Tracking Bear

    Article

    In some versions of the Navajo origin story, Tracking Bear is a monster that was killed by Monster Slayer, one of the great hero twins. When Tracking Bear died, his body became yucca, a plant of great importance to many American cultures as it provides fruit, soap, and cordage.

    The story of Tracking Bear and Monster Slayer is told in the Enemyway legend, where Tracking Bear follows Monster Slayer to the base of “beautiful mountain,” the highest point in the Chuska range, also known as Dziłkʼi Hózhóonii in Navajo. Monster Slayer shoots the bear with a lightning bolt, thus killing the bear, and initiating Tracking Bear's transformation.

    Photo Credit

     
    "Two bears playing in the town of the bears, Kirchenfeld, Bern, August 25, 2012" by SteFou! is licensed under CC BY.

    Published Works
    Term Type
    References

     
    Haile, Berard, and Karl W. Luckert
         1984   Navajo Coyote Tales: The Curly Tó Aheedlíinii Version. Lincoln: University of
             Nebraska Press.

    Haile, Berard
         1938   Origin Legend of the Navaho Enemy Way. New Haven: Yale University Press.

    McPherson, Robert S.
         2001   Navajo Land, Navajo Culture: The Utah Experience in the Twentieth Century.
             Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.