SPIRIT BEARS: Jim Backus’s Wildlife Exhibit at Artisan Forge
the exhibit focuses on the protected 'spirit bears’ in British Columbia
words & photos by Sawyer Hoff |
Only found in the Great Bear Rainforest in British Columbia, “spirit bears” or "ghost bears" – also known as Kermode Bears – are white-furred black bears that come from a recessive gene found in one of every ten black bears in the rainforest. There are only about 250 spirit bears alive today, and they are protected by the Kitasoo/Xai’xais First Nation Indigenous Tribe. Eau Claire native Jim Backus not only got to learn all about them from the tribe, but also got photos of them for his exhibit, now being shown at Artisan Forge Studios.
The Spirit Bears exhibit by Backus displays the photographs he took across all of his trips to the rainforest and includes around 10 different spirit bears with some wolves, eagles, whales, grizzly bears, and typical black bears found in the area.
The exhibit will be available for viewing through May, and Backus will be hosting four talks detailing the wildlife he experienced in British Columbia. The first talk was during the exhibit’s opening on April 4; there will be two on April 25 at 1pm followed by the second at 6pm, the last one falling on May 25.
According to native legends, Raven, the Creator, made every tenth black bear on one island white as a reminder of the last ice age. The Indigenous people also refrained from speaking about the spirit bears for a long time to keep hunters away.
Backus has visited British Columbia a total of seven times – his first trip being in 2006 – and has stayed in the Indigenous villages and photographed the spirit bears and other wildlife in the area. While others have trouble seeing the rare bear, Backus said he got his first picture of one only two and a half hours into his first trip. One bear even pushed him out of a trail with its nose so it could pass by him!
“I love going (to British Columbia), (seeing) the wildlife up there from the spirit bear to the grizzly bear to the regular black bear,” Backus said. “I know all the history of the spirit bear because lately I’ve stayed with the Kitasoo/Xai’xais tribe and I’ve gotten to know a couple of people up there.”
From being a Boy Scout in his youth to a full-time wildlife photographer now, Backus is passionate about the preservation of the Earth’s creatures and hopes to continue to travel the world, documenting as much as he can.
See the exhibit at Artisan Forge (1106 Mondovi Rd, Eau Claire) and see more from Jim at magoonaturephotography.zenfolio.com.
