“What happens when you put an experimental animator from Argentina, a musician from Mexico City, a performing artist from New Jersey, and an ecologist from California in the Earthfire Institute pasture? They become part of Bluebells the bison’s herd.” Mike Bryant.
There has been a utter explosion of creativity here at Earthfire with the combined talents of three artists, a scientist, Jean, Susan and the animals – through the California Institute of
the Arts residency program currently at Earthfire. The animals have simply awed the students. One of them has already made a life-time commitment to conservation; science lectures at CalArts will now be enhanced with understandings gained here, an on-line children’s book has been conceived, and that’s just in the first three days of a two week program.
The Michelle Lund/Earthfire Institute Residency program has made possible the encounters between CalArts students and faculty with Cucumber the wolf, Bluebell the bison, Pimpernel the coyote, Firefly the fox and many other Earthfire animals. The goal of the residency to is to produce a powerful multi-media art project, informed by science, on the new ways of seeing and practicing conservation.
Johnnie Martin, a performing artist says “The animals here at Earthfire have gone through a lot of different transitions. Bluebell’s herd has passed away and she has come to embrace humans as her herd. There is a real, raw, love that comes out of Bluebell. It’s almost overwhelming to hold this animal that’s 1500 lbs in your arms as she licks your shoelaces. There is nothing else quite like that.” He goes on “I think Earthfire presents a really interesting model for an animal sanctuary, in that its an ethical venture, yes, to take care of animals that can’t live in the wild, but takes it to another place to educate people about wildlife. In the larger picture of conservation the number of animals that are here aren’t very many, but through their role of spokes-animals they can encourage people to support conservation in a really big way. I wish that more animal sanctuaries had that two-fold component.”
Mike Bryant, part of the science faculty at CalArts is using his experience to expand on his conservation lectures. He states “Inspired in part, by Earthfire’s physical location, which “guards” the southern portion of the Yellowstone to Yukon Wildlife Corridor, and by drawing from the personal connection with the wildlife at Earthfire, I am exploring the many facets of the term connectivity as it applies to Conservation Biology. Earthfire is bringing the level of my personal connection to wildlife up, which leads me into something that I haven’t done before in my lectures to the CalArts students - to really focus on the role of advocacy as an ecologist. That is what I have been working on here.”
The students will be hosting a free public presentation of their work done over the two week residency at Pierre’s Playhouse in Victor, ID on July 30th at 12pm. We hope to see you there!
So many of you have asked about Major Bear; sent prayers, suggestions, love. So many of you asked how he was doing.
Major Bear left his body three weeks ago. We were with him. It broke our hearts. All of you who have gone through a loved one’s suffering and leaving know.
We lit candles by his head while we dug a grave for him. We buried him on our land, in our animal graveyard where all the animals we have ever had lie. One day we will have the time and funds to make it a sacred and beautiful place. Until then it is bathed in love and memories.
Following the tradition in many religions about the length of time the soul stays around the body and then begins its journey, we held a service for him a few days after his passing to help him on his way. We called in the love and wishes all of you have sent, to go with him. K’Lea came and played the Tibetan singing bowls again for him at his graveside. First they had been for healing. Then it was to support the highest and best outcome for him, whatever that would be, rather than try to make him live, for us. Now she played them for safe and good passage to wherever he was going. It was a lovely evening, wind whispering through the cottonwoods, birds singing.
Sad as we are, death is also an opportunity to get closer to that veil that separates the living from the dead, to understand more deeply the beauty of life and the great mystery of it all. For that we are always grateful. And as all of you know who have lost loved ones, the sweetness and richness of having had them in our lives far outweighs the sadness. We only wish that he was with us longer. . .
For those of you who would “send flowers” we ask that any loving gifts be sent care of the Major Bear Memorial Bear Garden for the five bears that remain. Just indicate your intent on the donation page.
We’ll be preparing a celebratory retrospective of his life in video to be posted shortly, we will send you the link via e-mail.
For those of you who never had the chance to hear a cougar purr. . . here is the sound of a happy cougar. Jean put the tape recorder right up against Windwalker as he held and petted him. We all know that cougars can be dangerous, but that is the only side of them that is usually portrayed. They can also be remarkably loving.
This recording was inspired by Bernie Krause and facilitated by Volker Widman, a Sounds of Nature workshop participant.
After nine days traveling in the silence, tuned to eternal rhythms, we arrived at a lake to settle in for a week. Moments after our ar-rival, on the far side of the lake, three wolves emerged from the forest.
They casually loped along the edge of the water, stopping to sniff; explore, play. They trotted along the entire length of the lake from end to end and around, slowly disappearing into the trees.
A long, unhurried visit; beings arisen from this untrammeled place. My immediate reaction was an unexpected upwelling of tears. It felt as if they had come to welcome me.
Being in a place so vast; so silent; so whole, lets deeper things come to the fore; makes it possible to tune to fainter energies. Did they sense me because I love them so and come to visit? Did I call them without realizing it, physical wolves responding to spirit?
The wolves came again the morning I was leaving. Perhaps it was just coincidence, nothing more, their coming just as I arrived ; coming again just as I left. But how do we ever know such things? If we see it as a coincidence, and it isn’t, then what have we missed!
*Excerpt from Into the Space and Silence by Susan B. Eirich, a book inspired by a three week trip into the Muskwa-Ketchika, the most remote area of the Yellowstone to Yukon Wildlife Corridor
Named after a passionate earth-mother wolf with a fire in her belly to protect anything vulnerable, Earthfire was founded in 2000 to develop a new model of relating to nature through the voices of the rescued wildlife>
So many of you have asked about 
Nomad Lives by Jennifer Sauer
