Animal Legends and Lore

[brotherbear]

The Beast that Walks Like Man by Harold McCracken.
The Pawnees, who called themselves the Chahiksichshiks or "men of men" and who lived in the great valley of the Platte River, had a legend very similar but much more elaborate than the one previously cited. It was "The Story of Ku ruks la war' uks ti" ( "Medicine Bear" ). The hero of this interesting saga of Indian Americana was a certain poor boy of the Pawnee tribe. He was so poor that he is not even given a name at the beginning of the long story, and it is related that his whole family was so destitute that everyone looked down upon them. However, the lad decided to find honor or death; and he went to a fabled place among the hills, where there were many cedar trees and there were many skeletons of his people who had been killed in a mysterious manner. In the center of this strange graveyard he found the cave of a family of grizzlies. The father was not at home, but the friendly old she-bear said: "I am sorry that you have come here. My husband is the one who kills persons and brings them here for the children and me to eat. You had better go back to your people quickly, or he will eat you up ... He is one of those bad bears - a grizzly - medicine!" The poor boy, however, insisted on waiting to face this terrible man-eating bear.
When the monster returned and saw the bold young intruder, he pounded the earth with his great paws, snorted like thunder, and blew red dust from his nostrils. He shouted that he was chief of all the grizzlies and head of all the animal lodges, and there was no living creature on earth as strong or who had as much supernatural power. The poor boy was very frightened, but he bravely faced the demon, defying all his wrath and power. Greatly admiring this unusual courage, the grizzly finally promised to adopt the boy as his own and bestow all his powers upon him.
In this imaginative story there is a mingling of primitive drama, poetic justice, and mystic animal worship. To tell it briefly is only to spoil it; and even in all its translated detail it unquestionably loses a vast amount of its original conception, as it once was related in all its orthodox sincerity of complete belief by the tribal patriarchs of the proud Pawnees.
The grizzly invested the poor boy with invulnerability to being injured in any way by the weapons of his enemies, and he taught him the magic of literally wiping away the wounds inflicted upon others and of restoring life to those who had been killed.
When the lad finally returned to the lodge of his own father, the people quickly learned about what had happened. He had such great supernatural powers that he was able to go right into the midst of enemy warriors, without any fear of personal injury, and slay the tribal enemies with reckless abandon. And so it came to pass that "old men were calling his name, young women were singing his praise, and old women came to dance before him. People no longer made fun of his father or mother. Now they looked upon him as a great and powerful person." He was given the distinguished name of Ku ruks la war' uks ti or Medicine Bear, and sometimes they called him Ku ruks ti carish, which means Angry Bear. He brought great honor to his tribe, finally married the chief's beautiful daughter, and became a great chief in his own right - all because of the grizzly bear.
These are but a few of the Indian's legends in which the grizzly was accorded a worshipful distinction and homage and which show the influence of these animals upon the red man's culture. Reply