The American Indian thoughts on human and animal life

The Indian learning from Mother Nature

The Bear & the Bees

The Indian man always lived so close to Mother Nature and all Animal life that he always learned from both. One example is the story of a young Indian that was walking through the forest one day, and saw a real huge bear up on a tree eating honey. He was really enjoying every mouthful of honey he took from the tree with his hands. The young Indian watched closely as he ate, and also noticed a very tiny Bee standing by.

The Bee didn’t seem to be happy that the Bear was taking the honey, because it belonged to his people who had a Beehive near by. The Bee knew that the Bear was way too big for him to handle all alone. So, he flew back to the Beehive where all the other little Bees were busy at work, and he told them what was happening.

The Indian watched as the little Bee buzzed and buzzed, describing with his wings how huge the Bear was. All the little Bees got together and rushed to where the Bear was still enjoying the fruits of their labor, and commenced stinging him on the nose, the ears, forehead and even his backside.

As hard as the Bear tried to defend himself, he could not take it any longer. Though the bees were little, together, they were too strong for him. So, he fell from the tree and ran away into the forest as fast as he could go. The lesson that the young Indian learned that day is that, “it does not matter how small you are, if you join together as one, it is possible to overcome any great foe”.

A very long time ago, when our Mother Earth was still very young, there were no language barriers between the Indian and the Animal world. The Indian and Animals used to speak to each other all the time. It was a wonderful world because the respect and understanding for one another’s needs was discussed at one specified time of the year. Everybody would look forward to that great and special meeting day. There were many stories of interest to be heard. Every Nation was represented: A representative from each of the Indian Nations of the East, West, North and South, as well as a representative from each of all the Animal Nations: the Winged Ones were represented by the Eagle, Hummingbird, the Sea Gull and the Butterfly; the Four Legged Ones by the Turtle, Bear, Coyote and the Buffalo. They all gathered and celebrated their coming together and enjoyed seeing each other.

The children sat and listened to all the Elders and Wise Men of their Nation tell the fascinating stories of happenings while out in the far away forests of Mother Nature. There was a big celebration of Drumming, Dancing and Singing. Every Nation prepared their best Regalia, sometimes spending weeks and months in order to look their best for the celebration. The Animals would sit proudly and watch how the Indian honored them by emulating their way. Afterwards, they all had a feast prepared from the fruits of Mother Nature. Then at night they would all gather around a fire to tell stories of their adventures while on their special journeys. They also took time to sit in a Great Council Circle to discuss ways of protecting Mother Earth’s precious Nature.

The representatives of the Animal Nations were very disturbed at the fact that some of the Indians were starting to be neglectful concerning the care of Mother Nature. The Bear stood up respectfully and spoke: “As much as we enjoy seeing all our friends at these gatherings, I must advise our friends from the Two Legged Nations, that some of their people have been abusing and hurting Mother Nature to the point that, we, who live close to her in the forest, have heard Her cry, late at night when everything seems to be silent”.

He continued. “Although we have mentioned this in the past four gathering, we notice that it has not stopped. So, we have come the sad decision that we will no longer attend these gatherings and that from this day forward, we will remain in our forests and never speak to the peoples from the Two Legged world ever again”. There was silence as, one by one the people from the Animal World rose and slowly walked away. Many Elders and Wise Men from the Indian Nations felt very sad about this, but there was nothing they could do, because they knew that the peoples from the Animal World were right. That is why, as much as we try to get animals to talk to us today, sometimes they just look deep into our eyes and sadly walk away.

I remember the story of the Mother Bear who decided to take her two little cubs out for the first time to teach them all about Mother Nature. She said to the tiny cubs, “I’m going to take you out to experience a new way of life in our wonderful Mother Nature”. The little bears were curious about all things around them, and so they were more than ready to see all that she had described to them in her story-telling way. They were all excited. She continued, “You must promise to stay close to me at all times because after dark it is very easy to get separated from each other and get lost”. The little cubs solemnly promised.

So, out they went. They could not believe their eyes. It was even more beautiful than the mama bear had described. The flowers and the way they gave out such a wonderful scent. The Mother Bear taught them about the different wild fruits they could eat and the ones that looked beautiful, but could make them sick.

The day flew by fast because they were having so much fun. The little male cub named Sam saw a very colorful flying animal flutter by, and instantly placed him in such a trance that he had to follow it, and before he knew it, he could not find his way back to his Mother and sister. Darkness seemed to come so fast that it made it even harder to move. As much as he called out to his mother he couldn’t find her. Crying out his name the mama bear finally gave up and returned to her home and figured it was best if she started out fresh, early the next morning with the break of light.

Meanwhile, lost in the deep forest, the little bear, Sam tried very hard to keep his courage up, but as much as he tried, the night had become pitch dark and it was getting harder and harder to even see in front of himself. All of a sudden he tripped on, what he thought was a round stone and he heard a voice. “Hey, watch where you’re going” the voice said. The little bear opened his eyes wide, and with fearful apprehension he stopped.

Little Sam looked down and saw a head come out of the stone. “Who is it, what are you”, he asked? “What am I? Why, I’m a turtle of course, who’s so tired of being stepped on by people who don’t look where they’re going. Anyway, my name is Napoleon ”. “Napoleon”, retorted little Sam? “Yes, and he was small too you know”. Not really knowing what he meant by the remark, the little bear continued, “my name is Sam and I’m sorry for stepping on you, but this is my first time out of my home and I don’t know anybody else yet. You see, I saw this very colorful and beautiful flying animal, late today, and I chased it far into the forest and got strayed from my mother and sister”. “Oh” said the turtle. “It must have been Gladys the Butterfly, she likes to play hide and seek with all of us”. “Well”, said the cub. “Now I’m lost. And I’m beginning to get a bit scared too, because it’s so dark that I cannot see to find my way back home”.

“I understand what you mean said the turtle. Being that this is your first time out in the forest, your eyes are not accustomed to the difference between day and night. And as bright as the day can be, when night comes in the forest, it can get very dark and sometimes, for no reason at all, scary too. My fear is that some people don’t look down, and I really get stepped on a lot. Good thing I can retract myself into my hard shell. You really have no idea how many times that has saved my life”. Little Sam laughed, which was exactly what Napoleon wanted, to keep him from being taken over by the fear of darkness.

All this time, the Mother Bear could not sleep, pacing and thinking that something terrible was happening to her little cub.

Suddenly in the middle of the dark night they came upon a radiant glitter of shining lights. The little bear stopped and rubbed his unbelieving eyes and looked at the turtle. “These are the people, said Napoleon. Let me see now. I have to find Charlie Bright Lights”. A short distance away, you could hear a male voice singing, “you light up my fire”, as they came closer, they could see someone with a hat singing to a girl. Charlie spotted Napoleon in the arms of the little cub and immediately stopped singing and flew over. “Hey Napoleon, how are you my friend”? Napoleon replied, “Fine Charlie, you’re in great singing voice as always. I’m glad to see you. Let me introduce my friend Sam”. Sam said, “hello”, and Napoleon continued. “My friend here is lost and needs a little help from you and your friends”. “No problem, said Charlie. They don’t call us the Guiding Light for nothing. It’s always a pleasure helping someone in distress”.

And so it was, that Charlie Bright Lights gathered all his friends in the “Fire Fly” community, and all together they formed a ray of luminous bright light that helped to guide Sam, the little bear back home to the caressing arms of a very thankful mother bear.