I read this book in perhaps 5th grade (1975). An Inuit Girl lives with her mother but is either urged to leave or gets lost (set in Greenland?). She encounters a polar bear and is “adopted” by bear. The hardcover book jacket featured girl in traditional parka riding the bear, she has a spear I think.
Sounds suspiciously like East published in 2005, but this was long before that. I remember her learning to fish.
Any assistance greatly appreciated.
I realise this isn’t polar bears, but could it possibly be “Julie of the Wolves” by Jean Craighead George?
Could it be Mama Do You Love Me? By Barbara Joosse??