Origin stories such as The Girl Who Married the Bear exemplify Native American beliefs, and women's connection to nature. Once the girl turned into a bear, her brothers tried to kill her, and so "she killed them all off, even her mother"Tears were running down her face. Then she went on her own. She had her two little cubs with her" (13). The girl was able to show love for her family and children, and showed strength by being able to take care of herself and her children. She obtained this strength through her relationship with her bear husband, and her eventual ability to change into one herself. More current stories like "Fleur" show how this connection is now seen as weird and unaccepted. Fleur was an outsider, "by night we heard her chuffing cough, the bear cough. By day her silence and the wide grin she threw to bring down our guard made us frightened" ("Fleur", 62). Because of this fear, some people in her tribe felt resentment, and "thought that Fleur Pillager should be driven off the reservation, but not a single person who spoke like this had the nerve" (62). Both women were outsiders and were driven out of their tribal community because of their connection with animals, even though this connection was an important part of their Native culture. .
These two stories are of strong, native women, who are outcasts in society. The girl in The Girl Who Married the Bear was rebellious, "she would disobey her mother" (8) when she was young, and "would see some bear droppings and kick it and step over it" (8), which wasn't allowed. Eventually, she met a man, who was a shaman, and grew to love him. Once she found out he was a bear, and became one herself, she was forced to chose between her husband and children, or her family in the village. Fleur Pillager had to make this same decision, "when people were just about to get together to throw her out (of the village), she left on her own and didn't come back all summer" ("Fleur", 62).
