94 pages • 3 hours read
Ben MikaelsenTouching Spirit Bear
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2001A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Background
Authorial Context: Ben Mikaelsen
Ben Mikaelsen lives in a cabin in Montana with his wife and pet black bear, Buffy. Buffy is 700 pounds and Ben’s best friend, as well as the inspiration for the novel’s Spirit Bear. She appears in the novel in a photo alongside Mikaelsen, hugging and licking him.
Mikaelsen was born and raised in Bolivia, where he experienced political violence and the deaths of many loved ones. He wanted to heal from his experiences and write a story of vindication by writing Touching Spirit Bear. He views Circle Justice as a more beneficial alternative to punishment and believes in the importance of helping both victims and perpetrators heal from crimes. He also wanted to shed light on the nature of bullying with the hope of promoting empathy. Mikaelsen was bullied by his teachers in school, as well as physically abused; this made him angry, much like Cole, and Mikaelsen seeks to illuminate the effects of this type of authoritarian abuse in the novel. In this way, Touching Spirit Bear reflects the experiences Mikaelsen had in his childhood and youth.
Cultural Geographic Context: The Tlingit People and Their Homes
The Tlingit people are an Indigenous tribe originating in British Columbia and the Yukon of Canada, as well as Alaska, United States. They have lived in the region for centuries and learned how to cope with the harsh climate by placing a strong value on kinship and on passing down traditions orally. Tlingit culture plays a major role in Touching Spirit Bear as the source of Cole’s healing journey. Both Edwin and Garvey are Tlingit, and they use their cultural knowledge to teach Cole to change and forgive himself and others: The at.óow blanket, the animal dances, and the totem pole are all traditions of the Tlingit. The blanket symbolizes ancestry and the importance of past family, while the animal dances allow dancers to learn about the animals who live amongst them. Totem poles represent animals in the form of symbols and tell one’s own personal story. Cole’s banishment to an Alaskan island is also a traditional Tlingit technique, which the Tlingit Healing Circle in the novel prescribes. The prioritization of healing over punishment is a keystone of Tlingit culture.
Related Titles
By Ben Mikaelsen
