“We seek justice, not just for ourselves, but justice for the whole creation.”
— Audrey Shenandoah (Onondaga)
OTTER
Any Way In
Dip of paddle, blue of sky, murmur of campground sounds receding as pine-bristled slopes slip by. Pale yellow silty muck wavering through green waters. Chat of junco, resounding rat-tat-tat of flicker, shadow of kingfisher clicking, flick of fin. Cool air hangs above the water, sunlight beams hot and intense from above. I nose between fallen trees, my kayak awkward – a straight, unyielding sixteen feet that has none of the give and curl of most of the bodies that navigate these shores.
BUFFALO
You’re my Relative
HUMAN
From Within: In Remembrance of Jane Goodall
BY TRACY BASILEI have taught her words and actions in the Animals and Society classes that I used to teach at Pace University in Pleasantville, New York. I'm so glad I did. I used to say, and still believe, that she is one of the most important scientists of the 20th century. She opened our stubborn shut Western eyes and made us see we are all related.
DONKEY
Donkey Time
BY REBECCA WEILIt is true that long gray ears
and slow hitches of sound
are a donkey’s trademark.
Some say they are stubborn,
obstinate, stolid. If you ask me
this is more of their singular grace.
Donkeys are everything lucid and liquid
in their own dark-eyed meter of time.
BUFFALO
White Man’s Noises, White Man’s Smells
BY TRACY BASILEWhen steamships replaced the smaller keelboats that fur traders used to transport their traded goods on the inland rivers west of the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains, some men called the ships’ booming whistles “the sound of civilization,” a blast so long and loud that it startled birds and all wildlife, setting their hearts racing.
TURTLE
The Turtle Crossing
BY TRACY BASILESeconds after the car crushed your shell
and blood dripped to the pavement,
with no facial muscles or vocal chords
you let out a gasp, mouth wide open,
a hiss I’ll never forget.
TURTLE
What a Turtle Knows
BY TRACY BASILELast week I witnessed a snapping turtle get terribly injured in the middle of rush-hour traffic. Getting her across the street and on to a facility where she can heal wasn’t easy. It made me realize what people like Natasha Nowick of Turtle Rescue League in Massachusetts go through every day. It’s surprising to learn that injured turtles can often recover to a life in the wild if given proper care and time to heal, something her organization excels at. Her interview begins right here.
BEAVER
Beaver Medicine
BY TRACY BASILEWith wildfires and droughts surging as global temperatures soar, how much more can we endure before the North American beaver can be seen as a creator of valuable wetlands habitat and a steward of life, instead of a pest?
HUMAN
A More Connected World
BY TRACY BASILE“Begin anywhere.” — John Cage
Cage’s quote is a reminder that just the act of starting something takes courage. Still, no matter where this blog begins, I want to get it right, but already I sense a problem with the word “animal.” Indeed, animals is what this blog is about, but the word carries with it a sense of othering that needs to be exposed.
TURTLE
Decolonizing the World in Turtle Time
BY TRACY BASILETurtles* date back an incredible 230 million years to a time before the dinosaurs, before most mammals, and before birds. Before there were even continents. Their evolutionary history goes so far back, in fact, that we could almost begin their story with these three words:
Our Mission
This website is dedicated to all who have ever wondered about shifting away from a colonial mindset, acknowledging the brilliance of animals, and learning what it means to live here on Turtle Island together.
We seek to draw lessons from the Indigenous peoples who have built ties with their animal relatives lasting thousands of years.
