I used a few words from the Cree Indian language in the story. "Kanawisimowin" mean "something that protects the owner" and is used to refer to a bear's paws. "Awasisiwiwin" is a little bit of a pun, the word means "childhood", but it also fully contains the word "wasisiw" which means "bright". I thought "the brightness of childhood" was a good name for a sun dog.

Joe Kanawisimowin stood low on a snowy hill, at just the height to peer over the crest at the spreading white expanse of the frozen lake below. He huffed the frigid air in long steaming breaths, the fur of his hood pressed close around his cheeks. The nearby trees were grasping out with branches heavy laden by fresh snow, and the air was still and silent, a clarity nearly lost but for moments like this, in Canada's open forest lands.

Joe had family who lived further south, in the reservation. Cousins, brothers, uncles, who drove Jeeps and wore rock band t-shirts, and stared at big screens and little screens and medium-sized screens. His pa had spent his whole life drinking Budweiser and Molson, and had died in a hospital, some contraption beating his heart for him. It was Joe's grandpa who had taught him the old ways, taught him to see and hear and smell and feel real life, where spirit and flesh connected. And it was his grandpa who had first taken him to this spot, to tame a sun dog.

Were Joe a scientist, he would tell you about refraction and ice crystals, how it was all an optical illusion that made the sun appear as three, that it was not in actual fact "real", the phenomenon known as "sun dogs". But Joe was no scientist, and he had seen and heard and smelled and felt it with his own eyes and ears and nose and hands, and knew well enough what was real.

From his vantage point, the sun was in fact split into several shapes and curving beams, arranged low on the horizon in the early afternoon. He let his eyes and mind float, coming to the state like dreaming awake. The biting air felt sharper on his skin, the cold deeper, the light brighter, and as he turned his head and shifted his vision, he finally caught sight of the figure far off, a low bright spot dancing off to the sun's left.

The first time his grandpa had brought him out here, there had been quite a ritual in calling out the sun dog, but it was decades since and he had become a sure friend. Now all it took was calling out his name, and that peculiar whistle. "Awasisiwiwin," Joe called, letting out the long warbling whistle. Sure enough, that blotch of sun to the left stilled for a moment, then began to move its way towards Joe's hilltop. He repeated the call, until Awasisiwiwin came into full view, the great dog brightly shining, lumbering low through the air right into Joe's outstretched hands.

"Hiya, boy," Joe said, rubbing his neck as the dog nuzzled him with his bright and warm jowls. The dog's brightness was such that Joe had to squint to see, and the warmth that poured from his body was rich and strong, so that Joe had to remove his coat.

Awasisiwiwin had a bundle in his mouth that he pressed into Joe's hands, a length of fine cloth wrapped around a small object. Joe pulled from his pocket venison jerky that he fed to Awasisiwiwin in strips that the dog gobbled happily. The dog was almost too hot to hold, but Joe held him, arms wrapped around his thick neck, pressing closely to a hide that was supple almost to the point of being insubstantial, like pressing a hand into a quilt or bread dough, but not like that at all.

Ah, but the package. Joe pulled himself away and looked to the bundle of cloth in his hand. He unwrapped it carefully to reveal a pair of earrings, each a disk of beads in black and brown and red, depicting perfectly a bear paw several centimeters across. The beads had been rendered almost translucent, so that they brightened when they caught the light, almost as if they were lit up from within. Joe was stunned. They were magnificent. Truly the most beautiful adornments he had ever seen. He had brought his own bundle of the same cloth to send back, with feathers and bones, some small brightly colored stones and similar items, but wondered now if it was enough. His grandpa had truly outdone himself this time. He removed the feather earrings he was wearing and put in the bear paws - kanawisimowin, that which protects you. He was so happy, he grabbed Awasisiwiwin and rubbed him all over, the great dog joyfully rolling where he floated a few feet off the ground. Joe finally stopped, and Awasisiwiwin whined for more, until Joe handed him the new bundle, with the gifts for his grandpa. Awasisiwiwin knew what to do, and took the bundle in his mouth. Joe whistled and clicked, and the sun dog was on his way, trotting off towards the horizon.

It was long but not too long before Joe was back at his cabin, entering to find his daughter sketching on a large pad on the kitchen table while his wife was cooking dinner, a small TV set on the counter beside her playing a game show where people were competing for a million dollars. Joe greeted her and placed one arm around her, and she noticed the large bear paw earrings.

"Wow! Look at those! It's the family name! Where'd you get those?" she asked.

What could he tell her? "My grandpa sent them to me from the spirit world." She'd think he was teasing her no matter what he said.

"I received them in a dream," he said finally, and his wife pushed him away.

"Oh, don't give me your silly stories. I think one of those wild plants you eat in the woods is getting to your head."

"I'm sorry, that is not the correct answer," said the game show host from the TV screen, and there was a cry of dismay from the audience.