The following tradition was obtained in January, 1906, from an old
Eastern Pomo man and his wife. The husband stated that he had himself
been a bear doctor at one time in his life. In his later years he
became a noted practitioner of ordinary Indian “medicine,” and was much
in demand as a “sucking doctor.” His old wife proved a very valuable
informant on Pomo mythology, and it was while relating myths that the
subject of bear doctors was mentioned and the fact developed that her
husband had practiced this craft when a younger man. The incident led
to a full discussion of the entire matter with the couple, and resulted
in the recording of the following material. This was given by the
Indians more as a personal favor than for any other reason, and was
communicated only after a pledge that their story would not be spread
about as long as the two were still alive. Both are now deceased, as is
also the interpreter who aided in recording the material, so that there
is no reason for longer withholding this information. Out of deference
to the relatives of the three, it seems best not to name them in these
pages.
Besides the myth, these two old people furnished the greater part of
the descriptive information given in the remainder of this paper,
but additional data from other informants have been included. Unless
otherwise stated, the Pomo terms are in the Eastern dialect.
In the days before Indians were upon the earth, and when the birds
and mammals were human, there was a large village at _danō xa_.[2]
These people were great hunters, pursuing their game with bows and
arrows and spears. But chiefly they set snares in every direction
about the village.
They had caught many kinds of game, but finally found a large
grizzly bear in one of the snares. They saw that his carcass
would furnish a great feast, but they were confronted with the
difficult problem of getting their prize to the village. Each
of the birds tried unsuccessfully to carry the bear, first on
his right shoulder and then on his left, in the following order:
_tsai_ (valley bluejay), _auaū_ (crow), _īlil_ (a species of
hawk), _tīyal_ (yellowhammer), _karats_ (red-headed woodpecker),
_sawalwal_ (mountain bluejay), _bakaka_ (pileated woodpecker),
_kabanasiksik_ (a large species of woodpecker), _cagak ba bīya_
(a species of hawk), _kiya_ (a species of hawk), _sīwa_ (mountain
robin), _tsitōtō_ (robin redbreast), _tcūma tsīya_ (grass bird),
and _tīnītal_.
Finally a very small bird, _tsina bitūt kaiya patsōrk_,[3]
succeeded in carrying the bear. He first tied its front and
hind feet with a heavy milkweed-fiber rope in such a manner as
to enable him to sling the carcass over his shoulder with the
body resting upon his hip. No one else had thought of any such
method. The ingenuity of this bird, the smallest of them all,
won success and enabled him to walk away easily with the heavy
load. The others laughed uproariously and shouted their approval
of the feat, immediately naming him _būrakal-ba-kīdjon_,[4]
literally grizzly-bear-you-carrier. Thus he carried the grizzly
home to the village, and Bluejay, the captain, cut it up and
divided the meat among all the people. As a reward for his service
_būrakal-ba-kīdjon_ was given the bearskin. This was a very
valuable present, worth many thousands of beads.[5]
With this skin in his possession, _būrakal-ba-kīdjon_ thought a
great deal about the grizzly bear and became very envious of his
powers of endurance, his ferocity, and his cunning. He forthwith
began to study how he might make some use of the skin to acquire
these powers. He needed an assistant, and finally took his brother
into his confidence. The two paid a visit to _cō danō_, a high
mountain east of the village. They then went down a very rugged
cañon on the mountain-side and finally came to a precipice the
bottom of which was inaccessible except by way of a large standing
tree, the upper branches of which just touched its brink.
In a most secluded and sheltered spot at the foot of this precipice
they dug a cavern called _yēlīmo_, or _būrakal yēlīmo_, which
they screened with boughs so that it would be invisible even if a
chance hunter came that way. They dug an entrance about two feet
in diameter into the side of the bank for a distance of about six
feet. This led slightly upward and into a good-sized chamber. The
mouth of this entrance was so arranged as to appear as natural
as possible. Some rocks were left to project and twigs were
arranged to obscure it. As a further precaution against detection
the brothers always walked upon rocks in order never to leave a
footprint, in case any one became curious about their movements.
They even went so far as to have the rocks at the foot of the
precipice, where they stepped from the branches of the tree,
covered with leaves, which they were careful to adjust so as to
obliterate the slightest vestige of their trail should any one
succeed in tracking them to this point. In this cave they began the
manufacture of a ceremonial outfit.
