It’s the Day of the Heart: that cross-cultural symbol of romantic love. In our cultures, perhaps no spirit better embodies the notion of heart, in all its forms and connotations, than Buffalo. And so today, we have for you Buffalo himself, wearing the very colors of this day, pink and red.
First, the version shown in the photo above, not small enough to be called a fetish by any stretch of the imagination, yet a sculptural piece that feels at home in one’s hands. From its description in the Other Artists: Sculpture gallery:
Buffalo stands solidly on your shelf or mantel, as rendered here by master carver Ned Archuleta (Taos Pueblo). The back of the body and the face are polished smooth; the head, shoulders, and forelegs are roughened to evoke his curly mane. The horns are carved of deep-red polished pipestone. Approximate dimensions are 7″ in length X 5″ in height.
Pink alabaster; pipestone
$375 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Requires special handling; extra shipping charges apply
Beyond the piece itself, we’ve looked at Buffalo several times before: in its white robe, as a symbol of indigenous sovereignty and independence; in a herd, as a trans-species symbol of survival and existential triumph; in this particular rendering, as an incarnation of spirit and the sacred.
It’s one of those beings who, for many of our peoples, has historically blessed us with all of the necessities of life: food; drink; shelter; clothing; medicine; art; security. In the old days, before the wanton colonial slaughter of Buffalo’s once-vast numbers, he was an elder brother, a relative, one who lent his strength and great heart to the people in untold ways metaphorical and literal.
An adult buffalo’s massive size is enough to give rise to the notion of great-heartedness; clearly, it’s an animal of great physical power and strength and substance. An entire herd of them can fill one’s whole field of vision, and when the herd is on the move, nothing stands in its way. Indeed, there’s an old traditional story about how Buffalo got his hump, as a penalty from Spirit for his continual practice of engaging in headlong flight across the prairie, heedlessly destroying the ground nests of certain birds and other small creatures in the process. The hump was his reminder of the need for humility and care. It’s a lesson from which humans could learn a great deal: that great strength must be tempered with compassion, great power with humility. Another way of putting it is that when one acts, one must do so with a good heart.
But Buffalo’s raw physical strength is not the only way in which indigenous notions of great-heartedness manifest in his being. It’s a concept that may be taken in very literal terms. After all, one of our peoples’ traditional principles is to let nothing go to waste. This is exemplified in traditional hunting practices, in which the meat was used entirely; the blood had its own purpose; the hide, horns, and hooves given over to clothing, shelter, weaponry, and art; and sundry parts of the animal turned into medicine. Even today, these practices continue, sometimes only ceremonially, sometimes daily on a practical level. Have you ever eaten buffalo heart? We have. It was a gift from the proprietor of The Bison Project at Picuris Pueblo many years ago, when we purchased a substantial amount of meat to set aside for the coming winter. If ever there were a sense in which the phrase “a strong heart” applies literally to Buffalo, this is it.
But perhaps more important is the metaphorical, symbolic sense of the phrase. At the same time as the agents and forces of colonialism were busily engaged in an all-out campaign to exterminate our peoples, so, too, were the same agents and forces busily exterminating our Buffalo brethren. And on that front, they very nearly succeeded. Some of the most painful photos from our peoples’ collective history, for me, are those of our elder brothers’ dead bodies, the carcasses thrown carelessly into a pile stacked a couple of stories high, with white men standing triumphantly atop their desecrated mountain of “trophies.” It hurts my own heart to see the needless, heedless, wanton slaughter.
And yet, like us, they remain. The herds are getting help, true, but their spirits are and were strong and determined, and however few their numbers at times, they did not succumb entirely to the forces arrayed against their very existence.
That is a strong heart.
Is it any wonder that this magnificent creature has become an intertribal symbol of survival in the face of genocide, of existential triumph, of the most visible manifestation of what a great strong heart can accomplish?
On this day when we celebrate the love the day’s most prolific symbol represents, we wish our clients, friends, and family all the blessings of a strong heart.
~ Aji
All content, including photos and text, are copyright Wings and Aji, 2015; all rights reserved. Nothing herein may used or reproduced in any form without the express written permission of the owners.
