[00:00:00] Speaker A: The 26th President of the United States, Theodore Teddy Roosevelt, big game hunter, creator of the U.S. forestry Service and establisher of many national parks, monuments and reserves, had not had a great morning.
He was on vacation and had been out on a black bear hunting trip near Onward, Mississippi. It was November 1902.
Everyone else in the group had had success over the last few days, apart from Roosevelt who had not located a single bear. A party of his attendants, led by renowned hunter Holt Collier didn't want him to miss out and so tracked down, cornered and tied black bear to a willow tree. Excitedly, they called Roosevelt over and urged him to shoot it. He would have his prize.
Roosevelt took one look at this poor, defenceless, beaten down creature and refused to take its life. It would be unsportsmanlike, violating his sense of fair play and ethical conduct.
As an act of mercy, he instructed that it be put out of its misery.
A political cartoonist satirized this encounter and news quickly spread about the President who refused to shoot a bear. Maurice Mitchdom, a Brooklyn candy shop owner, saw the cartoon and had an idea. He and his wife Rose also made stuffed animals and they decided to create a stuffed bear in honour of the President who refused to shoot a bear.
It was dubbed Teddy's Bear. Roosevelt, who reportedly disliked this nickname, gave his blessing for his name to be used.
The stuffed bear was a hit and in true American style the bear toy was mass produced. It was so popular the Ideal Toy company was founded not long after.
Not everyone was a fan as they feared that some girls preference for soft animals over human like dolls would become all consuming, replacing the female urge to nurture babies and eventually lead to childless marriages.
Despite these fears, the teddy bear became a childhood staple worldwide, a symbol of innocence, inspiring among many other things, the 1907 Teddy Bear's Picnic song.
How many of you still have that childhood favourite toy? Be it teddy bear or otherwise, this can all be traced back to that fateful meeting and a shared moment between man and bear. Now this encounter didn't change the outcome for the black bear, but it changed us. We can take the lessons learned from this forward making that bear's life meaningful. It has taught us a timeless lesson in ethics, compassion and empathy.
There is a place in the remote Northwoods of Minnesota, North America. It's located near the town of orr, population approximately 300.
Outside of this town is an area where normal rules are put to one side. It's a place where humans and wildlife meet. It's a special place, wholly unique and not without its controversies. This is the Vince Schutte Wildlife Sanctuary, run by the American Bear Association. ABA for short.
The ABA is dedicated to promoting a better understanding of black bears and all wildlife through education, observation and experience.
I'm your host, Philip Stubley, and welcome to the Bear Den.
Hello, it's Philip here and this is the Bear Den where we talk all things bears, wildlife and feature organizations and individuals that make a difference for them.
Bears have impacted communities and cultures all over the world and as we have just heard, it can be as varied as influencing a beloved children's toy. And as we will hear, they can have profound impacts on families, teachings and beliefs. This will be the end of the current series of the Bear Den, so an appropriate time for some reflection. It's been a globe trotting journey and for those listeners who have joined me all the way, thank you and well done.
We've heard from people who are passionate, hard working and dedicated. They are making a difference through collaboration and kindness.
Specifically, working with wildlife can be a thankless task and it's not an easy job, but nothing worth doing ever is. It's also been interesting to see the common themes and threads that have come up time and time again through the various conversations. We seem to continually say it, but bears are individuals and across each species their social organization seems to be much more complex than simply saying they are solitary.
Education and research is also key to coexistence with wildlife and it's important to inspire the stewardship of nature onto the next generation.
Additionally, to look after wildlife, you have to take a holistic approach and look after the people in the local communities. Also bringing it back to the north woods and the American Bear Association. There are people who dedicate themselves to a cause, such as ABA founders Bill Clary and Karen, who you can hear about in earlier episodes. They share this passion with others and then this is passed on to the next generation and in some cases even the preceding one. We're now going to hear from Colton Galusha, a third generation volunteer at the sanctuary, following in the footsteps of his father and grandparents.
[00:05:05] Speaker B: Hi, I am Colton Galusha.
I live on a farm in eastern Iowa with my fiance and our three dogs.
I'm involved in conservation of venomous reptiles in the United States as a hobby.
I've been involved with the sanctuary since I was a kid, pretty much my entire life.
My dad was Brian Galusha and he was very involved with the sanctuary.
It started around 2002.
He took a biology class with Dr. Zimmerman, who was a bear biologist, and during that class they took a trip up to the sanctuary. And that is the first time my father was introduced to it.
And from that day on, he fell in love with it.
He decided to come back up again that summer.
And after that he decided he was going to get involved with it. And he changed his entire major and everything in college as well.
He started teaching biology at Clinton High School.
And he did that for many years.
And then he became an associate principal at Clinton High School.
