ABSTRACT
Human beings and other animals are boundary creatures. Sky, an ocean’s surge, firesides, seeds in waterfalls, and boundaries are part of life and becoming human. In crossing boundaries, I believe a culture can find the seeds of bioregional change and be more complete. A river’s boundaries, for example, extend well beyond its banks. Where I stand, the “circle of life” sends waves of water and Pacific salmon swimming upstream the McNeil (Bear) river. At the river’s edge, bears wade through a spring run-off to wait for the salmon’s return. Bear cubs imitate their mothers in pursuit of wild salmon. Their comes a time when the cub has learned all it can from its mother, and will begin to explore its own fishing techniques and strategies. As native inhabitants of “rivertime,” bears and salmon adapt to sensual changes in the river system. The adaptive capacity to respond to this system is based on the animal’s ability to mime and learn from others. Adaptation is also based on the animal’s ability to sense the subtle changes in the wind, the length of the day, the location of the sun and moon, and the smell in the air. The cubs that survive to adulthood have mimed and learned from their elders, are sensitive to the changes of climate and river flow, and have escaped predators. With each change in the watershed, the animal’s ability to mime and adapt is continually put to the test.
