Mahtoqehs varying hare Muwin black bear Nilun we Kmillonen we give you Sanjewitahasuwakon peace of mind Sipayik the shore by the inlet Woli good The Passamaquoddy tales on which this story is based come from the time we call the Dream Time after the earth the water and the sun and the moon and the stars were made when people and animals understood one another and spoke a common language Those who had magical powers in the Dream Time could easily transform themselves The Passamaquoddies who are members of the Waponahki Nation live at the most easterly point of what today is the United States They were among the first tribes to encounter European explorers Passamaquoddy means place where people catch many pollock These people were fine hunters and fishermen Today members of the Passamaquoddy community are working with scholars at the University of New Brunswick at Fredericton on a Passamaquoddy-Micmac-Maliseet language program turning an oral tradition into a written language with the hope of saving what remains of their culture
Muwin the bear reached through the leafless branches of an apple tree and knocked the last fruit down with a heavy paw Dusk was falling The air smelled of frost Far away geese called as they flew above the open water of the bay The bear sat back chewing the apple He was big and sleek and so fat that when he walked his belly nearly touched the ground In a bank beneath the roots of an oak his winter den stared out at him He shuffled the dry leaves that had dropped before it and carried an armful inside There must be something left for me to do I’m not ready to sleep Muwin growled All at once he caught a scent of snowshoe hare He peered past the trunk of a white birch Two long white ears quivered
