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B
ERRIES, PLUMP AND RIPE, hung thick on autumn colored foliage amidst scattered rock boulders. Her small fingers were stained with their sweet purple juice as were her lips and tongue from eating them as she gathered the fruit into a woven basket her grandmother had made. This was the time of berry gathering for their people. While men hunted elk and deer, girls of various ages accompanied older women to learn the ancient ways. Earlier, coolness of the morning whispered portents of the oncoming season of snow and cold. A gust of warm afternoon wind rustled the drying leaves causing her to pause and look around. On the hillside below, she could see other women working their way up the slope. She was out in front of them all. Suddenly a smell came to her—a feral animal scent, unfamiliar but heavy and overpowering. Frozen in place she looked around, not in fear, but in curiosity. With a whuff… whuff sound, a huge cinnamon colored bear rose on its hind feet from out of a jumble of boulders in front of her. Backing up, she felt her foot wedge between rocks as she tumbled
over backward. The pain in her left knee and leg was terrible. The women on the slope below were shouting as the lumbering creature approached and looked down at her. Their eyes met, and the bear held her stare, not moving. The last thing she remembered was the creature’s hot breath and its eyes probing hers as she returned its gaze and examined the bear’s soul. The face of her grandfather swam into view. His face, aged with wisdom, looked down on her much as the bear had. He was leader of their people and soothed her with gentle words. “You are special little one. The women say the bear touched you with its paw. Bears are medicine spirits that have magical and healing powers. I believe it passed those qualities to you. From this time forward you shall be known as Redbear. I believe you will become a great healer of our people.” Winter passed, and with each new moon Redbear gained strength, but her knee and leg remained crippled. Young men who had made gestures of interest shunned her. Even her mother, father, and other family members became distant. Not understanding, she
