The Lakota Way: Stories and Lessons in Living

The author’s grandmother told him about a boy named Hoka, the badger. Hoka is skilled with a bow and arrow, and his uncle suggests bringing him along on a hunt in which the men kill two elk. They leave Hoka behind to guard the elk and their skins and to watch over the village when they go out hunting the next day.

Hoka guards the village and sees nothing but magpies. Returning to the camp with water, however, he sees the print of a large animal like a bear and hears rustling in the bushes. He prepares to kill the animal with his bow and arrow and wonders whether it is a cat or bear. He clambers up a tree and lets an arrow fly at the animal, who he sees is a bear. The animal grunts and then is silent, and the boy doesn’t know what happened to it. When he finally climbs down from the tree, he sees blood on the grass. When the hunters return, he finds out that they killed in elk but that his uncle was injured and is bleeding. He does not say anything to the hunters about the bear but says that they should continue to guard the elk meat from bears.