The Bear is My Father: Indigenous Wisdom of a Muscogee Creek Caretaker of Sacred Ways

by Bear Heart, Reginah Waterspirit

As the world becomes more perilous and our modern ways of life prove to be at times unsustainable or unsatisfying; people in the US and all over the world are increasingly turning to the wisdom of our indigenous people and their traditions for peace, harmony, environmental stewardship, and cultivating a more meaningful spiritual connection to the earth. The Bear Is My Father is a legacy book that shares the profound medicine of a renowned multi-tribal Muscogee Creek medicine man, Bear Heart, one of the last traditionally trained medicine persons of the Muscogee Creek Nation. While it is traditional among Native American medicine that a healer takes on an apprentice to learn their medicine ways, and then pass them on, Bear Heart's medicine was so various that it could not simply be passed along to any one person. Thus, over the course of his life of service, Bear Heart passed along pieces of his indigenous wisdom to different people, depending on who could use it. However, The Bear Is My Father is more than a book about a fascinating Muscogee Creek healer. It is a book authored in part by Bear Heart himself, with guidance as to how one should live life, the changes needed in our global society, integrative medicine, and spirituality. It contains the voices of people who knew and grew from knowing Bear Heart; most particularly, it is co-authored by Reginah WaterSpirit, Bear Heart's medicine helper and late-life spouse of 23 years, whose intimate and insightful stories and reflections give it the added dimension of a biography within an autobiographical book of philosophy and wisdom. The deeply personal portrayal of Bear Heart in The Bear Is My Father flows not only through his own words, nor Reginah's, but also through the recountings of a variety of people who were taught and touched by his wisdom. Together they provide the reader with a multi-faceted and highly intimate understanding of Bear Heart. In short, this book is another way-and because he has passed-perhaps his final way, to share his medicine with the world.

Genres: Nonfiction, Native American, Spirituality, Memoir, History, Indigenous

192 pages, Kindle Edition

Published January 11, 2022

Reviews

[Theresa Jump · Rating 5 out of 5]

One particular highlight was Bear Heart's mention of the importance of the implementation of a rites of passage into our culture-at-large. He acknowledged at his age this was something he couldn't do himself, and asked the following generations to do so. He believed the addition of this tradition is a possible road to peace.

[Mollie Moon · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my friends knew Bear Heart personally. I loved the first book - The Wind is my Mother - this second book was a bit disappointing to me.

[L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. I'll need to sit with grandpa Bear Heart awhile.

[Melvin Marsh · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I like his other book better, this summarizes what other people had to say about this great man.

[Serena · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m having a really hard time reviewing this because on one hand, I think what Bear Heart intended was honorable but also, I can’t get on board with it. The content was pretty frilly and basic and just full of “Native American wisdom and quotes” of the kind yt ppl turn into “Indian parables” and sayings. Cheesy stuff. Additionally, the books formatting was weird, with so many essays written by people who knew him to fill in the space I think from his passing away and not being able to hash out the rest of the book. It’s flow was weird because of it, but also, I just can’t agree with how many ceremonial practices he ousts and talks openly about or brings white people into, like hosting whole ass “native spirituality retreats” for non-natives and doing sweat lodges with them and letting them use eagle feathers and then carry on these things themselves?? Nope. Hard nope. I don’t share his opinions on bringing everyone into the fold with our religious practices and viewpoints on ceremony and culture. This is why the Native American Church has a bad reputation and why everyone thinks it was white washed- people like him making it that way.