How Bear Got a Short Tail

“Gaa-ondinang dakawaanowed Makwa” or "How the Bear Got a Short Tail," is a story about gifts from the Creator and a lesson in humility. This is a teaching tale best heard during the winter and recalls a time when animals had not all changed into the forms they have now. The version here was told by Anna Gibbs and transcribed by Anton Treuer for Oshkaabewis Native Journal in Spring of 2010 (Vol. 7, No. 9). This fully animated version with subtitles was created for Wiigwaas Press in 2015 and is narrated in Ojibwe by Anna Gibbs-ba, directed by Elizabeth Day, produced by Heid E. Erdrich, and animated by Jonathan Thunder in 2015.

Nimbagosendaamin waa-minwenimeg wa’aw aadizookaan. / We hope you all will like this story.