They went out from the village daily,[6] ostensibly to hunt, and
they did, as a matter of fact, kill deer and other game, which
they brought back to the village; but they never ate meat, nor did
they have intercourse in any way with women. When asked why he was
thus restricting himself, _būrakal-ba-kīdjon_ evaded the truth by
saying that he expected to gamble, and that he had a very powerful
medicine which would yield him luck only with the most rigid
observance of certain restrictions.
When they began this work of preparing the outfits, they also
provided a large sack of beads with which to bribe to secrecy any
one who might discover them.
The two worked thus in the cavern four months.
When the outfit for _būrakal-ba-kīdjon_ was done, the latter
emerged from the cavern and ran around its entrance eight times
each way, first in a contra-clockwise and then in a clockwise
direction. The two then prepared a level, elliptical area, about
twenty by fifteen feet, smoothed like a dancing floor, where
_būrakal-ba-kīdjon_ might practice and become a proficient bear
doctor.
Upon putting on the suit for the first time, the procedure was as
follows: While seated in the dancing area, _būrakal-ba-kīdjon_ took
the bearskin in both hands and swung it over his right shoulder and
then turned his head to the left. This was repeated four times in
all. He next adjusted the skin carefully over a basketry head-frame
and placed the latter securely upon his head. He next inserted his
arms and legs within the suit and laced it up tightly in front,
beginning at the lower part of the belly and lacing upward to the
neck.
He then tried to rise and act like a bear. This he did four times,
saying “ha” (strongly aspirated), and turning his head to the left
after each trial. He finally arose on all fours and shook himself
after the fashion of a bear, some of the hair falling out of the
skin as he did so. He then jumped about and started off in each
of the four cardinal directions in the following order: south,
east, north, and west. Each time he ran only a short distance,
returning to the practice area for a new start. Finally, the fifth
time he started off, he went for about half a day’s journey up
the rugged mountains to the east. He found that he could travel
with great speed and perfect ease through thick brush and up steep
mountain-sides. In fact, he could move anywhere with as much ease
as though he were on a level, open valley.[7] On this journey he
hunted for soft, sweet manzanita berries, finally returning to the
practice ground after covering a great distance, perhaps a hundred
miles, in this half day.
He repeated this ceremonial dressing and the race into the
mountains for four days, returning each evening to the village and
bringing the game he had killed. Finally, on the fifth day, he
again put on his ceremonial dress and went over to a creek, called
_taaiaka_, situated a considerable distance northeast of his hiding
place. Here he found a bear standing erect and eating manzanita
berries. The bear attempted to escape, but _būrakal-ba-kīdjon_ gave
chase and by virtue of his supernatural power was able to tire and
outdistance the bear, overtaking him at length and killing him with
an elk-horn dagger, which was part of his outfit.
He returned and brought his brother, who tied the bear’s legs
together, as had _būrakal-ba-kīdjon_ when he won his name, and
carried the carcass to the village, _būrakal-ba-kīdjon_ meantime
returning to the secret cavern.
The brother skinned the bear and told the captain to call all
the people into the dance-house to receive their portions of the
meat. On the following day a great feast was celebrated, every one
joining and providing a share of acorn mush, pinole, bread, and
other foods.
The two brothers then announced that they were again going out to
hunt. Instead, they really went to this secluded spot and made
a second bear doctor’s suit. This one was for the brother, who
underwent the same training as his brother.
Finally the two brothers started out one day toward the north,
going up to a creek called _gūhūl bidame_. Here they found a deer
hunter coming down a chamise ridge. They hid until the hunter
came within about fifteen paces of them. They then sprang out and
attacked him, the elder of the two bear doctors taking the lead.
This hunter was followed at a distance of perhaps a quarter of a
mile by four others, and when he saw the bears he made a great
outcry to his comrades. After a short chase the bear doctors caught
and killed him. They tore his body to pieces, just as bears would
do, took his bow and arrows, and started off.
Meantime the other hunters, who were Wolves (_tsīhmeū_), hid and
escaped the fate of their companion. After the bear doctors had
departed, they gathered up the bones and whatever else they could
find of the remains of the dead hunter and took them back to the
village. The usual funeral and burning rites were held, and the
whole village was in special mourning on account of the fact that
the hunter had been killed by bears.
