Edwin tells Cole that “Off the coast of British Columbia, there is a special black bear called the Spirit Bear. It is pure white and has pride, dignity and honor.” I was interested to find out if the bear was more of a legend, or if it was something people could actually still see. Also, because the book is called “Touching Spirit Bear” I figured there would probably be a lot of interaction between the bear and Cole and that it would be important.
Spirit Bears are not just a legend, but in order to see one you would have to go to Princess Royal Island or Gribbell Island and areas around there to see one because that is the only area in the whole world that they exist. I thought these were two nice pictures of them: http://sudoku.com.au/Prizes/H337.jpg and http://www.kermode-terrace-bc.com/spirit_bearcub1.jpg. Because they have lived mostly secluded for so long they do not have a natural fear of humans.
The Spirit Bear is called the Kermode after a British zoologist named Francis Kermode from the British Columbia Provincial Museum who helped W. T. Hornaday in learning about the Spirit Bear.
I learned that the legend of the Spirit Bear comes from the Tsimshian people, and that for a long time they were called Moksgm’ol. When the earth was in an ice age, the Raven decided to change the world back to green plants but as a reminder of the ice and snow turned every tenth Black Bear white. The Raven also gave them special powers. One was to be able to dive deep for fish and the other to be able to lead special people to their places. I think that maybe this is what the spirit bear in this book will do for Cole; he needs the help.
Works Cited:
"Legend and History." Spiritbearyouth.Org. 25 June 2008 http://www.spiritbearyouth.org/spiritbear.php?page_id=7.
"Princess Royal Island." Britishcolumbia.Com. 25 June 2008 http://www.britishcolumbia.com/regions/towns/?townID=4014.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Oooo! I am the first commenter!
Nice job with your research, I wonder though.. why are the bear only located in those two spots? When I was reading the book and read about the white black bear, I was slightly confused. A white, black bear?
I think that the story at the end really improved your post, I enjoyed it, and you wrapped it up quite nicely at the end, connecting it to the book in a simple short sentence.
Thanks for the picture links...nice job. Did you notice that the bears do NOT live in the area where Cole is going? Why would that be significant for your book?
The fact that the bears don't live where Cole is going makes it interesting that they seem as though they will play a large role in the book when naturally they aren't supposed to be around. As you read further and Cole does see a Spirit Bear it makes it more remarkable, and also leads to his deciding to make people believe his word and not having to prove things all the time.
Post a Comment