Wild Bears of the North West
Momma Bear
Have you ever seen a bear in the wild? Be it a Black Bear or Grizzly, they all seem to have such a sense of purpose. Bears are always going somewhere or searching for something, even if it’s just a good place to take a nap.
I’ve been fortunate to see black bears in the Cascade Mts. of Washington State and the Rocky Mountains in North Idaho. Their power and agility always shocks and amazes me and brings me up short to stay alert in the woods. The black bear in the Cascades ran across the road and up a 30 foot, 60 degree incline in less than a minute.
I was driving a car full of kids and screeched on the brakes with kids rolling down the windows and getting a real treat out of the experience when it hit me that if he could go up that fast how fast could he come down!! The black bear in North Idaho was also going mighty fast. I noticed it was a cub and knew that we’d better get out of there before his momma realized that we were between him and her. We went elsewhere to get our huckleberries, but really stayed alert. Bears love huckleberries too!
Owen and I drove the Alcan Highway in the early summer of 2007 all the way to Palmer, Alaska. What a joy to see all the wild flowers and wild life! It was my first time up the Alcan Highway and I loved every minute of the journey. It was like driving through a zoo with all the wild life we were able to see. I’d never before seen so many bears in the wild. We brought along our tent thinking that if we couldn’t get a hotel or hostel we’d camp. Well, that thought went right away when we came to the Laird River Hot Springs in British Columbia, Canada, where we thought we’d camp first. Driving down into the area we could see the incredibly beautiful campground with lots of comfortable looking sites. There were quite a few folks in campers and a few tents. Everything was green and crisp and inviting. Right before we were to take the road in we looked to the left of the highway and here was a huge hungry momma Grizzly bear with twin cubs grazing on dandelion seed pods and making their way toward the campgrounds. We just drove right on by! And that was to be the story of the whole trip. Bears everywhere! Big hungry bears everywhere!
Little Bear Cub
Just coming over the mountain pass beyond Haines Junction, AK we saw the biggest Grizzly momma with a cub. If one wanted to see a bear spring into action this was the opportunity. They were all so sweetly munching on dandelion seed pods on the side of the highway; we had pulled over to photo and see their beauty, when momma heard something off in the woods. Males are dangerous to cubs at this time of year. She sprung up to her full height of about 8 feet and lunged forward to get a better look – all in the flash of an eye. This was no slow moving, lumbering wandering animal. This was keen agility, incredible power, fierce protection of her cubs, totally focused and purposeful, quintessential Momma Bear! So, of course, we never used our tent and yes, we always found very reasonable hotel or hostel rooms. We had a really great time looking for bears!
When we came home from our travels I was compelled to make this brooch;
Bear Mother Brooch
This is the ancestor Matriarch of the Grizzly Bear clan. The story appears at it’s best in the Tsimsian form under the name of Rhpisunt, a young woman of high rank who, because of her offense of ridiculing bears was kidnapped by a Grizzly while she was following a trail on a mountainside. This princess was captured by Bears while picking berries with her girlfriends. She was carried to the Bear’s Lodge, where to her amazement they removed their bear suits. She fell in love and married the Bear Chief’s son and bore him twin sons, from whom all Bear Clan People are descended. She is depicted here with her twin cubs.
Hand-cast Sterling Silver Mother Bear brooch with Abalone inlay by Janet Walker. Brooch comes with an attachment for also wearing as a pendant. Size is approx. 1.75 inch x 1.25 inch.
And this is the Sterling Bear ring; The Indians of the Pacific Northwest believed that before the first people were created the world was inhabited by the animals and the birds who lived and acted as people. In some tribes, the most powerful of these people were the bears. In today’s world the Bear represents one of the last true symbols of the natural world. For those of us who claim Bear as our totem, we must remember not to be reclusive, and to come out of the den. The world needs us. We are Chiefs, Alpha, mighty hunters, protectors, Momma and Daddy, cubs, and we can’t forget Teddy Bears!
Sterling Silver Bear Ring
The Bear ring is a substantial carving; 16mm wide, 6mm high, very 3-D, tapering to a 5mm squared shank. Hollowed underside and squared shank create a well-balanced, comfortable ring. Available in sizes 6 to 15.Hand-cast lost wax, Sterling Silver Bear ring by Janet Walker.
Owen has a story about a bear and some huckleberries that I’ll let him tell you about. He also has some great Bear bracelets!
