Picture-Writing of the American Indians / Tenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1888-89, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1893, pages 3-822

by Garrick Mallery

It is growing, the tree.

Midē'wigân, with trees growing around it at four corners.

I cover the earth with my length.

Snakes; guardians of the first degree.

The bear is contained within me.

Bear spirit within the man—i. e., the speaker. This indicates that he possesses the power of the Bear Man'idō, one of the most powerful of the guardians of the Midē' society.