Bear

Today Mike got a bear!!!  We've been waiting quite impatiently for the last couple months for them to finally wake up and start adventuring out, but they've all taken their precious, sweet time.  Yesterday at our Sea Week community pot luck, one of the parents approached Mike to let him know how much his work in the classroom was appreciated and offered to take him by boat around the corner and beyond Port Graham, our neighboring village.  There's a little area back there where the bears are known to frequent and he was pretty certain Mike would be able to find one and bring it home.  The original plan was to head out tomorrow morning, but the weather forecast changed their minds so Mike was boating out of the lagoon at 6:00am today in search of our elusive little critters.  I swallowed my pride and respected the local tradition that does not allow women to hunt and stayed warm, cozy, and asleep in my bed.

 The bears are finally waking up and venturing out so Mike was able to see three and one finally gave him an opportunity to shoot it.  Mike had been a little nervous when he realized we had barged all of our extra ammunition already and he was only left with 5 shells for that gun, but I knew he was a good shot and would have no problem taking it down with one so that wasn't a problem (He did shoot an extra time just for good measure, though.  It's better to use an extra bullet and lose some meat than face an injured and angry bear.)  They brought the bear back and we spent the afternoon skinning, gutting, and quartering it up with the help of James's and Carol's son, Christopher.  We'll let the meat soak in ice water overnight before finishing the processing.  There are several traditions surrounding hunting (besides no girls allowed) the community observes which we will be trying to follow.  Whenever members of the community kill anything, their first must be divided up and given to the elders.  The hunter won't actually keep anything from his first animal.  Since we aren't residents until we've lived here a full year, we only get one bear so no one will expect us to observe that tradition.  A portion of each kill after the first is given to the first chief, which we intend to do.  They also return the remains of the animal to the location where it is shot, remove the head, and face it to the east.  I'm not sure about the details on this tradition, but it has something to do with the spirit of the animal.  We'll return the carcass, but the head is a very necessary part of the rug we will be hanging on our living room wall so it will have to stay behind.  Hopefully that won't interfere with the bear's spirit returning to it's home, but he'll have some deer friends on the opposite wall to visit with if it does.