![Sunrise over Hells Canyon and Idaho's Seven Devils Mountains as seen from the Wal'wa.maXs (Wallowa Mountains) of Oregon. [Photo] Joe Whittle](https://alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a65-off-belay-1-930x496.jpg)
In this Off Belay story from Alpinist 65, Joe Whittle shares a creation story that was told to him by a Nez Perce elder, Allen Pinkham. The story led Whittle to consider his relationship with nature more closely. He writes: “As I listened, I understood that recognizing the sovereignty of other elements in the world–including rocks, plants and water–can weave sustainability into a culture.”
![Twin Peaks, Doug Peak, and Sawtooth Peak rise amid the peaks of the Wal'wa-maXs. [Photo] Joe Whittle](https://alpinist.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/a62-wired-1-930x548.jpg)
In this story from Alpinist 62, “Adventures on the Turtle’s Back,” Joe Whittle, an enrolled tribal member of the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma and a descendent of the Delaware Nation, spends time in canyons and mountains that Indigenous people call home. Kanim Moses-Conner, Bobby Fossek, Len Necefer, Mia Ritter-Whittle and Brosnan Spencer join him on a shared journey to connect with the land and their Native American heritage in the Wal’wa-maXs, Oregon.
