The Great Bear

Morgan still misses Ochek, the fisher who was their guide and mentor in The Barren Grounds, Book 1 of David A. Robertson’s “The Misewa Saga”. After the feast, she needs time to be alone with her thoughts, but soon she is joined by Muskwa, the bear who is Chief of the Council. Staring at the evening sky, they see Ochekatchakosuk, the constellation into which Ochek has been transformed after his heroic death. Morgan thinks that perhaps she could have prevented his death, but, as they talk, Muskwa reminds her that regrets can be destructive and that she “needs to look forward, not backward”. (p. 13) Very soon, it’s time to leave – eight hours in Misewa is approximately 10 minutes on earth, and, if they want to keep visiting Misewa, they have to do some “Misewa math” and ensure that they are back in time so that their foster parents don’t visit their attic hideaway and find them missing.

Something is bothering Eli – he wants to stay longer in Misewa and doesn’t want to go to school – and the next day, Morgan finds out why. There’s something bothering her, as well. Her foster mom, Katie, has given Morgan a contact number for her birth mother, unleashing a flood of emotions and memories. By the time she’s reached school, Morgan is just overwhelmed, and she and her now best friend, Emily, skip English class and hide out in the girls’ bathroom where they talk, especially about Eli’s weird behaviour. Emily understands Eli’s reticence: “Boys are, like . . . emotionally . . . dumb. Or stunted or something. They don’t like to talk about stuff unless it’s video games or sports.” (p. 39) But their discussion about whether or not Morgan should call her birth mother is cut short by the sound of Eli’s entering the bathroom. He’s being bullied because of his traditional braid, a source of his Cree identity, and he’s in the girls’ bathroom because he’s been prevented from using the boys’ bathroom. The reason, “No girls allowed . . .” (p. 44) and the bullies have promised to beat him up if they find him there. That’s why he wants to stay in Misewa. The threats and taunting began when he first came to the school and have escalated to the point where he’s crying and is embarrassed by his tears. In a moment of desperation, he suddenly whips out a pair of scissors and cuts off his braid.

Of course, on the walk home from school, the bullies are waiting, and there’s a confrontation, and, this time, both Morgan and Eli are insulted. Morgan can hold her own against their mean-minded taunts, but Eli’s drawing pad draws unfortunate attention. “The leader ripped the drawing pad from Eli’s arms. The only thing left behind was one lonely sheet of paper, clutched between Eli’s thumb and index finger. It was the drawing that he’d been about to show Morgan, torn but mostly intact.” (p. 57) The drawing depicts the Barren Grounds into which the portal opens, and, in this drawing, Ochek appears, not as they knew him in The Barren Grounds, but as a child, “shorter, with almost mischievous eyes. A tiny smirk on his young, furry face.” (p. 62) Believing that they could travel back in time to see Ochek alive again, the images on paper appeared in Eli’s imagination. Morgan is completely skeptical about Eli’s time-travel concept, but she realizes that he is longing for the kind of protection that Ochek provided. Eli is as fearful as Morgan’s fear of attempting to connect with her birth mother. But, after looking out at the evening sky again and seeing Ochekatchakosuk, Morgan decides that she and Eli will try his time-travel concept.

They fake illness in order to stay home from school, and, when they staple the drawing over the wall in the attic, the portal opens and a new adventure begins. Yes, the first being that they meet on the other side is the young Ochek; they hug him, and, although hugging is foreign to him, he feels joy and familiarity in their embrace. They travel to Misewa, not the famine-ravaged Misewa of their first adventure, but a prosperous community. Morgan and Eli meet Ochek’s parents who invite the two to stay in Misewa because they understand that the children have an innate sense of connection to the place, of “blood memory”. Having been officially welcomed by the Great Council, they stay. “Eli was happy, confident, and, Morgan dared to say, carefree. . . . so was she.” (p. 113)

