I have always felt an attraction to Bison. As a child, I often imagined myself as a Native hunter pursuing them across wide open plains... As a student of mythology, I have been thrilled by images of the prehistoric Bison paintings found on the walls of caves in France and Spain... As a geneticist, I have explored the molecular characteristics of their DNA... And in the 80's—while Ruth and I were living in Edmonton—we spent many weekends photographing the Bison who roamed nearby Elk Island Park.
But this summer, we began to feel that we still didn’t fully appreciate who 'Bison' really is. So in October, we journeyed back to Elk Island to reconnect with the Bison...and to open more fully to their True Nature.
As we followed the herd, we felt a marvellous balance of community and individuality. Herd members seemed to breathe together...and continually sing to one another in a tone that generated a palpable sense of ‘oneness’: a oneness born from a group of profoundly unique individuals—each freely expressing its own behaviors, sounds and personality.
I have created a new Bison Gallery...and will be adding to it over the coming weeks. We've also begun editing video footage from the trip for a short film that explores the impact that the Song of the Bison had on us.