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| Black Bear in the Back Yard |
In 1926, A. Irving Hallowell's seminal "Bear Ceremonialism in the Northern Hemisphere" was published in the American Anthropologist. In it he noted that the practice of honoring bears in ceremony was circumpolar and appeared in groups as diverse as the Inuit of Canada, the Sami of Finland, the Ainu of Japan, and with tribal groups living in Mongolia and the Russian Taiga, to name but a few.
Arctolatry is the worship of bears but worship is only one way to relate to bears. Clearly there is also fear and awe, in some cases respect, in others disdain. A lone hunter or walker who encounters a bear treats it with awareness. Several times I've had the experience of unexpectantly meeting a black bear on the trail, one time we looked into each other’s eyes and I could see the bear's nostril moving while it assessed the situation. These are long and timeless moments with total presence of mind – but deeper than thought. In this unpredictable place either of our responses could be primal. In these moments I've stayed still, not because I had a plan, but it played out this way and fortunately for me in each episode the bear turned and loped away. These bright and scary moments are more crisp and fulfilling than a fist full of new-age workshops. After a bear encounter I've always felt that I'd been gifted.
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| An 1890 photograph of the Bear Flag. The original was destroyed in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake |
On June 14th, 1846 a group of about 30 Americans living in what we now call Sonoma California, declared their independence from Mexico. It was called the Bear Flag Revolt so-named after a flag created by William L. Todd, a nephew of Mary Todd Lincoln, who painted a star and a grizzly bear on a piece of unbleached muslim. The star commemorates the Lone Star Republic of Texas, who declared independence from Mexico in 1836 and joined the United States in 1845. Adjacent to the star is an animal that was intended to be a grizzly representing the many bears that flourished from grassland to granite before the gold rush. John Bidwell was there for the flag raising and overheard the indigenous Suisun people's remarks about the flag. They identified the silhouetted bear as, "Coche", the common Spanish name among them for pig or shoat." The words CALIFORNIA REPUBLIC appear below the star and grizzly while at the bottom of the flag is a single long stripe running horizontally.
In 1911 a more tidy version of the Bear Flag, with an obvious grizzly bear, was adopted by the California Legislature as the State Flag. The last California grizzly was killed in the early 1920s but, nevertheless, was designated the "State Animal" in 1953. California is the only State with an extinct species on its flag. Places in the Yuba watershed that show deference to the grizzly include: Grizzly Hill and Grizzly Creek on San Juan Ridge, Grizzly Gulch, a tributary of Oregon Creek, Grizzly Fort near Fiddle Creek, Grizzly Hill near Poker Flat and another Grizzly Hill near Brandy City.
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| Drawing by Lauren Davis
The Nisenan, who occupied the watersheds of the Yuba, Bear and American Rivers had bear shamans who draped themselves in grizzly pelts. When anthropologist Ralph Beals interviewed people of the Yuba and Bear Rivers he found that Bear Shamans "survive vividly in the minds of old people." Apparently a man (or woman?) could become a grizzly by rubbing ceremonial herbs on the skin. The bear shamans were feared and several of the Nisenan knew of murders attributed to grizzlies or shamans. Details are sketchy and perhaps impossible for us to understand because we've never lived with grizzlies.
Livestock, introduced by the Spanish in the 18th century, created extensive open-range effects on native grassland. Cattle, sheep, goats and pigs were docile and easy prey for grizzlies who were grassland and chaparral animals. They didn't hibernate because they overwintered at lower elevations. Settlers and entrepreneurs determinedly hunted grizzlies for self-protection, meat, hides and to protect their livestock investment. They were so successful that by 1877 the State suspended a bounty program because Grizzlies were no longer perceived as a threat.
As of March 2018, the Center for Biological Diversity had garnered nearly 20,000 signatures on a public petition to restore the grizzly bears to remote mountain regions in California. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife opposes the idea as do statewide livestock associations.
The black bear is a forest bear, the grizzly is not. When grizzlies ruled, the black bears were limited to upslope forests but now they range from the lower foothills to Lake Tahoe. Unfortunately our sloppy habits have created black bears who've become addicted to our trash and unconscious "camping" practices. These bears become a nuisance and will eventually be killed for foraging. It's as if we're baiting them into bad behavior and then punishing them for it. We've talked about this problem for years, but it's not getting any better. Continuous education is the best way to change the equation – if we can effectively teach elementary students about the potential consequences of smoking tobacco or not wearing a seat belt we can teach them how to participate in the natural world. People want to do the right thing but sometimes have to be shown how they fit into the web of life.
Please do not deliberately, or through carelessness, feed the wildlife. Bears will suffer the most because they are large animals who remind us of wilder times when we were not at the top of the food chain.
Photographer unknown
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