Not afraid of Mukwa

By Richard Wagamese

The bear that patrols our neighborhood was particularly busy this year. He’s a three year old now and he’s gotten used to a regular route. Generally, he ambles out of the bush, snacks on a Saskatoon bush and moves on. This year was very different.

Maybe bears have a similarity to us humans. Maybe they get a little stubborn and curmudgeonly as they age too. I can’t be certain of that but it sure looked like our community bear was acting out a tad more aggressively this year.

First of all, he spread out his range. In previous year’s he’s been content to frequent the edges of the bush and may make a furtive raid on more visible bushes. This year he’s been on a persistent raid deep behind our lines. This year he’s been everywhere and seemingly without a concern in the world.

My dog Molly put the rout to him a couple times. Once when he was laid out behind our woodshed and another when she spied him around a bend in the road where the bush is thicker and closer to the road. Both times he ran off quickly but we’d never actually seen him that close in the daytime.

Later, as the days lengthened we found his scat in the middle of the gravel road that winds through the community. Neighbors talked about him climbing up into their fruit trees and lying across the branches like it was a big all you can eat buffet.

The dogs would howl at night and we just knew that he was out. None of this really bothered me at all. Bears and I seem to have a kinship. I always feel better when I know they’re around and they’ve never bothered me even on the closest encounter.

They say that bears are our protectors. They say that they are a powerful totem. I believe that. I believe that the spirit of a bear is the spirit of a good, wise old man or woman who knows the true nature of the world.

I like it when I see a bear. I’m not afraid when they’re about. Instead, I’m respectful. See, animals don’t need to feel our fear because they know intuitively what harmony is. They just need us to be aware that we share the planet with every living thing. They’re here to remind us of that and they always were.