HOW THE BEAR CLAN GOT MEDICINE

Long, long ago an old man wandered out of the forest and into a village.  He looked as though he had been walking for quite some time.  He appeared tired and hungry.  His clothes were torn and dirty.  There were holes in the bottom of his moccasins.  The old man approached the door of a Wolf Clan longhouse to ask for some food.  Sadly, he was told that there wasn’t enough food for him.  The old man walked to a Turtle Clan longhouse and was told the same thing.  He went to every longhouse in the village.  Each time, he was told that they were sorry but they didn’t have enough food for him.  Finally, he walked toward the door of the last longhouse.  There was a carving of a bear above the door.  It was a Bear Clan longhouse.  A woman came out of the longhouse and looked at the old man.  She could tell without even asking that he was tired, cold, hungry and thirsty.  Immediately, she invited the old man to come in and sit down by the fire in order to warm himself.  She gave him some water to drink and then she gave him the dinner that she had prepared for herself.  She could tell that he was hungrier than she.  He had probably gone without food for quite some time.  When he was done eating, she invited him to lie down and get some rest.  She covered him with a blanket and while he slept she sat down and made him a new pair of moccasins.  The next day, she gave him clean clothes to wear.  The old man thanked her, but before long he became quite ill.  The Bear Clan woman didn’t know what to do to help him.  In those days, the people didn’t know how to make medicine.  The old man told her to go to a certain place.  He described a particular plant and asked her to give thanks to the plant and bring it back.  Then, he told her how to make a medicine from the plant.  She followed his instructions, gave him the medicine and before long the old man recovered.  The following day, the old man became sick again, but with a different illness.  He told her to look for another plant.  He told her where to find it, what it looked like and how to prepare it.  After she did as he instructed, she gave him the new medicine and he became well again.  This happened many times.  The old man suffered from many illnesses.  He instructed the woman to look for various plants and prepare a different medicine for each disease.  He always got better.

Then, one day, the Bear Clan woman left to get some water.  When she returned, she saw that there was a bright light coming from her longhouse.  She was frightened.  Then, she saw a handsome young man all dressed in white buckskin come out of her house.   He told her not to be afraid because he was the Creator.  He had disguised himself as an old man to see who would extend hospitality and friendship to him.  He said that since it was a Bear Clan woman who took pity on him, he would give the Bear Clan a gift.  That gift was the knowledge of how to cure every illness that might befall the people.  She had learned well and now she was to teach the rest of the Bear Clan how to make medicine. 

A cloud surrounded the Creator and he rose into the sky and disappeared. That is how the Bear Clan received knowledge of how to make medicine.