Page 79 - Dark Matter:Women Witnessing Issue2

My four days on the mountain were filled with gracious and unexpected reciprocity with many

creatures besides ground squirrels, as my tracks crossed with theirs and theirs with mine. Just as

Feather Spirit had called me into relationship with him, each of these creatures called me into

relationship with them, and kept company with me when I was willing to listen. Only good came from

keeping company like this.

Reparation

I have yet to stop along the scenic road to honor and keep company with the dead. I want to. But I

think reparation before the fact would be a better idea. I have heard that in the Dakotas, courtesy of

taxpayer dollars, tunnels are now being dug beneath highways and roads at regular intervals to ensure

the safe crossing of animals large and small for whom the Dakotas are also home. This is reparation

that matters, where the human witnessed the needs of fellow creatures and learned to keep company

with them in life.

Gillian Goslinga is a cultural anthropologist and

a critical humanities scholar. She teaches at a

liberal arts school on the East Coast and is

friends with a mare, Luna, in addition to Feather

Spirit. The last six years have seen her struggle

with a parade of environmental illnesses:

chronic Lyme and mold neurotoxicity to begin

with, and as her nervous system degenerated,

multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) and

electro-­‐magnetic frequencies sensitivities

(EMFS). Finding safe housing and working

spaces has been an ongoing challenge. These

illnesses affect the frontal cortex and limbic

system, and so scramble at times her capacity

for language, recall, and meta-­‐cognition. At

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