Bear Mother
After the ancestors of the clan had been decimated because of their
disrespect to the Mountain Goats, the survivors escaped down the river.
Some of them settled down at the Gitselas (Kitselas) Canyon. Near Temlarham
there was a lake named Stekyawden (Seeley Lake), which contained trout
in large numbers and here the young people came to fish. Once, they
gathered the backbones and out of them made a head-dress. They pretended
to give a hallait dance (spirit dance) and repeated this often.
From the lake, one day, surged a huge Grizzly Bear who gave chase to
the young offenders of the spirits. The bravest among them tried to
spear it but failed. In memory of their adventure, they composed a dirge
song and repeated it many times: "The huge Grizzly of Temlarham
comes down and scatters the trees and the people on its path."
From this time on the Grizzly Bear has been used as a crest by the same
tribe.