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It was the small of the morning. The dark of night had faded into the dimness before dawn. The rhythmic splash of his oar broke the early silence and the wake of his canoe wove the only pattern on the surface of the placid lake.

Little Bear loved this quiet time of day before the village stirred awake and the tumult of the day began. These were his only hours away from it all and he liked the time alone.

It’s not that he didn’t love his younger brothers and sisters, but sometimes their games were tedious and Mother and Father were always after him about something. But Uncle Standing Tall was different.

Standing Tall always treated him with respect and they shared many of the same interests. Standing Tall taught him how to fish and hunt and told him the best stories. Every year, just before the spring thaw, Standing Tall would retell Little Bear’s favorite story, the one about the creation of summer. This is the story he tells:

In times long past it was always winter on the Earth. Hunting in the deep snow that covered prairie, forest and mountaintop alike, was a difficult task. Hunger and cold seemed to walk the land hand in hand.

Fisher, with his weasel like body, wrapped his bushy black tail around himself and pondered. He was always thinking. When he had pondered long enough, he called his strongest friends Otter, Lynx and Wolverine together and shared his plan with them. “The people who live in Skyland have all the warm weather. I want to go there and bring some warmth home to earth. Then the snow will melt and the rivers will thaw and we will have plenty to eat.” Otter, Lynx and Wolverine eagerly volunteered to go with Fisher and the four took off for the place where the Earth is closest to Skyland.

They traveled a very long time, climbing, always climbing higher and higher to the peak of the highest mountain on earth. Skyland was now very close indeed, but how to break through? “One of us will have to jump up,” said Fisher. “I will jump,” said Otter. Otter took a huge leap and struck hard against the sky, but could not break through. He fell back with such force that he slid all the way down the mountain on his belly. “Now let me try,” said Lynx and then jumped with all his might. He bashed his head against the sky and fell back unconscious. Not even a dent could be seen in the sky. Fisher took his turn, but did not have enough power to break through either. He looked at Wolverine and said, “You are the strongest of us all. It is up to you.”

Wolverine sprang at the sky and fell back stunned. He leaped again and again and did not give up until he made a crack in the sky. Encouraged, he hurtled himself against the sky once more and finally broke through! Fisher bolted through the hole after him.

Skyland was warm and sunny. Plants and flowers of all kinds grew everywhere. Birds sang all about them, but they saw no people. They came upon hundreds of cages, each with a different bird inside. Fisher said “These birds will make fine hunting,” and together with Wolverine they freed the birds. All the flapping wings made a wooshing sound as the birds flew straight through the hole and down to earth. We can thank Fisher and Wolverine for all the beautiful birds in the world today.

The warmth of Skyland had already begun to seep through the hole and the air below began to grow warmer. The snow and ice were melting and grass and plants started to sprout, turning the land green.

The rush of fleeing birds alerted the sky people and they started shouting, “Stop! Thieves! You are stealing our warm weather!” Wolverine escaped through the hole in one giant leap, but Fisher started chewing on the edges of the hole to make it bigger. He was afraid that if he didn’t make it big enough the sky people would be able to close it and winter would reign again in the world below.

Just as the sky people were closing in on him, he jumped into the tallest tree in Skyland and climbed to the highest branches to distract them from closing the hole. “You cannot catch me,” he taunted them. The sky people shot arrows at Fisher. Sadly, a fatal arrow found its mark. Fisher began to fall, but he never hit the earth. He remained high in the sky among the stars and you can still see him even though today we call that pattern of stars The Big Dipper.

And thanks to Wolverine’s persistence, Fisher’s plan was a success. The hole that he and Wolverine made in the sky allows warmth to flow onto the earth. But even though the hole is too big for the Skyland people to close, it is not big enough to allow all the warm weather to escape that we would need for a full year. The hole is only big enough for half a year’s worth of warm weather to fit through. That is why summer gives way to winter every year.

As the morning sun rose to greet and warm Little Bear, he knew that the summer he was enjoying was a precious gift from Otter, Lynx, Fisher, Wolverine and of course, from Standing Tall.