Some years ago I spent ten days in Northern Minnesota dog-sledding and camping in -30 degree weather.  Although we never saw any wolves, we would hear them at night and find traces of them every morning.  They remained a mystery to us humans.  The sled dogs paid little attention to the wolves' calls and scent.  We were definitely the outsiders.

 

Bear and salmon feature prominently in many Northwestern Native American legends as powerful beings that provide life force to all people. This is well illustrated every spring when bears fish for salmon by standing in the rivers and near waterfalls to catch them as they jump upstream.  Less well known is that they occasionally go underwater to find weak or dead salmon (the healthy fish can swim away faster than the bear). It occurred to me that the bear might find herself in a world of mystery and wonder immersed in the water on a sunny spring day, much as we are when we go diving into this different world.