Yufala resumed his story.
“It was decided a bow could be fashioned from a nearby tree of black locust,” he said of the bear council.
“One of the bears agreed to sacrifice himself for the good of the others so string for the bow could be fashioned from his entrails.
“After the bow and arrow were crafted, the sacrificial bear’s body used to make the string, the bears tried out their new weapons.
“They found they could not fire the bow because their long claws prevented the string from releasing. The council cut back the claws of one warrior bear and found he could shoot the arrow with ease.
“‘This is no good,’ pronounced the old White Bear Chief. ‘With trimmed claws we will be able to shoot the bow but we will not be able to to climb trees for food. One of us has already died to make the bow. We cannot all starve to win a battle. It will be better to trust the teeth and claws nature gave us rather than the weapons of people.’
“No one could think of a better argument so the council ended without the bear find a way to prevent the spread of people.”
Yufala broke from his story. But only for a moment.
“Had that not happened, my sons of the village, we might still be at war with the bear today. But as it is we don’t even have to ask permission before we kill a bear.”