"The Big Bear stood up and said, “See this Indian. We gave him a home and food. Yet he runs away from us. He should be killed.”
The Bears picked up the Indian and threw him from a high rock. He was badly hurt, but not killed. Then the Bears carried him back to the cave.
They told his wife what leaves, bark, and roots to bring. They showed her how to mix these to make the medicine. When the Indian took this medicine, he became well at once."
Indian Myths
The Bears of Red Mountain
Far in the north there is a mountain. It is covered with deep woods. The leaves of these trees are as red as blood. It is so. For here the blood of the Bear was thrown down from the sky in the battle between that Animal and the Deer. All the rain has not washed it away. This mountain is the home of the Bears.
Once an Indian set out to follow the trail. He made his wife go with him. By and by they came to a deep forest of dark pines. All at once, as they walked along, they saw that there were Bears on every side of them. More and more Bears came tumbling down the steep hillside into their path. There was no way to escape. .
The Bears did not try to harm them. The largest Bear stood on his hind legs and said, “You must go with us to our home on the Red Mountain. There you must stay until we send you home.”
The Indian and his wife were frightened. They thought they would be carried away and eaten by these Bears. But they could do nothing, so they went along.
No more jolly crowd of Bears ever lived anywhere. They played jokes on one another. They danced through the open woods. They tumbled through the dry leaves. They turned somersaults in the dry moss. The woods rang with their shouts and their growls.
The Indian forgot to be afraid of them. He joined them in their games. He had more than one hard tumble, and sometimes, in their play, the Bears gave him hard blows. But he was not angry. He loved all this. And the Bears said he was a fine fellow.
Night came on. They came to the Red Mountain. Bears gave a shout of joy.
Then the Big Bear stood up and said to the Indian his wife. “You are now in the Red Mountain. The blood of our grandfather made these leaves red. This fine cave with plenty of dry leaves in it shall be your home. The finest nuts grow here. Take them for your food. Be happy, for you cannot get away.”
So the Indian and his wife lived in the cave. They gathered nuts for food. But they were not happy. They wanted to go back to their own home.
One day they did not see the Bears. “Come,” cried the Indian, “let us get away before they come back!”
They ran a long way through the woods. At last they stopped to get their breath.
“I think we are safe now,” said the Indian.
As he said this he looked around and there stood Bears on every side of them.
The Big Bear stood up and said, “See this Indian. We gave him a home and food. Yet he runs away from us. He should be killed.”
The Bears picked up the Indian and threw him from a high rock. He was badly hurt, but not killed. Then the Bears carried him back to the cave.
They told his wife what leaves, bark, and roots to bring. They showed her how to mix these to make the medicine. When the Indian took this medicine, he became well at once.
For some time, the Indian and his wife lived in the cave. One day the Bears seemed all to have gone away.
“Come,” cried the Indian, “let us get away from here while we can!”
He took his wife by the hand. They ran through the woods as fast as they could to their own country.
At last they felt they must stop and rest a moment. “Now I think we are safe,” said the Indian.
They looked about and, there stood Bears on every side of them.
The Big Bear stood up and said, “We gave this man a home and food. We made medicine to cure him. But he has run away again. He does not love the Bears. He should be killed with our claws. Do with him as you will.”
The Bears fell upon the Indian and tore him with their claws. He was badly hurt, but not killed.
Then they picked him up and carried him back to cave. Again they showed his wife how to make medicine. When the Indian took the medicine, he was well at once.
S0 they lived in the cave for some time. The Indian was hurt in many ways. Each time the Bears showed his wife how to make medicine that would cure him.
One day all the Bears came to the cave. They were very happy. The Big Bear stood up and said, “We are your friends. We only brought you to this mountain to live because we wanted to teach you how to make medicine. We have taught your wife how to cure hurts and wounds. Now She can go back and teach her people.”
Then the Bears went with the Indian and his wife and showed them the way back to their own village. And from that day they taught the people how to cure hurts and wounds just as the Bears had told them. And none of the people in that village ever forgot the Bears who had done them this great kindness.
