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Overview

A black bear repeatedly struck by a hunter’s arrows removes them and returns them to him. It reads his unspoken fear and hunger, promising safety and food if he follows. They first visit a bear council in a mountain cave, then continue to the host’s own dwelling. There the bear produces chestnuts and berries by rubbing its belly; it also offers acorns which the human refuses.

The bear foresees a spring hunt and tells its guest that dogs will locate the cave before the hunters arrive. They kill, skin and divide it just as predicted, then discover the missing man inside. Before departing, the man covers the blood with leaves as the bear asked. Looking back during the journey, he sees his host rise, shake itself and walk into the woods. The narrative keeps this return alongside the hunters carrying its meat and skin, without explaining it as an ordinary biological process.

The bear council’s unsuccessful attempt to use human bows belongs to the same printed story, but Mooney notes that Swimmer normally placed that episode in the origin of disease and medicine. The invulnerable host, predicted killing and return form the particular relationship recounted here.

Reads unspoken thoughtsProduces food from its bodyPredicts its own hunting deathReturns after hunters carry off meat
01

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.

02

Records & interpretation

Complete selected narrative and corresponding contributor note were inspected. Story76, The Bear Man, pp.327–329; note76 first credits John Ax and distinguishes Swimmer’s council placement.

In the literature

“the bear rise up out of the leaves”
James Mooney · Myths of the Cherokee
Complete story76, printed pp.327–329; complete corresponding commentary pp.473–474

The talking thought-reading bear removes arrows and invites the hunter to live with him. A separate multi-bear council discusses food shortage, fails to wield human bows because of claws and disperses. The host supplies different foods, foretells the spring hunters, is killed and quartered, and is later explicitly seen rising and returning to the woods. His opening assertion that the hunter cannot kill him is not erased by the later killing and return. Practical ritual instructions omitted.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Myths of the Cherokee

    James Mooney, collector · 1902

    Story76, The Bear Man, pp.327–329; note76 first credits John Ax and distinguishes Swimmer’s council placement.

  2. 02

    Myths of the Cherokee — Medicine bear (John Ax’s account) encounter

    James Mooney; contributors: John Ax first; Swimmer places the bow trial in another origin story and allows this occasion · 1902

    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 — Medicine bear (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.

  1. The talking thought-reading bear removes arrows and invites the hunter to live with him. A separate multi-bear council discusses food shortage, fails to wield human bows because of claws and disperses. The host supplies different foods, foretells the spring hunters, is killed and quartered, and is later explicitly seen rising and returning to the woods. His opening assertion that the hunter cannot kill him is not erased by the later killing and return. Practical ritual instructions 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.

  1. Primary textMooney 1902: Story76, The Bear Man, pp.327–329; note76 first credits John Ax and distinguishes Swimmer’s council placement.Research access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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