NovelBackground Information

Touching Spirit Bear

Touching Spirit Bear

• Ben Mikaelsen paints a vivid picture of a juvenile offender, examining the roots of his anger without absolving him of responsibility for his actions, and questioning a society in which angry people make victims of their peers and communities. 

• TOUCHING SPIRIT BEAR is a poignant testimonial to the power of a pain that can destroy, or lead to healing.

                  

www.benmikaelsen.com

Ben Mikaelsen--author

• I was born and raised in Bolivia, South America and I was teased a lot because of the color of my skin.

• I never wanted to become an author, but I

liked capturing ideas on paper and always wanted to do things differently. In college, one of my teachers liked my writing and encouraged me.

• I started in 1984 full time.  It took me almost 6 years and 127 rejections before "Rescue Josh McGuire" was published.

www.benmikaelsen.com

Ben Mikaelsen--author• I have had Buffy for over 18

years.

• He was born Jan. 24 and he was a 16 week old cub when I got him.

• While he's hibernating, I go sit in his "den" with him and I write.

• I don't think people should raise wild animals, but Buffy had been used for research, and they were going to kill him if I didn't adopt him.

                                       

www.benmikaelsen.com

Circle Justice• Sentencing Circle : a General Overview and Guidelines

• The sentencing circle is a method of dealing with members of the community that have broken the law. A sentencing circle is conducted after the individual has been in the present western justice system and found guilty or if the accused has accepted guilt and is willing to assume their responsibility. This sentencing method encourages the offender and the community to accept responsibility and acknowledges the harm they have done to society and to victims.

• A sentencing circle's aim is to shift the process of sentencing from punishment to rehabilitation and responsibility. It provides a new alternative for courts to incarceration. The sentencing circle proves an opportunity to start the healing process for both the offender and the victim. The offender is presented with the impact of their actions in front of respected community members, elders, peers, family, the victim and their family, stimulating an opportunity for real change.

www.usak.ca/nativelaw/jah_circle

Circle JusticeWhen to Hold a Sentencing Circle

• The accused must agree to be referred to the sentencing circle. • The accused must have deep roots in the community in which

the sentencing is held and from which the participants are drawn.

• There are elders or respected non-political community leaders willing to participate.

• The victim is willing to participate and has been subjected to no coercion or pressure in so agreeing.

• The court should try to determine beforehand, as best it can, if the victim is subject to battered women's syndrome. If she is, then she should have counseling and be accompanied by a support team in the circle.

• Disputed facts have been resolved in advance. • The case is one which a court would be willing to take a

calculated risk and depart from the usual range of sentencing.

www.usak.ca/nativelaw/jah_circle

Circle JusticeRules Governing a Sentencing Circle

• There are so special powers or privileges for anyone in the circle.

• There are no interruptions while a person is speaking. In a sentencing circle a person may only speak in turn. The laws of the Creator shall govern the person speaking. Those laws are honesty, sharing, kindness, and respect.

• In the circle decisions are made on the basis of consensus.

• At all times during the proceedings of a sentencing circle the Chairperson will maintain the order and the process of the circle.

www.usak.ca/nativelaw/jah_circle

Circle JusticeThe judge, lawyer, police should be:

• willing and able to participate;

• the decision as to whether a sentencing circle will be granted is the judge's alone but must take into consideration all the criteria as to whether or not to grant a sentencing circle and whether the court is prepared to take a calculated risk with respect to the offender; and

• after the circle has reached a consensus as to the sentence for the offender, the judge then steps back into his judicial role and may choose to impose or reject the sentence that the circle has recommended. However, the sentence is rarely rejected by the judge.

www.usak.ca/nativelaw/jah_circle

Circle JusticeThe Community should be:• be willing and able to participate and provide follow-up; • totally supportive of the process and be familiar with the

proceedings; • feel free to ask questions, express their opinions as their views

are important and more valid than those of people from outside the community but people should refrain from counseling the offender or talking in excess;

• be involved in ongoing supervision, re-integration of the offender into the community and evaluation of the offender's progress on a regular basis;

• be willing to organize the circle and provide translation services if necessary (anyone can organize a circle i.e. probation officer, social work[er], First Nation Justice Committee member, Band Councilor or an Elder);

• be willing and able to mobilize community resources so as to assist the offender and his/her family in the process of rehabilitation and recovery if necessary; welcome the participants, if possible provide coffee, milk, Kleenex, lunch and transportation for the Elders if needed.

www.usak.ca/nativelaw/jah_circle

Circle JusticeThe offender should be:

• willing to participate and accept responsibility for his/her actions;

• willing to face his/her victims and make whatever amends may be necessary;

• willing to participate in traditional or Christian ceremonies to initiate the healing process;