Then he went and became the principal of a another high school in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
He decided that he didn't want to do that anymore and came back to teaching biology, which he just. He loved doing. He loved teaching. He was very involved with the students and everything.
In 2003, he collected a bear skeleton and they started putting it together. Him, my mom, my grandfather, my brother.
They put it together with wire and other things to stimulate cartilage.
They completed that skeleton and then transported it up to the sanctuary to be housed there.
He actually would bring it back in this at the end of every summer to put in his classroom for his students to look at. That was always a big hit with them.
In 2004, he wrote a book called if they're not mean, they're just hungry.
And he full heartedly believed that and that, that is, that is the truth. They're not mean, they're just hungry.
After that, he got onto the board on the American Bear association board.
Then he was a vice president for a little while. And then he became the president of the American Bear Association.
My dad started bringing my grandfather up and they started doing a bunch of projects around the sanctuary.
They made a bunch of displays for the deck.
One year we even brought up our cattle trailer because we had built a ticket booth. And the ticket booth that's still there to this day, we had built that at our house, disassembled it, put it in the cattle trailer, and then hauled it all the way up and reassembled it at the sanctuary.
After my dad had gotten my. My grandpa into the sanctuary, he started bringing up my grandma. They even got a camper that they used to plug in where all the volunteer cabins and everything are now.
My grandpa would always make little things to sell in the gift shop. There's still some sitting around there that you can find.
But he would make them and bring them up just. He'd spend the entire winter making them.
And he would truck them all up at the beginning of the summer and they would spend pretty much the entire summer there. They would. They would get there just before the sanctuary opened and then they Would leave right around the time that it closed.
And then I would also come up. Sometimes I'd come up with them and spend a month or two up at the sanctuary.
I started coming up when I was around six years old.
My dad would always bring me up pretty much every summer.
The only. The only time that I didn't really get to go up was between 2020 and 2025.
That's because I joined the army and I really didn't have the ability to go up there anymore.
But in 2025, I did end up going up there.
My uncle wanted to go up and donate some money from my. My grandmother's memorial fund.
But I was happy to see the last time I was up there, they still had a lot of display cases and just the little things that my grandpa and my dad had made still sitting there out there at the sanctuary.
My dad was very passionate about black bears and about conservation just in general of everything. But he really loved bears.
Unfortunately, in 2022, my grandfather passed away. And then shortly after, in 2022, my father also passed away.
And then in 2025, my grandmother Donna then passed away as well.
I have a lot of memories of traveling the country with my father when I was a kid. We'd always go out to all the national parks out west. We'd spend a week or two, if not more, up in the sanctuary.
We'd go to Yellowstone, Glacier National Park.
We normally go up to Grand Cache, Alberta, Canada, for the Canadian Death race, which my dad was very into marathons and long distance running, and he was out. He was also a track and cross country coach, and then he also carried the olympic torch in 2002, I believe, and we still have that in the display case to this day.
I feel like I was very fortunate with the amount of time I got to spend with my dad traveling and my grandparents.
And I feel very fortunate that I got to spend my childhood growing up at the sanctuary.
I don't know many people that can say they did that, but I think that definitely had a great impact in my life and with, you know, the things that I believe.
I don't exactly remember the first time I went to the sanctuary. It's all kind of from that age. It was all kind of blended together a little bit. I just know that I was there, but I remember seeing all the bears for the first time. I thought it was just really cool.
And I just kept coming back every summer.
And I'm in a pretty unique position with that as I've been able to see the Sanctuary how it used to be and what it is today.
And I can say I'm, I am very happy with everything that's been going on and all the improvements that they've made.
I know my, my dad and my grandparents would both be just, you know, excited about everything that's been going on.
I remember when I was a kid going there, there was no running water, no flushable toilets, nothing. It was just outhouses and jugs that you had to carry in. The only spot that had like actual electricity was the camper hookup that my grandparents had up. The circle area is what we called it.
Another great memory I have is I don't remember what year I was in high school and my boy Scout troop.
We decided we were going to take a trip up to the sanctuary. My dad lined it all up.
We got to go stay at my grandparents camper and we went and saw everything up there. We got to see the falls at the Vermillion.
We went to go see the wolf center.
We went to see the, the mines up in Tower.
We, we did a bunch of stuff at the sanctuary.
We did a lot of fishing that summer. Caught a lot of, a lot of fish nets. We did a lot of the cooking ourselves. Of course I know my brother also went up there with his boy Scout troop. I, I don't know a whole lot about their trip up there and what they all did.
But my brother Matt has also been involved with the sanctuary as much as he could be.
Also having been able to be up there so many, so long, for so many years, I've gotten to see a lot of bears and I could say by far my favorite bear of all time was, was Schwinn the three legged bear.
