19. The Bear-Man

They were living on the other side of the Rio Grande near a mountain called Nabîanye where they were raising a crop. A bear was killing them one by one. There at a place called Teîcnadjin, "trees thick," the bear had his camp from which he came to get the people. They went there after cherries. One of them, the tallest, climbed a tree to get the cherries. The bear killed them.

They ran back away from him. They sent word to the camp and all got ready to go after him. They followed his tracks. Here a bear had run along. Over there, they found his coat (bearskin) which he wore when he came after the people. He took off also the braided sticks which he wore under his coat, as he ran to his home. They tracked him to his camp which was by an arroyo. He had made a number of holes, in a row on the opposite bank. Those pursuing him came there in the early morning and stood by his door.

An old man found him. "He is like one of our people, but we will kill him for an enemy," he said. ¹ They brought him to the door and shot him. He had killed a bear and taken its coat. He had cut small tough sticks and fixed them under his coat so the arrows would not go through. They brought it home.

Footnotes

212:1 By "our people" is meant that he spoke a related language, probably Kiowa-Apache or Mescalero.