Cold.
That’s not unusual for February here — more the norm, actually, despite the dangerous warming trend of the pats couple of years. But the unseasonal warmth has, predictably, lulled us into complacency; we’ve forgotten just how cold — and dangerous — “cold” can be.
These are days to stay indoors by the fire, but circumstances have not permitted us that luxury. Appointments and tasks have required us to be abroad and about, bundled against the bitter wind. These are the kinds of temperatures that burn skin and steal breath, and it is the height of folly to treat them casually.
It would be so easy to refuse responsibility — to reject our day-to-day obligations in favor of hibernation. It’s love that keeps us going.
And love is born of a strong heart.
The spirits teach us this; so do the ancestors and our traditional ways. So do our fellow creatures, the other being with whom we share this space and place. And among those beings, those earthbound spirits like us, perhaps the strongest heart has always belonged to Buffalo.
Buffalo is certainly one of the greatest manifestations of the spirits’ love for us as people. These great beings are our brothers, symbols of history and heritage, yes, but protectors in a more practical sense, too. Unlike the invaders who sought their extermination (and our genocide with it, coming much closer to full success on both counts than is comfortable either for us or for the buffalo), our peoples understood our relationship to them more as one of equals: not animals over whom humans were somehow granted “dominion,” but a more symbiotic relationship among peers. And when a buffalo was taken — for food, for shelter, for clothing, for medicine — we did this great relative the respect of ensuring that no part went to waste.
The buffalo’s strong heart maintained not merely a powerful body but a sustaining spirit, a combination that is one of the fundamental reasons why we survive today.
And this symbol of history, of tradition, of honor, of love itself is embodied in today’s featured work. From its description in the Other Artists: Sculpture gallery here on the site:
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
This has always been my favorite among Ned’s body of work that we have carried in our inventory. It’s the substance of it, yes, but also the spirit of the piece: one so tightly braided in the hoop of our identities and histories and ancestry and survival that it’s the veery embodiment of of love, of and for the spirits, of and for each other, of and for the earth.
And in this cold season warmed by the artifice of paper hearts, of reds and pinks and the commercialization of a colonial saint, it’s a reminder that love, real love, is born of a strong heart.
~ Aji
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