The Bear Trail
Collected and Illustrated By: James Ratt
Told By: Roderick Bird
All content © 1983 Lac La Ronge Indian Band Education Branch
Once
upon a time, long ago, an old man decided to take his rifle and
wait by a bear trail close to a creek. He knew that there was a bear feeding
in the evenings in fish from the creek. He lay down where the bear wouldn't
see him or catch his scent. Sure enough just before sunset he heard a
noise and he got his rifle ready.
Instead of a bear he saw a Wihtiko. It was looking from side to side with its eyes rolling upwards in its head. The Wihtiko passed so close to where he was laying that he was overpowered by its smell of rotted flesh.
As soon as the Wihtiko had disappeared from sight, the old man ran for his canoe which was close to the mouth of the creek and paddled home.
He got his tent and his supplies. He paddled most of the night to get to a settlement of people who were finishing a season of spring trapping.
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