The bear doctors went back to their hiding place, disrobed, and
returned to the village as quickly as possible, arriving shortly
after the four Wolves had brought in the remains of their comrade.
They ate their supper and retired almost immediately, though they
heard the people wailing in another part of the village. Their own
relatives, the Birds, were not wailing, for they were not directly
concerned, since the different groups of people lived in different
parts of the village and were quite distinct one from another.
During the evening the captain, Bluejay, came in and told the
brothers the news of the hunter’s death, asking if they had heard
anything of the manner of it. They replied: “No; we know nothing of
it. We went hunting, but saw nothing at all today. We retired early
and have heard nothing about it.” Bluejay then said: “We must make
up a collection of beads and give it to the dead man’s relatives,
so that they will not consider us unmindful of their sorrow and
perhaps kill some one among us.” The bear doctors agreed to this
and commended the captain for his good counsel.
Accordingly, the next morning Bluejay addressed his people, saying:
“Make a fire in the dance-house. Do not feel badly. Wake up early.
That is what we must expect. We must all die like the deer. After
the fire is made in the dance-house I will tell you what next to
do.” Every one gave the usual answer of approval, “O”.
After the usual sweating and cold plunge by the men, the captain
again spoke, calling their attention to the fate of their friend
the day before and asking that every one contribute beads to be
given as a death offering to the relatives of the deceased.[8]
Bluejay himself contributed about ten thousand beads, and others
contributed various amounts, but the two bear doctors contributed
about forty thousand beads. This very act made the other people
somewhat suspicious that these two were concerned in some way with
the death.
As was usual, under such circumstances, word was sent to the Wolf
people that the Birds would come over two days hence with their
gift. The Wolf captain accordingly told his people to go out and
hunt, and to prepare a feast for the Bird people for the occasion.
On the appointed day the beads were brought by the Bird people
to the house in which the deceased hunter had formerly lived,
the usual ceremonial presentation of them to the mourners was
performed, and the return feast by the Wolves was spread near by.
The next morning the two brothers again left the village, saying
that they were going hunting. They went to their place of
seclusion, donned their bear suits and again started out as bears.
By this time they had established regular secret trails leading
to their hiding place, and regular places on these trails where
they rested and ate. These trails led off in the four cardinal
directions, and when they put on their suits it was only necessary
to say in what direction they wished to go and what they wished to
do, and the suits would bear them thither by magic.
Upon this occasion they went eastward, and finally, in the late
afternoon, met Wildcat (_dalōm_) carrying upon his back a very
heavy load. They immediately attacked and killed him, but did not
cut him to pieces as they had Wolf. It is a custom, even now, among
bear doctors never to tear to pieces or cut up the body of a victim
who is known to have in his possession valuable property. Hence
they stabbed Wildcat only twice. When they looked into the burden
basket which he had been carrying they found a good supply of food
and a large number of beads of various kinds. They took only the
bag of beads, which one of them secreted inside his suit. Upon
reaching their place of seclusion they removed their suits and were
soon back in the village. After supper they again retired early.
Now Wildcat had started off early one morning to visit friends in
another village, saying that he would be absent only two nights.
When at the end of four days he had not returned his relatives
became anxious about him, and his brother and another man set out
for the other village to ascertain whether he had been there or
if something had befallen him on the way. They found that he had
set out from the other village to return home on the day he had
promised. Then they tracked him and found his dead body. They made
a stretcher[9] and carried the body home.
They arrived at the village about mid-afternoon, and when about a
half mile off they commenced the death wail, thus notifying the
village of their coming. The people came running out to meet them,
and the first to arrive were the bear doctors, who immediately
assisted in carrying the stretcher into the village. Every one
wailed for the departed, but the two bear doctors were loudest in
their lamentations. Also they contributed liberally, in fact, more
than all the other people together, when the death offering was
made up.
For sometime thereafter the bear doctors did not go out, but
finally they did so, returning with four deer, which they gave to
their captain to be divided among the people for a feast. This the
captain did, after the usual sweat-bath, on the following morning.
