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Théophile and the bears
Between 1940 and 1960
Mauricie Park, Laurentian Club (Quebec), Canada


Credits:
Unknown

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When she was a child, cinematographer Alanis Obomsawin listened to the stories told by Théophile Panadis (cameo). She recounts that he was very close to nature and the animals. He told her this anecdote about a bear. When the '?gentlemen? stayed in the forests, they always brought many cans of food that were thrown away in the garbage after use. This of course attracted bears. One day when coming back from an excursion, Théophile and the others notice that a bear left tracks and riffled through stuff in a tent. Someone says that it must be a bear and that they will shoot him next time he comes around. Théophile is against it. He is fond of bears. In fact, the Bear is also one of the totemic clans of the Abenakis of Odanak.
He suggests instead to scare him by making noise. He picks up the empty cans, pierces holes into the bottoms and passes a rope through them to create a string of cans which he ties to a tree. He knows the bear will be back and waits for him, holding the other end of the rope. As expected, the bear comes back and Théophile starts shaking the rope, producing a loud noise which makes the bear run away. The following night, the bear is back again. Théophile, who was expecting him, uses the cans once again to scare him away. But this time, the bear is not impressed at all and walks straight toward one of the tents. As Théophile told this story to Alanis, he commented wryly: ?I'll tell ya one thing, girl, that time the bear really put me to shame!?