…but we may have an article on top hats
The Doclopedia #229
Altered (United) States: Alaska: The Real Bear Flag Republic
When the first human beings entered North America via the Bering Land Bridge, they were already quite familiar with the bears of Asia and Siberia. Unfortunately, that did nothing to get them ready for the bears of the New World. These new bears were bigger, much smarter, worked together to do things and could speak to humans. Right off the bat, most humans tried to worship them as gods, but the bears would have none of that. Instead, men and bears learned to live and even work together in mutually beneficial peace.
Fast forward many thousands of years. The smart and civilized bears are almost exclusively found in what will someday become the state of Alaska, although the polar bear version can be found in any country that borders the arctic ice cap and the largest of all the “smart bears”, the California Grizzly, can be found as far south as Central California. In all cases, the bears and the Native Peoples live in harmony.
In most lands that had no contact with Smart Bears, they were deemed a myth. Oddly, no expedition by mighty European hunters to kill or capture one ever returned. This is also why the Russians and the Chinese never had much of a presence in Alaska.
Eventually, however, Europeans did make contact with the bears and these contacts ranged from peaceful (the Russians, British and the Nordic countries) to the less than peaceful (the Catholic Church tried to destroy the “demons”). After a century or two, the basic European plan became “we’ll leave the bears alone”, although the mere existence of another intelligent race played hell with both the science and religion of the day.
When, in much more recent times, the United States bought Alaska (then a part of Canada) from the British (who needed the money to fight two wars), the bears were naturally accorded full citizenship and all rights and privileges, etc, etc.
The Smart Bears and the Native People who live among them have not changed their lifestyles much over the years. They all do enjoy foods from other lands, in moderation, and they are quite fond of a good solid steel reinforced concrete den/home, but generally, they don’t have much use for civilization. Still, the Great Council of Bears & Humans is ultimately the last word in what does or does not happen in Alaska. (The California Grizzlies coexist with non-natives by everyone following a simple rule: Don’t fuck with the grizzlies and they will not kill humans.)
The Alaska of this world is much more pristine than our Alaska. Logging and mining are heavily restricted and monitored. Drilling for oil or natural gas is right out. Commercial fishing and tourism are the biggest moneymakers for the state and both are run on an ecologically sound and sustainable basis.
Naturally, scientists come to Alaska from all over the world to study and speak with the bears. Although the bears will not speak of how or when they achieved sentience, they are a valuable source of information on the natural history of the state.
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