George Bundy Wasson

Like all good storytellers, George Wasson had the magical ability to transform himself. Sometimes he changed into a bird. On other occasions he became a plant, a place or a special person. It's a nice trick for a teacher and he generously shared with anyone willing to listen how and why the way things are. In addition to earning a PhD as a scholar in anthropology, and a couple of master's degrees later in life, George worked as a counselor at UO for many years. He helped hundreds of undergraduate students get oriented in time and space. He did his job with gentle humor and care. He revered the water, stone, tree, mountain and natural wonder of Southwest Oregon - Coquille, Hawkes Rest, the Siskiyou Range - all members of his immediate family. He opened the window for many on the unseen world of spirit, where distinctions are blurred between people and animals, the cycles of the earth and the migration of ideas. He shared ancient instructions for living peacefully with the processes of this world and the next. Although George Wasson no longer speaks as loudly when he teaches us how the Three Great Mountains came into existence or of the many great deeds of Tallapus (coyote), or Yelth (the raven), or Iguanat (the Salmon), the seabirds cry of Iquonequone carries over the water of Pistol River revealing that George Wasson has gone into the fire and the light and that his story continues.