bear walker

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English

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Etymology

Calque of Ojibwe me'coubmoosa (bear walker).

Noun

bear walker (plural bear walkers)

  1. (Native American, folklore) An evil sorcerer, specifically one who walks by night in the form of a bear.
    • 1901, Charles Edward Brown, The Wisconsin Archeologist, page 116:
      The hair ornament was worn by the Bear-Walker before and during the casting of spells.
    • 1953, Inland Seas, Great Lakes Historical Society, page 13
      He told Jim he saw a Bear-walker approaching the house then and there.
    • 1983, Christopher Vecsey, Traditional Ojibwa Religion and its Historical Changes, →ISBN, page 148:
      These bear-walkers owed their powers to their personal manito, the bear, and traveled in disguise at night, causing disease among their victims.

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