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“Bearing” our Spirit

JJ McCullough, Investigative Reporter

 

This week, Jon Wheelwright asks, “What’s the deal with the
Spirit Bear?”

On February 14, BC’s Lieutenant Governor, Iona
Campagnolo, read Premier Gordon Campbell’s annual
“Throne speech” in which he outlined the agenda of his
government for the next year. Though most of the speech
was standard political fare, one particular passage has
prompted a fair bit of notice for it’s somewhat uninten-
tionally irreverent tone. After making passing reference to
the government’s efforts to preserve the Kitasoo Spirit
Bear Conservancy in central BC, Campagnolo launched
into something of a monologue on the Spirit Bear itself,
finally declaring the beast to be “such a compelling symbol
and such an inspiration that your government will act to
make it our official provincial animal.”

So what exactly zs the Spirit Bear? Biologically speaking,
they are actually somewhat of a freak of nature, not unlike
a four-leaf clover or double rainbow. Most Black Bears in
British Columbia, are (as we may expect) mainly black in
color. However, the unique sub-species of Black Bear

known as the Kermode Bear have an odd and mysterious
tendency to churn out pure white cubs every once in a
while. These white babies have achieved something of a
mythical status in First Nations’ folklore, which explains
the “spirit” designation.

How the bear ended up becoming BC’s official mascot
may be a slightly less magical story. For a while now, the
Campbell administration has been engaged in a process
which marketing people like to refer to as “branding,” To
make our province more interesting, memorable, and
attractive to both tourists and businesspeople alike, the
government has created a number of songs, slogans, ad
campaigns, and PR events to promote a particular vision of
BC. Most of these gimmicks, in turn, are based around a
common motto, namely a promise to help spread “the
spirit of BC.” Thus, there was no way a bear with the word
“spirit” right in his name was going to be passed up for
some sort of official promotion.

Got a question that needs investigating? Email
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