Bear Pin Journey

 

First Bear Pin

When I was given the challenge of "making the Bear real" with a team, I needed to think about how as a team we could center certain key perspectives while in action? This includes key concepts to Indigenous methodologies such opening spaces in the circle for other voices and ideas such as 7 generations which we thought were important to hold close as a team. We tried a couple of different approaches including a Bear Team Tracker where we identified common goals we were working towards and shared progress regularly.

However, when it came time to assess my team on their yearly deliverables, the structures of the government review process were not adequate to capture the journey of my team and the growth of the individuals. We needed another way to acknowledge the growth of the folks in the circle and the roles they were given by the Elders. I began researching but many of the recognitions of this kind are military focused (although there are much older civil servant examples with lots of nice hats). It was also important that this symbolic representation be respectful to the different Nations we come from and their symbolic practice. I wanted something folks could wear with their regalia should they wish.

 

One night my child was watching videos about nuclear submarines by Smarter Everyday. While far outside of my normal interests I was hooked. Since these ships go dark for many months everything onboard is meticulously planned and considered. One thing that stood out to me was the cross training. Like a SEAL team, every member has a specialty but is also trained in all other roles. This is an important part of your time on the ship and at the end the sailors are awarded a dolphin pin. While the military link was uncomfortable, the more I thought about it, and the way the civil service is based on the military model, I started thinking about a bear pin.

After speaking with the team I decided to move forward with this idea. But the pin to use was obvious to me. The story behind the pin. I though the question of my child "why does that fish have a bear on it's bum?" was really a good symbol of the work we were trying to do to shift our perspectives. To honor the role of this story it was also included in one of the modern teaching stories about economy that I am working on.

Each pin is unique for the person and includes a marker of their years. For example with this first pin

• The person was identified as our "Circle Keeper" which is represented with the red circle
• In recognition of the time served, wood leaf =2021, snail = 2022
• Colors are chosen based on the color preferences of the individual and times I spend with the Medicines during creation. I try to work on part of the pin in another Bear Ceremony.
• Bear is in motion and connected to the water

These Bear pins are awarded in the Bear Circle with the guidance of the Elder. In the time since we awarded the first Bear Pin I have been surprised to see how this practice has rippled and further enriched our practices. For example, after a year of learning with the Bear we found that we wanted to align ourselves to the rhythms around us.  As a result we introduced the Bear calendar to try to be more aware of the seasons and how they impact us, our communities and all our relations.  This included some different Bear Pin activities to recognize the hibernation time.