This day has been the veery epitome of spring in this place: wild swings between bitter cold and moderate warmth and back again, snow and sun and a return to waiting for the next wave of weather, its leading edge already here.
It’s hard to find equilibrium now, hard on the body, and hard on the spirit. We look for guidance and grounding, vision and visions, but in the throes of the unsettled season, wisdom is hard-won if at all.
But in our way, there are spirits to guide us, if only we remember to look — and, of course, if we are humble enough to do so.
One of those spirits is our brother, Buffalo, a being with whom we have always shares this land, one who shares with us the gift of his entire self. Buffalo is one of those rare animals whose entire body and being are used; nothing goes to waste. Food; shelter; clothing; weaponry; art; ceremony; medicine. From horn to hoof, every fiber and cell of this great and powerful indigenous spirit aids us on our journey around the hoop.
But Buffalo offers more than practical aid; he teaches by example. He symbolizes different traits for different traditions, but some share common understandings of his identity and spirit: a strong heart; a steadfast spirit; solidity and stability. Our existences are inextricably braided with that of his clan and kind, and he is a part of our history and identity in ways that go far beyond mere proximity. Buffalo’s existence today is a reminder to us of our own strength and resilience, our refusal, like his own, to succumb entirely to the depredations of overwhelming hostile force. He remains strong and steady through day and night, sun and storm, summer and snow, and thereby reminds us that we can do the same.
Small wonder, then, that Buffalo is such a popular subject for indigenous artists. He is model and muse, inspiration and inspiriting force — for everything from painting to leatherwork to drums to carving and beyond. Native carvers hold his form and shape in special esteem, irrespective of the size of their works: From sculptors of industrial -sized works to carvers of tiny fetishes and everything in between, he inspires their hands and tools to summon him into new incarnations.
Today’s featured work is no exception. From its description in the Other Artists: Fetishes gallery here on the site:
Ben Romero (Taos Pueblo) has coaxed Buffalo into taking shape out of the Pueblo’s own micaceous clay. The strong and solid little animal gleams in the light, his stylized shaggy head gazing out beneath a colorful medicine bundle of feathers, quills, a fabric rosette, and vintage-style beads. Buffalo stands 1.5″ high by 2-1/8″ long (dimensions approximate). Another view shown at top.
Micaceous clay; quills; feathers; beads; fabric; sinew
$30 + shipping, handling, and insurance
I have been surprised that this small spirit, one who embodies the identity and power of a much larger being, has not yet found his home. He is the last of a series that Benito created for us years ago, multiple versions of Buffalo and his cousin, Bear, all wrought in the same vintage style of the same micaceous clay for which the Pueblo is famed. They were all true miniature spirit beings, ones whose identity and existence required no extraneous detail to manifest, only the vaguest of form and shape. This one harks back to a much older artistic tradition, one familiar to our ancestors, combining earth and water, feather and sinew, trade beads and flowers made of fabric and the quills of the porcupine.
And all of the traditional artistic details of this tiny medicine buffalo are essential to his spirit and power. The bundle identifies him as a medicine being; the old elements mark him as one with a long, deep sense of history. Both are essential to our survival, in the warm and easy days of summer, and in those days like much of this one, a suddenly dark and stormy return to winter. They remind us of our ancestors, of what they gave so that we might be today . . . and remind us that we, too, can weather the storm.
It’s hard to imagine that such a tiny being can hold such power, but in our way, that is the exact purpose of a fetish carving. In dark days, our task is to summon strength of heart and steadiness of spirit.
Our task is to become Buffalo Spirits.
~ Aji
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