228 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [bdll. 39 



69. STORY OF THE GRIZZLY-BEAR CREST OF THE 



TE'Q0ED1« 



A man belonging to the Te'qoedi went hunting on Unuk (Djti'nAx) 

 river, and came to a bear's den. While he was examining it the male 

 bear threw him inside. Then the bear's wife dug a hole in the ground 

 and conceal(Ml him there. When the male bear came in he said/' "\^Tiere 

 is that man that I threw in here?" "I haven't seen anyone. You 

 haven't thrown anybod}" in here." "I did. I threw a man in here." 

 The male bear })ecame angry at her denials and left her, upon which the 

 man married this bear and had chile hen by her, although lie had a 

 family at home. 



Meunwliile the man's four brothers looked for him continually, keep- 

 ing away from their wives so as to (hid him, but in vain. The}^ could 

 see his tracks in the snow, but they could not discover where they 

 led to. Th(>y suspected the truth, because other hunters had also 

 been ca|:)ture(l there by animals, and the shamans told them that this 

 had happened to him. As soon as they left the town with their 

 dogs, however, the she-bear could feel it and made them pass by. 



But the youngest boy had not searched. Finally he started off 

 too, and the bear felt that he was coming, but she found that she could 

 not make hhn turn aside and said to hov husband, ''Well! we are 

 caught." The dogs scented him, and, when he looked out, there 

 was his own dog barking. He called to it by its name, Man-for-the- 

 mountains (Ca'yls!-xwa). Then his brother knew what was the 

 matter and came to the mouth of the den with his spears, determined 

 to bring back his brother alive or dead. When the man saw his 

 youngest brother outside he said, "Stand right there. Don't do any 

 harm. I am here. Although I am with this wild animal, I am living 

 well. Don't worry al)out me any more." 



When he was first taken into this den it looked like a den and 

 nothing more, but that night he thought that he was in a fine house 

 wath people all about eating supper, and his wife looked to him like a 

 human being. 



In May, when the bears were about to leave their dens, his wife 

 said, " Now you can go to your village. Take good care of your little 

 ones. Don't go near your wife. Don't look toward her even." So 

 he went to the place where his brothers were living and said, ''Tell 

 my wife not to come near me for a while. She must have pity on me. 

 Ask her to stay away." Then he l)egan to go off hunting. He had 

 luck from his bear wife, and killing seals was nothing to him. One 

 day, while he was out, he saw some bear cubs coming toward him 

 and presently found that they were his little ones. Then he gave 

 them all the seals he had killed. He fed them every day. When his 



a See story 19. 