Invited by Mihko to travel to his trapline, Morgan and Eli don traditional clothing (fashioned by Ochek’s mother), pack provisions and set off on the southeastern journey. Stopping for a meal at midday, they learn from Mihko the value of story-telling and the significance of names and naming. But Mihko’s tale is interrupted by the sound of branches cracking, the ground rumbling, and an animal stalking purposefully. Mihko had told them that Misewa has faced perils and predators, two of which were especially fearsome: a giant of the northern woods, and the Great Bear, which appears every so often, leaving a path of havoc and wanton destruction. As they scurry into the woods to hide, Morgan catches sight of the Great Bear’s eyes, realizing that it is Muskwa. She remembers Muskwa as the “big cuddly bear” (p. 128) who was the source of such wisdom and solace and can’t believe that this animal is the source of such terror. Morgan becomes fearless and has a mission; she will talk with him, appealing to his better side. Not likely - Muskwa lives to exert power, and he is on a rampage. The village of Otakosik is his next target, and, as the four travellers reach the settlement (already destroyed by fire), they meet Arikwachas, the squirrel, who joins their group. It’s obvious that Muskwa is heading for Misewa, and Morgan and Eli are ready to join with the warriors of the village. It is hard to galvanize courage amongst those who have been terrorized and fearful, but, when the Council meets to formulate a strategy, Ochek’s father proves himself to be a powerful orator and rallies courage amongst the animals who will be Misewa’s defenders. Even Arikwachas, who has arrived in Misewa as a refugee from Otakosik, volunteers to fight, and soon a band of twelve, including the young Ochek, and the seven Bird Warriors who stood on guard for the village are ready to fight.

As in The Barren Grounds, the battle is epic. Muskwa threatens, but the warriors hold their line of defense. Morgan is saddened at having to fight him, but when Muskwa attacks Eli, she saves her brother, wounding the Great Bear, leaving him vulnerable to a combined attack which leaves him grievously injured. Mihko is ready to finish him off but decides that Ochek, who will one day become the protector of Misewa, should do so. At the last moment, Muskwa asks forgiveness, and Ochek, showing mercy, spares him. Afterwards, Ochek’s family nurses Muskwa back to health and, in conversation with Morgan, Muskwa admits to shame for his past actions. His explanation is simple: “I liked the power.” (p. 197). Time passes, wounds heal, and soon, it is time for Morgan and Eli to return home.

Of course, the bullies are back, but this time, when the leader of the pack threatens to take Eli’s drawing pad, he refuses to surrender. Eli’s hair is growing back, and his time in Misewa has strengthened him. As the usual crowd of camera-bearing spectators amasses, they move from being bystanders to defenders. The bullies back away because “bullies are cowards”, (p. 220) a lesson learned from the confrontation with Muskwa. And Morgan has found the courage to make that phone call. Things don’t go exactly as hoped, and later, she decides to make a return trip to Misewa. For the first time ever, she travels alone, but soon Eli joins her, and he lies down at the roots of the Great Tree. They fall asleep; however, when Morgan wakes up, Eli can’t be roused. And then Morgan notices that there are footprints, big footprints, around him. She knows what’s happened: the giant has come, taken Eli’s soul, and now, she has to go to the northern woods to take it back.

I found that The Great Bear was different in some ways from The Barren Grounds. Many of the same characters from the first book are present, but, because we meet them in a different time period, they are at a different place of character development. The human characters are different, too. Morgan has changed; there’s still an edge to her, but with Emily, she has a best friend, and she has a truly caring relationship with her foster brother. While Morgan can be a snippy teen at times, she understands that Katie and John are still finding their way in their relationship with the kids, and she is much more understanding of them and their efforts. As for Morgan and Eli, their time in Misewa allows them to deepen their connection with traditional life and gives them a relationship with a different Ochek. Although there are hints of the great hero he will become, he’s “a teenager, displaying an immaturity that he’d never shown as an adult.” (p. 112) And that’s just fine, because he’s still Ochek.

Fear and its consequences is a theme that runs through the story. Muskwa is a bully, but he comes to realize that his terrorism was motivated by an underlying fear and weakness. The bullies are cowards, too, and Eli’s sense of helplessness is heartbreaking desperation. Morgan’s hesitant attempts to phone the number that will connect with her birth mother are also underpinned by a very real fear of rejection. The confrontations with Muskwa and the schoolyard bullies were gripping and authentic, but I felt that the scenes of Morgan’s calls to that telephone number were less successful. Then again, life doesn’t always offer happy endings or tidy resolutions of problems. On the plus side, Robertson offers an authentic picture of teen life in a middle school through great dialogue and timely pop-culture references.

While The Great Bear can be read as a stand-alone work, I think that, because there is so much reference to the Ochek of The Barren Grounds, much might be missed without having read Book 1. The book’s “Epilogue” definitely suggests that Book 3 is on the horizon. In this work, a Swampy Cree Glossary and Pronunciation Guide prefaces the novel’s narrative and provides a ready reference to the Cree vocabulary appearing in the story. Robertson seamlessly integrates Indigenous tradition and culture into the narrative, making it a good choice for classroom and library acquisitions of books with Indigenous content. Although the book is easier reading than The Barren Grounds, it might be a challenge for a less than able reader. Readers of The Barren Grounds will enjoy this trip into an earlier time in Misewa’s history, and I am looking forward to finding out how Morgan will rescue Eli.