ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -These animals are honored in the tale “When Grizzlies Walked Upright”. This tale shows the respect the tribe has for the animals, which are their ancestors and a creation of their god. Because of this, the Modoc would never kill or harm the grizzly bear. They believed to be the children of the grizzly bear.

Detailed explanation-2: -That’s why the Indians living around Mount Shasta would never kill a grizzly bear. Whenever a grizzly killed an Indian, his body was burned on the spot. And for many years all who passed that way cast a stone there until a great pile of stones marked the place of his death.

Detailed explanation-3: -Now when they were first made, the bears were covered with hair and had sharp claws, just as they do today, but they walked on two feet and could talk like people. They looked so fierce that the Sky Spirit sent them away from him to live in the forest at the base of the mountain.

Detailed explanation-4: -The authors of the Indian Origin Myth “When Grizzlies walked upright” were the Modoc indians who lived in the areas that are now known as S. Oregon and N. California where they hunted, fished, farmed and weaved.