Touching Spirit Bear

When Cole asks Edwin about the meaning of totem poles and whether he can carve one, Edwin says, “Your totem is your story, your search, and your past. Everybody has their own. That’s why you carve. That’s why you dance the dances. That’s why you live life—to discover and create your own story” (133). Edwin insists that no culture owns the art of totem carving and encourages Cole to tell his story this way.

For each animal that Cole carves on his totem pole, he first performs an animal dance to understand the animal from its own perspective. Cole learns to appreciate nature in this way and also finds that he shares many of the same strengths as the animals he admires. Cole carves an eagle for strength and pride, and when a beaver visits him in the pond one morning, he carves a beaver, noting how it has persistence, patience, and ingenuity. Cole also carves a raven, a seal, a salmon, and a mouse. Three symbols on Cole’s totem pole stand out as particularly significant: the Spirit Bear, the sparrow nest, and the perfect circle. Cole carves the Spirit Bear to tell the story of the way he met the bear, was attacked and nearly died, and then touched the Spirit Bear in a moment of mutual understanding, trust, and respect. This experience changed Cole’s outlook on life and his place within it.

Cole carves the sparrows because of the experience he had while dying on the forest floor. As a storm hit, Cole saw a sparrow nest above him in a tree. He could just make out the baby sparrows’ heads poking out, beaks open in search of food, but his initial reaction was hatred and jealousy, never having had his parents’ protection. However, when he awoke the next morning, he saw that the tree had fallen and felt a new sense of concern for the baby birds. He found that all four had died and realized that like him in his injured state, they were vulnerable, helpless, and wanted nothing but to live. Realizing he also wanted to live, he pictured himself as the baby sparrows seeking sustenance. Cole had another epiphany in this moment when he saw that new life had already begun taking over the tree and birds’ place as ants. This realization is part of the overall idea that life is a circle. This idea is driven home further when Cole and Peter carve a perfect circle into Cole’s totem pole in the place Cole reserved for his anger.

An at.óow is a Tlingit blanket made of bark and goat hair. It is a large, thick blanket designed for harsh winters. It usually has long fringes and totem designs decorating it. Garvey gives Cole an at.óow when he first arrives at the island. At first, Cole does not care about the blanket and sees it as a pointless gift. However, after Cole burns down the shelter and sees that the blanket “rested unharmed in the grass nearby” (28), he is extremely grateful for it. As Cole lies nearly dead on the forest floor, he cannot get to the blanket, but it aids him nevertheless: “[T]he imaginary blanket shielded him from the cold as it had protected many generations before him” (59). The at.óow later inspires Cole to carve his own totem pole, recreating the animals who have affected him on the island.

Above all, the at.óow symbolizes protection and friendship, as Garvey gives it to Cole to help him stay warm (physically and emotionally) through the harsh Alaskan winter. When Garvey gives Cole the blanket, he tells him that an at.óow has no owner; it passes down through generations and amongst people who trust one another. Garvey gives it to Cole as a symbol of trust between them, even though Cole himself believes Garvey’s trust must be some kind of lie. While Cole is in the detention center waiting to find out if he can return to the island, he hangs the at.óow over his bed, “where each hour and minute it could remind him of the island” (89). When Cole does return to the island, he brings the blanket with him, often using it as a tablecloth to hold celebratory feasts with Garvey and Edwin. Cole ultimately gifts the at.óow to Peter, symbolizing the trust and forgiveness that has arisen between them and bringing Garvey’s gesture full circle.

The Alaskan island that Cole is banished to is a symbol of both isolation and of the natural world that is important in Cole’s healing process (as well as to the Tlingit tribe). Garvey is Tlingit and uses his ties to the Healing Circle to allow Cole to spend time on the island healing. It is a traditional method that Garvey explains the Tlingit have used for thousands of years. Cole immediately begins to feel the isolation of the island once alone there, which at first angers and terrifies him: “Standing all alone on the shore, Cole felt his anger smoldering. Soon it would explode like gunpowder” (22). He cannot bear the thought of being alone and blames everyone else for the fact that he is. It is not until the Spirit Bear’s attack that Cole’s perspective shifts. He realizes that he is never alone but rather connected to everything.

When Cole returns to the island six months later, he becomes a part of it. He builds his own cabin and furniture, cooks his own food, and not only survives but thrives. He learns to enjoy soaking in the cold pond, carrying the ancestor stone up the mountain, and he revels in the times that he witnesses the Spirit Bear (or any animal) on the island. Cole learns to honor and reflect on each experience, adopting the traits of the animals he admires most. He learns how to make himself invisible, or part of nature, so that he may see the Spirit Bear again: “As the past, present, and future became one, the droplets on Cole’s cheeks dripped to the ground, melting into the landscape to which they belonged” (138). By the time Peter arrives on the island, Cole is so comfortable there that he feels uneasy to have so many people around him. He has accepted and forgiven himself, which allows him to live on the island “alone,” unburdened by anger and hurt.