Kermodei Bear

We saw the rare Kermodei Bear today

This is the first picture through the front windshield

Then Joe stopped and rolled down the side window, he was only about 25 feet from us

Double click on the bear to see a good full screen picture


This is the white bear aka Kermodei Bear, aka Spirit Bear.
This was taken about 30 km east of Terrace, BC.  Look on hwy 16 about
100 - 150 miles east of Prince Rupert.

This is the legend of the Kermodei Bear:
This legend starts ten thousand years ago when the world was covered
by frozen glaciers.  The glaciers were covered in ice and snow.  No
one knows how long it had been like that, but the first story recorded
was of Raven, The Creator.
The stories remembered and told today, all began at that time.
Raven or Ravin, North American or European, we all have roots with
ravens as powerful iconic figures in our cultural and personal
mythologies.  Ravens are still kept, caged in the Tower of London to
ensure the throne's future
In this Kitasoo First Nations story of Raven, long after he had
descended from the heavens and created The Green.  Then along came the
humorful Fire theft story.  No one's trusted Raven since.  Then Man
stared popping our of seed pods along with the first woman.  Raven had
created it all.  And yet.....Raven was not satisfied.  Raven wanted
something to remind him of the Long White Time of before.  So he chose
Bear, the keeper of dreams and memory to help him out.  Raven sought
Black Bear out.  He didn't have to go far, as he is always seen as a
constellation of the stars in the night sky.
Raven made a pact with Black Bear.  Black Bear agreed after he was
given huge assurances from Raven, that he could live in peace and
safety for all time, by letting one out of every ten Black Bears turn
white.  This was a reminder for Raven of the misery of the great ice
age of before.  The White Bears to this day are still called
Moksgm'ol, by the Kitasoo and T'simshian people
The White Bear is so rare that very few people have ever seen one.  We
are on a two lane hwy 16 so as you can see he is not very far from us.
 This particular bear comes through here every spring, his mother was
killed by a train  several years ago in this area.  These bears are
mostly loners.  He is eating wildflowers and dandelions

How exciting, I just had to share this with you now.  Later I will post about our visit in Terrace.

Save travels

Nancy