Media

Great Animal that is the World

Through the eyes of the Takelma people, the earth's body is a great animal. The neck is to the east at Boundary Springs, the ribs alongside the Rogue River at the Table Rocks, and the tail at Gold Beach where the river flows into the ocean. The river is this animal's lifeblood, pulsing and throbbing through the Takelma world.

This description of the Great Animal that is the World is told by Thomas Doty and is an excerpt from his story, Ribs of the Animal. (3:37)