A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
After accepting a speaking bear’s invitation, a hunter spends the winter in its mountain cave. Long hair grows across his body and his behaviour becomes increasingly bear-like, although he still walks as a man. When a hunting party kills his host, their dogs continue barking at the cave. The men at first mistake the long-haired figure for another bear, then recognize the hunter who disappeared the previous year.
He returns with them after witnessing the bear’s renewed life. Near the settlement he explains that he must spend seven days secluded without food or drink for the bear nature to leave him. His wife hears of his return and repeatedly begs to see him. The people relent after four or five days, and he dies soon afterwards because the change is incomplete. The story’s prescribed seclusion belongs to its transformation logic, not treatment advice. This ending differs from the medicine bear’s successful return: the animal resumes life, while the human’s attempted reintegration fails.
Origins & earliest records
Mooney’s inspected Myths of the Cherokee edition is dated 1902. The named contributor is preserved in the appended story notes; publication is not a date for the beginning of oral transmission.
Records & interpretation
Complete selected narrative and corresponding contributor note were inspected. Story76, The Bear Man, pp.327–329; complete John Ax narrative and note76.
In the literature
“he still walked like a man.”
Complete story76, printed pp.327–329; complete corresponding commentary pp.473–474
The hunter accepts the bear’s hospitality and spends the winter in its cave, grows bear-like hair and behavior while still walking as a man. Hunters recognize and recover him after killing the host; he witnesses its return. His human restoration remains incomplete when his wife obtains his release, and he dies. The counterfactual possibility of successful restoration is stated by the narrator, not demonstrated as treatment. Practical restoration protocol omitted.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Myths of the Cherokee
Story76, The Bear Man, pp.327–329; complete John Ax narrative and note76.
- 02
Myths of the Cherokee — Bear Man (John Ax’s account) encounter
Selected Washington Government Printing Office1902 offprint of Myths of the Cherokee, Extract from the Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology; title independently read.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
Located primary passages
Specific passages supporting details in this entry, grouped by their published witness.
Myths of the Cherokee — Bear Man (John Ax’s account) encounter
Selected Washington Government Printing Office1902 offprint of Myths of the Cherokee, Extract from the Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology; title independently read.
- The hunter accepts the bear’s hospitality and spends the winter in its cave, grows bear-like hair and behavior while still walking as a man. Hunters recognize and recover him after killing the host; he witnesses its return. His human restoration remains incomplete when his wife obtains his release, and he dies. The counterfactual possibility of successful restoration is stated by the narrator, not demonstrated as treatment. Practical restoration protocol omitted.
Complete story76, printed pp.327–329; complete corresponding commentary pp.473–474
No whole collection or independent oral recording reviewed; comparative genealogical or biological identification remains qualified. Practical ceremonial/treatment sequences deliberately omitted.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary textMooney 1902: Story76, The Bear Man, pp.327–329; complete John Ax narrative and note76.Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.