Bear Mother
In the classic Haida narrative of the Bear Mother, a woman who mocked the bears was taken by a bear who made her his wife. She lived among the bear people and bore children who were half-human, half-bear. Her human brothers eventually tracked her down and killed the bears in a great hunt, but the woman herself had been transformed by her time with the bears. The Bear Mother children became powerful ancestors. This narrative, common across many Northwest Coast tribes, serves to explain the special relationship between humans and bears, teaching profound respect for the animal people