{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_42979/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_42979","id":"gutenberg_42979","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/42979","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Archaeology & Anthropology","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Indians of North America -- Medicine","Pomo Indians","Shamans"],"text":"Transcriber's Note:\n\n    Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as\n    possible. Some changes have been made. They are listed at the end of\n    the text.\n\n    Italic text has been marked with _underscores_.\n\n\n\n\n                 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS\n                                   IN\n                   AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY\n\n\n       Vol. 12, No. 11, pp. 443-465, plate 7        July 11, 1917\n\n\n                           POMO BEAR DOCTORS\n\n                                   BY\n                             S. A. BARRETT\n\n\n                     UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS\n                                BERKELEY\n\n\n\n\nUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS\n\nDEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY\n\n\nThe following publications dealing with archaeological and ethnological\nsubjects issued under the direction of the Department of Anthropology\nare sent in exchange for the publications of anthropological\ndepartments and museums, and for journals devoted to general\nanthropology or to archaeology and ethnology. They are for sale at the\nprices stated. Exchanges should be directed to The Exchange Department,\nUniversity Library, Berkeley, California, U. S. A. All orders and\nremittances should be addressed to the University of California Press.\n\nEuropean agent for the series in American Archaeology and Ethnology,\nClassical Philology, Education, Modern Philology, Philosophy, and\nSemitic Philology, Otto Harrassowitz, Leipzig. For the series in\nBotany, Geology, Pathology, Physiology, Zoology and also American\nArchaeology and Ethnology, R. Friedlaender & Sohn, Berlin.\n\n    AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY.--A. L. Kroeber, Editor. Prices,\n    Volume 1, $4.25; Volumes 2 to 11, inclusive, $3.50 each; Volume 12\n    and following $5.00 each.\n\n              Cited as Univ. Calif. Publ. Am. Arch. Ethn.          Price\n\n Vol. 1. 1. Life and Culture of the Hupa, by Pliny Earle Goddard.\n              Pp. 1-88; plates 1-30. September, 1                  $1.25\n\n         2. Hupa Texts, by Pliny Earle Goddard. Pp. 89-368.\n              March, 1904                                           3.00\n\n                Index, pp. 369-378.\n\n Vol. 2. 1. The Exploration of the Potter Creek Cave, by William\n              J. Sinclair. Pp. 1-27; plates 1-14. April, 1904        .40\n\n         2. The Languages of the Coast of California South of\n              San Francisco, by A. L. Kroeber. Pp. 29-80, with a\n              map. June, 1904                                        .60\n\n         3. Types of Indian Culture in California, by A. L.\n              Kroeber. Pp. 81-103. June, 1904                        .25\n\n         4. Basket Designs of the Indians of Northwestern\n              California, by A. L. Kroeber. Pp. 105-164; plates\n              15-21. January, 1905                                   .75\n\n         5. The Yokuts Language of South Central California, by\n              A. L. Kroeber. Pp. 165-377. January, 1907             2.25\n\n                Index, pp. 379-392.\n\n Vol. 3. The Morphology of the Hupa Language, by Pliny Earle\n              Goddard. 344 pp. June, 1905                           3.50\n\n Vol. 4. 1. The Earliest Historical Relations between Mexico\n              and Japan, from original documents preserved in\n              Spain and Japan, by Zelia Nuttall. Pp. 1-47.\n              April, 1906                                            .50\n\n         2. Contribution to the Physical Anthropology of\n              California, based on collections in the Department\n              of Anthropology of the University of California, and\n              in the U. S. National Museum, by Ales Hrdlicka.\n              Pp. 49-64, with 6 tables; plates 1-10, and map.\n              June, 1906                                             .75\n\n         3. The Shoshonean Dialects of California, by A. L.\n              Kroeber. Pp. 65-166. February, 1907                   1.50\n\n         4. Indian Myths from South Central California, by\n              A. L. Kroeber. Pp. 167-250. May, 1907                  .75\n\n         5. The Washo Language of East Central California and\n              Nevada, by A. L. Kroeber. Pp. 251-318. September,\n              1907                                                   .75\n\n         6. The Religion of the Indians of California, by A. L.\n              Kroeber. Pp. 319-356. September, 1907                  .50\n\n                Index, pp. 357-374.\n\n Vol. 5. 1. The Phonology of the Hupa Language; Part I, The\n              Individual Sounds, by Pliny Earle Goddard.\n              Pp. 1-20, plates 1-8. March, 1907                      .35\n\n         2. Navaho Myths, Prayers and Songs, with Texts and\n              Translations, by Washington Matthews, edited by\n              Pliny Earle Goddard. Pp. 21-63. September, 1907        .75\n\n         3. Kato Texts, by Pliny Earle Goddard. Pp. 65-238,\n              plate 9. December, 1909                               2.50\n\n         4. The Material Culture of the Klamath Lake and Modoc\n              Indians of Northeastern California and Southern\n              Oregon, by S. A. Barrett. Pp. 239-292, plates 10-25.\n              June, 1910                                             .75\n\n         5. The Chimariko Indians and Language, by Roland B.\n              Dixon. Pp. 293-380. August, 1910                      1.00\n\n                Index, pp. 381-384.\n\n Vol. 6. 1. The Ethno-Geography of the Pomo and Neighboring\n              Indians, by Samuel Alfred Barrett. Pp. 1-332,\n              maps 1-2. February, 1908                              3.25\n\n         2. The Geography and Dialects of the Miwok Indians,\n              by Samuel Alfred Barrett. Pp. 333-368, map 3.\n\n         3. On the Evidence of the Occupation of Certain Regions\n              by the Miwok Indians, by A. L. Kroeber. Pp. 369-380.\n              Nos. 2 and 3 in one cover. February, 1908              .50\n\n                Index, pp. 381-400.\n\n\n[Illustration: UNIV. CALIF. PUBL. AM. ARCH. & ETHN. [BARRETT] PLATE 7\n\n POMO BEAR DOCTOR\u2019S SUIT\n MODEL IN PEABODY MUSEUM]\n\n\n\n\nUNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS IN AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND\nETHNOLOGY\n\n Vol. 12, No. 11, pp. 443-465, plate 7                     July 11, 1917\n\n\n\n\nPOMO BEAR DOCTORS\n\nBY S. A. BARRETT\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                           PAGE\n    Introduction                            443\n    Origin Account                          445\n    Acquisition of Power                    452\n    Assistants                              454\n    Hiding Places                           454\n    The Magic Suit                          455\n    Weapons and their Use                   457\n    Rites Over the Suit                     458\n    Communication between Bear Doctors      461\n    Panther Doctors                         462\n    Comparison with Yuki Beliefs            462\n    Comparison with Miwok Beliefs           463\n    Summary                                 464\n\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\n\nOne of the most concrete and persistent convictions of the Indians of a\nlarge part of California is the belief in the existence of persons of\nmagic power able to turn themselves into grizzly bears. Such shamans\nare called \u201cbear doctors\u201d by the English-speaking Indians and their\nAmerican neighbors. The belief is obviously a locally colored variant\nof the widespread were-wolf superstition, which is not yet entirely\nforeign to the emotional life of civilized peoples. The California\nIndians had worked out their form of this concept very definitely. Thus\nDr. Kroeber says:[1]\n\n    A special class of shamans found to a greater or less extent among\n    probably all the Central tribes, though they are wanting both\n    in the Northwest and the South, are the so-called bear doctors,\n    shamans who have received power from grizzly bears, often by being\n    taken into the abode of these animals--which appear there in\n    human form,--and who after their return to mankind possess many\n    of the qualities of the grizzly bear, especially his apparent\n    invulnerability to fatal attack. The bear shamans can not only\n    assume the form of bears, as they do in order to inflict vengeance\n    on their enemies, but it is believed that they can be killed an\n    indefinite number of times when in this form and each time return\n    to life. In some regions, as among the Pomo and Yuki, the bear\n    shaman was not thought as elsewhere to actually become a bear,\n    but to remain a man who clothed himself in the skin of a bear\n    to his complete disguisement, and by his malevolence, rapidity,\n    fierceness, and resistance to wounds to be capable of inflicting\n    greater injury than a true bear. Whether any bear shamans actually\n    attempted to disguise themselves in this way to accomplish their\n    ends is doubtful. It is certain that all the members of some tribes\n    believed it to be in their power.