There once was a man named Nick. He was the head hunter of his village and the strongest and best.
It was nearing the time of his village's annual bear hunt. This was
the time when 32 hunters went out to hunt 65 bears in ten days. Each
hunter had to kill two bears, but Nick had to kill three bears. The
hunters would go in five umiaks across a lake to Oncapatia which means,
"spirit forest."
When they got to Oncapatia, they set up their camp and rested for
one day. The next day Nick stood up and said, "Brothers, come. We have
much to do in only ten days."
Then they were off to hunt for bears. David, the village's worst and
clumsiest hunter, was the first to sight a bear. He was so excited he
tripped over Nick and fell in bear dung. Next, he shot his arrow at the
bear but hit a stump 50 feet away.
Then Garren, Nick's best friend, and the second best hunter in the
village, shot the bear straight in the heart. The bear died instantly.
Garren counted the bear on David's record because he knew that David
wouldn't kill two bears in any amount of time, even if his life
depended on it.
All the hunters pursued the bears together for safety because in
Oncapatia there were evil demons like the "Shakavikon", a cross between
a bear, a wolf, a hawk and a clam. His skin was as tough as steel and
his face was a pale blue like the moon. His face was as gold as rays of
sunlight and hard as a stone. Every hunter in the village dreaded an
encounter with the Shakavikon.
On the fifth day of the hunt, every hunter except for Nick and Eli
had killed two bears. Nick had killed two of his three and Eli had
killed one. Nick told all the other hunters to go back to the village
while he and Eli kept hunting. Every hunter agreed except for Garren
who said he was going to stay with Nick and Eli. So Nick, Eli and
Garren went off to keep hunting.
On the way they found David trying to kill and ant with a rock. "What the heck are you doing, you dimwit!!" yelled Eli.
"Nothing," replied David.
"Well, we can't leave him here," said Nick. "We'll have to let him come with us."
Now the foursome, Nick, Eli, Garren and David, went off to find two
more bears. They camped alongside a beautiful stream with just enough
trickle to soothe you to sleep. The next morning Nick, David, Garren
and Eli went deeper into the woods until Garren said with more alarm
than question, "What is that!!?"
"It is I, the Shakavikon. I have come to take your spirit."
"Why are you taking our spirit?" asked David.
"Because you have entered Oncapatia, the spirit forest where I rule all," replied the Shakavikon.
"Then we will make a deal with you," said Eli. "We challenge you to a fight, four on one."
"Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!" laughed the Shakavikon. "I accept!"
The fight began. Nick, Garren, Eli and David drew their arrows from
their quivers and positioned them in their bows. Nick shouted, "Fire!"
The arrows flew through the air, straight and true. Nick"s arrow hit
the Shakavikon right in the heart. Eli"s hit one of the eyes. Garren"s
hit the other eye and, to all their surprise, David"s hit the beast
right in the heart.
Normally the arrows would have hit the Shakavikon and just fallen
down, but not this time. The power of the four friends was too great,
even for the Shakavikon. He fell to the ground with a loud THUD which
made them all jump.
"Sorry!" said Eli to David.
"What for?" asked David.
"Everything," said Eli. "Making fun of you. Calling you names."
"Apology accepted," said David.
"Well," said Nick, "I think we all learned an important lesson today."
"Yeah," said Garren, "Team work really pays off." Then the four
friends went and very successfully killed two more bears. They honored
the animals by each smearing streaks of the bear blood on their faces
to symbolize the pride of the animals they killed.
When they reached the shore where they had parked their umiaks they found that their boats were gone!
Now, knowing that they could accomplish anything together, they
swiftly built another umiak. In about two days, they were in their own
village. They were greeted warmly by friends and family. They hunters
told the story of their long journey and the death of Shakavikon.
That night they had a potlatch, not to celebrate the death of the
Shakavikon nor to sorrow over it, but to rejoice over their village's
successful hunt.
The End