• willing to spend time with an Elder and participate in any preparations the Elder recommends at his/her home reserve or his/her choice; and

• willing to make whatever legal amends necessary to the victim and do whatever is necessary to the victim to reconcile the negative relationship created between themselves, the victim and the community as a result of the offense.

www.usak.ca/nativelaw/jah_circle

Circle Justice

The victim should be:

• involved in the sentencing circle process directly or through the aid of a representative or surrogate victim (when that is realistic);

• given as much consideration and respect as possible in recognizing compensation and/or restitution for the victim or a community service agency of the victim's choice; and

• willing to become involved with the community in some way to facilitate the healing of the offender.

www.usak.ca/nativelaw/jah_circle

Circle Justice Sentencing Options Available to Sentencing Circles:

• peer counseling; • restitution/compensation, i.e. replace broken window; • community service work; • mediation; • compulsory school attendance/work attendance; • referral to specialized programs, i.e. anger management,

sexual abuse awareness training; • referral to counseling and/or treatment; • Aboriginal spiritual activities, i.e. sweats, forgiveness/sacrifice

ceremonies; • Aboriginal cultural activities, i.e. pow wow security, Elders

assistant, cleaning grounds, ration distribution; • talking and healing circles;

www.usak.ca/nativelaw/jah_circle

Circle Justice

Sentencing Options Available to Sentencing Circles:

• curfew rules and regulations respecting residency; • disassociation from the negative influence of peers; • keep the peace and be of good behavior (court undertakings); • counseling for offender and family; • speaking/teaching to students for example; and • traditional sentences, i.e. fines, incarceration, probation, house

arrest, electronic monitoring (six months usual).

www.usak.ca/nativelaw/jah_circle

Circle JusticeSentencing Circle Guidelines:

• should be held in a community facility, court or even outdoors; • there should be a sufficient number of chairs for participants

arranged in a circle; • arrange an inner and outer circle if participation if high; • the inner circle includes: judge, crown prosecutor, defense

council, victim, accused, community supports system, family, friends, outside support system, i.e. Justice Unit, observers;

• usually a tape recorder is used to record the comments in the center of the circle;

• preparation of the sentencing circle consists of any ceremonies directed by the Elders;

www.usak.ca/nativelaw/jah_circle

Circle Justice

Sentencing Circle Guidelines:

• seating is either pre-set or people sit where they feel comfortable;

• everyone in the circle is equal and has an equal voice;

• the judge or the designated chairperson outline the ground rules that govern the circle;

• the judge, the designated chairperson or an elder makes the opening prayer and remarks;

• all religious beliefs are tolerated and welcomed; • moving clockwise, everyone is given an opportunity

to speak.

www.usak.ca/nativelaw/jah_circle

Tlingit Indians• To the coastal Tlingit people, home is

the narrow mainland coast, islands, bays, and fjords of southeast Alaska.

• The people reside in the dynamic region where the land meets the sea, building their villages on narrow rock beaches wedged between the tidewater and the dense forests rising into lofty mountains, an area of human occupation for the last 10,000 years.

• Heavy rainfall creates a luxurious rainforest environment and a temperate climate.

www.carnegiemuseums.org

Tlingit Indians• Tlingit villages have always faced the

sea.

• The peoples' lives revolve around the harvest from the sea outside the front door and from the forests and rivers outside the back door.

• The waters of southeast Alaska provide one of the richest maritime environments in the world.

• As the Tlingit people make their seasonal rounds, they catch fish and sea mammals and collect shellfish and sea plants.

www.carnegiemuseums.org

Tlingit Indians

• At the western edge of Alaska, the forces of wind, waves, and currents, together with the runoff from the land, combine to form a dynamic, constantly changing, and demanding environment.

• This area is the most varied and richest of the Earth's environments--it is also the most subject to change.

• The movements of the tides subject the plants and animals of the region to submersion in salty waters, exposure to air, cycles of drying and warming by the sun and wind, exposure to fresh water in rain, and the violence of Pacific storms.

www.carnegiemuseums.org

Tlingit Indians• To the Indians of the Pacific Northwest Coast, the

sea was not just a way of life, but life itself.

• The coast gave rise to many different cultures, each with their own languages, beliefs, designs, and routines. However, their dependency on the sea united them all.

• Many myths, songs, dances, and ceremonies had their foundation in the sea, its spirits, the underwater world, or the characteristics of the fish.

• Creatures of the sea became family crests and were incorporated into everyday life--carved into objects, painted on possessions, tattooed on the body, and woven into baskets.

www.carnegiemuseums.org

Tlingit Indians

• Most Pacific Coast peoples admired whales from afar. Hunting these mammals required both great skill and endurance.

