BEAR

 

In North America, with the exception of the Arctic regions, there are two species of bears: the black bear  (Ursus americanus) and the grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis). Both of them have played a considerably important role in the cultural universe of Natives, as the focus of relevant festivals, mythical narratives and cult practices.

 

Black Bear	Grizzly Bear

 

The bear appeared frequently in hunting rituals and was deemed a powerful spiritual helper of shamans, to whom it conferred healing powers and knowledge of the diseases and medicines. Among the Pawnee of the Great Plains, for example, the Bear Medicine Society, an association composed by individuals who had received the power to heal sicknesses and wounds, had been founded, according to tradition, by a woman who was gifted with the bear powers. When she was still in her mother’s womb, her father killed a bear and for this reason the baby was imbued by the power of the bear. When she became woman and mother, she had to witness the premature death of her children. While she was staying awake beside the tomb of her last child, she was visited by a bear, that took her to its den, where it lived with its female and cubs. The animal blew a coloured breath on her face, giving her the power to cure the sick with a special ceremony, while the female bear vomited some berries, which she had to utilize as medicines when curing. When she returned back to her people, this woman founded the Bear Medicine Society and the Bear Dance and became a renowned medicine-woman (Dorsey 1906: p. 346-355).

 

 

Arikara shaman wearing a bearskin (photo E. S. Curtis)		Kwakiutl Grizzly Bear Dance

 

The bear was regarded as very alike to human beings, because of its physical characteristics and of its attitude to remain erect on its hind legs. In the Amerindian cultures the distinction between human and animal was rather blurred and oftentimes the animals appeared to humans in human form, in dreams or vision experiences. Humans could easily turn into animals, wearing a mask, while on the other hand animals were regarded as human beings who wore a mask, which determined their outward aspect.
Many North-American cultures celebrated a Bear Dance, to propitiate the animal’s power, to assure a good luck in hunting or warfare, or to celebrate the rebirth of the animal after the hibernation period. The hibernation of the bear was regarded as a sort of death, followed by a ceremonial rebirth, and for this reason the bear was frequently associated with the succession of the seasons, and with chronological changes.  Various traditions associated the bear with the constellation of the Big Dipper, which, in the boreal hemisphere constitutes a marker of seasonal change.
The strength and ferocity of this animal, in particular of the grizzly bear, were qualities particularly appreciated by warriors and by socially powerful individuals, and for this reason those who occupied prestigious and authoritative functions showed their power status wearing a grizzly bear claws necklace.

 

Mesquaki bear claw necklace (Detroit Institute of Arts)	Portrait of Mahaskah ("White Cloud"), chief of the Iowa tribe. Painting by Charles Bird King.