\n\nPomo beliefs differ rather fundamentally from those here summarized.\nIn the first place, the Pomo appear to know nothing of the magician\nacquiring his power from the bears themselves. Since they ascribe no\nguardian spirit to him, he is scarcely a shaman in the strict sense\nof the word. The current term \u201cdoctor,\u201d misleading as it may seem at\nfirst sight, may therefore be conveniently retained as free from the\nerroneous connotation that \u201cshaman\u201d would involve.\n\nIn the second place, the power of the doctor was thought to reside\nwholly in his bearskin suit, or parts thereof, and apparently was\nconsidered the result of an elaborate ceremony performed in its\nmanufacture and subsequent donning. This distinctly ritualistic side\nof the bear doctor\u2019s practices removes him still more clearly from the\nclass of the true shaman.\n\nThirdly, there is a detailed Pomo tradition of the origin of bear\ndoctors. This story is cast in the mold of a myth; in fact, its initial\nportions may be taken from the current mythology of the tribe. Other\nparts are, however, remarkably unmythical and matter of fact. The\nresultant whole is therefore rather incongruous, and, in the form\nrecorded, may have been somewhat influenced by the speculations of an\nindividual. But the events which it describes agree so closely with the\nbeliefs which the Pomo at large entertain concerning the practices of\nrecent bear doctors that the question of the extent of the prevalence\nof the myth among the group is of less importance than the insight\nwhich the tale affords into the Pomo mind. Its many specific references\nmake it a suitable introduction to the presentation of the other data\nsecured.\n\nThese peculiarities render a comparison of Pomo bear-doctor beliefs\nwith those of other Californian groups desirable, but the published\ndata from elsewhere are unfortunately too fragmentary to make such a\nstudy profitable at present. It has only seemed feasible to append some\ncomparisons with Yuki and Miwok beliefs.\n\nIt may be added that the statements which constitute the body of this\npaper are the statements of native informants cited as representative\nof their convictions, and not as the opinions of the author. The degree\nto which the reputed practices of bear doctors were actually practiced\nis far from clear, as Dr. Kroeber has stated. Whether, however, they\nrest mainly, partly, or not at all on reality, they furnish interesting\npsychological material.\n\n\n\n\nORIGIN ACCOUNT\n\n\nThe following tradition was obtained in January, 1906, from an old\nEastern Pomo man and his wife. The husband stated that he had himself\nbeen a bear doctor at one time in his life. In his later years he\nbecame a noted practitioner of ordinary Indian \u201cmedicine,\u201d and was much\nin demand as a \u201csucking doctor.\u201d His old wife proved a very valuable\ninformant on Pomo mythology, and it was while relating myths that the\nsubject of bear doctors was mentioned and the fact developed that her\nhusband had practiced this craft when a younger man. The incident led\nto a full discussion of the entire matter with the couple, and resulted\nin the recording of the following material. This was given by the\nIndians more as a personal favor than for any other reason, and was\ncommunicated only after a pledge that their story would not be spread\nabout as long as the two were still alive. Both are now deceased, as is\nalso the interpreter who aided in recording the material, so that there\nis no reason for longer withholding this information. Out of deference\nto the relatives of the three, it seems best not to name them in these\npages.\n\nBesides the myth, these two old people furnished the greater part of\nthe descriptive information given in the remainder of this paper,\nbut additional data from other informants have been included. Unless\notherwise stated, the Pomo terms are in the Eastern dialect.\n\n    In the days before Indians were upon the earth, and when the birds\n    and mammals were human, there was a large village at _dan\u014d xa_.[2]\n    These people were great hunters, pursuing their game with bows and\n    arrows and spears. But chiefly they set snares in every direction\n    about the village.\n\n    They had caught many kinds of game, but finally found a large\n    grizzly bear in one of the snares. They saw that his carcass\n    would furnish a great feast, but they were confronted with the\n    difficult problem of getting their prize to the village. Each\n    of the birds tried unsuccessfully to carry the bear, first on\n    his right shoulder and then on his left, in the following order:\n    _tsai_ (valley bluejay), _aua\u016b_ (crow), _\u012blil_ (a species of\n    hawk), _t\u012byal_ (yellowhammer), _karats_ (red-headed woodpecker),\n    _sawalwal_ (mountain bluejay), _bakaka_ (pileated woodpecker),\n    _kabanasiksik_ (a large species of woodpecker), _cagak ba b\u012bya_\n    (a species of hawk), _kiya_ (a species of hawk), _s\u012bwa_ (mountain\n    robin), _tsit\u014dt\u014d_ (robin redbreast), _tc\u016bma ts\u012bya_ (grass bird),\n    and _t\u012bn\u012btal_.\n\n    Finally a very small bird, _tsina bit\u016bt kaiya pats\u014drk_,[3]\n    succeeded in carrying the bear. He first tied its front and\n    hind feet with a heavy milkweed-fiber rope in such a manner as\n    to enable him to sling the carcass over his shoulder with the\n    body resting upon his hip. No one else had thought of any such\n    method. The ingenuity of this bird, the smallest of them all,\n    won success and enabled him to walk away easily with the heavy\n    load. The others laughed uproariously and shouted their approval\n    of the feat, immediately naming him _b\u016brakal-ba-k\u012bdjon_,[4]\n    literally grizzly-bear-you-carrier. Thus he carried the grizzly\n    home to the village, and Bluejay, the captain, cut it up and\n    divided the meat among all the people. As a reward for his service\n    _b\u016brakal-ba-k\u012bdjon_ was given the bearskin. This was a very\n    valuable present, worth many thousands of beads.[5]\n\n    With this skin in his possession, _b\u016brakal-ba-k\u012bdjon_ thought a\n    great deal about the grizzly bear and became very envious of his\n    powers of endurance, his ferocity, and his cunning. He forthwith\n    began to study how he might make some use of the skin to acquire\n    these powers. He needed an assistant, and finally took his brother\n    into his confidence. The two paid a visit to _c\u014d dan\u014d_, a high\n    mountain east of the village. They then went down a very rugged\n    ca\u00f1on on the mountain-side and finally came to a precipice the\n    bottom of which was inaccessible except by way of a large standing\n    tree, the upper branches of which just touched its brink.\n\n    In a most secluded and sheltered spot at the foot of this precipice\n    they dug a cavern called _y\u0113l\u012bmo_, or _b\u016brakal y\u0113l\u012bmo_, which\n    they screened with boughs so that it would be invisible even if a\n    chance hunter came that way. They dug an entrance about two feet\n    in diameter into the side of the bank for a distance of about six\n    feet. This led slightly upward and into a good-sized chamber. The\n    mouth of this entrance was so arranged as to appear as natural\n    as possible. Some rocks were left to project and twigs were\n    arranged to obscure it. As a further precaution against detection\n    the brothers always walked upon rocks in order never to leave a\n    footprint, in case any one became curious about their movements.\n    They even went so far as to have the rocks at the foot of the\n    precipice, where they stepped from the branches of the tree,\n    covered with leaves, which they were careful to adjust so as to\n    obliterate the slightest vestige of their trail should any one\n    succeed in tracking them to this point. In this cave they began the\n    manufacture of a ceremonial outfit.\n\n    They went out from the village daily,[6] ostensibly to hunt, and\n    they did, as a matter of fact, kill deer and other game, which\n    they brought back to the village; but they never ate meat, nor did\n    they have intercourse in any way with women. When asked why he was\n    thus restricting himself, _b\u016brakal-ba-k\u012bdjon_ evaded the truth by\n    saying that he expected to gamble, and that he had a very powerful\n    medicine which would yield him luck only with the most rigid\n    observance of certain restrictions.\n\n    When they began this work of preparing the outfits, they also\n    provided a large sack of beads with which to bribe to secrecy any\n    one who might discover them.\n\n    The two worked thus in the cavern four months.