• The whale was never actively hunted by the Tlingit; however, beached whales were an important resource.

• A single whale could provide a village with blubber and skin for food, bone for tools, sinew for rope, and oil for lamps.

www.carnegiemuseums.org

Tlingit Indians• Once, the raw materials from the

forest provided the basis for nearly everything that the Tlingit used.

• Women constructed their baskets from materials harvested from conifer trees—

• Northwest Coast men are renowned for their tradition of wood carving and painting.

• They carve everything in wood, from monumental totem poles and canoes, to delicate face masks.

www.carnegiemuseums.org

Tlingit Indians• The cedars were the most

valuable trees, but were found only sporadically.

• The red cedar, from which the

large traveling and war canoes were made, grows only in the southern regions. The yellow cedar is more common.

• Both are fine-grained and were used for carving and household decoration, for chests, boxes, and other domestic purposes. Mats, baskets, rope, and clothing were made from the inner bark.

www.carnegiemuseums.org

Tlingit Indians• Raven also moves between the

creature and human worlds, bestowing gifts yet playing tricks on humans in an extensive series of stories.

• He has a dual personality.

• As a culture hero and transformer,Raven is credited with shaping much of our world.

• As a trickster, he is driven to outlandish adventures by his selfishness, greed, and hunger.

www.carnegiemuseums.org

Tlingit Indians• Bear, the most important land

animal, typifies this relationship between humans and animals.

• In nature a bear behaves like a human and competes for the same resources.

• It can walk on its hind legs, fish for

salmon, and use its dexterous paws to eat berries and nuts.

• When pursuing a bear, the hunter carefully carries out a special ritual, for he is killing a creature whose soul is akin to his own.

                                                        

    

                                                               

    

www.carnegiemuseums.org

Tlingit Indians• Crests, or emblems, of Tlingit

families and clans represent creatures with whom an ancestor has interacted in the legendary past.

• Through purchase by the ancestor, oftenin exchange for his or her life, the descendants receive from the creature the right of ownership to the crest and the accompanying story, song, name, and sometimes more.

www.carnegiemuseums.org

Tlingit Indians• Tlingit society is divided into

two halves, or moities, named the Ravens and the Eagles.

• Some of the clans of the Raven moiety include the Frog, Goose, Owl, Raven, Salmon, and Sea Lion.

• Clans of the Eagle moiety include the Auk, Bear, Eagle, Shark, Whale, and Wolf.

www.carnegiemuseums.org

Tlingit Indians• Russian, Spanish, French, British, and American explorers and

fur traders all arrived in their sailing ships in the last quarter of the 1700s.

• At first Russia dominated the market, establishing fur trading headquarters in southeast Alaska. Tlingit elders still tell the story of their ancestors' first meeting with white men. Except for introducing diseases, early trading encounters did not greatly interrupt traditional Tlingit life.

• The United States purchase of Alaska in 1867 brought settlers, missionaries, educators, gold prospectors, and fish canneries. This influx of outside philosophies and economic interests severely impacted Tlingit land ownership, language, culture, and self-esteem.

www.carnegiemuseums.org

Spirit Bear the Facts• The spirit bear is a rare,

genetically unique sub-species of the black bear that occurs only on the north coast of British Columbia. Its scientific name, Kermode bear, is named after Francis Kermode, who conducted the first studies into the origins of the white bear in the early 1900’s.

• The reason for the existence of the white bear is still unknown, but what is known is that the white bear is dependant on a healthy, stable gene pool. www.frontier-travel.co.uk/ wildlife/images/oce...

Spirit Bear the Facts

• Due to the spirit bear’s color, it has the ability to catch more salmon. The more salmon it catches means more rotting fish carcasses on the forest floor.

• First Nation legend states that the Raven, their creator, made these bears white as a reminder of the last ice age and decreed that these bears would live in peace and harmony forever.

www.globalresponse.org/ graphics/bear3.jpg

Spirit Bear the Legend• Long ago, when the earth

was covered in ice, the raven decided to change the earth to a beautiful green land.

Legend says that the raven, who went among the black bears promised that every tenth bear cub would be born white.

The reason for this is that the raven wanted to have a reminder of the time when the world was pure and clean and covered with snowdrifts and ice blue glaciers.

www.judiwildartist.com/ detailspiritbearhead.jpg

Spirit Bear the Legend• The raven promised the

white Spirit Bear a life of peace in the ancient rain forest of Princess Royal Island and the nearby mainland mountains and valleys.

• It is said that Creator, the Raven, decided to create a reminder of when the world was once covered with ice and snow. To do this, he was said to fly among the black and brown bear people and turn every tenth one white. He decreed that these bears would live in peace and harmony forever.

www.sharpergraphics.com/ Native%20Americans/CB...