John Arnatsiaq, 58, squared off against the bear after it went after his friend.
"All of a sudden the bear was right there. But it wasn't going for me - it was going for the other guy," said Arnatsiaq.
Arnatsiaq jumped in between the two and shoved a hammer in the bear's mouth.
"What I did was poke the bear with the hammer and put the hammer in its mouth and pull to make him angry so it will go after me instead of going after that guy. Because I knew that guy had bullets in his pocket and that his rifle was not loaded," said Arnatsiaq.
Important warning about e-mails purporting to be from the adn.com staff.