Smith is an independent scholar and freelance writer. In this essay, Smith explores the significance of Native-American legend and oral traditions to Leslie Marmon Silko's poetics.

"Story from Bear Country" is characteristic of Leslie Marmon Silko's work in that it combines a new tale or "telling" that emerges from old tribal wisdom. The new story is appropriate to be told or read since in Native-American tradition, the story is embedded in the everyday communal life of the people. The poem combines Silko's re-telling of a Laguna Pueblo folktale with an original poem that could easily stand on its own. However, Silko uses the tale of a boy who almost turns into a bear as a kind of "coda" or independent narrative that is powerfully connected to the sacred teachings of Native- American traditions.

The folktale and Silko's contemporary "version" of it work in concert to emphasize the...