My favourite T-shirt

[Sheriff Roland]

14. Favorite item of clothing?  a red T-shirt with a canadian native design includes many different animals, - it tells a legend - and the whole looks like a foot print

Here's a picture of my favourite T-shirt as ascribed in one of the "Some getting to know you questions" thread. Bryan took this picture a few weeks ago (not my best picture shoot!) He also picked up the T shirt for me at a Pow-wow some years ago

DOES ANYONE KNOW THE AUTHOR OF THIS DESIGN?



There are at least 2 animals, and 3 birds in the main "world", a tree, a moon, mountains, a turtle in the heel (are those his eggs,or rocks), and of course the poeple in the toes (What else am I missing?)

The whole represents a human footprint (but why the nails im the end of each toe)

And of course there's the interpretation of the whole design, as being a legend (with the turtle holding the world on his back, and people being in spheres of their own above "nature"). Obviously there's lots I don't understand about this image, but one thing for sure, I really like what I understand - wish I knew more - Can anyone out there help me out?

PS; with regards to my favourite song, scratch the answer given - replace by Simon & Garfunkle's "The Boxer" (Is there a more perfectly orgasmic song anywhere?)

[Jeff Wrangler]

The whole represents a human footprint (but why the nails im the end of each toe)

That reminds me of the conventional illustration of a bear paw print. Is there any Canadian native mythology in which humans are related to bears, or does any tribe or clan have the bear for a totem?

[Sheriff Roland]

That reminds me of the conventional illustration of a bear paw print. Is there any Canadian native mythology in which humans are related to bears, or does any tribe or clan have the bear for a totem?

The thought of it being a bear paw print had cross my mind - but the shape is more human, don't you think, and,  besides, how many toes do bears have? - I thought they had four.

[Jeff Wrangler]

The thought of it being a bear paw print had cross my mind - but the shape is more human, don't you think, and,  besides, how many toes do bears have? - I thought they had four.

Sure enough, it's a human footprint, but I was vaguely remembering a story I read when I was a kid, from a Pacific Coast tribe, about about a woman who had a child by a bear--don't laugh, I'm not making this up!  The child appeared human (thus the human footprint) but instead of human toenails had claws like a bear--if I'm remembering this correctly.

[nakymaton]

Jeff, is this the story?

Some stories tell of an Animal Wife or Animal Husband, as when a human marries a deer who is disguised as a person. Often the animal spouse is a bear. Many Native American cultures regarded bears as close relatives of people or as people wearing bear coats. A myth from the Northwest Coast region tells of Rhpisunt, a chief's daughter who met two young men while gathering berries. She went with them to the home of the bear chief and married his son. Some time later, Rhpisunt's brothers found their sister in the den of her bear husband and took her and her twin cubs back to their home village. Under the cubs' bear coats were two fine boys, who lived with the people until Rhpisunt died. They then returned to bear life. However, Rhpisunt's family never forgot their kinship with the bears, who brought them good luck in the hunt.

From http://www.mythencyclopedia.com/Mi-Ni/Native-American-Mythology.html

Another site identifies the story as coming from the Haida people (http://www.firstpeople.us/fp-html-legends/HaidaMotherBearStory-Haida.html).

(Roland, I've never seen that image before. It's not in the Pacific Northwest style of art, which makes me think it's unlikely to come from the Haida story? When searching around for the Haida story, I saw references to the Menominee tribe's bear clan. I've gotten the impression that the bear is an animal that comes up in stories from a lot of different tribes... I know the tribe nearest to where I live has a spring Bear Dance that's one of their biggest celebrations.)

Mel

[Jeff Wrangler]

Some stories tell of an Animal Wife or Animal Husband, as when a human marries a deer who is disguised as a person. Often the animal spouse is a bear. Many Native American cultures regarded bears as close relatives of people or as people wearing bear coats. A myth from the Northwest Coast region tells of Rhpisunt, a chief's daughter who met two young men while gathering berries. She went with them to the home of the bear chief and married his son. Some time later, Rhpisunt's brothers found their sister in the den of her bear husband and took her and her twin cubs back to their home village. Under the cubs' bear coats were two fine boys, who lived with the people until Rhpisunt died. They then returned to bear life. However, Rhpisunt's family never forgot their kinship with the bears, who brought them good luck in the hunt.

Thanks, Mel!

If that's not exactly what I remember reading as a kid, it's pretty darn close! 

Jeff