THE SACRED GIANT BEAR AND THE MOSQUITOES

Apache Knife Fighting & Battle Tactic 1

By Snake Blocker, Lipan Apache Tribe of Texas

The Sacred Giant Bear and the Mosquitoes

An Apache tribe had the last of the great giant bears living near their summer camp.  The giant bear lived in the cliffs near their village.  The Apaches all had a high level of respect for this sacred giant bear. They would give it plenty of privacy and would thank The Creator for blessing their tribe with the giant bear’s spirit.   One day a rebellious Apache boy was out hunting and spotted a rabbit in the berry bushes.  He pulled his arrow back and aimed, but at that moment, the rabbit ran away.  The rabbit was running because the sacred giant bear came by to eat the berries.  The boy decided to just shot one arrow at the great bear, and thought it would just bounce off its thick fur.  Just as the boy released the arrow, the giant bear stood up to face the boy and the arrow went straight into the bear’s heart.  The giant bear slumped to the ground and died.  Great fear came over the boy and he dropped his bow and ran back to the village.  The next day, the other Apache hunters came to the same location and saw the sacred giant bear motionless. They spotted the bow nearby and knew the owner was the rebellious boy.  For respect, the warriors prayed for forgiveness and left the bear where it laid.  The boy was whipped by the village for his crime and selfish ways.  The boy was never allowed in the warrior class society the rest of his days.  The next season when summer came the Apaches were out hunting again and they came across the location where the giant bear had died.  They saw his black silhouette, but as they drew near, the silhouette was merely a swarm of millions of mosquitoes in the shape of the great bear.  Next the swarm of mosquitoes flew towards the Apaches.  As the Apache ran back to the village, the mosquitoes followed and continued to bite into the Apache’s skin. The Apaches knew it was the curse of the sacred bear.  The sacred bear had turned into mosquitoes.  The mosquitoes sucked the blood from the Apaches to take back the blood they took from the sacred bear.  The Apaches accepted this fate, and to this day, some Apaches do not smack mosquitoes when they attack.  The battle application attributed to this story is called the Mosquitoes tactic.  The Apache warriors would take a knife or other weapons and strike quickly at the opponent, when the opponent would attempt to defend, the Apache warrior would draw back and quickly strike at another location on the opponent.  This action emulates the mosquitoes; for as you try to swat mosquitoes, they simply fly away and attack you on a different part of the body.  Mosquitoes leave multiple bite marks, as do the Apache warrior.