My grandpa even made a little sign of it.
Had it on the wall here, said Schwinn 1997 and then didn't have an end date on it.
We're gonna have to update that. But that was always a great memory is always being there to see Schwinn.
I always wish I could have seen Halo when he was around, but that was a while before my time.
Our favorite bear now I would say is actually Elsa. We just love her personality.
We got to see her at the sanctuary the last time we were up and actually at that time I got to propose to my now fiance Shelby.
I figured it was just the perfect place to do it and she, she was so happy about it too. She didn't know it was coming either.
Looking to the future, I think my family will be continue to be involved with the sanctuary. As long as we will be.
I know in the future my kids will definitely be involved.
Me and, me and Shelby are now. We're going to be involved pretty much every year. We're going to come up every year and do some volunteering.
I know my uncle's also expressed coming up there again after gotten to experience it last year, and I know the rest of our family really wants to stay involved with the sanctuary going forward.
On behalf of the Glucia family, we do thank everyone for listening to this.
Our family story is definitely integrained with the sanctuary and thank you.
[00:16:06] Speaker A: Wow. No, no, thank you Colton. It's very interesting and quite moving to hear the impact the Sanctuary has had and also the Galusha's impact on the sanctuary itself. I do remember back a couple a few years ago I got one of the signs that Colton's grandfather had made and gifted it to my parents since this nice little rustic piece of wood that said an old bear and her honey live here. Much to my mother's bemusement. Brian Galush's book They're Not Mean, They're Just Hungry is still available from the ABA website and at the sanctuary gift shop and it was an invaluable resource when I was putting together the earlier episodes of this podcast. And for those that wish to know more about Schwinn, the Three Legged Bear and Halo and why he was special, you you can check out the episode Humans and Bears to find out more.
Thank you Colton. I'm excited to see the fourth generation of Galushas come to the sanctuary. I mean, it's been 30 years since the ABA was set up, so who knows what the next 30 will bring.
Bears are intelligent, emotional and endlessly fascinating.
There are eight bear species currently living. There used to be many more, including the extinct and Atlas mountain bears in North Africa, for instance. Black bears are the only bear considered secure across their range. Six of the eight extant bear species are classified as vulnerable, and five of those, discounting the giant panda, are showing a decrease in population trends. It's up to us to work out a way to live alongside the animals we share this world with. Remaining open and curious and sharing our collective knowledge and understanding is one way of doing this. We're all in this together. We have heard throughout this series conservation success stories which give me hope for the future.
Arctic sea ice can be reclaimed. Practices such as dancing bears and bear bile farms are being stopped. Animals that have been taken from the wild can be rehabilitated and returned in the right circumstances.
Let's look at a black Bear subspecies. I do like a black bear subspecies so the Louisiana Black Bear Louisiana's official state animal Historically occurring in Louisiana, Mississippi, East Texas and Arkansas. The Louisiana Black Bear was listed as threatened in the U.S. endangered species list in 1992, the only subspecies listed as such. This was because of overexploitation due to hunting and habitat loss. By 1980, the species had lost more than 80% of its original habitat. Since then, a concerted conservation effort resulted in habitat restoration of 6,100,000 acres, about 240,000 hectares. This eventually led to the Louisiana Black bear being removed from the US endangered species list in 2016.
At the time, the US Fish and Wildlife Service estimated there to be between 500 and 750 of the bears, bouncing up from 1992's estimate of 150.
Estimates place the population at 1,000 plus. Now, the delisting was said by some groups to be premature. I guess time will tell, but with time and effort, this example does prove these resilient animals can bounce back. They sometimes just need a little help. But it can be done. Nature is for everyone. We're not apart from it. We are part of it. And if we don't take care of what we have now, future generations will look back and simply ask why.
There's always something new to learn about bears and the communities that live alongside them. And in the spirit of being open to different ways of thinking, I want to end with some Native American teachings about bears.
The following clip features Dr. Anton Troyer, who kindly gave permission for us to play this here on the pod, talking about Native American teachings and bears. Native Americans learned to live and coexist with bears long before European settlers had even thought about sailing west.
Dr. Troyer is part of the Ojibwe tribe and a Bear clan member, which is the largest of the Native American clans. He is an academic and author specializing in Ojibwe language and American Indian studies. I first came across Dr. Anton Troyer after reading his novel Where Wolves Don't Die, which is about ezra Cloud, a 15 year old Ojibwe boy living in northeast Minneapolis. It's a contemporary coming of age story where Ezra discovers more about himself, his family history and connecting with his vibrant culture. It's well worth a read and it definitely broadened my knowledge about Native American culture. There'll be a link to the book in the show notes. Dr. Treuer's website is also a treasure trove of information on Native Americans and includes materials for educators.
