The ideas that the doctor is actually transformed into a bear, that
bear hair grows out through his skin, and that he comes to life
after having been killed--ideas found among certain California
Indians[19]--have not been discovered among the Pomo.
As might be expected, from the contiguity of the two groups and their
numerous cultural identities, the Pomo and Yuki[20] bear doctors are
very similar. The Yuki, however, have certain beliefs that the Pomo do
not possess.
The Yuki bear doctor began by repeatedly dreaming of bears and was
taken out and instructed by actual bears, thus placing the bear in
the position of a true guardian spirit, and making the doctor a real
shaman. Later he was thought to be instructed and to have his powers
developed by older shamans. The Pomo have no such notions.
The Yuki bear doctor was not always an evildoer, but in some measure an
accepted benefactor, particularly in curing bear bites and in avenging
wrongs to his community. His capacity thus was publicly recognized--a
fact that is further evidenced by his performance of sleight-of-hand
tricks. The Pomo bear doctor never performed any cure, practiced his
magic with the greatest secrecy and only for his own satisfaction and
aggrandizement, and had death awaiting him at the hands of his own
people if he was unfortunate enough to be discovered.
The Yuki bear doctor carried a basket containing a stone which rumbled
in imitation of the bear’s growl as the shaman shook his head.
Analogous to this was the Pomo bear doctor’s set of water-filled
baskets which swashed like a real bear’s viscera as he ran.
Both carried beads; but the Yuki to secure appropriate burial if
killed, the Pomo as an armor and to bribe to secrecy him who might
discover him.
The mode of attack and the dismemberment of the victim were quite
similar in both tribes.