The next day the two brothers left the village before daybreak,
donned their bear suits and journeyed southward to the Mount
Kanaktai region. They made the journey by way of the east shore
of Clear Lake, Lower Lake, and on down to near the present site
of Middletown. Here they found a hunting party setting deer
snares.[10] One of these men was driving the deer up out of the
cañon toward the place where the snares had been set. He saw
the bear doctors and called out to his comrades: “Look out for
yourselves; there are two bears coming.” The hunters were up on
the open, brushy mountain-side. Two of them ran down the hill to a
tree, but the bear doctors reached it as soon as they, and, as they
started to ascend, attacked and killed the two, taking their bows
and arrows.
The other hunters then attacked the bear doctors, who fled
northward, pursued by the hunters, whom they outdistanced. The
bear doctors became tired and very thirsty, for they had drunk no
water all day, so they ran up Mount Kanaktai to a small pond just
southwest of its summit.[11]
The bear doctors first ran four times each way around the pond and
then disrobed completely, even taking off their bead armor. Leaving
their entire suits lying on the shore, they first swam and rested,
and then hung their suits on some small trees near by.
Shortly two men appeared, who approached close to them. The bear
doctors said: “Oh, you have come; well, let us eat.” The strangers
came and seated themselves beside the bear doctors. They then had a
good meal of seed-meal and meat.
The belts and strings of beads worn as armor inside the suit were
piled up on the shore near by, and when the meal was finished the
bear doctors gave all these beads to the two men, saying at the
same time: “You must never tell any one, not even your brothers,
mothers, or sisters, what you have seen and what we are doing.”
They even told the two men who they were, where they lived, and all
about their activities. The men looked closely at the bear suits
hanging near by and then went their way. The bear doctors again put
on their suits and returned to their hiding place, disrobed, and
traveled home in the evening, retiring early as usual.
When the people heard of the killing of two more hunters by two
bears, they suspected the brothers, and formulated a plan to spy on
them. All were to go hunting and certain ones were to keep a close
watch on these two, and see just where they went and what they did.
They also discovered that the skins of the two bears killed by the
brothers were nowhere to be found in the village.
The captain called all the men to go on a deer hunt, and all set
off westward about midday to build a deer fence and set snares
around Tule Lake, for they knew that many deer were feeding in the
tule marsh there. Nothing unusual happened that day, but after all
had left the village early the next morning some children who were
playing about the village saw the two brothers _būrakal-ba-kīdjon_,
who had remained away from the hunt, giving illness as their
excuse, start off toward the east. Some of the children stealthily
followed them, while two others ran over to Tule Lake to warn the
hunters. About midday the hunters saw two bears coming toward
them. Several of the best hunters hid at an advantageous point in
the very thick brush and tule, while the others continued their
shouting and beating the bush to drive the deer into the snares in
order that the bear doctors would not suspect the trap that had
been set for them. The hunters had agreed to act as though they did
not know that the bear doctors were near, but to shout if they were
seen, “Two brother deer are coming!” thus giving the hidden hunters
notice of the approach of the bears. If deer only were seen, they
were to shout, “The deer are coming!”
Finally, one of the hunters on the east side of the lake saw the
bears and shouted, “Look out there; two brother deer are coming
down the hill!” There were two trees standing some distance apart
with a thick, brushy place on each side. One hunter hid behind each
tree. A third hunter stood very close to a near-by opening in the
deer fence and in plain sight of the bear doctors, who immediately
made after him. At each jump of the bear doctors the water in
their baskets rattled and made a great noise. The hunter was but a
few feet from these trees when the bears came close to him, so he
dodged between the trees and the bears followed.
Immediately the two hunters behind the trees attacked the bears
from the rear with their clubs and jerked the masks from their
heads. The other hunters came up armed with clubs, bows and arrows,
and stones, and found the bear doctors standing very shame-facedly
before their captors.[12]
Every one shouted: “These are the two we suspected; we have them
now.” Some wanted to kill them immediately with clubs, others
wanted to burn them alive, but the captain restrained them and
insisted upon first questioning the bear doctors. They finally
confessed to the murders, and took the hunters to their hiding
place. Here they exposed their entire secret and told all the
details of their work: how they dug the cavern, how they made
the ceremonial outfits, and how they killed people. The hunters
then stripped the bear doctors and took them, together with all
their paraphernalia, and the property they had stolen, back to the
village, placed them in their own house, tied them securely, and
set fire to the house. Thus ended the bear doctors. That is how the
knowledge of this magic was acquired. It has been handed down to
us by the teaching of these secrets to novices by the older bear
doctors ever since.[13]