SKIRMISH WITH A SPIRIT BEAR
The elder, Eagle Catcher, looked at the ancient-one, his sibling brother Sa'ke'j [also known as Victor James Muise Jr.], a well respected teacher, as he performed the sacred sweet-grass ceremony for a large group of young people who had braved the cold January winds to come learn about the ways of the People from the ageing spiritual leader.
Sa'ke'j, on finishing the ancient ritual, started to tell the Gathering about different spiritual practices and traditions that make up the culture of his People, the Mi’Kmaq. He did not consider himself a teacher or even a spiritual leader for that matter but after years of teaching dancing and drum ceremonies and participating in gatherings such as the one this evening many in the aboriginal community [all over Newfoundland and Labrador] considered him to be a champion or mentor for a wide variety of Mi’Kmaq cultural activities.
Everyone in the room could feel the confidence and self-assurance in the Ancient’s voice which alluded to a higher knowledge and understanding of things related to the Spirit-World. Sa'ke'j spoke with such strength and conviction it was unlikely that anyone would have suspected that except for the help of his brother, the old experienced elder Eagle Catcher, he would now be eternally trapped in the Spirit-World, a prisoner of Niskan tal Muwin the spirit bear.
As Eagle Catcher listened to the gelling, lulling voices coming from the group discussion his mind slowly drifted back to that time, now many years ago, when he had prevented Niskan tal Muwin from snatching Sa'ke'j and trapping him forever in the Spirit-World. He recalled that long ago winter night, the start of this bizarre, legend-like story when he had felt his brother’s call for help.
As he prepared a hunting bag for the next morning Eagle Catcher wondered if he would be lucky enough to kill his moose on the first day of hunting after the Christmas holidays. He would start his morning hunt from his cabin on Flat Bay Brook and travel by foot to Hell’s Gulch, an area some of the People say is a sacred place because of the ancient burial site [possibly belonging to his People or some of their enemies] that was found there many years ago by his grandfather, John Muise.
Eagle Catcher had heard many stories about possible bloody battles that were fought between his People and the Beothuks. Because of the local abundance of salmon and caribou he was fairly confident that many different groups of people had frequented this place over the centuries. Competing for use of these abundant natural resources would have resulted in conflicts between the different groups. If this was factual, Eagle Catcher had no doubt that the area around Hell’s Gulch Brook was a place of great power and home to many who were now part of the Spirit-World.
Regardless of the distant pass, Hell’s Gulch was sort of a sacred place for Eagle Catcher and his brother. Their families had lived, trapped and hunted in this rich river valley that was protected by the Long Range Mountains for the pass two centuries. Both men frequently travelled the areas around the brook, mostly hunting, fishing, or prospecting but often just looking at the pristine scenery or simply mediating. Eagle Catcher could feel the Spirits of his forefathers when he walked the hunting trails or sat on the banks of the brook.
Perhaps it was some sixth-sense [or thinking about the graves found at Hell’s Gulch Brook] that was making Eagle Catcher uneasy. Throughout the evening the eager hunter felt that something was wrong. He kept thinking about his brother Sa'ke'j whom he had not seen for some months. When he left his house very early the next morning this uneasy feeling consumed Eagle Catcher to such a degree that instead of going hunting he went to his brother’s house. After knocking on the door for several minutes without getting a response he forced the door open and found his brother lying on the floor in a pool of blood. On closer examination Eagle Catcher discovered a large opened cut on the back of Sa'ke'j head. The local doctor needed twenty-three stitches to close the head wound. Sa'ke'j was somewhat confused, partially disorientated and could not even remember how he had injured himself.
At that period in his life Sa'ke'j had not yet fully conquered the evil spirit found in alcohol and the worried hunter guessed that his brother’s head injury had something to do with drinking [actually, alcoholism was an infliction that would haunt Sa'ke'j throughout most of his early adult life]. After three or four hours Sa'ke'j was released from hospital with the doctor telling Eagle Catcher that his younger brother needed to be watched very carefully for several days because of a possible concussion from the head wound which was causing his current disorientated state.
Unexpectedly trapped in his brother’s house as a nursemaid, Eagle Catcher [while his brother recuperated] spent the next several days snooping around looking at some of the large array of Mi’Kmaq related artifacts that he found in Sake’s untidy house. It soon became obvious to the older brother that his younger sibling had started dabbling into the culture of the People particularly the ceremonies, dances, music, and medicines. Sa'ke'j had accumulated, over the last while, many different articles of cultural significance. Drums, talking sticks, medicine bags, dream catchers, musical and Mi’Kmaq language tapes were just some of the cultural paraphernalia that clustered the walls and corners of Sa'ke'j house. There were also many older books on medicine men and shamans and the different types of spirits to be found in the Spirit-World.
