A long time ago, there was Cherokee Clan called Ani-Tsa-gu-hi (Ahee-Jah-goo-hee).

There was a boy who lived with his parents, he would leave home for the entire day and stay up in the mountains. After a few moons he started to go more often and stay longer, until he would no longer even eat at home. The boy would leave at daybreak and not come back until late at night. No matter how much his parents would scold him, it did no good, the boy left every day.

One day his parents realized how long his hair was starting to grow all over his body, so they asked him about the time he was spending in the woods and why he would rather be there than with his family and friends, and asked him to at least start eating.

“I find plenty to eat there, and it is better than the corn and beans we have in camp, pretty soon I will leave here and never return; I will live in the woods forever. If you want you could come with me, there is plenty for all of us and you will never have to work for it; but if you want to come, you must first fast for seven days.” The boy had told his parents.

His parents had begged and pleaded for him not to leave, and after worrying about what he had said, they begin to see things differently already about it being better there then here.

His parents talked it over and then talked to the headmen of their clan. The clan then held council about the matter and after everything was discussed, they decided the boy was right. Here they must work hard and they never had enough for all of the clan; in the woods there was plenty without any work. They would go with him and have this new life he had found. So the whole clan fasted for seven days, and on the seventh morning all of the Ani-Tsa-gu-hi clan left their camp and started the long hike to the woods and the mountains as the boy led the way.

When word got back to the other tribes in the area, they sent their headmen to persuade the clan to stay home and not go on into the woods to live. The messenger found them before they had reached the woods and were surprised to see that their bodies were already covered with the hair of an animal, because of the seven days they had not touched human food, their nature had already started to change.

The chief of the clan told the headmen they would not return, the people had chosen their path. “We are going where there is always plenty to eat. From now on, we shall be called Yonva (bears), and when you yourselves are hungry due to a lack of food, then come into the woods and call us, we shall come to give you our own flesh. You should never be afraid to kill us, for we shall live always. There is a song your warriors will sing to our spirits for us to come back to you.” The headmen told the messengers.

They taught the messengers the song in which to call them and their bear hunters still sing the song today. After they had finished teaching the messengers their song, the clan started on their hike once and again and the messengers headed back to their camps. As they turned to one last look at their friends who had chosen a different way of life, all they saw was a drove of bears reaching the outside of the woods.

The song that they were taught in order to attract the bears, is to be sung by the bear hunters. The melody is simple and plaintive, and it consisted of four verses followed by a short recitation. The bear hunter will sing the bear song from the camp to the place where he expects to hunt during the day.

http://www.firstpeople.us/FP-Html-Legends/TheBearLegend-Cherokee.html

http://www.sacred-texts.com/nam/cher/sfoc/sfoc41.htm