Animal Legends and Lore

[brotherbear]

Grizzly Years by Doug Peacock.

Our official wilderness, the National Parks, are being civilized. They stress scenery and standardized recreation. The Blackfeet used these mountains for vision quests; their medicine people sought their patron animal, Real Bear, as a spirit guide, because the grizzly was more than the animal wearing the fur coat, he was the Medicine Grizzly.

The Grizzly Almanac by Robert H. Busch.

The Blackfeet called it "The Unmentionable One" or "The Real Bear" ( nitakyaio ). They called the black bear merely "Bear" ( kyaio ), denoting its lesser status. Reply