There once lived a Bear that was happy and thriving in Alaska.  He was large and brown, and he liked to do things that bears like to do.  He would take trips to the river to eat the salmon.  He would take hikes in the mountains to eat the berries.  He would sleep under the stars to see the Northern Lights.

He enjoyed his life, and he enjoyed Alaska.  It was his home, and it completed him.

One day, while he was fishing for red salmon in his favorite river he saw an animal on the other side of the river that he had never seen before.  It looked similar to a rat (which is a perfectly fine animal in its own right), but it was larger, more plump, and it had a white face.

The Bear, being rather friendly to all animals, as his father had taught him to be, welcomed the animal and tried to make it comfortable.  He told the Opossum where to find good food.  He told the Opossum of which animals to avoid.  And he told the Opossum that he would keep him safe while he was visiting Alaska.

The Opossum was very thankful for this, and he was kind to the Bear in return.  The Opossum told the Bear of where he was from, a coast very far away from Alaska.  He told the Bear it was a beautiful place, full of good rivers to catch fish and animals the Bear had never encountered, such as the Opossum.  The Bear found this very interesting and considered visiting the Opossum’s home one day.

Eventually, the Opossum had to return home, so that’s what he did.  He thanked the Bear for his kindness and generosity and told him that he would help him out should he ever need it one day.

Months later, the Bear was fishing in his favorite river for salmon when he noticed something very concerning.  There were no salmon.  The water was flowing as it always had.  The sun was shining as it always did, and the trees were providing shade as they always would.  But the river was empty.  This was concerning to the Bear, not only because he liked to see things the way they should be in nature, but because salmon was his favorite food.

After some consideration he decided to take a nap on the riverbank, where the moss was green and soft, and where the warm Spring sun would heat his fur.  When he awoke a few hours later he walked back down to the river, certain that there would be salmon there this time.

However, to his shock there was still no salmon in the river.  The Bear, normally a very mellow and relaxed if not hairy and grumpy fellow, was now very concerned about this.  Being a good fisherman and a well fed one at that, he had no rush to fill his belly, so he decided to wait a few days to see if the salmon would return.

After a few days of waiting and checking the river occasionally the Bear still saw no salmon.  At this point the Bear was not as concerned as you might expect him to be.  You see, the Bear was very good at planning ahead, so in the days he spent waiting for the salmon to return he had already decided what he would do if they didn’t.

Being a resourceful bear he wrote his friend the Opossum.  He told the Opossum that he was looking for a new river to fish.  One where he would be able to catch all the salmon he needed to fill his (large) belly.

The Bear was excited to see that the Opossum wrote him back very soon.  Not only that, the Opossum told him that there were many wonderful rivers in his land, where fish was plentiful and where there were many nice riverbanks upon which he could enjoy the warm sun.  The Bear didn’t really like the sun that much, he only enjoyed it after swimming in the cold river, but he decided not to tell that to the Opossum because it would sound rude.

The Bear was thrilled.  He quickly packed up all his belongings, only to realize the two true things that he cherished were his family and his Alaska.  He would only be able to bring one of them with him, but he was okay with that.  He would carry Alaska in his heart, and he would be able to visit it once a year.

And so the Bear made his long journey from Alaska to the land of his friend, the Opossum.  It would take him many nights, but being a resourceful bear and knowing how to look at the good in every new situation, he enjoyed his journey.

He noticed that the further he was from his home the more the animals he came across acted and thought differently than him.  They were not lesser than him, nor were they better, they were just different.  His father, being a wise bear, had told him that animals were this way in other parts of the world, and that he should keep an open mind and not judge them or their ways.

Eventually, the Bear arrived at the land of the Opossum.  The Opossum greeted him kindly, introduced him to his family, and showed him around the land.  The highlight of the tour was, of course, the rivers that had enough fish for the Bear to once again fill his round belly.

After a few weeks the Bear had met a few of the local male animals and he had tried to be friends with them.  However, he had trouble bonding with them.  He noticed things that he found odd about them, and despite heeding his fathers wise advice he struggled to look past these issues.

They didn’t say hello when the Bear would say hello.  They instead acted like a greeting was unimportant.  Though a minor detail, the Bear would always say hello, because he knew it was a kind thing to do.

They talked about things they owned like they were important, such as the size of their tree or den.  Though the Bear liked having a large den, he knew what made it a home was his family that lived inside of it.  Should he have a very small den he and his family would be just as happy if they were all in there together.

They boasted about doing great things, such as catching enormous fish or fighting off larger foes.  The Bear loved fishing and fighting, though he never sought out a fight intentionally, so he naturally asked them to tell him their wonderful story of their fish or their fight.  However, he noticed that many of their stories didn’t make sense when they were studied in too much detail.

Being a kind bear, and one that would never point out the lies of another (as his father taught him), he stopped believing the boasts of the male animals, but instead pretended to believe them.  He realized that they needed him to like their stories, because they wanted to be seen as adventurous and daring as a bear from Alaska.  When he finally understood this he started to like them again, ironically.  They were trying to bond with him in their own way, thinking that they needed to be like him instead of realizing that he would like them regardless of their abilities or flaws.

