Noos Makwa (Brother Bear)

Noos Makwa 

Some may or may not notice the painting which is relatively new, or know the story below, which is based on legend much older.

"There are Indian legends about little people who live in the woods", said an Ojibwe elder from Red Lake. "If things are not going right spiritually, if Indian people are getting away from their ways, the spirits might take the children. There would be no trace of them. There are many people who believe this."

But there are other stories and legends, too, more hopeful, like the one beneath the painting of Indian children, a snowy woods, and bears.  

In the painting, a watercolor by Lisa Fifield of the Black Bear Clan of the Oneida Tribe in Wisconsin, bears are coming out of the woods into a clearing. They are met by an Indian couple, who are unafraid of the animals. And grateful. One bear holds a child by the hand. Another cradles an infant in its arms. The children are OK.

One winter, two little children wandered off ...They were very sick. Soon it would be dark, and Owl would get them. Women of the family called upon bears to bring the children back. The children wandered a long time in the snow until they got so tired they lay down. They no longer felt cold. They could no longer move their arms and legs. They were frozen! Many strange, spotted people walked by, coughing. The children tried to call out, but they had lost their voices. Then they knew these people were ghosts. Bears, who sometimes roam the edge of the spirit world, found these children before the spotted ghosts could take them. The huge, warm, furry bears grabbed up the children and carried them safely home. 

Nawaj Makwag (More Bears)
Bear meanings were enhanced by observations made by tribal sages. These vital tribal figures were inclined to pensive and deeper understanding of how nature communicated intent in all her forms. These sages found connections between human and beast and from these associations would interpret profound meanings that propelled the community into direction, action, and wisdom.


One such connection to bear meaning comes from a Shoshone sage who, set about bridging worlds in a manner of trance walking. During his trance walk, he was gifted with the site of a clan of bears who were performing what seemed to be a ritual dance.

The Bear Dance 1942, by William Holbrook Beard

These were not spirit bears, but real bears, on their hind legs, dancing in the golden rays of the sun. The Shoshone sage understood this to be a dance of gratitude as well as a prayer for the healing and protection of their young. From that point further the Shoshone have instigated their own Sun Dance where the bear is a central figure of the ritual symbolizing protection, strength and continuation of the progeny of the tribe.

Makwag symbolize; Protection, Childbearing, Motherhood, Freedom, Discernment, Courage, Power, Unpredictable.