Home » Travel » Alaska/Northern Canada » A Matter of Perspective, Continued

A Matter of Perspective, Continued

© Sandy McCollum

Last week I began with a story that Mae, a Saxman Tlingit, was telling me. This week is the continuation of that story, and how it affected our family one day.

..."I told her I was lost and afraid, and that I was supposed to be picking salmonberries but I took a nap, instead, and now my brothers and mother had left the forest and I was alone. ‘I will stay with you but only for a little while,' Doe said to me. A few minutes later, the bushes began to crack and snap, and with a single jump, Doe and her fawns disappeared that quick," she said, snapping her fingers. "And a big, black bear came meandering into the clearing. He was eating the Hudson Bay flowers on top of the bushes. Hudson Bay flowers make bears crazy, so again I was afraid. This was the biggest bear I'd ever seen, he was massive. Just his smell put fear through me, because we all know a stinky bear is mean."

Mae picked up her mug and took a long slow draw from it, setting it back down so gently I didn't even hear the cup on the table.

"When Bear wasn't looking I picked some salmonberries and put them into my basket. I thought I would offer them to Bear in trade if he decided he'd like to eat me, even though Mother always said Black Bear does not eat Two-Legged creatures. When my small basket was filled, it didn't look like enough and I wished I had one of the larger baskets, for once. About the same time, Bear noticed the berries and came for a snack. I put my basket down and hid in the bushes away from it, but Bear saw me. He just looked at me like he was wondering what I was doing. He saw my basket and was glad for it, and he took it, basket and all, and disappeared into the bushes. I almost cried, I was so glad!

"I looked all around me and through the trees I could see the new pointed roof on the tribal house and I knew I was near home, now. I ran all the way, and my mother was upset with me. She thought I'd gone home without her and when she arrived and found I wasn't there, she worried. She'd sent my brothers back into the forest to find me. She was very upset with me and did not smile. When my mother did not smile, we knew she was very angry with us. I didn't talk much, I just took to my chore of turning the smoked salmon.

The copyright of the article A Matter of Perspective, Continued in Alaska/Northern Canada is owned by Sandy McCollum. Permission to republish A Matter of Perspective, Continued in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.