Power Animals

I used to believe that one's spirit animal was their favorite animal, so I was surprised to realize my spirit animal was a buffalo, not a dairy cow. I had heard about spirit animals before this class in a camp I had gone to as a kid. There they had told us that spirit animals, or power animals, represented a feeling of protection. When I was a sophomore in high school, the image of buffalo's appeared everywhere to me and I decided that buffalo's would represent my protection. For this experience, I wanted to be more specific with the type of buffalo that represented me. I discovered that there are many types of buffalo in the world; an American bison, European buffalo, or wisent, water buffalo, and the African/Cape buffalo being the more common. In reading about the buffalo's, the African buffalo stood out to me the most. This buffalo's herd is highly centralized around the female buffalos. The African/Cape Buffalo also does not mock charge, which is unusal compared it other buffalo. So in other words this buffalo charges to kill. Humans fear this buffalo for it's unpredictable behavior and dangerous charge, making this bull entirely undomesticated.

"When we learn to speak with the animals, to listen with animal ears and to see through animal eyes, we experience the phenomena, the power, and the potential of human essence, and it is then when animals are no longer subordinates." (p.111). This quote reminded me of the exercise we will experience when we go to an animal adoption center. The bit about the "potential of human essence"  seemed important to me because references to human nature are powerful, mankind constantly challenging their superiority.
"Then he pointed to a man who was bright red all over...as he pointed, the red man lay down and rolled  and changed into a bison that got up and galloped toward the sorrel of horses of the east." (p.127). This quote from Black Elk Speaks was effective in illustrating the power of the bison to Native American tribes. I had always thought of the buffalo as a strong animal who protects the members of their herd and defends gallantly. By putting myself in the mindset of a buffalo, I can imagine that I would enjoy my freedom to roam and graze effectively by being surrounded by the other buffalo.