\n\n    When the outfit for _b\u016brakal-ba-k\u012bdjon_ was done, the latter\n    emerged from the cavern and ran around its entrance eight times\n    each way, first in a contra-clockwise and then in a clockwise\n    direction. The two then prepared a level, elliptical area, about\n    twenty by fifteen feet, smoothed like a dancing floor, where\n    _b\u016brakal-ba-k\u012bdjon_ might practice and become a proficient bear\n    doctor.\n\n    Upon putting on the suit for the first time, the procedure was as\n    follows: While seated in the dancing area, _b\u016brakal-ba-k\u012bdjon_ took\n    the bearskin in both hands and swung it over his right shoulder and\n    then turned his head to the left. This was repeated four times in\n    all. He next adjusted the skin carefully over a basketry head-frame\n    and placed the latter securely upon his head. He next inserted his\n    arms and legs within the suit and laced it up tightly in front,\n    beginning at the lower part of the belly and lacing upward to the\n    neck.\n\n    He then tried to rise and act like a bear. This he did four times,\n    saying \u201cha\u201d (strongly aspirated), and turning his head to the left\n    after each trial. He finally arose on all fours and shook himself\n    after the fashion of a bear, some of the hair falling out of the\n    skin as he did so. He then jumped about and started off in each\n    of the four cardinal directions in the following order: south,\n    east, north, and west. Each time he ran only a short distance,\n    returning to the practice area for a new start. Finally, the fifth\n    time he started off, he went for about half a day\u2019s journey up\n    the rugged mountains to the east. He found that he could travel\n    with great speed and perfect ease through thick brush and up steep\n    mountain-sides. In fact, he could move anywhere with as much ease\n    as though he were on a level, open valley.[7] On this journey he\n    hunted for soft, sweet manzanita berries, finally returning to the\n    practice ground after covering a great distance, perhaps a hundred\n    miles, in this half day.\n\n    He repeated this ceremonial dressing and the race into the\n    mountains for four days, returning each evening to the village and\n    bringing the game he had killed. Finally, on the fifth day, he\n    again put on his ceremonial dress and went over to a creek, called\n    _taaiaka_, situated a considerable distance northeast of his hiding\n    place. Here he found a bear standing erect and eating manzanita\n    berries. The bear attempted to escape, but _b\u016brakal-ba-k\u012bdjon_ gave\n    chase and by virtue of his supernatural power was able to tire and\n    outdistance the bear, overtaking him at length and killing him with\n    an elk-horn dagger, which was part of his outfit.\n\n    He returned and brought his brother, who tied the bear\u2019s legs\n    together, as had _b\u016brakal-ba-k\u012bdjon_ when he won his name, and\n    carried the carcass to the village, _b\u016brakal-ba-k\u012bdjon_ meantime\n    returning to the secret cavern.\n\n    The brother skinned the bear and told the captain to call all\n    the people into the dance-house to receive their portions of the\n    meat. On the following day a great feast was celebrated, every one\n    joining and providing a share of acorn mush, pinole, bread, and\n    other foods.\n\n    The two brothers then announced that they were again going out to\n    hunt. Instead, they really went to this secluded spot and made\n    a second bear doctor\u2019s suit. This one was for the brother, who\n    underwent the same training as his brother.\n\n    Finally the two brothers started out one day toward the north,\n    going up to a creek called _g\u016bh\u016bl bidame_. Here they found a deer\n    hunter coming down a chamise ridge. They hid until the hunter\n    came within about fifteen paces of them. They then sprang out and\n    attacked him, the elder of the two bear doctors taking the lead.\n    This hunter was followed at a distance of perhaps a quarter of a\n    mile by four others, and when he saw the bears he made a great\n    outcry to his comrades. After a short chase the bear doctors caught\n    and killed him. They tore his body to pieces, just as bears would\n    do, took his bow and arrows, and started off.\n\n    Meantime the other hunters, who were Wolves (_ts\u012bhme\u016b_), hid and\n    escaped the fate of their companion. After the bear doctors had\n    departed, they gathered up the bones and whatever else they could\n    find of the remains of the dead hunter and took them back to the\n    village. The usual funeral and burning rites were held, and the\n    whole village was in special mourning on account of the fact that\n    the hunter had been killed by bears.\n\n    The bear doctors went back to their hiding place, disrobed, and\n    returned to the village as quickly as possible, arriving shortly\n    after the four Wolves had brought in the remains of their comrade.\n    They ate their supper and retired almost immediately, though they\n    heard the people wailing in another part of the village. Their own\n    relatives, the Birds, were not wailing, for they were not directly\n    concerned, since the different groups of people lived in different\n    parts of the village and were quite distinct one from another.\n    During the evening the captain, Bluejay, came in and told the\n    brothers the news of the hunter\u2019s death, asking if they had heard\n    anything of the manner of it. They replied: \u201cNo; we know nothing of\n    it. We went hunting, but saw nothing at all today. We retired early\n    and have heard nothing about it.\u201d Bluejay then said: \u201cWe must make\n    up a collection of beads and give it to the dead man\u2019s relatives,\n    so that they will not consider us unmindful of their sorrow and\n    perhaps kill some one among us.\u201d The bear doctors agreed to this\n    and commended the captain for his good counsel.\n\n    Accordingly, the next morning Bluejay addressed his people, saying:\n    \u201cMake a fire in the dance-house. Do not feel badly. Wake up early.\n    That is what we must expect. We must all die like the deer. After\n    the fire is made in the dance-house I will tell you what next to\n    do.\u201d Every one gave the usual answer of approval, \u201cO\u201d.\n\n    After the usual sweating and cold plunge by the men, the captain\n    again spoke, calling their attention to the fate of their friend\n    the day before and asking that every one contribute beads to be\n    given as a death offering to the relatives of the deceased.[8]\n\n    Bluejay himself contributed about ten thousand beads, and others\n    contributed various amounts, but the two bear doctors contributed\n    about forty thousand beads. This very act made the other people\n    somewhat suspicious that these two were concerned in some way with\n    the death.\n\n    As was usual, under such circumstances, word was sent to the Wolf\n    people that the Birds would come over two days hence with their\n    gift. The Wolf captain accordingly told his people to go out and\n    hunt, and to prepare a feast for the Bird people for the occasion.\n    On the appointed day the beads were brought by the Bird people\n    to the house in which the deceased hunter had formerly lived,\n    the usual ceremonial presentation of them to the mourners was\n    performed, and the return feast by the Wolves was spread near by.\n\n    The next morning the two brothers again left the village, saying\n    that they were going hunting. They went to their place of\n    seclusion, donned their bear suits and again started out as bears.\n    By this time they had established regular secret trails leading\n    to their hiding place, and regular places on these trails where\n    they rested and ate. These trails led off in the four cardinal\n    directions, and when they put on their suits it was only necessary\n    to say in what direction they wished to go and what they wished to\n    do, and the suits would bear them thither by magic.\n\n    Upon this occasion they went eastward, and finally, in the late\n    afternoon, met Wildcat (_dal\u014dm_) carrying upon his back a very\n    heavy load. They immediately attacked and killed him, but did not\n    cut him to pieces as they had Wolf. It is a custom, even now, among\n    bear doctors never to tear to pieces or cut up the body of a victim\n    who is known to have in his possession valuable property. Hence\n    they stabbed Wildcat only twice. When they looked into the burden\n    basket which he had been carrying they found a good supply of food\n    and a large number of beads of various kinds. They took only the\n    bag of beads, which one of them secreted inside his suit. Upon\n    reaching their place of seclusion they removed their suits and were\n    soon back in the village. After supper they again retired early.\n\n    Now Wildcat had started off early one morning to visit friends in\n    another village, saying that he would be absent only two nights.