Yesterday’s ferocious winds blew in an equally feral cold. Near midday and the sun is high in the sky, but the mercury, well into the sixties in recent days, has barely passed the fifty-degree mark now.
There is only a faint breeze, but it cuts to the bone.
Meanwhile, mares’ tails and thunderheads abound, the former adrift across the overhead sky, the latter boiling over the horizon on all sides. These are monsoonal patterns, despite the date on the calendar, and with the mercury slated to fall still more by tomorrow, the forecast predicts snow. It is precipitation, and therefore entirely welcome, but it’s hard to face a return to winter with the trees at long last just beginning to leaf.
Yes, mid-April and the forecast is for rain turning to snow overnight, with snow showers tomorrow. We need strength and shelter in the storm, medicine for the fire, and the determination not to lose sight of summer now.
If we are unsettled by the changes to season and climate, so, too, are the other beings with whom we share this land. Skunk was here yesterday, apparently in broad daylight. Coyote, of course, comes and goes year-round, but the behavior of the dogs at night leads us to believe he’s coming closer than usual this time of year. There is visible evidence of other creatures, too, some of which looks suspiciously like that belonging to Bear. They will be emerging now, and hungry, and the return of the cold will not help them in their search for food. Even the birds know that our patterns are different, and they are adjusting their own habits accordingly. This is the first time that we know of that the red-tails have decided to nest her for spring, and the Swainson’s hawks, usually already here by late March, have not even arrived yet. Meanwhile, at least two magpie pairs already have hatchlings to feed, hungry and loud . . . and vulnerable to larger predators now.
There is much to do for everyone at this season, and the first order of business is safety and simple survival.
Today’s featured work, by one of Wings’s oldest friends in the regional Indigenous arts community, is a figurative representation of one of the traditional spirits of safety, a protector skilled at healing, too. It takes the form and shape of one of those giant beings now emerging from a long winter’s sleep, beings less likely to be interested in either shelter or medicine for us now, but most definitely concerned about them for their own vulnerable young. Even in such circumstances, Bear has much to teach us about where our responsibilities lie, and about our own abilities to put the earth’s own gifts, storm and fire and more, to proper use. From its description in the Other Artists: Sculpture gallery here on the site:
This enormous medicine bear by master carver Mark Swazo-Hinds (Tesuque Pueblo) is substantial enough to be displayed on a large coffee table. A museum-quality showpiece carved of very pale sandstone in a subtle version of the traditional Southwest hump-backed style, he’s more than a foot long and extremely heavy. He carries a complex medicine bundle crafted in Mark’s own inimitable style, of macaw and turkey feathers, pieces of turquoise, old pottery sherds, and shells, tied on with fabric to keep it secure. The bear is 12″ long by 5-1/8″ high; the bundle extends approximately 6″ beyond the back end of the bear (dimensions approximate).
Sandstone; turkey feathers; macaw feathers; pottery sherds; turquoise; shells; fabric
$2,500 + shipping, handling, and insurance
Weight and fragility require special handling; extra shipping charges apply
This piece is big, bold, and classic Mark in style: spare, clean lines that let the stone, cool and smooth, do the talking, but wrapped with an elaborate medicine bundle formed of traditional elements in classic colors. The turkey feathers are a dark earthy contrast to the bear’s sandy surface; the macaw feathers are a riot of indigo and jade, gold and russet. Beneath their crown, a patterned fabric band in the shades of the desert, turquoise and orange and gold and white, holds fast a clutch of valuable offerings: whole shells and ancient pottery sherds, and a pair of gigantic turquoise beads webbed with gold matrix and held fast by leather thongs.
It’s Bear in his most traditional form, as Medicine Bear — protector and healer both, providing strength and shelter from the storm, medicine for the fire, and the security and safety of a better world for our children.
It’s time to follow his example.
~ Aji
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