Among the Gilyak (Nivkh), bear cubs were captured and raised in the village for two to three years as honoured guests. Before the feast women make a bandage bearing a toad, to deceive the bear into blaming the wrong killer, and sacrificed dogs are told to return as a bear next year. 🐾
Kimai and Yukaghir reared bear cubs in the village for two to three years
Key facts
- Hallowell describes Gilyak (Nivkh) belief that every natural feature of earth and heavens and every animal has a spiritual owner or master, and that souls of those killed by bears join the bear owner's supernatural kin group and protect the living.
- Bears used in the festival were captured as cubs and raised in the village for two to three years, treated as an honoured guest, well fed, cage cleaned regularly, and taken for walks and baths.
- The festival begins with the bear's removal from its cage and being led from house to house; a host slipping up to seize its head and kiss it is a notable feat, and a blow from its paw is read as special favour.
- The bear is led down to a hole in the ice to ensure an abundance of fish for each family.
- A shaman's whispered address recounts that the bear ate many berries, caught many fish and frightened many people, and asks it not to complain about its host to the great lord of the mountains.
- Before the bear can be eaten, women prepare a bandage placed between the eyes and the tip of the snout bearing a representation of a toad, to deceive the bear into believing the toad caused its death and to exonerate the Gilyak.
- Dogs presented by the Nivkh are sacrificed in the same arena as the bear and are told to go to the highest mountain, change their skin and return the following year as a bear.
Sources
Bear Ceremonial armor - Guild Wars 2 Wiki (GW2W)wiki.guildwars2.com
Bear Ceremonial armor is a group of partial armor sets that can be acquired in Strike Mission: Cold War. With all pieces, the set appears identical between ...
The 'Bear Ceremonial' and Bear Rituals among the Khanty ...researchgate.net
Hallowell, A. Irwing 1926 Bear ceremonialism in the northern hemisphere. Some have floated the idea of a historical bear cult spanning a large ...
The 'Bear Ceremonial' and Bear Rituals among the Khanty ...journal.fi
by H RYDVING · 2010 · Cited by 23 — The occurrence of bear ceremonials among several North Eurasian peoples has in other words been used as an argument to support various generalizing theories ( ...
Understanding Circumpolar Bear Ceremonialismarcus.org
Bear ceremonialism refers to a range of traditional practices by which Indigenous peoples across Eurasia and North America have maintained relations with bears.
The Koyukon Bear Party and the "Bare Facts" of Ritualjstor.org
by BC Ray · 1991 · Cited by 14 — Jonathan Smith's recent interpretation of the classic "bear festival" among northern hunters is examined, together with his more general theory of ritual.
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