\n    When at the end of four days he had not returned his relatives\n    became anxious about him, and his brother and another man set out\n    for the other village to ascertain whether he had been there or\n    if something had befallen him on the way. They found that he had\n    set out from the other village to return home on the day he had\n    promised. Then they tracked him and found his dead body. They made\n    a stretcher[9] and carried the body home.\n\n    They arrived at the village about mid-afternoon, and when about a\n    half mile off they commenced the death wail, thus notifying the\n    village of their coming. The people came running out to meet them,\n    and the first to arrive were the bear doctors, who immediately\n    assisted in carrying the stretcher into the village. Every one\n    wailed for the departed, but the two bear doctors were loudest in\n    their lamentations. Also they contributed liberally, in fact, more\n    than all the other people together, when the death offering was\n    made up.\n\n    For sometime thereafter the bear doctors did not go out, but\n    finally they did so, returning with four deer, which they gave to\n    their captain to be divided among the people for a feast. This the\n    captain did, after the usual sweat-bath, on the following morning.\n\n    The next day the two brothers left the village before daybreak,\n    donned their bear suits and journeyed southward to the Mount\n    Kanaktai region. They made the journey by way of the east shore\n    of Clear Lake, Lower Lake, and on down to near the present site\n    of Middletown. Here they found a hunting party setting deer\n    snares.[10] One of these men was driving the deer up out of the\n    ca\u00f1on toward the place where the snares had been set. He saw\n    the bear doctors and called out to his comrades: \u201cLook out for\n    yourselves; there are two bears coming.\u201d The hunters were up on\n    the open, brushy mountain-side. Two of them ran down the hill to a\n    tree, but the bear doctors reached it as soon as they, and, as they\n    started to ascend, attacked and killed the two, taking their bows\n    and arrows.\n\n    The other hunters then attacked the bear doctors, who fled\n    northward, pursued by the hunters, whom they outdistanced. The\n    bear doctors became tired and very thirsty, for they had drunk no\n    water all day, so they ran up Mount Kanaktai to a small pond just\n    southwest of its summit.[11]\n\n    The bear doctors first ran four times each way around the pond and\n    then disrobed completely, even taking off their bead armor. Leaving\n    their entire suits lying on the shore, they first swam and rested,\n    and then hung their suits on some small trees near by.\n\n    Shortly two men appeared, who approached close to them. The bear\n    doctors said: \u201cOh, you have come; well, let us eat.\u201d The strangers\n    came and seated themselves beside the bear doctors. They then had a\n    good meal of seed-meal and meat.\n\n    The belts and strings of beads worn as armor inside the suit were\n    piled up on the shore near by, and when the meal was finished the\n    bear doctors gave all these beads to the two men, saying at the\n    same time: \u201cYou must never tell any one, not even your brothers,\n    mothers, or sisters, what you have seen and what we are doing.\u201d\n    They even told the two men who they were, where they lived, and all\n    about their activities. The men looked closely at the bear suits\n    hanging near by and then went their way. The bear doctors again put\n    on their suits and returned to their hiding place, disrobed, and\n    traveled home in the evening, retiring early as usual.\n\n    When the people heard of the killing of two more hunters by two\n    bears, they suspected the brothers, and formulated a plan to spy on\n    them. All were to go hunting and certain ones were to keep a close\n    watch on these two, and see just where they went and what they did.\n    They also discovered that the skins of the two bears killed by the\n    brothers were nowhere to be found in the village.\n\n    The captain called all the men to go on a deer hunt, and all set\n    off westward about midday to build a deer fence and set snares\n    around Tule Lake, for they knew that many deer were feeding in the\n    tule marsh there. Nothing unusual happened that day, but after all\n    had left the village early the next morning some children who were\n    playing about the village saw the two brothers _b\u016brakal-ba-k\u012bdjon_,\n    who had remained away from the hunt, giving illness as their\n    excuse, start off toward the east. Some of the children stealthily\n    followed them, while two others ran over to Tule Lake to warn the\n    hunters. About midday the hunters saw two bears coming toward\n    them. Several of the best hunters hid at an advantageous point in\n    the very thick brush and tule, while the others continued their\n    shouting and beating the bush to drive the deer into the snares in\n    order that the bear doctors would not suspect the trap that had\n    been set for them. The hunters had agreed to act as though they did\n    not know that the bear doctors were near, but to shout if they were\n    seen, \u201cTwo brother deer are coming!\u201d thus giving the hidden hunters\n    notice of the approach of the bears. If deer only were seen, they\n    were to shout, \u201cThe deer are coming!\u201d\n\n    Finally, one of the hunters on the east side of the lake saw the\n    bears and shouted, \u201cLook out there; two brother deer are coming\n    down the hill!\u201d There were two trees standing some distance apart\n    with a thick, brushy place on each side. One hunter hid behind each\n    tree. A third hunter stood very close to a near-by opening in the\n    deer fence and in plain sight of the bear doctors, who immediately\n    made after him. At each jump of the bear doctors the water in\n    their baskets rattled and made a great noise. The hunter was but a\n    few feet from these trees when the bears came close to him, so he\n    dodged between the trees and the bears followed.\n\n    Immediately the two hunters behind the trees attacked the bears\n    from the rear with their clubs and jerked the masks from their\n    heads. The other hunters came up armed with clubs, bows and arrows,\n    and stones, and found the bear doctors standing very shame-facedly\n    before their captors.[12]\n\n    Every one shouted: \u201cThese are the two we suspected; we have them\n    now.\u201d Some wanted to kill them immediately with clubs, others\n    wanted to burn them alive, but the captain restrained them and\n    insisted upon first questioning the bear doctors. They finally\n    confessed to the murders, and took the hunters to their hiding\n    place. Here they exposed their entire secret and told all the\n    details of their work: how they dug the cavern, how they made\n    the ceremonial outfits, and how they killed people. The hunters\n    then stripped the bear doctors and took them, together with all\n    their paraphernalia, and the property they had stolen, back to the\n    village, placed them in their own house, tied them securely, and\n    set fire to the house. Thus ended the bear doctors. That is how the\n    knowledge of this magic was acquired. It has been handed down to\n    us by the teaching of these secrets to novices by the older bear\n    doctors ever since.[13]\n\n\n\n\nACQUISITION OF POWER\n\n\nEven as late as the closing years of the nineteenth century many of\nthe Pomo were convinced that bear doctors were still active; this in\nspite of the fact that the whites had at that time long possessed\ncomplete control of the entire region, and had succeeded, purposely\nor otherwise, in suppressing most of the aboriginal practices of the\nIndians. Evidently the belief was a deeply rooted one in the native\nmind. On the other hand, since the nefariousness of the alleged\npractices would cause them to be carefully concealed, there are now\nsome Pomo skeptics who maintain that bear doctors never existed.\n\nBoth men and women of middle or old age could become bear doctors,\nthe same name[14] being applied to both. In fact, it is said that\nwomen sometimes made very successful bear doctors; even a woman so old\nand feeble that she could hardly walk would acquire great powers of\nendurance and swiftness through this magic.\n\nIt is said that a bear doctor always learned from an old person who\nwas or had been one. The training for both men and women was precisely\nthe same and they were on a par in every way. A female bear doctor\ncould not operate during her menstrual period, but a male bear doctor\nwas similarly restricted by the menstrual periods of both his wife and\nhis female assistant or the other female members of his household. He\nwas even prohibited from going near his bear hiding-place during his\nwife\u2019s menstruation. The periods of other members of his household also\nrestricted him.[15]\n\nNo specific fee was paid for instruction in bear-doctoring, but the\ninstructor was given a large share, usually one-half, of the spoils\nobtained by the new doctor in his murders. Also he could command the\nassistance and protection of his pupil, who must stand ready, if\nnecessary, to lay down his life for his instructor. Each bear doctor\nselected some friend to whom he willed his entire outfit and whom\nhe instructed fully in its use. Upon his death this proteg\u00e9 took\npossession of the paraphernalia and the hiding place of his friend and\nused them as he saw fit.