It appeared that Sa'ke'j was attempting to make himself a cultural guru. This was a good thing [thought Eagle Catcher] because up to that time in Newfoundland the People knew very little [for many different reasons] about their near forgotten culture. He wished that Sa'ke'j would soon get back to normal so they could carry on a sensible conservation which was impossible at the present time because Sa'ke'j mind appeared to be in another world.
The sutures were removed from the head wound on the sixth day but Sa'ke'j overall condition was worsening. He was still very disorientated and talked continuously about been attacked by wild animals. He would suddenly awaken from a partial sleep screaming about something that was going to get him. The once strong, young looking Sa'ke'j now appeared old, weak, and haggard with a distant, unfocused look on his face. Eating sparingly, he refused to consume a full meal and would only drink sips of water after much coaxing from his worried older brother.
Eagle Catcher was concerned about his brother’s health so he called his Aunt Jo, one of the first recognized elders in the recently revitalized Mi’Kmaq culture [which was at that time in Newfoundland still in its infancy]. Aunt Jo said that Victor [now called Sa'ke'j by the Mi’Kmaq community] was in grave danger because either the head injury had weaken his personal power and evil spirits were now trying to capture his spirit or someone had put a powerful curse on him. Whatever the reason, he needed to be purified very quickly using some type of cleansing ceremony.
Although the majority had forgotten many of the Mi’Kmaq ceremonies the People still knew different ways to break curses that had been placed on someone. However Aunt Jo felt this was not a curse which was affecting Sa'ke'j but rather something related to the Spirit-World. During the early stages of this cultural rebirth within the Newfoundland Mi’Kmaq community, the elders had little or no knowledge about the Spirit-World part of their culture so the apprentice elder suggested, after much discussion with her nephew, that Eagle Catcher take Sa'ke'j up to Flat Bay Brook valley and wash his head with the cool, clear sacred water found in Hell Gulch Brook.
Maybe, Aunt Jo rationalized; this basic ceremony would help wash the evil spirits away [if spirits were indeed the cause of Sa'ke'j illness]. The young hunter would never forget his aunt’s parting words “Remember that things in the Spirit-World are not physical as we know them. They have to trap your mind before they can claim your body. If you are to win any type of battle with spirits you must do it with your mind.”
Since Eagle Catcher had planned to go hunting anyway he took his rifle along on the trip. The five mile walk from the last Liveyere’s house [Flat Bay Brook road is only sporadically ploughed in winter] took almost twice the time as normal because Sa'ke'j continually tripped and stumbled along the winding, hilly, river-tracing pathway leading to Hell’s Gulch. When the brothers arrived at Sa'ke'j small cozy-looking cabin it was too late in the evening to do anything else besides get the camp water and wood brought in for the night. The cleansing ceremony would have to take place early the next morning.
The cold howling winds and the eerie feeling of being watched kept Eagle Catcher awoke most of the night. There was an ominous feeling of dread in Eagle Catcher’s sub-conscious mind as he tossed and turned in the small bunk-bed. Whenever he had the nerve to look at his ailing brother all he could see was the unfocused, distant look in Sa'ke'j opened shiny brown eyes. It was just before dawn that Sa'ke'j started to continually mumble “Please stop them. They’re coming for me. Please help me. Don’t let them take me away.”
Large, cold goose bumps started to form on Eagle Catcher’s neck and back when he hear the absolute panic in his terror-stricken brother’s voice. As he finally realized that maybe his brother was actually in some type of grave danger from some unseen force in the Spirit-World the young hunter jumped out of his bunk and prepared to fight for his brother’s life.
The several hundred yards walking scene from Sa'ke'j cabin to Hell’s Gulch Brook would possibly have looked humorous to any onlooker not knowing the grave danger that both these men faced on that cold January morning. Greatly frightened by his brother’s panic-stricken behaviour, Eagle Catcher stiffly walked towards the snow-covered brook using tiny baby steps to advance towards the sacred waters of Hell’s Gulch Brook.
The feeling of being watched and not protected overpowered him as Aunt Jo’s parting words kept ringing in his mind. He tightly clutched his loaded rifle [crossways in front off his massive expanded chest] with hands that refused to relax on the once reassuring gun steel. Sa'ke'j walked inches behind his brother, frantically looking on either side of the slow moving duo, his shaking hands desperately holding onto the top section of Eagle Catcher’s shoulders.
