- "Shash"
- (Grizzly Bear)
- 9 1/4" x 10 1/4"
- titled and signed by the artist
- from a graphite pencil drawing
- To Native People, the bear is so sacred and so awe inspiring that his name is rarely used.
- It is widely believed that because bears can walk upright that they are another part of our own selves.
- Some of the names given to the bear are the “dark thing “ by the Haida, the “unmentionable big animal”
- by the Blackfoot, the “one going around in the woods” by the Tlinget and the “four legged human” by the Cree.
- To the Navajo, the bear is considered to be the guardian of the east and the Navajo word for bear is “shash”
- but
he is referred to as “reared in the mountains” for the fear that
he may think he is being called.
- For the Hopi, members of the Bear Clan are usually chosen to be the leaders of the villages because
- of
their special healing powers.
Southern Apache groups give the bear credit for giving them cactus and yucca fruit along with nuts and berries.
Pencil Drawing of a grizzly bear sow from Yellowstone National Park