\n\nA bear doctor might \u201ccatch\u201d a man who was out in some lonely spot,\nparticularly a solitary hunter, take him to his hiding place, and teach\nhim his secrets.[16] Particularly was this the case if the bear doctor\nhappened to be a man possessed of few friends, since it was thought\nnecessary for him to will his paraphernalia to some one. Stories are\ntold of specific instances in which persons have been thus made captive\nand instructed. Thus:\n\n    An old she-bear caught a young hunter from a village in the Santa\n    Rosa Valley. She first jumped out upon him from her hiding place\n    and frightened him badly. She rolled him about on the ground and\n    made as if to kill him. Though greatly frightened, the boy made\n    no outcry, but watched her closely. Finally she sat astride him\n    for quite a long time and the boy ceased to be alarmed. She then\n    led him away over the long journey to her hiding place on a high,\n    rocky peak east of Santa Rosa. On the way they heard, late in the\n    afternoon, the people down in the valley calling his name as they\n    searched everywhere for him.\n\n    Finally they arrived at the bear\u2019s cave in the rocks, where she\n    had a bed of moss and leaves just as a bear usually does in its\n    den. In the early part of the evening the boy became homesick and\n    fearful of his fate and began to cry. It was then that the bear\n    doctor revealed herself. She removed her suit, showing her human\n    form, and said to him: \u201cI did not catch you to kill you. I desire\n    only to show you how we become bear doctors and instruct you in our\n    magic. Only human beings live in this section of the mountains.\n    In the morning I shall place my bearskin suit upon you and you\n    shall practice bear-doctoring.\u201d This did not, however, reassure\n    and comfort the boy, and he continued to sob and weep during the\n    greater part of the night, despite the repeated assurances of the\n    bear doctor that she would not harm him, but was, on the other\n    hand, just like an elder sister to him and wished to teach him\n    powerful magic. She finally prepared a good meal for him and he\n    forgot his fright and, temporarily, his own people.\n\n    During the night she taught him her songs, and at daybreak began to\n    instruct him in the ritual of donning the suit. This, of course,\n    required that he should completely strip himself. At first he was\n    much ashamed, but the bear doctor told him that he must not be, any\n    more than if he were only exposing his nose.\n\n    About midday, this part of the instruction being finished, she put\n    her own suit on him and gave him his first practice. She told him\n    to first jump four times along the ground and then jump up and try\n    to catch a high limb of a near-by tree, trying repeatedly until he\n    could catch the limb. Then he would be able to do anything that she\n    could.\n\n    She then stepped back, looked him over, and smiled at him. This\n    made him conscious and he hung his head and did not move until she\n    commanded him to jump. At first he jumped only short distances,\n    but he continued his practice for four days, each day donning the\n    suit with the elaborately regulated ritual, and finding, each day,\n    that he could jump a little farther and a little higher than on\n    the previous one. At last he succeeded in reaching the limb and in\n    jumping down at one jump and back to the starting point in four\n    more.\n\n    His tutor rejoiced at his success, and said: \u201cNow you will succeed\n    in every way and enjoy good luck, secure plenty of beads and other\n    goods, be able to travel far and possess great endurance.\u201d\n\n    She then gave him a complete outfit and told him that he would\n    thereafter procure an easy living and wealth if he would use it\n    and observe the secret rites she had taught him. She, herself,\n    had acquired great quantities of property--beads, food, and other\n    commodities--which she stored in her hiding place.\n\nA bear doctor was not permitted to kill more than four people in one\nyear, upon penalty of the loss of his magic power and consequent\ncapture upon his attempt to kill the fifth.\n\n\n\n\nASSISTANTS\n\n\nA bear doctor must always be assisted by some one. He usually hired\nsome female relative who could be trusted to secrecy. She wove for him\nthe water baskets which formed part of his costume and cooked for him\nthe special food which he must eat while operating as a bear doctor.\nShe must observe the same restrictions as the bear doctor himself,\nabstaining from meat or foods containing blood in any form, and also\nfrom sexual intercourse. The evil consequences of a violation of these\nrestrictions did not befall her, but the bear doctor himself was sure\nto be killed in combat or captured, which meant certain death at the\nhands of an outraged populace.\n\nThis assistant was never the bear doctor\u2019s wife, but the wife, if he\nhad one, must remain abed in the morning until the sun was high and the\nbear doctor was well on his way from his hiding place. She might then\nrise and go about her daily routine as usual. If he had no wife, his\nfemale assistant must observe this restriction for him.\n\nIn making a suit, it was necessary for a bear doctor to have an\nassistant who not only helped in the actual construction of the suit\nbut also sang the long series of songs required during the ceremony\nwhen the suit was first put on.\n\n\n\n\nHIDING PLACES\n\n\nSince custom prescribed that every person leaving a village told where\nhe was going and the purpose of his mission, it was difficult for a\nbear doctor to get away, undetected, for the pursuit of his nefarious\npractices. All his preparations must, therefore, be made in perfect\nsecrecy. Very frequently he gave as an excuse for his absence that\nhe intended to go in search of manzanita berries or hunting in some\ndistant locality, sometimes announcing a stay of several days. Since he\nwas forbidden to partake of food or water on the morning of the day\nhe wore the bear costume, he usually ate and drank heartily the night\nbefore, and repaired to his hiding place before daybreak. To lend color\nto his excuses, he usually brought home some game or berries. As a rule\nthese were not handled at all while wearing the bear suit, although\napparently it was believed that no penalty was attached to doing so.\n\nWhenever possible a bear doctor found some natural cave or secluded\nspot in a deep ca\u00f1on, or in the most rugged mountains. If necessary, he\ndug a cavern, as related in the foregoing myth, taking care to scatter\nthe fresh earth about in such a manner that it would not be detected.\nSuch a place of seclusion was called _y\u0113l\u012bmo_, _b\u016brakal y\u0113l\u012bmo_, or\n_kab\u0113 ga_.\n\nNear by a level \u201cpractice\u201d ground, called _c\u012by\u014d xe gai_, literally\n\u201cbear dance place,\u201d was prepared, where, the weather permitting, the\nbear doctor performed the ceremonies connected with donning his suit.\nIn bad weather these rites were performed in the sheltered cavern. This\npractice ground was simply a level place in the bottom of a ca\u00f1on near\nthe cavern. It was an elliptical clearing about twenty feet long by\nten to fifteen feet wide. No trail led to it, the bear doctor and his\nassistant exercising the greatest care to obscure as much as possible\nevery evidence of their movements, not even a broken twig being left\nabout as a clue.\n\n\n\n\nTHE MAGIC SUIT\n\n\nThe suit of the bear doctor, called _gaw\u012b_, was made as follows:\nFirst, an openwork basket was woven of white oak twigs to fit the\nhead and with openings for eyes, nose, and mouth. Disks of abalone\nshell with small openings to permit actual vision were fitted into\nthe eye openings in the basket. This basket served as a foundation\nover which to place the skin of the bear\u2019s head. It was made so that\nit exactly fitted the wearer\u2019s head and remained in place even when\nhe moved violently. The covering of this helmet, as also the outer\ncovering for the rest of the body, was usually made of real grizzly\nbear skin, though a net covered with soaproot fiber was sometimes\nused. The skin of the bear\u2019s head was shaped, but not stuffed, so as\nto retain its proper form, the eye-holes of the skin being made to fit\nthe shell-filled eye-holes in the basket. The remainder of the bearskin\nwas fitted exactly to the body, arms, and legs so as to perfectly hide\nevery part of the body and give the wearer the appearance of a grizzly.\n\nWhen soaproot fiber was used in making the bear doctor\u2019s suit, a fine\nnet was first woven and thickly covered with shredded soaproot fiber\n(_ap tsida_). This was woven entirely in one piece and so arranged\nas to completely cover the wearer from head to foot, including the\nbasketry helmet just mentioned. It laced in front.