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Devon Strong, a buffalo rancher at his Four Eagles Farm in Siskiyou County and a frequent vendor at Rogue Valley Growers Market, is being remembered as a skilled teacher of animal husbandry who approached nature spiritually as part of the “sacred hoop of life.” Strong, the father of two, was raised on a ranch in Nevada. He graduated from high school in Marin County and was a Community Supported Agriculture farmer at Ashland’s Wellsprings before buying 80 acres near Montague, Calif., east of Yreka, to herd his bison. When he failed to show up at scheduled meetings over the weekend before Thanksgiving, friends went to his ranch on Monday, Nov. 23, and found he had died accidentally while carving a feather from bone, the knife apparently slipping and cutting his femoral artery. He was 58. Strong was an elder in the New Warrior organization in Ashland and served in the Boys-to-Men trainings that helped teen boys move into the responsibilities of manhood. Fellow Warrior Jack Lieshman said, “I've always felt such a deep connection to him because of his own connection to his path. He was always learning ... To me, his teaching came from who he was as a man; through his deep humility, his easy smile and warmth for all who were in his presence, his love for all life (and the deeper connections to the Mother).” A tribute, written by Catherine Preus on Edible Shasta-Butte while he was alive, notes, “Long dark pony tail, muscular body, odor of sheep and the barnyard, perpetually smiling, weather-reddened round face, Devon Strong filled my ... apartment with his presence. He handed me frozen buffalo shank in two small packets neatly labeled and wrapped in white paper, then proffered a third packet. 'I brought you some London broil to try.' As he handed me the little packets in an almost reverent manner, I felt a special thankfulness for the medicine, as Devon calls it, and the sacredness of this transaction, for I knew I was participating in what Devon calls the Sacred Hoop of Life.” (This paragraph has been changed to correct the spelling of Preus.) Strong is quoted in her article, describing the right way to kill a buffalo: “Take four days, do the ceremony this way, sing these songs, make 150 prayer ties, and use a blade. The animal will be ready for you and it will happen like this ... a bullet to the brain is the ultimate violence; it’s unnecessary. When somebody shoots a gun it’s a spiritual shock to the animal, it’s a psychic shock to the whole region — the ripping of the air with the bullet — there’s a violence with a bullet that is completely lacking when you use a blade.” Strong learned sacred Native American ways from Wallace Black Elk, a frequent teacher and shaman in Ashland in the 1980s and 1990s, he says in the article — and, with his partner, Ami, operated the ranch on those principles. He was a Native American singer and pipe carrier. He is survived by a son, Zachary van Buuren of Portland. A daughter, Janneke Strong, died last spring in a drowning accident at Topaz Lake, Calif. Both graduated from Ashland High School. John Darling is an Ashland freelance writer. Reach him at [email protected].