 Marshall
Cultural Atlas
This collection of student work is from
Frank Keim's classes. He has wanted to share these works for others
to use as an example of Culturally-based curriculum and documentation. These
documents have been OCR-scanned. These are available
for educational use only.
Alaska Brown Bear
The Brown Bear
The Alaskan Brown bear, Ursus arctos middendorfi , is the largest
meat eating land mammal and the largest bear in Alaska. These bears
may exceed nine and a half feet. The largest bear taken was in 1969.
It measured 10 1/2 feet long and weighed nearly 1,800 pounds. The
Brown bear stands 4-4 1/2 feet high on all fours. A hump quite large
and noticeable rests on the bear's shoulders.
The size and color of the Brown bear depends upon the geographic
location, its age, sex and the time of the year. The coastal bears
are three times larger than the interior bears. The quality and
amount of food have a large impact on the size of the bear. The
interior Brown bears have a darker color than the coastal bears.
The age of Brown bears is determined by the stained rings on their
teeth. The oldest bear taken from the wilderness was a 36 year old
boar. There was once a 47 year old female in a zoo.
The Brown bear is found throughout southern Alaska and in parts of
southeastern Alaska. There are also a few Brown bears left in Asia.
Density levels are higher in the Aleutian Islands, Panhandle, on the
Kodiak Island and southcentral Alaska. The bears we have here in
Marshall are smaller Brown bears known as Grizzly bears. The lowest
number occur in northern Alaska and the Arctic regions.
The Brown bear's diet consists of many foods. It digs up small
rodents with its claws and searches for ants, shrubs and other
insects in the same way. The Brown bear eats a wide variety of plants
and berries, fruits that are available, sedges, horsetails, and
salmon which is a very important supplement in the bear's diet. The
berries are eaten by the gallon and the animals are eaten whenever
possible. The Brown bear is not a finicky eater. Once a biologist saw
a boar chase and eat a cub when its mother wasn't looking.
The McNeil River is one of the most popular sites for the Brown
bear to fish for salmon. The bears usually eat the eggs and leave the
carcass for the seagulls and the immature male brownies. The bears do
not catch that much fish in a day. A biologist surveyed the catches
and found that they catch about three fish an hour. About 10-12 bears
are common when they are fishing. During some years, as many as 65-70
bears may be seen fishing on the McNeil River.
Brown bears are attracted to dumpsites in many villages or cities.
People also give the bears handouts that aren't healthy and
nutritious. By the time they are ready to hibernate, they have not
gained enough fat for the hibernation period. These bears take at
least a month to gain the weight back to get ready for hibernation.
Dumpsites and the handouts given by people also cause Brown bears to
lose their fear of man. A protein rich diet supplies the nutrients
for the bears to gain the fat needed. Salmon is one of the major
supplements for coastal bears. Protein rich diets also produce young,
healthy cubs that are larger than the interior Brown bears. The
coastal bears usually gain 40-50 pounds in one summer.
The Brown bear seems most comfortable on the tundra or in grassy
flats. When the bears come out of hibernation, they are commonly
found in these areas, feeding on mainly grass and other fresh
vegetation.
During hibernation the 8-10 ounce hairless cubs are born around
late January and throughout February. The gestation period for the
Brown bear is usually 7-9 months.
Denning periods for the Brown bears depend upon their sex,
age,
and physical condition. The interior Browns, or "brownies", enter
their dens around late October, whereas the coastal bears enter their
dens in November and December. The dens of the Brown bears are
located somewhere on mountain slopes, in empty hollow logs, on
hillsides and underground. On Kodiak Island the dens are often lined
with leaves and grass.
Hunting Brown bears is considered dangerous. Wounded bears attack
their enemies and are difficult to kill. Female bears may chase after
their enemy to protect their cubs.
Non-residents kill nearly 62% of the Brown bears killed in Alaska
and use them as trophies. Thirty-eight percent of the bears are
killed by Natives in Alaska. There are 24 control units in Alaska
that record the number of bears killed annually. These units are
located throughout Alaska. The number of Brown bears is stable in
most areas. There is no accurate number of bears in Alaska, but
biologists say that there may be from 5,000-10,000.
Gabriel Duny
Marshall School
Bear Fire
Stories and Poems
about Bears
|
by Marshall High School
Language Arts Classes
Spring, 1992
Produced
by
Information
about Bears
Creative
Stories from the Imagination
True
Stories from Experience
Poems
Christmastime Tales
Stories real and imaginary about Christmas, Slavik, and the New Year
Winter, 1996 |
Christmastime Tales II
Stories about Christmas, Slavik, and the New Year
Winter, 1998 |
Christmastime Tales III
Stories about Christmas, Slavik, and the New Year
Winter, 2000 |
| Summer Time Tails 1992 |
Summertime Tails II 1993 |
Summertime Tails III |
| Summertime Tails IV Fall, 1995 |
Summertime Tails V Fall, 1996 |
Summertime Tails VI Fall, 1997 |
| Summertime Tails VII Fall, 1999 |
Signs of the Times November 1996 |
Creative Stories From Creative Imaginations |
| Mustang Mind Manglers - Stories of the Far Out,
the Frightening and the Fantastic 1993 |
Yupik Gourmet - A Book of
Recipes |
|
| M&M Monthly |
|
|
| Happy Moose Hunting! September Edition 1997 |
Happy Easter! March/April 1998 |
Merry Christmas December Edition 1997 |
| Happy Valentine’s
Day! February Edition
1998 |
Happy Easter! March/April Edition 2000 |
Happy Thanksgiving Nov. Edition, 1997 |
| Happy Halloween October 1997 Edition |
Edible and Useful Plants of Scammon
Bay |
Edible Plants of Hooper Bay 1981 |
| The Flowers of Scammon Bay Alaska |
Poems of Hooper Bay |
Scammon Bay (Upward Bound Students) |
| Family Trees and the Buzzy Lord |
It takes a Village - A guide for parents May 1997 |
People in Our Community |
| Buildings and Personalities of
Marshall |
Marshall Village PROFILE |
Qigeckalleq Pellullermeng ‘A
Glimpse of the Past’ |
| Raven’s
Stories Spring 1995 |
Bird Stories from Scammon Bay |
The Sea Around Us |
| Ellamyua - The Great Weather - Stories about the
Weather Spring 1996 |
Moose Fire - Stories and Poems about Moose November,
1998 |
Bears Bees and Bald Eagles Winter 1992-1993 |
| Fish Fire and Water - Stories about fish, global warming
and the future November, 1997 |
Wolf Fire - Stories and Poems about Wolves |
Bear Fire - Stories and Poems about Bears Spring,
1992 |
|