\n\nA low shoe, with the sole rounded and shaped somewhat like that of\na bear\u2019s foot, was worn. This shoe was made of woven basketry held\nbetween two hoops and so arranged that the foot went between the two\nsections, which were attached directly to the costume. It was said that\nsometimes, also, similarly shaped shoes were placed upon the hands. At\nother times nothing was worn on either hands or feet.\n\nBefore donning the suit an \u201carmor\u201d of shell beads was put on. Four\nbelts covered the abdomen. Each was about six inches wide and made of\na different size and form of beads. One, called _hm\u016bk\u012b_, covered the\numbilicus. The other three, which were placed one above the other,\ncompletely covered the remainder of the abdomen, chest, and back up to\nthe armpits, and were called respectively _kib\u016bkal_, _catan\u012b k\u016btsa_,\nand _tadatada_. The last protected the heart, and was made of very\nlarge, discoidal beads. Ordinarily these bead belts were woven in the\nusual way. Sometimes, however, one or more of the four was covered\nwithout by a layer of woodpecker scalps. Strings of shell beads were\nwound closely about the arms from wrist to shoulder and the legs were\nsimilarly covered. All these beads served as a protection against\narrows in case the bear doctor was attacked by hunters.\n\nA type of body armor, made of wooden rods and used in open warfare,\nis said to have been sometimes used by bear doctors. This consisted\nof two layers of rods obtained from the snowdrop bush (_bakol_), each\nrod being about the size of a lead pencil. These were bound together\nwith string, one layer of rods being placed vertically and the other\nhorizontally, in such a manner as to make a very close and effective\narmor.\n\nTwo globose, three-rod foundation baskets, called _k\u016btc tcad\u014dtcado\u012b_,\nand each about three inches in diameter, were half filled with water\nand each encased tightly in a closely woven fabric made of milkweed\nfiber cord, or in a casing of rawhide. One was then tied, inside\nthe bearskin suit, just under each jaw or under each armpit. In the\nsoaproot fiber suit, small pockets were woven on its inner surface\nfor their reception. The swashing of the water made a sound (pluk,\npluk, pluk, pluk) resembling that of the viscera of a bear as he moves\nalong. Sometimes, instead of these baskets, a slightly larger pair\nof plain-twining were tied one at each side at the waist. The doctor\nnever wore more than one pair at a time and never wore a single basket\nalone. Canoe-form baskets ten or twelve inches long and with unusually\nsmall openings were sometimes carried in place of the small, globose\nbaskets above mentioned. They were sometimes filled with water, as were\nthe small baskets, and at other times were used as receptacles for\nbeads, berries, or other commodities.\n\nPlate 7 (frontispiece) shows a Pomo bear doctor suit, in the Peabody\nMuseum of Harvard University, reproduced by courtesy of Mr. C. C.\nWilloughby. This is a model. While differing in some details from the\nexplanations received from informants, it confirms them in substance.\n\n\n\n\nWEAPONS AND THEIR USE\n\n\nA bear doctor usually carried one and sometimes two elk-horn daggers,\ncalled _b\u014d\u014d a_, literally \u201celk horn.\u201d Such a dagger was from six to ten\ninches in length and was made by pounding at its base and breaking off\nthe large end point of an elk antler and sharpening its tip. It was\nrubbed on a grinding stone and smoothed throughout its length and a\nhole was bored in its base through which a loop about two feet long was\npassed for suspending it about the neck or from the belt. This loop was\nalways of string, as this is not affected by dampness.\n\nObsidian or flint knives, called _bat!_, were sometimes used in\naddition to or in place of the elk-horn dagger. The blade of such a\nknife was made by first striking the larger flakes from it with a\nhammer stone and then chipping its edges with an antler chipping tool.\nThis blade was set into a split oak handle and bound securely with\nstring, but was not pitched. Both of these were thrusting weapons.\n\nOther weapons were sometimes used, even the stone pestle being employed\nas a weapon.\n\nBear doctors often operated in pairs, and sometimes in greater numbers.\nThey frequently deployed so as to cover a considerable area in their\nhunt, and had a method of intercommunication. If a prospective victim\nwas sighted at some distance, the bear doctor stood erect on the top\nof the nearest ridge, with his back turned directly toward him. This\nsignal brought the other bear doctors into positions to surround the\nvictim. Informants maintain that in the actual attack a bear doctor\nfrequently stood unconcernedly, near the path of his victim, and with\nhis back toward him until he was quite near. He then whirled and\nattacked suddenly. They stated that this was also the method of attack\nof a real bear.\n\nIt is said that the only way to overcome a bear doctor was to seize his\nhead or shoulders and jerk off his helmet. This completely removed his\nmagic power. The story is told that Kamachi, a very brave and powerful\nman formerly living at the Yorkville Rancheria, mistook two real bears\nfor bear doctors, attacked them in this manner, and finally succeeded\nin killing them.\n\n\n\n\nRITES OVER THE SUIT\n\n\nWhen the suit was put on for the first time by the bear doctor, the\nfollowing elaborate ceremony was performed. The assistant took up his\nposition in the center of the practice ground, having on one side\nof him four hundred counting sticks, each about the size of a lead\npencil, nicely arranged in even rows. Directly in front of him was the\nentire bear doctor\u2019s suit, except the beads and bead belts; that is,\nthe basketry helmet, the bearskin garment, the two water baskets, the\ndagger of elk antler, and the obsidian knife. These were the articles\nwhich were strictly ceremonial, and which must never be handled by\nwomen or children for the reason that they were the property of the\nparticular supernatural beings under whose patronage the bear doctor\noperated and whose powers were invoked for his success, especially\nby means of a long series of ritualistic songs sung by his assistant\nduring the ceremony of donning the suit, now to be described.\n\nWhile the assistant sang the ritualistic songs, the bear doctor who was\nto wear the suit danced up toward it four times each from each of the\nfour cardinal points in the following order: north, west, south, and\neast. Each time the dancer advanced toward the suit, the singer raised\nabove his head one counter from the one side and as the dancer receded\nplaced it on his opposite side. Thus this portion of the ceremony took\nsixteen counters. Having thus approached the suit four times the sacred\nnumber four, the dancer picked up with his left hand the basketry\nhelmet and danced with it four times around the practice ground, the\nsinger keeping tally with the necessary four sticks. He then danced\nfour times up toward and back from the place on the practice ground\nwhere he intended to temporarily place this object, so using another\nfour counters. Thus there were used in all with this one object\ntwenty-four counters.\n\nHe did precisely the same with each of the remaining five articles of\nthe suit. Thus one hundred and forty-four counters were transferred\nfrom the original group to the singer\u2019s opposite side.\n\nHe next took all six of these articles in both hands and performed the\nsame cycle of twenty-four dance movements that was employed in handling\neach separately, so using one hundred and sixty-eight counters up to\nthis point.\n\nHe then repeated this entire cycle of one hundred and sixty-eight dance\nmovements in precisely the same order and manner as just described, but\nusing the right hand instead of the left, thus using three hundred and\nthirty-six counters up to this point.\n\nHe next repeated all the foregoing movements exactly in reverse order\nin every respect; taking up the articles in reverse order and dancing\ntoward the cardinal points in reverse order and using the hands in\nreverse order, thus using six hundred and seventy-two counters up to\nthis point.\n\nHe finally took the entire suit in both hands and went around the\npractice ground four times in a clockwise direction and then four\ntimes in a contra-clockwise direction, thus using in all six hundred\nand eighty counters, indicative of that number of separate movements,\nor rather one hundred and seventy distinct types of movements each\nrepeated four times.\n\nThroughout this entire ceremony the assistant sang ritualistic songs\ninvoking, in the ascending order of their importance, the aid of the\nparticular supernatural beings under whose patronage the bear doctor\nwas supposed to be and with whom he came into direct contact. According\nto one informant, these were, in order, brush-man, rock-man, shade-man,\nspring-man, pond-man, mountain-man, and sun-man, though a large number\nof others are also included.[17] In fact, it seems probable that all\nthe spirits of the Pomo world are supposed to be directly concerned.