The Bear was able to look past all of these differences and be okay with them, as his father had taught him.  However, there was one behavior that he still was not comfortable with.

He noticed more and more that the male animals looked down on the female animals, and the animals that were perceived to be less valuable.  He noticed they spoke of them as inferior creatures, and that they would give them less food and respect than the male animals that were considered important.  He noticed that they would look at them inappropriately sometimes, and talk about them rudely when they were not around.

The Bear was very bothered by this.  His father and his mother had taught him that it didn’t matter if an animal had a tree or a den between its legs, and it didn’t matter if it was a wolf, raven or squirrel.  They all had a purpose and a value, and they were all as important as any other.

He decided to tell those male animals that he trusted that this should change, and that the other animals should all be treated equally.  The males he thought were his friends told him that they agreed, but it would take time to fix.  Lots of time.

The Bear continued to live among the animals in the land of the Opossum, but over the next handful of years he slowly grew disinterested and unsatisfied with their company.  He still ate the fish of the river, but they didn’t taste good anymore.  He still hiked in the mountains, but the berries he found had no flavor.  He still warmed himself in the sun on the riverbank, but it didn’t feel as comforting anymore.

Some of the animals in the area began to think that the Bear provided no value.  That he was just eating fish and taking up riverbank that could better be used by another more important (male) animal.  These animals would sometimes throw rocks at the Bear or take swipes at him, hoping to make him realize he was unwanted and return to his home in the north.  However, this didn’t bother the Bear.  Being hit with rocks and being in fights only made him feel alive, and it even entertained him (though he never sought out a fight intentionally).

These years had not been completely wasted though.  While living in the foreign land the Bear had made a friend that he cared for.  She was a young bear, like him, but she was from the land of the Opossum.  She was kind and smart, and she always looked at the good side of things.  

The Bear liked her very much, and he realized very early on after his arrival at the new land that she was a future leader of his area of the forest, not him.  However, he still had an important role.  He would need to make sure that the other male animals would support her and give her the respect and food that she (and all animals) deserved.

Being a wise bear, he knew that some of them wouldn’t support the female bear in a leadership position.  They would pretend to, but they would look to sabotage her and ruin her reputation.

So, when the time was right; after the Bear had shown to all that the young female bear was better than him at fishing, at fighting, and at finding solutions to problems, he declared that she should take his position in the hierarchy of the animals.

Surprisingly, the male animals that led the hierarchy were not shocked by this.  In fact, they welcomed it.  This is because the Bear, being wise like his father, had earlier made it known to all the male animals in charge of the land of the Opossum that he would no longer tolerate the way they treated some of the other animals.  He told them that they would have an opportunity to begin to fix things, but they would no longer be able to delay it.

They laughed at him, and they considered banning him from the forest.  The Bear was not frightened by their threat, because he knew going back to the Great North would only please him.  He also told them that although he was a simple bear from Alaska, he was a bear with generations of family from that great land.  If he didn’t know an animal in Alaska, someone he knew did.  

He told them that in the Great North all animals looked after each other.  There, animals would say hello to each other.  There, animals didn’t care for what they owned, and they didn’t look down on other animals that had dens between their legs, or because of the type of creature they were.

Suddenly, the male animals of the land of the Opossum were very concerned, because they remembered the one important thing that the Bear also knew: that the Great River that brought food and water to their land started far away, in a distant and sometimes forgotten land: the home of the Bear, the Great North.

The animals asked the Bear if he was going to tell his family in the Great North to remove the fish from the Great River.  He told them he would not.

The animals asked the Bear if he was going to tell his family in the Great North to reduce the amount of water in the Great River.  He told them he would not.

He told them the Great River would not provide less fish, and it would not provide less water.  But if they didn’t make the changes he asked of them the Great River would do the opposite of what they feared.

He told them that although they were being forced to make this change, and they wouldn’t agree with it in their hearts, their children would.  That by growing up in a forest where these wrongs were put right their children would see it as normal and correct.  And if their children ever saw someone act in the old way they would know it is wrong.

The animals asked the Bear if He was going to leave now that the young female bear would be taking His place.  They secretly wanted Him to leave, because they now realized He spoke with His Father and Family, the Creators and Guardians of the Great River.

The Bear told them that He would not leave.  He instead asked to be placed under the guidance of the young bear, where He could help Her and She could help Him.  Where He could teach Her that all animals are valuable and equal, though they may be good at different things.  Where He could teach Her that it did not matter if an animal had a tree or a den between its legs.  Where He could teach Her that Her self-worth should be judged by Her importance to those that love Her, not those that ask Her to do things.  Where He could teach Her that the changes we put in place don’t always have to be felt in our hearts, but if they are the right thing to do our children will put it in their own hearts, and they will carry it within themselves, making it part of their children as well.

She knew all things already, but the Bear, like most good fishermen, likes to exaggerate His stories.