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− | A long time ago a Pawnee hunter was returning home after a day's hunting when he saw a baby bear all alone in the forest.
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− | The bear cub looked very frightened and was crying for its mother.
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− | Feeling sorry for the bear cub the hunter picked it up, held it in his arms and gently stroked its fur.
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− | “Did you lose your mother little one?” said the hunter as he stroked the fur under the cub’s chin.
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− | The cub began sucking on the hunter’s finger.
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− | “I think you’re hungry too,” said the hunter. He reached into his bag for the last of the food his wife had given him that morning, and fed the cub.
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− | As he held the cub in his arms, the hunter thought about his pregnant wife and the baby they were expecting any day now.
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− | “Little one,” he said to the cub. “If ever my son or daughter is alone, I pray there will be some one there to help them, like I have helped you.”
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− | The hunter put the bear cub down, then tied a small medicine bag filled with sacred leaves around its neck as protection. The cub curled into a ball on the ground. The hunter stroked the cub’s fur until it fell asleep, purring.
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− | The hunter covered the little bear with leaves to hide it.
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− | “Sleep well, little one. I pray your mother will return by the time you wake up,” whispered the hunter to the sleeping cub.
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− | When he returned to his village the hunter told his wife about the little bear.
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− | “That’s really strange,” said his wife. “I saw a bear today too.”
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− | A few days later when their son was born they decided to call him Little Bear.
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− | As the years passed, Little Bear grew into a strong young man. He became the best hunter in the village. He could track animals just like a bear, and catch fish in the streams,buy [http://www.comegames.com World Of Warcraft gold],cheap [http://www.wowgoldlive.com World Of Warcraft gold], just like a bear.
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− | “He even growls like a bear when I try to wake him in the morning,” said Little Bear’s mother.
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− | Often the young hunter would go and sit quietly, praying for hours where the bears were known to live.
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− | “I get this really weird feeling when I’m sitting there praying,” Little Bear said to his father. “It’s as if I can feel the power of the bears.”
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− | One day when Little Bear and other young men from the village were out hunting, braves from another tribe attacked them.
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− | Little Bear and the young men from his village fought bravely but they were outnumbered. The battle continued until Little Bear and his friends lay dead.
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− | Soon after the battle had finished a bear and his mate came upon the horrible scene.
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− | The female bear
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− | recognised Little Bear.
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− | “Look, that is the young man who prays for us. We have to help him!” she said to her husband.
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− | ‘I can’t,” said her husband. “My healing medicine only works in the light. The clouds are stopping the sun from shining its light on us.”
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− | Just then the clouds parted and Little Bear was bathed in a single ray of sunlight.
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− | The bear stood tall, raised his arms to the sky and cried. [http://www.gogoer.com Cheap WoW Gold],“Oh, Great Spirit! I ask you to return life into the body of this young man.”
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− | The bear continued praying and slowly the life-spirit returned to Little Bear.
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− | The bears gently picked Little Bear up and took him to where they lived. Little Bear stayed there for many months, until he was healed.
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− | When Little Bear was well the bear walked with him to the top of a hill overlooking Little Bear’s village.
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− | The bear held Little Bear's hands in his mighty paws and breathed his spirit into him.
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− | “We are brothers now, and are as one” said the bear. “Whatever happens to me will happen to you, and whatever happens to you will happen to me.”
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− | Little Bear became an even greater hunter and held Bear Ceremonies to heal others and to give thanks to the Great Spirit for the bear.buy [http://www.gogoer.com World Of Warcraft gold],cheap [http://www.gamelee.com World Of Warcraft gold], As he grew older Little Bear changed his name to Bear Man.
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− | Bear Man passed on the power of the bear to his children and grandchildren.[http://www.tbcgold.com Cheap WoW Gold] They passed it on to their children, so even today the power of the bear is still known to the Pawnee people.
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− | After many years, Bear Man died peacefully in his sleep. It is said that an old bear died at that very instant.
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− | The two brothers were together again.
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− | The End
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