CHAPTER 2 TATANKA: BUFFALO DREAMS

To hold down trip cost on the 1975 Catalina Island Expedition my research led me to the University of Southern California Marine Lab on the island. I discover the Prowler, the university ship used to carry college students, research staff and science equipment to Catalina. The university generously agrees to transport my students to Catalina at no cost which brings Catalina Island within reach for my students.  My goal is to make sure that the cost of an expedition doesn't exclude students from the formative experience. Further research turns up U.S.C.'s research submarine at their Catalina lab,  adding to the many reasons to mount an expedition to the island. Marine Biology Graduate students give us a behind-the-scenes tour fit for an advance science class. 

Our syllabus includes: Leadership Training, Marine Biology, Ecology, Archaeology, Native American History, Astronomy, Survival Skills, and living close to the land.  From the Marine Lab, we begin our 7 mile back packing trek to Little Harbor, the next study stop on our science expedition. Along the way we stop to observe the largest animals in North America. 

Students have prepared lessons for our expedition to present along the way. On the trail we learn that bison grow to 6 feet (shoulder height) and weigh up to 2,000 pounds. 

Females weigh up to 1,000 pounds, their calves weigh 30-70 pounds at birth. Students also teach us that 3o bison were reportedly brought to Catalina for a 1924 western. The current herd descend from the 1924 event.

Bison photo above by Diana LeVasseur (www.sharetheexperience.org).

That moonless night at Little Harbor campground was darkest shade of black, hampering night vision.  Awakened by the sound of heavy breathing my eyes scanned for the source.

In starlight I see students in their mummy bags sleeping soundly (we break out tents only if there's a chance of rain). I struggle to see in the darkness. After a few moments I begin to see  among my sleeping students, massive towering dark mounds... only then did I realize that a  herd of buffalo had silently slipped into our camp.  Near me, was “a great mound of hair with black horns”.  Standing over 6 feet tall, 11 feet long they make a big impression, especially from my position-- flat on my back looking up at a buffalo weighing over a ton. Yet they made not a sound except for an occasional clearing breath.  So this is what Abraham Maslow called a “peak experience” which seem to happen often on overnight field trips. I wanted my students to have this experience but I hesitated imagining an awakened student shouting: “Oh my God!” followed by an a stampeding herd of buffalo.  So I watched in silence not wanting to spook the herd. I must have fallen asleep. Or was it a dream. Tatanka is the Lakota word for buffalo, the Cheyenne call them méhe (female) hotóva’a (male). 

I awaken sleepy campers in time to prepare breakfast. As they squint and stretch in their sleeping bags, I tell them about last night’s visitors but I’m met with a proper wave of skepticism.  “Surely you’re joking, Mr. Manzanares!” “You were dreaming.”

It felt like a dream but then someone shouted: Oh my God, buffalo tracks! Kids scurried about looking for more tracks.  The excitement was an unexpected gift, evidence of bison in our midst. It was better than a dream.

Click HERE for a student’s Catalina Island Expedition photo journal.

By 1977 I have moved to Area D Alternative School where I am hired as the Schools Without Walls coordinator. While planning an expedition to Morro Bay, Joyce Yarrow walks into my office, she hands me a studio recording of her Jumping Mouse album, soon to be released and she introduces me to a book by Hyemeyohsts Storm, a perfect addition for our next expedition

Our first night around the campfire, I ask student volunteers to read aloud Jumping Mouse, the Cheyenne teaching legend by Hyemeyohsts Storm. Joyce opens her guitar case and sings to us the story of Jumping Mouse.  (soon: link to my gender equity version) Each student reading the role of a sacred animal: prairie deer-mouse, brother raccoon, frog, sister buffalo, brother wolf.  And last night we slept in the midst of all these characters.  Sister buffalo reminds me of our night with a bison herd on Catalina Island. In the circle of campfire light, another group of high school students begin to feel the importance of buffalo in the history of Native Americans.

This is an excellent example of Narrative Learning. As a teacher I’ve come to know intimately the power of storytelling in education. Before europeans arrived, native american elders taught their grandchildren cultural values through legends like Jumping Mouse.  

My lessons were better when I could link them to a meaningful story.  Narrative Learning.

Across the arc of my career I chose to work at schools serving underrepresented minority families where $504 for a 4 day field trip eliminates over 50% of the student body.

4 days/3 nights at Yosemite Institute, $504

4 days/3 nights Yosemite Learning Expedition, $75

I worked hard to keep the cost affordable for low income families and organized fundraising activities so that cost would not exclude any student.  Take the Hika-joga-walka-backpackathon for example.

Students would sign on sponsors for 10 cents per mile or more if possible. I’d track mileage from “shake down” hikes and other events and certify miles accumulated. Soliciting sponsors is not a fit for some cultures, so I provided scalable scholarships.