UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS

AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY

Vol. 12, No. 11, pp. 443-465, plate 7       July II, 1917

POMO BEAR DOCTORS

BY

S. A. BARRETT

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

BERKELEY

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UNIV. CALIF. PUBL. AM. ARCH. & ETHN.

POMO BEAR DOCTOR'S SUIT

MODEL IN PEABODY MUSEITM

[ BAR RETT] PLATE 7

UNIVERSITY     OF CALIFORNIA       PUBLICATIONS

IN

AMERICAN ARCHAEOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY

Vol. 12, No. 1 1, pp. 443-465, plate 7                      July X1, 1917

POMO BEAR DOCTORS

BY

S. A. BARRETT

CONTENTS

PAGE

Introduction ............................................................... .  443
Origin Account .  .........                                           4 .....5. ...  445
Acquisition of Power ...                            ..... 452
Assistants ...................-.-.- --------------------------------------------------..---------.454
Hiding Places .................. 454
The Magic Suit ...............................................----- ------------------------------------------------------.455
W eapons  and  their  Use  ................................................................................................  457
Rites  Over  the  Suit ......................................... ............................... 458
Communication between Bear Doctors ..............................---..................... 461
Panther  Doctors  ...............................  . .............. ...... 462
Comparison  with  Yuki  Beliefs .................................................................... . ...... 462

Comparison with Miwok Beliefs ------------------------- -----------------463
Sum mar      i     snwt io eif .........................................................................................  463

Summary4 ....                                                          64

INTRODUCTION

One of the most concrete and persistent convictions of the Indians
of a large part of California is the belief in the existence of persons
of magic power able to turn themselves into grizzly bears. Such
shamans are called "bear doctors" by the English-speaking Indians
and their American neighbors. The belief is obviously a locally colored
variant of the widespread were-wolf superstition, which is not yet
entirely foreign to the emotional life of civilized peoples. The Cali-
fornia Indians had worked out their form of this concept very defi-
nitely. Thus Dr. Kroeber says:'

1A. L. Kroeber, "Religion of the Indians of California," present series, IV,
331, 1907.

444     Univerity of California Publications in Am. Aroh. and Ethn. [Vol. 12

A special class of shamans found to a greater or less extent among probably
all the Central tribes, though they are wanting both in the Northwest and the
South, are the so-called bear doctors, shamans who have received power from
grizzly bears, often by being taken into the abode of these animals-which
appear there in human form,-and who after their return to mankind possess
many of the qualities of the grizzly bear, especially his apparent invulnerability
to fatal attack. The bear shamans can not only assume the form of bears, as
they do in order to inflict vengeance on their enemies, but it is believed that
they can be killed an indefinite number of times when in this form and each
time return to life. In some regions, as among the Pomo and Yuki, the bear
shaman was not thought as elsewhere to actually become a bear, but to remain
a man who clothed himself in the skin of a bear to his complete disguisement,
and by his malevolence, rapidity, fierceness, and resistance to wounds to be
capable of inflicting greater injury than a true bear. Whether any bear shamans
actually attempted to disguise themselves in this way to accomplish their ends
is.doubtful. It is certain that all the members of some tribes believed it to be
in their power.

Pomo beliefs differ rather fundamentally from those here sum-
marized. In the first place, the Pomo appear to know nothing of the
magician acquiring his power from the bears themselves. Since they
ascribe no guardian spirit to him, he is scarcely a shaman in the strict
sense of the word. The current term "doctor," misleading as it may
seem at first sight, may therefore be conveniently retained as free from
the erroneous connotation that "shaman" would involve.

In the second place, the power of the doctor was thought to reside
wholly in his bearskin suit, or parts thereof, and apparently was
considered the result of an elaborate ceremony performed in its manu-
facture and subsequent donning. This distinctly ritualistic side of
the bear doctor's practices removes him still more clearly from the
class of the true shaman.

Thirdly, there is a detailed Pomo tradition of the origin of bear
doctors. This story is cast in the mold of a myth; in fact, its initial
portions may be taken from the current mythology of the tribe.
Other parts are, however, remarkably unmythical and matter of fact.
The resultant whole is therefore rather incongruous, and, in the form
recorded, may have been somewhat influenced by the speculations of
an individual. But the events which it describes agree so closely with
the beliefs which the Pomo at large entertain concerning the practices
of recent bear doctors that the question of the extent of the prevalence
of the myth among the group is of less importance than the insight
which the tale affords into the Pomo mind. Its many specific references
make it a suitable introduction to the presentation of the other data
secured.

Barrett: Pomo Bear Doctors

These peculiarities render a comparison of Pomo bear-doctor be-
liefs with those of other Californian groups desirable, but the published
data from elsewhere are unfortunately too fragmentary to make such
a study profitable at present. It has only seemed feasible to append
some comparisons with Yuki and Miwok beliefs.

