Week 10 Storytelling: Minerva and her Polar Bear Son

Once upon a time, there was an old woman named Minerva, who had never married. She had no family left to support her, and so often, she went hungry.

But sometimes, the young hunters in the community would bring her meat to eat, and they would tell her about their great adventures.

One day, when the hunters brought the regular meat and stories, they brought something new along with them.

When the short woman with completely gray hair opened her front door, three young men stood on the snow-covered steps holding a polar bear cub!

 

(Image information: "Polar Bear" by Alan D. Wilson, 2007.)

"Awwe, what a dear little thing," Minerva said. "Where is his mother?"

The hunters brought the cub into Minerva's house, and she brewed tea for everyone. She found some old blankets to wrap around the cub and the little bear quickly fell asleep.

"Unfortunately, Ms. Minerva, we shot and killed the cub's mother. We didn't know it was a mother bear when she shot it, and we've very sorry. We thought that maybe you would want some company. So we brought the bear here," one of the hunters said.

"Well, that's a very strange form of company, but I'll give it a try," she said.

The hunters left the cub with Minerva, and over the years, the cub grew up. It spent so much time playing with Minerva and the village children that the cub developed the brain of a human.

Neither Minerva nor the cub wanted for anything because the village folk were so taken with the cub that they often brought food and clothes and toys for him.

The bear grew stronger and stronger, and Minerva would have to remind her bear cub to be gentle with the village children.

Once Minerva and the hunters thought the bear was ready, the hunters took the cub out to hunt with them one day. It took a little practice, but once the bear got the hang of sniffing out the prey, he was a very useful helper.

But a scary thing happened that day. Another group of hunters who didn't know about the pet polar bear tried to shoot at the cub with their bows and arrows. All of the village hunters were very upset, and they yelled at the other group of hunters. Thankfully, the cub wasn't hurt.

The hunters asked Minerva to fashion a special collar for the polar bear so that everyone near and far would know that he was special. She wove together several sinews and placed the collar around his neck.

From then on, when ever he went hunting, the bear received many compliments from the people he encountered, and he was very happy with his life as a hunting helper and as a companion to Minerva.

Author's Note: This story was inspired by "The Woman Who Had A Bear As A Foster-Son," from the Eskimo Folk-Tales book by Knud Rasmussen, 1921. I kept this story very close to the original, except that I gave the old woman a name, and I changed the ending. In the ending of the original story, the old woman tells the polar bear that she is worried that if he stays with her, he will be killed. So she urges him to find somewhere else. The bear leaves, and Minerva never sees him again. I thought this was a very sad ending, and I also found it kind of pointless because the old woman made him a special collar to protect him.