Week 10 Story Planning: The Woman Who had a Bear as a Foster-Son

Story: This story is about an old woman who lives near a shore. The house was nearest to the shore, meaning she was a little bit out of town. When the towns people from the town above had been out hunting, they would always bring the old woman meat and blubber. She had always longed for a son and one day, she finally got her wish. Well, sort of. Occasionally, when the townspeople would hunt. they would kill and bring back its meat. One day, they killed a bear that had a cub. The towns people, knowing the old woman was lonely asked her if she wanted a bear cub and she said yes, and she went to get it. When she got the bear he was very cold, so she took him into her home and began to nurse him back to health. The old woman began to care for the little cub as if it was her own child, so much that the bear even slept with her. 

The bear began to grow and as it did, the woman would talk to it and overtime the bear grew the mind of a human being. She even taught the bear to sniff at her when he was hungry. The children of the town would sometimes come to the old woman's house and want the little bear to play with them, and of course he did. Before he left, the old woman would always remind him to sheath his claws, and so he did. As the bear grew, he outgrew the children he was playing with and soon he began to play with adults, but as soon as he grew more, it was no time before he was even too strong for the adults to play with. The adults, knowing how strong he was, decided to start taking him hunting, as he would be an asset.

 Eventually, northern people came across the bear and almost killed him, but the townspeople managed to save him. The townspeople told the old woman that she needed to make some type of marker for the bear, so that other people, from other villages would know him and know that he was tame. The old woman made him a collar of plaited sinews to wear as a marker. After that, the bear continued to hunt and be the best hunter there was, and people of other villages would always let him go when they saw his collar. 

A group of people for a town called Angmagssalik heard of that bear that was not caught and they said that if they saw it, they would kill it. The people advised against this, as the foster mother was old, and they did not know how she would manage without the little bear. The bear had always leaned from the old woman, not to harm a human and treat them as kin. One time during a storm, the bear was away hunting, he did not return until evening and when he did, he nudged at the foster mother’s hand as usual to tell her he was hungry. When the foster mother went outside, she saw the body of a man whom she did not know.  She then began calling to the townspeople. After this, the foster mother realized that the bear better not stay with her, as it was not safe. She regretted this, as he was the son she never had. On the morning the bear was set to leave as she hugged him, she rubbed oil and soot on his side without him knowing. That was the end of the story, but it did say, that people to north saw a large bear with a black mark on its side.

Polar Bear:  Wikipedia

My Ideas: I really liked this story, but it was really sad at the end. I understand why the bear had to leave, but why could the old lady not have just gone with him and let him protect her as she had? I would like to change the ending and let the bear stay with the old lady. Maybe they could move together and take care of one another. They could even go visit the people of the other villages and explain the situation. I also think it would be cool to make the bear talk and put this story in his perspective. It would be a unique to hear his point of view on things. The old lady was the mother to him, as he was the son to her, their bond to each other is so loving, but I want to what the bear thinks. How does he feel about the people since they killed his mother? What about his instinct? Was it not there since he grew up with humans? Why did he not run off? I am almost positive you will be hearing a story from the Bear's perspective. Also, this story did not have very many descriptions. I would like to add descriptions and make it more detailed so people can paint a picture of what is happening and what things look like.

Research:

·       Inuit Myth and Legend: Inuit people throughout the ages have employed oral traditions over time and have known their importance. They started by telling their stories through illustrations and carvings. They have also used songs and dances to better convey the meanings of theses legends and myths. The early tales, as described above, were how the early Inuit’s preserved their history (Houston). The article also said, that the old stories as I described, were sometimes liked to Inuit shamanism. Shamanism is a religious or mystical expert who functioned as a mystical expert, healer, prophecy and custodian of cultural tradition (Smith). Being the native American unit, it makes sense. Most native American’s had tribes and each person had their own role, so it would make sense that there would be a designated person in charge of keeping the cultural going and to keep passing these stories told. Most Inuit myths and legends are about the creation, heavens, birth, love, hunting and sharing food, respect for elders, polygamy, murder, infanticide, incest, death and afterlife. According the article, many Inuit myths have complex meaning that can only be understood by those living in that culture. This article was really neat.

Bibliography:

Rasmussen, Knud. Eskimo Folk-Tales. Eskimo Folktale Unit. The Woman Who Had a Bear as a Foster-Son. 1921.

Houston, James. Inuit Myth and Legend. The Canadian Encyclopedia. 

Smith, Derek G. Shaman. The Canadian Encyclopedia.