\nThe following were specifically mentioned by the informants:\n\n    _English_           _Eastern Dialect_      _Central Dialect_\n\n    Mountain-man        dan\u014d gak               dan\u014d baiya\n    Water-man           xa gak                 ka baiya\n    Night-man           d\u016bw\u0113 gak               \u012bw\u0113 baiya\n    Valley-man          gag\u014d gak               kak\u014d baiya\n    Brush-man           se gak                 see baiya\n    Rock-man            xab\u0113 gak               kab\u0113 baiya\n    Spring-man          gapa gak               gapa baiya\n    Shade-man           c\u012by\u014d gak\n    Fire-man            x\u014d gak                 h\u014d baiya\n    Disease-man         gak kalal              \u012btal baiya\n    Insanity-man        gak dag\u014dl              dak\u014dl baiya\n    g\u016bks\u016b               g\u016bks\u016b                  k\u016bks\u016b\n    Whitled-leg widow   kama s\u012bl\u012b d\u016bket m\u012bya   cak\u016b kattci\u016b\n    Dream-man           mar\u016b                   mar\u016b\n    Wind-man            yai k\u012b                 ya tcatc\n    Pond-woman          dan\u014d kaw\u014d\n    Blind-man           \u016b\u012b bag\u014d                \u016b\u012b nasai\n    Sun-man             da tca\n    Sun-woman           da mata\n    Deer-man            bice ga\u016bk              pce tca\n\nTo all these he sang songs and made prayers the substance of which\nusually was: \u201cYou know what I am doing. I am doing as you do and using\nyour ways. You must help me and give me good luck.\u201d\n\nHe sang to and invoked particularly Sun-man because he was an\nall-seeing deity and knew everything that happened all over the earth,\nand more particularly because as Sun-man rises with the sun each\nmorning he comes with his bow and arrow drawn and ready to shoot on\nsight any wrongdoer. Unless, therefore, Sun-man was propitiated and\npreviously informed of the bear doctor\u2019s intentions, he was likely to\nshoot him just as the sun appeared above the horizon. The substance of\nhis prayer to Sun-man was: \u201cI am going to do as you do. I shall kill\npeople. You must give me good luck.\u201d\n\nWhen the suit was finally put on there was a certain amount of\nceremonial procedure. The beads used as armor were first put on the\nnaked body. The arms and legs were closely wound, each with a single\nlong string of beads. The bear doctor then danced around the practice\nground four times in a clockwise direction and then four times in a\ncontra-clockwise direction. He next advanced toward and receded from\nthe suit four times each from the north, west, south, and east. He\nthen made four times a motion as if to pick up the suit, and again\nfour times the motion of putting the suit on, after which he donned it\nand was completely ready for his journey, being endowed with all the\nsupernatural powers of the bear doctor.\n\nThroughout the entire construction of the suit, and also throughout the\nceremony connected with putting it on, he turned his head around toward\nthe left after each separate action, such as lifting up or putting down\nany article and after each dancing up and back toward the suit, or\nrunning around the practice ground.\n\nEach subsequent donning of the suit was quite simple. The bear doctor\npicked up each article separately and made a motion with it four times\ntoward the part of the body it was to cover, turning his head four\ntimes to the left after each of these sets of four motions. He then\nput on the suit and danced in a contra-clockwise direction four times\naround the practice area or the interior of his cavern, as the case\nmight be, after which he was fully ready for his journey.\n\nIn case of inclement weather the bear doctor dressed in the shelter of\nthe cavern, but if the weather was fair this was always done on the\npractice ground.\n\nIn undressing, on the other hand, the bear doctor performed no ceremony\nat all, but simply took off his suit and carefully laid it away,\nhanging up in the cavern the bearskin itself to keep it clean. It was\nnecessary that a bear doctor swim immediately upon removing his suit.\nStill dressed in his bead armor, he went, therefore, to his swimming\nplace, removing the beads and piling them on the bank. This was done so\nthat if discovered he had immediately at hand a treasure with which to\nbuy secrecy. The penalty paid by an informer who had been thus bribed\nwas certain death at the hands of the bear doctor. Upon emerging from\nthe pool, he returned to his cavern, carefully folded the belts and\nstrings of beads and laid each away separately until the suit was again\nneeded.\n\n\n\n\nCOMMUNICATION BETWEEN BEAR DOCTORS\n\n\nInformants state that the various bear doctors all over the country\nknew each other.[18] Two or more of them often met by chance at some\nspring or other secluded spot in the mountains, and at such times\ndiscussed their activities. They might tell each other where they\nexpected to be next month, or what mountain they would use as a hiding\nplace and base of operations next year.\n\nEach bear doctor acted independently and knew no restrictions of any\nsort so far as his fellows were concerned, nor had he or his relatives\nany immunity from the attacks of other bear doctors, for one bear\ndoctor might become enraged at another and cause his death or that of\nsome of his relatives.\n\nThe only persons who were immune from these attacks were the captain\nof the village and his immediate family. He knew all the bear doctors\nand received a share of their spoils in consideration for his friendly\nprotection.\n\nAny bear doctor or person who knew all the secrets of bear doctoring\nusually took his relatives, or, at any rate, certain of them, to this\nhiding place and showed them enough of his secrets so that they would\nlose their fear of bear doctors and not be frightened when they heard\nof the death of some one through an attack by bears. Such partially\ninitiated persons always mourned the loss of the victim as did the rest\nof the people, but were not, in reality, afraid of the bear doctors.\n\n\n\n\nPANTHER DOCTORS\n\n\nWhile the bear doctor was the most important of magicians, there were\nalso mountain lion or panther doctors, who were also possessed of\nconsiderable power. Very little was learned of this class of medicine\nman save that the head part of their suits was made of the head and\nneck of an actual panther skin drawn over a basket frame similar to\nthat used by the bear doctor. The remainder of the suit was made of\nshredded soaproot fiber woven on to a fine net, which was said to\nsimulate quite well the skin of the panther.\n\nThe panther doctor wore no bead armor as did the bear doctor, but wore\na necklace of small and finely made shell beads around his neck. He\nalways carried a bag filled with valuable beads with which to bribe to\nsilence any one who might discover him. The bear doctor used the beads\ncomprising his armor for this purpose.\n\n\n\n\nCOMPARISON WITH YUKI BELIEFS\n\n\nThe ideas that the doctor is actually transformed into a bear, that\nbear hair grows out through his skin, and that he comes to life\nafter having been killed--ideas found among certain California\nIndians[19]--have not been discovered among the Pomo.\n\nAs might be expected, from the contiguity of the two groups and their\nnumerous cultural identities, the Pomo and Yuki[20] bear doctors are\nvery similar. The Yuki, however, have certain beliefs that the Pomo do\nnot possess.\n\nThe Yuki bear doctor began by repeatedly dreaming of bears and was\ntaken out and instructed by actual bears, thus placing the bear in\nthe position of a true guardian spirit, and making the doctor a real\nshaman. Later he was thought to be instructed and to have his powers\ndeveloped by older shamans. The Pomo have no such notions.\n\nThe Yuki bear doctor was not always an evildoer, but in some measure an\naccepted benefactor, particularly in curing bear bites and in avenging\nwrongs to his community. His capacity thus was publicly recognized--a\nfact that is further evidenced by his performance of sleight-of-hand\ntricks. The Pomo bear doctor never performed any cure, practiced his\nmagic with the greatest secrecy and only for his own satisfaction and\naggrandizement, and had death awaiting him at the hands of his own\npeople if he was unfortunate enough to be discovered.\n\nThe Yuki bear doctor carried a basket containing a stone which rumbled\nin imitation of the bear\u2019s growl as the shaman shook his head.\nAnalogous to this was the Pomo bear doctor\u2019s set of water-filled\nbaskets which swashed like a real bear\u2019s viscera as he ran.\n\nBoth carried beads; but the Yuki to secure appropriate burial if\nkilled, the Pomo as an armor and to bribe to secrecy him who might\ndiscover him.\n\nThe mode of attack and the dismemberment of the victim were quite\nsimilar in both tribes.\n\n\n\n\nCOMPARISON WITH MIWOK BELIEFS\n\n\nThe Northern Sierra and Plains Miwok called bear doctors _sulik m\u00fcko_.\nThese shamans donned bearskins, but, like their Yuki colleagues, had\nbears as spirits and exhibited their powers publicly. Like the Yokuts\nbear doctors, they were thought able to transform themselves bodily\ninto bears.