So before we hear from Dr. Troyer. I just once more want to thank you very much for listening. I'm exceedingly grateful and ask for your indulgence just a moment longer.
I hope you've been entertained, educated and inspired to see what it is you can do to make the world a better place, not just for bears, but for all of us. From tardigrade, the little water bear, to the big blue whale.
Show me what you've got. And with that, I'll see you down the road.
Here's Dr. Trier.
[00:21:23] Speaker C: Indunjiba.
I'd like to share a little perspective today about indigenous ways of knowing.
Indigenous cultures everywhere have very distinct worldviews for each particular group and also very distinct ways of acquiring knowledge.
I'll give you an example from my Ojibwe culture. One of my elders, Nancy Jones, who's a great first speaker of Ojibwe and deeply knowledgeable about our ways, often would say, you can always tell when the bear cubs are born. It happens in the wintertime, sometime between mid January and the end of February. During this big six week long window, you can tell the very day that they're born. And because the weather warms up and there's a fog, and the fog is the breath of the bear, telling the bear cubs that it's time to bring their babies into the world.
Now, someone with a scientific training would probably approach information like that with skepticism, thinking, how would she know something like that?
Or show me the data set to prove it.
Well, lo and behold, numerous organizations have been studying bears, including the Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission and other agencies as well.
They've determined through the scientific method, putting cameras into bear dens, recording weather patterns and things like that, that the bear cubs do indeed give birth with some variability in a six week range.
But every day when the bear cubs are born, the weather warms up and there's a fog.
Now a scientific mind would say, well, it must be the change in barometric pressure which is bringing on the fog, is also triggering a physiological response in the bears that's telling them it's time to give birth. I won't even argue that point.
My question is, how did she know?
How did she know?
Because she did not know by applying the scientific method and developing a data set.
She had a different way of knowing, but her body of knowledge was legitimate and even verifiable by the scientific method.
Today it seems like we can't build a building that lasts for 40 years.
But down in the American Southwest, at Chaco Canyon, Canyon de Chelly, and Many other places, there are buildings that were built as old as as long ago as 4000 years that are still largely standing.
And some of them are remarkable feats of human engineering.
In fact, the longest continually inhabited buildings in all of the United States are at Hopi.
People have been living in the same buildings in some places there longer than America has been a country since before contact with Europeans.
It's incredible.
There are some places where, for example, there's an obelisk, and only on the first day of the summer solstice, two miles away, the sun will shine through a port key that people have constructed and illuminate that obelisk.
So think about the tools used to build that.
They didn't even have the tools that we would try to use to reconstruct it today, like a transit which we use even if we're going to put in a highway.
But their measurements were precise and could produce exactly that result.
They designed it, engineered it, and constructed it, and didn't even have the wheel or any slave labor to do the job.
Different bodies of knowledge and different ways of knowing.
So there's a lot at stake as we think about this in the modern world.
A lot of countries and a lot of the science is run through Western ways of knowing.
In fact, we're still steeped in colonial traditions.
One of the dimensions of the colonial paradigm is to employ violence to. To get people to do what you want them to do.
Of course, that way of solving problems creates a whole host of problems of its own.
Why would we think that all of the problems created by the colonial way of solving problems can be solved by the colonial way of solving problems?
Well, of course they can't.
As indigenous people with our distinct worldviews, bodies of knowledge, and ways of knowing, we can and should pollinate the garden that everyone's trying to harvest from. We have a gift for the rest of the world.
But even more important than that, we have these distinct bodies of knowledge and ways of knowing which are gifts to ourselves.
And this diversity of human thought and this diversity of human tools for solving problems and making the world a better place really do need to be kept alive and have great value.
Thanks for watching today. Miigwech.
[00:27:36] Speaker A: The Bear Den the American Bear Association Podcast was written and presented by me, Philip Stubley.
The music was composed by React Music and Night Drift.
Thank you to everyone who has helped make this podcast possible, including Karen Hauserman, Bill Lee, Clary Lee, Stephanie Horner, Donna Brzinka, Ross Coyer, and Angie Page.
You can find out more about the American bear
[email protected] you can find Vincruti Wildlife Sanctuary on Facebook and Instagram. You can ask questions and submit comments about the podcast to Peace Homericmericanbear.org the ABA is a special circumstance. We do not condone feeding wild animals. If you enjoy this podcast, help support the ABA either by donating, becoming an ABA member, symbolically adopting a bear, or come visit the sanctuary during the season and say hello.
And if you do enjoy this, please do us a favor. It'll barely take you a minute on whatever platform you're listening to this on. Please either follow us or click the bell for updates and notifications.
Please share with family and friends and rate the podcast as it all helps us grow and is greatly appreciated.
