• 
• 
• 

Xóots Yées Sháatk’ Aawasháa (The Woman Who Married a Bear)

“In this tragedy from Tlingit folklore, a young woman encounters a handsome man who is really a bear. She joins him and has children with him. One day in the spring, her brothers come looking for her. As light filters into their den, she sees her husband in bear form, and knows the brothers will come with violence. Her husband sacrifices himself for the safety of his family. Later, back in the village, her brothers are cruel to her children. As a mother bear will, she defends her children and kills one of her brothers. They flee back into the forest, never to return. This depiction shows the woman and her husband. The lines proceeding from her eyes represent her tears of grief over these tragic events.”

-Dave Ketah