Humans and bears - Wild encounters

[brotherbear]

It is not surprising that early natives both feared and revered the great grizzly. Some saw a grizzly kill as a badge of courage; historian George Bird Grinnell wrote, "the death of a bear gives the warrior greater reknown than the scalp of a human enemy." Others held the bear in such awe that it was taboo to even mention his name. The Blackfeet called it "The Unmentionable One" or "The Real Bear" ( nitakyaio ). They called the black bear merely "Bear" ( kyaio ), denoting its lesser status.
Explorers Meriwether Lewis and John Clark wrote an entry in their expedition journal for April 29, 1805, reporting that "Indians who go in quest of him ( the grizzly ) paint themselves and perform all the superstitious rites customary when they make war on a neighboring nation."

From The Grizzly Almanac by Robert H. Busch. Reply