest that’s no longer your granduncle’s pastime—rockhounding. Her second book on the topic, A Rockhound’s Guide to Oregon & Washington, has just been released amid a growing, youthful enthusiasm for the hobby that promises another way to connect with nature. The book covers rockhounding basics, sustainable collecting, Leave No Trace principles and, for sixty sites, the geologic history along with what types of rocks and fossils you may find. The region is a treasure trove for rockhounds who can explore ancient seafloors, epic lava flows, glacier-carved landscapes and evidence of 200 million years of tectonic action. This guide helps beginners find agates and jaspers in the volcanic Cascade Range, marine fossils along the Coast, petrified wood in the Owyhee Uplands and more….

Your Guide to Summer Music Festivals

Soak in the sun and sounds of live music at these ten events around Oregon written by Ben Salmon | illustration by Ni Ma There’s no shortage of fun things to do in Oregon during the summer, and that includes music festivals, which give folks from Portland to Pendleton and points in between a chance to gather under the sun and enjoy a whole bunch of live music. Here are ten fests happening across the state that deserve a spot on your calendar this summer. ROOTS-ROCKIN’ Big Ponderoo This is year two for Big Ponderoo, a new event from the team behind one of Oregon’s great musical gatherings, the Sisters Folk Festival. Well-organized and expertly curated, Big Ponderoo features two days of Americana, folk-rock, rootsy soul and more in an easygoing atmosphere. At a time when too many festivals feel increasingly corporate (and expensive), Big Ponderoo is a throwback to…