\n\nThe Miwok relate how a man was hunting in the chaparral south of the\nStanislaus when a bear appeared and asked what he was doing. The Indian\nreplied that he was seeking an arrow lost in a shot at a red-headed\nwoodpecker. The bear led him into its cave, kept and taught him for\nfour days, and sent him home with several bears as guides. A white man,\nmarried to an Indian woman, instigated the building of a dance-house\nto give the bear doctor an opportunity to show his alleged powers.\nThe latter accepted, came, walked into the fire, pushed aside the\nflaming brands and made himself a bed in the coals, arose after a time\nunharmed, swam, and resumed his human form.\n\nThe Miwok panther doctor was similarly met and instructed by a\npanther. He wore no skin and possessed no power of transformation. He\ndid, however, acquire the panther\u2019s ability to hunt, it was thought. In\nextreme old age he revealed his experiences and then died at once.\n\nIt is clear that the Miwok panther doctor is merely a shaman who has\nthat animal as his personal guardian spirit, and that except for his\npower of transformation and the character of his guardian, the Miwok\nbear doctor does not essentially differ from an ordinary shaman.\n\nIt seems therefore that the institution of the bear doctor has attained\nits most extreme form among the Pomo.\n\n\n\n\nSUMMARY\n\n\n1. The origin of bear doctors is assigned by the Pomo to the\nmythical times before men existed, when birds and mammals possessed\nhuman attributes. The first bear doctors arose from a relatively\ninsignificant incident, which led one of the smallest of the birds to\ndevelop his magic powers.\n\n2. These powers are believed to be now acquired through the wearing\nof a special suit which endows its wearer with rapidity of motion and\ngreat endurance, but which does not itself actually transport him or\nperform any act.\n\n3. The powers are received through elaborate ritualistic songs and\nprayers to certain supernatural beings under whose patronage the doctor\noperates. These songs are largely sung not by the doctor himself but\nby an assistant while the doctor performs an elaborate dance with the\nvarious parts of the costume preparatory to actually putting them on\nfor the first time.\n\n4. In addition to this constant assistant, the bear doctor must have a\nfemale aide, who makes certain parts of his paraphernalia and cooks his\nspecial food. He is subject to certain restrictions connected with the\nmenstrual periods of this female aide and his wife, and they, in turn,\nare subject through him to certain other restrictions.\n\n5. Although all-powerful under ordinary circumstances, a bear doctor\napparently loses all his magic power as soon as he is captured.\n\n6. Bear doctors are all known one to another, but form no organized\ngroup or society. They are also usually known to the chief, to whom\nthey pay tribute and give guarantee of immunity from attack in return\nfor his connivance and protection.\n\n7. In exceptional cases the bear doctors are harmless, but in the main\ntheir object is to kill and plunder, and they carry special weapons for\nthis purpose. They do not practice curative medicine in any form.\n\n8. There are apparently other kinds of magicians similar to bear\ndoctors. One of these, the \u201cpanther doctors,\u201d has been specifically\nmentioned.\n\nThese statements reflect the opinions of the Pomo. Some of the\npractices described by them could easily have had a basis in fact.\nWhether and to what extent they were actually performed remains to be\nascertained.\n\n\n    _Transmitted November 28, 1916._\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES:\n\n\n[1] A. L. Kroeber, \u201cReligion of the Indians of California,\u201d present\nseries, IV, 331, 1907.\n\n[2] This is the site of an old Eastern Pomo village and is situated in\nthe foot-hills about two miles northeast of the town of Upper Lake. It\nis located on the western slope of a hill and overlooks the lake.\n\n[3] Identity unknown, and common Indian name not recorded.\n\n[4] This name in the Northern dialect is _b\u016bta ba\u014dm_, and in the\nCentral dialect is _bitaka yal\u014d djak_, literally grizzly bear between\nthe legs flew. The Northern people say that the name of the bird\nprevious to the accomplishment of this feat was _m\u0101bas\u014dms\u014d_. In\nspeaking of this bird one Northern informant stated that when the first\npeople were transformed into birds this man was wearing a very large\nhead-dress. This accounts for the fact that the bird now carries a\nlarge topknot.\n\n[5] In very early times it is said that a string of four hundred beads\nwas worth an amount about equal to two and one-half dollars. Later,\nafter the introduction of the pump-drill, this value dropped to one\ndollar. On the basis of modern valuations of such skins, and under the\nhigher rating of beads, this hide would have been worth 12,000 beads.\n\n[6] In giving the account the informant stated that while making their\nceremonial attire the two worked entirely at night, as was always done\nby Indian bear doctors later, and then only upon perfectly dark nights,\nwhen the moon was not shining or when it was obscured by clouds. In\ncase the moon suddenly emerged from behind a cloud they immediately\nceased their work. This was made necessary by the fact that many\nhunters were abroad at night.\n\n[7] Another informant told of a marvelous journey said to have been\nmade by his grandmother while the family resided many years ago in\nEight-mile Valley. She went during one night to Healdsburg, Sebastopol,\nBodega Bay, and Big River, thence returning to her home, covering in\nthose few hours about two hundred miles.\n\n[8] The bringing of beads as a death offering from one village to\nanother, or from one political group of people to another, is called\n_kal kubek_, while such an offering taken to the home of the family of\nthe deceased by relatives in the same village is called _kal banek_.\n\n[9] This stretcher is called _kaitsak_, and consists of two side poles\nwith short cross-pieces bound to them in such a manner as to resemble a\nladder. It was used in early times for carrying the wounded or the dead\nback to the village. A corpse was bound to it by a binding of grapevine\nand the two ends of the stretcher rested upon the shoulders of the\nbearers.\n\n[10] They were making a _b\u012bc\u0113 g\u014d_; i.e., setting snares in the brush\nwithout making a brush fence. The fence with snares is called _b\u012bc\u0113\nwar\u012b_.\n\n[11] This pond, which is said to furnish the only water on this great\nmountain, was called _ka kapa_, and is said to be one of a very few\nponds apparently without a spring, and called _ka dab\u014d_, which are\nsupposed to have been made in prehistoric times by bears as resting\nplaces for themselves. This pond is nowadays almost never visited by\nany one except hunters who have lost their way.\n\n[12] This loss of magic power and their consequent capture was\nexplained as a supernatural penalty for their attempt to kill more than\nfour victims in any one year.\n\n[13] One informant ascribed the source of Pomo bear doctor knowledge to\nthe Lake Miwok, to the south. This opinion, of course, conflicts with\nthe preceding origin tale.\n\n[14] The bear doctor was known to the Pomo as _gauk b\u016brakal_, \u201chuman\nbear.\u201d _B\u016brakal_ specifically denotes the grizzly bear. The brown or\ncinnamon bear is _l\u012bma_, but black individuals, which we reckon as of\nthe same species, were called _c\u012by\u014d b\u016brakal_, \u201cblack grizzly bears,\u201d by\nthe Pomo.\n\n[15] It would appear that restriction depended rather upon co-residence\nthan blood kinship. The extent to which the taboo might accordingly\naffect a bear doctor\u2019s activities will be realized when we reflect that\nit was customary for several related families to reside in one house,\neach family having its own door and each two families a separate fire.\nIn the center of the house was the common baking pit.\n\n[16] Usually, however, a person caught in this way was used as a \u201chead\nrest\u201d and servant, it is said, and received no instruction whatever.\n\n[17] Another informant gave as these chief spirits sun-man,\nmountain-man, wind-man, night-man, water-man, and valley-man, though\nnot stating that they were considered in this order.\n\n[18] So far as could be ascertained, they formed no organized society,\nand never met as a body.\n\n[19] Kroeber, _loc. cit._\n\n[20] This comparison is based on manuscript data of Dr. Kroeber\nconcerning the Yuki.\n\n\n\n\n    Transcriber's notes:\n\n    The following is a list of changes made to the original.\n    The first line is the original line, the second the corrected one.\n\n    to his excuses, he uusally brought home some game or berries.\n    to his excuses, he usually brought home some game or berries.\n\n    This conisted of two layers of rods obtained from the snowdrop\n    This consisted of two layers of rods obtained from the snowdrop\n\n    from the original group to the singers opposite side.\n    from the original group to the singer\u2019s opposite side.","title":"Pomo Bear Doctors","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":11670}