The men were about half-way to the brook when Eagle Catcher stopped walking because he felt a cold, menacing presence engulf him and his brother Sa'ke'j. Eagle Catcher had never been so frightened in all his life. Suddenly Sa'ke'j shouted with pure terror in his voice “Look, the big black bear is right behind those bushes. He’s getting ready to attack us.” In a flash Sa'ke'j wrenched the loaded rifle from his startled brother who stood like a statue frozen in his tracks and commenced firing bullets into the cluster of bushes. He had fired about seven or eight shots before Eagle Catcher slowly wrestled the gun from his terror stricken brother. “Sa'ke'j, there is no bear behind those trees” shouted Eagle Catcher. “It’s all in your mind; we have to make it to the brook so I can help cleanse your spirit”. Panic-stricken, Sa'ke'j then turned from his brother wanting to start running away from the spirit bear that was attempting to attack him.
His older brother knew [from Aunt Jo’s parting words] that both men needed to be mentally tough if they were to survive this attack from the spirit bear, Niskan tal Muwin. “Sa'ke'j” cried the hunter as he desperately held onto his struggling brother’s arm “we have to be strong; I will not let that bear hurt you. That bear is not real; he is just in your mind. I can’t see him. Hold my hands while we walk to the brook.” Sa'ke'j lashed back at his brother in a voice filled with hysteria “Can’t you see him, he is as big as a moose, look right there behind those bushes” pointed Sa'ke'j with both hands out-stretched “lookout brother, his going to attack us.”
Eagle Catcher practically carried the struggling [wanting to escape] Sa'ke'j all the way to Hell’s Gulch Brook. The spirit bear continued to be visible to Sa'ke'j and he made several attempts to grab the now disarmed gun away from his brother and shoot the large, cold black bear. On reaching the brook Eagle Catcher felt relieved as there was a fairly large open water area in the mostly snow-covered brook. Without thinking he threw his struggling brother into the cold waters of Hells Gulch Brook.
Since he had no experience with these types of cleansing ceremonies, Eagle Catcher dipped the now shivering Sa'ke'j several times into the brook. He held the struggling man’s head underwater for upwards to twenty seconds at a time as he tried to remember Aunt Jo’s directions as to how to correctly conduct this ceremony. By the fourth dip Sa'ke'j stopped struggling and began to slowly weep. “Tell me that the bear is only in your mind and I will let you go”
Eagle Catcher screamed at the now somewhat pacified Sa'ke'j.
In order to live pass this day the hunter realized that both men would have to pass the spirit bear again, without showing fear, on the way back to their cabin. Finally Sa'ke'j who was afraid of another cold dip into the brook started to nod his water drenched, icicle covered head and slowly muttered between clenched teeth “alright then, that is not a real bear, it’s only Niskan tal Muwin and can’t really hurt me.” Slowly, nearly spent of all energy, Eagle Catcher allowed his brother some freedom as Sa'ke'j walked out of the brook scrambling up the side of a large snow bank that protected the sacred waters of Hell’s Gulch Brook.
It was probably the effects of cold water that saved the men on their remarkable walk back to camp. Their clothes, sodden-wet from the brook, began to freeze onto their bodies. This extremely cold exposure caused both men to get the shiver-shakes. The shiver-shakes caused violent shaking of the brothers’ completely freezing bodies and with it an uncontrollable desire to get out of their wet, ice-frozen clothing. This severe physical exposure to cold prevented the men from thinking about the spirit bear or anything else related to the Spirit-World. When Sa'ke'j passed the cluster of bushes where he knew Niskan tal Muwin was hiding he started to get panicky. Eagle Catcher, realizing what was passing through his brother’s mind, walked over to the bushes and slowly spread them open with his rifle and said very deliberately “Look Sa'ke'j, there is no bear; it was all in your mind.” The men turned away from the bushes and walked the rest of the way to their cabin and heat.
Sake’s mental recovery from the spirit bear attack was a long, slow process but this encounter into the Spirit-World made the young man stronger in the spiritual ways of his People. Sa'ke'j often returns to that cluster of bushes on the road to Hell’s Gulch Brook. Niskan tal Muwin is always there for him to see but he is no longer afraid of the spirit bear and has become a friend to Niskan tal Muwin. He has learned much since the day Eagle Catcher saved him from the spirit bear attack. He has learned that the Spirit-World is not a place to treat lightly. To survive the Spirit-World one must learn about the old customs and practices. The body must be pure and free from alcohol, drugs and other things that weaken the body, spirit or mind. Most importantly, there has to be a spiritual bond between the person and Mother Earth. Sa'ke'j has spent three decades learning from elders all over Canada but still there is much to learn and pass on to the youth. That is why today you can still encounter Sa'ke'j teaching anyone who is interested in learning the ways of the People.
As Eagle Catcher refocused on the last ceremony that Sa'ke'j performed before ending this Gathering he looked at the eager faces of the youth who had come here tonight to learn about the ways of their People. He thought to himself that this was a good thing for his People and hoped that his brother Sa'ke'j would continue his teachings for many more years.
Written by Eagle Catcher, June 2005
Victor Muise
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