Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Sacagawey the bird woman

Sacagawey is the only woman and native among the white american explores to new land. She talks to he baby:

It is wise to fear Grizzly Bear, little pomp,
But you must also give him thanks.
For when time comes for you to leave this world,
Grizzly Bear will show you the way.

See up there? Those seven stars?
The white men call them the Dipper.
But really those stars are Grizzly waiting patiently.
I will tell you the story as it was told to me
when I was very small.
The story of how the Great Bear came to be in the sky.

One day Black Bear with her cubs,
was eating berries from a bush.
Grizzly Bear walked up to Black Bear
and he said to her, "I want those berries for myself."
And selfishly , he pushed away Black Bear.
And he pushed away Black Bear's children.

Black Bear was much smaller than Grizzly
but she had courage and fought him.
She avoided Grizzly's powerful blows
and each time Grizzly missed, Black Bear would strike him
with her own sharp claws
until Grizzly Bear fell to the ground-defeated.
Black Bear then banished the greedy Grizzly Bear.
She told him, "Leave this place and never return.

Grizzly Bear left in disgrace.
He felt ashamed becaus all his life
he had placed his own needs before the needs of his brothers.
He wished now to make up for his selfisch ways.
He wished to do something good for his brothers.
Alone, he walked into the Shining Mountains.
For miles and miles he walked up the steep slopes.
Day turned to night, but he kept climbing higher.
He reached the deep snow on the mountaintops,
and the snow turned his brown fur white.
Yet he kept on walking higher and higher.

And when he reached the highest mountain peak,
Grizzly Bear stepped into the air
and he continuerd walking upward into the sky,
And as he climbed, a dust of snow fell of his fur,
leaving a milky white trail as he went.

Finally Grizzly Bear found his place
and he became a cluster of stars.
To this day, the Great Bear lives in the night sky,
guiding the souls of the people
to their proper place in heaven.

Wild thing like this a lot. So share it. Wild thing cry with stuffy cold, eyes watering. Wild thing sleeps, reads, drinks, walks dogs, blogs, and sleeps , and sleeps.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's lovely, Wild Thing. Thanks for sharing. But what did you mean by what you said at the end? Do you have the dreaded virus, like me? Hope I misunderstood but I think you are not well. Take care of yourself,

Anonymous said...

Just re-read, you said stuffy cold (for some reason I read "stuffy nose" the first time).

So you are under the weather. Take care, snuggle with dog and cat, keep warm, drink tea, and know that I commiserate. Snort, hack.

Anonymous said...

Nasty bug struck. Mean like Grizzly. But Black Bear fight back Sacagawey story like a vitamin. Simonpillow induce sleep. Weather kind today. Niagara Falls eyes start drying up. Said to nasty bug, "Leave this place and never return." Think he listened. tomorrow will tell.

Anonymous said...

I should tell you the poem I brought to the last editing circle was called "bear" - about the grizzly.

Anonymous said...

Synchronicity? I like to read the poem.

Anonymous said...

I'll bring it to the next editing circle for you. Take care of yourself. Be well.

Perhaps (if I get my "literacy work" done) I'll get a chance to write a bit about the source of the poem... If not, I'll simply say here it is based on the DVD "Grizzly Man", a documentary.

Anonymous said...

Well, my grizzly story is not as romantic as yours, Wild Thing. Timothy Treadwell is a real-life character who lived "amongst" the grizzlies in Alaska for thirteen years. He set up a foundation called Grizzly People (you can find it online). His idea was to do for the grizzly what was done for the "whales and dolphins" in terms of image - have the public think about the bears in the same way. Well, the guy kept pushing the envelope. You can see actual footage of him in Alaska - all taken by him - much of it is stunning. But the footage also shows that he had some problems too (well, we all do - but you'll have to see the DVD to make up your own mind). He named the grizzlies "Chocolate" and "Corona" and other such names. Anyway, to make a long story short, he was attacked and literally eaten by a grizzly (to give him credit, a "stranger" grizzly ate him - not his usual crew, who were off hibernating, as obviously, Timothy should have been doing too!). His death occurred a day before a plane was coming to get him and his girlfriend - they had stayed into October, longer than usual. His girlfriend was killed trying to beat the grizzly off Timothy with a frying pan. Anyway, I saw the DVD, bought the soundtrack - a talented bunch of guys and a girl jamming in response to parts of the footage - and wrote a poem entitled "bear" which unfolds from Timothy's story...

Anonymous said...

A grizzly story.

Infrinching on their territory, no matter with what good intention, is obviously not the best of ideas. I think grizzlies will always be unpredictable. Maybe one has to learn to "think" like a grizzly to be able to get near enough to observe their behaviour.

"My" grizzly story is a myth. Respect for Grizzly's mighty power is reflected in it. Black Bear in it is like David to Goliath.

Black bears are no pussy cats either. In N.B. human power over them is the gun. Without gun no one goes near. Children need to be watched when there are cubs.

Whales and dolphins seem to have a peaceful nature as perceived by humans. Wise and playful.

Still Disney and such stories give the wrong impression. Evoke false sentiments. Remember the story of Free Willie and the child that set your turtles free, Xena?

It would be desirable if we could think about and respect wild animals as they are, in all their fearsome aspects. Leave them their own territory and not try to romantasize their nature. Ah, wishful thinking.

I bought a newspaper tonight to read Bob's story.(Maybe all that has to do with a Grizzly Bear is that the story of a failing heart is a grizzly one.) But did you read the story of the fossils found of a beaver like creature that must've lived during the time of the dinosaurs? It was found in the same regions (China) where they recently found bones of feathered dinosaurs. A guess is that the beaver like mammals took to the sea to get away from the dinosaurs. Ah, all the things we do not know!

Good story, Lulu's Bob!

Still want to read that poem, Xena, and maybe when Nigel is back I could borrow the DVD. He has a DVD player here. I have no clue how to work it.

Anonymous said...

Maybe, come to think of it, the movie Penquin was pure reality...although there are still those people who try to give it a religious aspect.