Ghost Bear Transforming (Spirit Bear)

Terry granted permission for author, Richard Daly to use this image on the cover of his book "OUR BOX WAS FULL" He also provided the following quote:

"Our people call this the Ghost Bear. It is known as the Kermode, after Frank Kermode, the former director of the Royal British Columbia Museum. If it didn't have a recessive gene it would be a black bear. It's not an albino because it has brown eyes and brown nose. For thousands of years its'home has been the rainforest of Princess Royal Island on the north coast of British Columbia. The island does not have a human population today but it used to be a home to our Tsimshian people. Isolated on the island for so long, the bear's recessive gene did well for itself. One out of every ten bears is white. It even spread to the adjacent mainland. Our people have stories about how this bear came into being, Long ago, the world was covered in ice and snow. One day, Raven the creator of the world, came down from the heaven and turned the world green, as it is today. But as a reminder of the time when everything was white and that the iceage may return, Raven went among the bears and turned every tenth one the colour of snow. Raven decreed that the white bear, which the Tsimshian call Moksgm'ol, would live forever in peace."

15" x 7" x 6.5" alder, operculum teeth, acrylic paint