Many Bears

TREE WOMAN

My name is Tree Woman. I live in what will become the United States of America in the 1300s. Right now I live on the back of a turtle.
They call me “Tree Woman” because although my people are nomads, I try to get things to grow in the forest. I’ve foraged for many types of berries as the men hunt, and I’ve found many berries that have gone to seed, and planted them although I may never come back to that place.
At night, everyone comes around the fire, showing what they’ve gotten during the day.
I’ve had many children. Most are good, but a son I had turned out to be violent. His name was Many Bears.He threw rocks at children and the dogs. This was not good for our tribe.
One day, I had to attend a special counsel with the elders of my tribe about Many Bears.They concluded that he needed to leave the tribe.
We left Many Bears at the last camp we had and told him not to follow us.


MANY BEARS

My name is Many Bears. I’m called that because I’ve scared off bears with rocks who come to our camp at night. But my violent actions have brought me problems in the past.
My tribe abandoned me and told me to live on my own. They gave me a bow and several arrows so I could eat. But although there were many animals, I’ve tried and could not catch anything.
So I decided to infiltrate another tribe. I told them I was starving and asked if I could help them. They told me it was a woman’s job.But they gave me something to eat. I went to sleep.
The men came back with their kill, and I awoke to the sound of a crackling fire. They held obsidian knives to my face and wanted to know who I was and where I came from. I told them I had lost my tribe.They tied me up until the morning.
They got up when the sun was not, untying me and shoving fish at me, which I ate hungrily. I wasn’t even finished before they stood me up and forced me to follow them.
We hunted all day, although the sun was very hot. We spotted antelope, and I was told to wait behind a large rock. I had to sit there all day until one antelope came close, and I shot it with my bow and arrow.
After that day, I was told to sit behind the rock again many times.So I picked up a very sharp stone and another that fit into my hand, and carved a picture of an antelope. Then whenever I got another antelope, I carved another picture in the rock.
I ran out of rock space and started to move to others, carving pictures of antelope and hunters .
Once, one of the men saw me, and asked me why I was wasting time. I told him that every time I killed an antelope, I recorded it to the rock, and there was nothing else to do while I waited for prey to come near.
I began wondering how to make rock paintings. On the way to my usual spot, I saw some crumbling red rock and scooped it into my leather bag. I decided charcoal from the fire might be used for black. I mixed them with fish oil and they became paint.
I went to places far and wide and did rock carvings and paintings. I painted the sun, moon and everything around me. A lot of rocks looked like they could be painted on, including cave walls.
I’ve gone on my own and hunted alone. All along, I’ve left my paintings and rock carvings. So remember every time you see a rock painting or petroglyph, it could have been painted by Many Bears, or one of my other brothers.