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bear.
    Below, the dogs snuffled through the spruce litter and the balls of earth and moss with her scent that she had rolled down the hill, and the man who followed the dogs shielded his eyes from the sun and searched for the opening to the den. Two brothers circled round to approach the bear from above the entrance, scrambling over the scree, and kicking stones like tiny avalanches. X’oots and S’ee could hear them coming through the ceiling.
    “Remember …”
    The other hunters clambered along the steep face, the dogs ahead on the scent, pausing with ears cocked for a sound. Chewing Ribs wagged his tail and roared toward the cave, oblivious of the grizzly, bounding between the great bear’s legs into S’ee’s arms. Concentrating on the approaching men, X’oots missed seeing the little dog entirely. S’ee hushed him, pushed his tongue and head away, and pinned him behind her back against the cave wall, wriggling, tail thumping a tattoo on her spine, but Chewing Ribs stilled when the bear peered into the darkness at the commotion. “Did one of their dogs come in?” X’oots asked.
    “No, it was a mitten. One of the brothers threw it in to see if you were home.”
    When he could no longer stand the suspense, the bear poked his nose out of the cave and gave himself away. The brothers below gave a shout, and the brothers above drew their arrows. X’oots rolled back into the den, searched for his wife and children in the half-light, and spun just as the first arrow glanced off his shoulder. Soon the air whined with arrows. The bear roared and staggered, hit a dozen times, fought into open air and skidded headfirst down the rocky incline till he lay supine. He lifted his head but knew he could no longer move, then lay still and breathed his last, the edges of his fur fluttering in a passing breeze. The dogs danced around the corpse, yelping triumph and crying over theirfear of death. One of the brothers braved a kick in the dead animal’s ribs, and seeing no spirit left behind in the bear, he lifted his chin to the skies and began to sing.
    Hearing the human voice, S’ee uncovered her children, demanded they keep quiet and gather the arrows that had missed the mark. With a strip torn from the remnants of her dress, she tied the arrows to the dog’s sides and pushed him out of the den. When the arrows came back to them this way, the brothers stopped their chanting and knew that something human remained in the hole above them. They found her naked and cowering with two young children in the darkest corner of the den.
    “Woman, how did you get here?”
    “I am S’ee, don’t you recognize me? And that was my husband you have filled with your arrows.” She pushed the men aside, scrabbling down the rock face on all fours till she embraced the bear, dusty and bloodied, his spirit gone. The insects swarmed on the wounds, crawled into his mouth and lifeless eyes. She buried her hands in his fur, grabbed the broad muscles along his arm, and keened her lamentations. Young Yeikoo.shk’ raced to her side, desperate to comfort, and when she saw the boy, S’ee thought of the babe left in the den and knew at once what she must do.
    “Go to my mother and have her send clothes for me and my two babies, and we will need moccasins for the journey home. You are to leave the head and skin whole and drape it across four poles, facing the east, so that X’oots may see the break of each day and watch over his children.”
    The brothers did as she instructed, and the dogs cried inconsolably at the bearskin stretched out above them, as if alive. The brothers took the meat but would not eat it, building a pyre as soon as they left the valley, burning his body atop a mountain. For six days, S’ee woke to the sight of the bear watching the sunrise, and she cursed him for his pride.The babies grew hungry and dirty from her neglect, and by the time the brothers returned, the children ran and hid from them. The youngest brother, the one