Indiana: The Apocrypha

A tale as old as time.

In the beginning, there was formlessness and void.

Silent earthworks and megalith stones of the Younger Dryas.

From the glacial black swamps, a People emerged from the water and formed a village - aacimwahki (land of stories) - and lived there in peace.

Until a man came from the East, bringing with him voyageurs in fur caps who built a fortress made of wood.

Ville-de-Huissier.

And the People of the water watched on.

After these men came other men in tall hats who took the fortress for the Crown and named it Husherville, which became a village, then a town, then a small city.

Gas was discovered, and wealth poured through the hands of its landed citizens. Like the city water flowing through the newly laid pipes.

And the People watched on.

War came to the world and the gas ran out. A fire started by a writer destroyed half of Husherville, and progress destroyed the other.

And the People watched on.

The wars ended, and a new chemical lifeblood gave the city a new name - Petroleum. A city that lived and died by industry, until her last factory's gasp and a collapse into rust.

A century on, a strange disease.

War returned, and men appeared from much farther East, flying in ships to rename the land once again.

Chén shuǐ (陈水) - Old Water.

And the People watched on.

For they had been here since the beginning.

Water they were, and to water they would return.

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What I’m reading: The Beautiful Necessity: Seven Essays on Theosophy and Architecture (Claude Fayette Bragdon)

What I'm listening to: Echelon Protocol (State Azure)

Read the Brazil tour blog at the Substack: