of thought or reason. Then the Almighty took them into his hands that
they might multiply, and he made them reasonable beings. He paired
them, and from this sprung the Indians.
Then when there were people the Great Spirit placed them upon the
earth; but he soon observed that they were subject to sickness, misery
and death. Then the Manitou called upon the Sun Spirit (the Bear) and
asked him to instruct the people in the Sacred Medicine. The Sun
Spirit, in the form of a little boy, went to the earth and was
adopted by a woman who had a little boy of her own.
This family went away in the autumn to hunt, and during the winter the
woman's son died. The parents were much distressed and decided to
return to the village and bury the body there. So they made
preparation to return, and as they traveled along they would each
evening erect poles upon which the body was placed, to prevent the
wild beasts from devouring it. When the dead boy was thus hanging upon
the poles, the adopted child, the Bear Spirit, or Sun child, would
play about the camp and amuse himself, and finally told his adopted
father he pitied him and his mother for their sorrow.
The adopted son said he could bring his dead brother to life,
whereupon the parents expressed great surprise and desired to know how
that could be accomplished.
The adopted boy then had the party hasten to the village, when he
said: "Get the woman to the wigwam of bark, put the dead body in a
covering of birch bark, and place the body on the ground in the middle
of the wigwam." On the next morning, when this had been done, the
family and friends went into the lodge and seated themselves around
the corpse.
Then they saw, through the doorway, the approach of a bear, which
gradually came toward the wigwam, entered it, and placed itself before
the dead body, and said "Hu, hu, hu," when he passed around toward the
left side, with a trembling motion, and as he did so, the body began
quivering, which increased as the bear continued, until he had passed
around four times, when the body came to life and stood up. Then the
bear called to the father, who was sitting in the distant right hand
corner of the wigwam, and said:
"My father is not an Indian. You are a spirit son. Insomuch my fellow
spirit now as you are. My father now tobacco you shall put. He speaks
of only once to be able to do it. Why he shall live here now that he
scarcely lives; my fellow spirit I shall now go home."
The little bear boy was the one who did this. He then remained among
the Indians and taught them the mysteries of the Grand Medicine, which
would assist them to live. He also said his spirit could bring a body
to life but once, and he would now return to the sun, from which they
would feel his influence.
This is called "Kwi-wi-senswed-di-tshi-ge-wi-nip"--"Little boy, his
work."
VII.
CURIOUS FACTS ABOUT THE BEAR.
With the different seasons the bear presents a varied appearance.
There are times when you would scarce recognize the same animal. In
the autumn of the year the bear takes on fat in preparation for
hibernating. At this time the fur is glossy and long, and in the
grizzly almost a seal brown.
A curious phenomenon now takes place in the animal's digestive organs,
which gives it the capability of remaining the entire winter in a
state of lethargy, without food and yet without losing condition. As
the stomach is no longer furnished with food, it soon becomes quite
empty, and, together with the intestines, is contracted into a
very small space. No food can now pass through the system, for
an obstruction, a mechanical one--technically called the
"tappen"--blocks the entrance to the passage and remains in this
position until spring. The "tappen" is composed almost entirely of
pine leaves and the various substances which the bear scratches out of
the ants' nests or the hives of bees. During the season of
hibernation, the bear gains a new skin on its feet. It will remain in
its den until about the middle of April or the beginning of May, and
will emerge almost as fat as when it entered, unless it has lost the
"tappen" too soon.
It will now be seen that the fur has undergone a change. With the
grizzly it has the real grizzly hue; with the brown or black bear it
has a dead look. This is the hungry season for the bear, and until
fall, when the berries are ripe and the salmon run in the streams, his
bearship has a hard time of it. By the end of July and until the
middle of August the fur undergoes a further change. The old coat is
hanging upon him in shreds, he is much emaciated, and there is a
hungry look in his eye. His ears appear abnormally large, and his
paws seem enormous. When the berries are ripe and there are fish in
the streams, the preparation for winter begins, the fur is sleek and
greasy-looking again. Mr. Bear is fat and contented and ready to go
into his long sleep.
When he awakes one of the first things he does is to suck his feet.
This is done because the skin is new and tender.
In the picture illustrating the fight between the bear and the boy
upon the log, the bear is shown as he appears during the emaciated
season, a caricature of himself when well fed. The bear in captivity
receives his food at regular intervals and in large quantities, and he
loses many of the marked characteristics of the bear in his wild or
untamed state. There is just as much difference between a society
leader and a man who lives close to nature.
Transcriber's Notes:
Archaic and inconsistent spelling and punctuation retained.