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I realized I only showed this as a work in progress. Here is the finished watercolor

In a previous blog post, I commented on the European habit of replacing charming First Nations* names of geographic features with the names of pasty white people. "Lake Louise," "Alberta," "Victoria Glacier." This continued when the pasty white people started getting born in North America; Mount McKinley temporarily standing in as the name of Mount Denali for example.

Mt. Hood; Mt. Baker; Lincoln, Nebraska.

This painting depicts the Bow River near Banff. According to Wikipedia, this name comes from reeds that grew along the river and were used by the Blackfoot people to make bows. They called it Makhabn, which means "river where bow reeds grow." So in this case the pasty white renamers at least tried to show some respect. I don't know the name of the particular mountain I've painted here. It might be a true First Nations name along the lines of Athabaskan, or it might be Mt. Humphrey Bogart. All I really know is that it is majestic. The painting does not capture how MASSIVE it is.

I give this silly history lesson and editorial because I write this fewer than 24 hours after the passing of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. To my mind, notorious RBG truly is worthy to have a mountain named for her (yes, I know, this painting shows a mountain in Canada, but who cares about international borders when there are heroes to be honored?).

So, for today anyway, this has become Mount Ruth Bader Ginsburg to me. Maybe it can keep Mount Edith Cavell** company.

*First Nations is the Canadian way of referring to the indigenous people of the Americas. I prefer it to Native Americans, but that's just me. 

**Mount Edith Cavell, the most massive peak entirely in Alberta, is named for a British nurse executed by the Germans in the First World War. Kind of proves my point.***

***And, to ice the cake, Mount Edith Cavell's previous name was Mount Fitzhugh. I don't know who Fitzhugh was, but I doubt he or she was First Nation.