H OW THE B EAR L OST H IS T AIL
This story took place long ago. In those days, the Bear had a long, bushy tail, and this story tells what happened to his tail.
The Bear woke up in the middle of the winter. He came out of his den and began looking around for food. Everything was covered with snow, and he started walking through the forest. He saw Brother Fox coming through the forest toward him.
Brother Fox had a big stringer of fish hanging over his shoulder. He looked up and saw the Bear coming toward him, but it was too late for him to run away with his fish. He didnât want to tell Brother Bear he had stolen his fish from the Mink, because then the Bear would take them away from him. So Brother Fox came up with an idea about how he could trick the Bear.
The Bear continued walking along the trail and approached Brother Fox. The Bear said, âThatâs a lot of fish youâve got there. Could you give me one of those fish? Iâm awfully hungry.â
The Fox knew that he couldnât give the Bear one fish, because then he would want another and another and another. So Brother Fox said, âBear, Iâll tell you how I caught all of these fish and you can catch more fish than Iâve got here.â
And the Bear said, âHow did you catch all of those fish?â
The Fox replied, âI went down to the river and I used a rock to knock a hole in the ice. I turned around and stuck my tail down in that hole. The fish started biting the hairs on my tail and it hurt, but that meant more and more fish were biting my tail. I kept waiting and waiting until finally I stood up and I had all of these fish hanging on my tail. Your tail is much bigger than mine and you will catch more fish than I did.â
The Bear went down to the river. He found a big rock and used it to knock a hole in the ice. Then he turned around and stuck his long, bushy tail down in the hole. It wasnât long before his tail started to hurt. He thought of all the fish that were biting his tail. Finally, the pain was so strong that he couldnât stand it any longer. The Bear tried to stand up, but he couldnât because the ice had frozen around his tail. He kept straining to stand until finally he gave one last push with his hind legs and pulled free. But he left his long, bushy tail frozen in the ice and all he had left was a short stub of a tail.
And that is why, whenever the Fox sees the Bear in the forest, the Fox runs awayâbecause the Bear still remembers how the Fox caused him to lose his long, bushy tail.
T HE B EAR M AN
A Man was hunting in the woods when he saw a Black Bear. He followed the Bear until he was able to shoot it with an arrow. The Bear kept moving. The Man followed and shot the Bear again and again. The Bear did not drop. This was a medicine Bear and it could talk and read the thoughts of people.
The Bear stopped and pulled the arrows from its side. He told the Hunter, âYour arrows will not kill me.â He said, âCome to my house and we will live together.â
The Hunter thought, âHe wants to kill me.â
The Bear read his thoughts and said, âI will not harm you.â
The Hunter then asked, âHow will I get food?â
The Bear replied, âThere will be plenty of food.â
Finally, the Hunter decided to go with the Bear.
They came to a cave in the mountain. The Bear said, âThey are having a council inside. We will see what they decide to do.â
They went into the cave and it widened as they went deeper. They saw all kinds of Bears: white, black, brown, young and old. The chief was a great white Bear. The Hunter and the Bear sat in a corner, but the Bears could smell the Hunter.
They asked, âWhat is that bad smell?â
The Bear chief said, âIt is only a stranger come to visit us. Donât talk like that.â
It was getting hard to find food in the mountains, and they had sent Bears out to find food. Two Bears came back and