It may be added that the statements which constitute the body of
this paper are the statements of native informants cited as repre-
sentative of their convictions, and not as the opinions of the author.
The degree to which the reputed practices of bear doctors were actually
practiced is far from clear, as Dr. Kroeber has stated. Whether,
however, they rest mainly, partly, or not at all on reality, they furnish
interesting psychological material.

ORIGIN ACCOUNT

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 with-
holding 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 dano xa.2 These people were

2 This is the site of an old Eastern Pomo village and is situated in the foot-
hills about two miles northeast of the town of Upper Lake. It is located on the
western slope of a hill and overlooks the lake.

1917]

445

446      University of California Publirations in Am. Arch. and Ethn. [Vol. 12

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),
auaii (crow), Viil (a species of hawk), tfyal (yellowhammer), karats (red-headed
woodpecker), sawalwal (mountain bluejay), bakaka (pileated woodpecker),
kabanasiksik (a large species of woodpecker), cagak ba bfya (a species of hawk),
kiya (a species of hawk), sfwa (mountain robin), tsitoto (robin redbreast),
tcuFma tsiya (grass bird), and tinital.

Finally a very small bird, tsina bitfit kaiya pats5rk,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 bftrakal-ba-kidjon,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 biirakal-ba-kfdjon was given the bearskin. This was
a very valuable present, worth many thousands of beads.5

With this skin in his possession, biirakal-ba-kidjon 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 co dano, a
high mountain east of the village. They then went down a very rugged ca-Ron
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 y0ifmo, or biirakal yWlimo, 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

3 Identity unknown, and common Indian name not recorded.

4 This name in the Northern dialect is biita baom, and in the Central dialect
is bitaka yalo djak, literally grizzly bear between the legs flew. The Northern
people say that the name of the bird previous to the accomplishment of this feat
was mabasoms5. In speaking of this bird one Northern informant stated that
when the first people were transformed into birds this man was wearing a very
large head-dress. This accounts for the fact that the bird now carries a large
topknot.

'5 In very early times it is said that a string of four hundred beads was worth
an amount about equal to two and one-half dollars. Later, after the introduction
of the pump-drill, this value dropped to one dollar. On the basis of modern
valuations of such skins, and under the higher rating of beads, this hide would
have been worth 12,000 beads.

Barrett: Pomo Bear Doctors

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 ainy way with women.
When asked why he was thus restricting himself, burakal-ba-lidjon 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 bfirakal-ba-kidjon 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 bfirakal-ba-kldjon 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, biirakal-ba-kldjon 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

6 In giving the account the informant stated that while making their cere-
monial attire the two worked entirely at night, as was always done by Indian
bear doctors later, and then only upon perfectly dark nights, when the moon was
not shining or when it was obscured by clouds. In case the moon suddenly
emerged from behind a cloud they immediately ceased their work. This was
made necessary by the fact that many hunters were abroad at night.

7 Another informant told of a marvelous journey said to have been made by
his grandmother while the family resided many years ago in Eight-mile Valley.
She went during one night to Healdsburg, Sebastopol, Bodega Bay, and Big
River, thence returning to her home, covering in those few hours about two
hundred miles.

1917]

447

448      University of California Publications in Am. Arch. and Ethn. [Vol. 12

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 bfirakal-ba-kldjon 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 buirakal-ba-kfdjon when he won his name, and carried the carcass to the
village, bfirakal-ba-kldjon 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 guihuil 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 (tsihmei), 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 doetors 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".

Barrett: Pomo Bear Doctors

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 contrib-
uted 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 (dalom) carrying upon his back a very heavy load. They imme-
diately 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 stretcher9 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

8 The bringing of beads as a death offering from one village to another, or
from one political group of people to another, is called kal kubek, while such an
offering taken to the home of the family of the deceased by relatives in the
same village is called kal banek.

9 This stretcher is called kaitsak, and consists of two side poles with short
cross-pieces bound to them in such a manner as to resemble a ladder. It was
used in early times for carrying the wounded or the dead back to the village.
A corpse was bound to it by a binding of grapevine and the two ends of the
stretcher rested upon the shoulders of the bearers.

1917]

449

450      University of California Publications in Am. Arch. and Ethn. [Vol. 12

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
canion 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 north ward,
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.1'

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 suiit 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

10 They were making a bicP go; i.e., setting snares in the brush without
making a brush fence. The fence with snares is called bfce warn.

11 This pond, which is said to furnish the only water on this great mountain,
was called ka kapa, and is said to be one of a very few ponds apparently without
a spring, and called ka dab5, which are supposed to have been made in prehistoric
times by bears as resting places for themselves. This pond is nowadays almost
never visited by any one except hunters who have lost their way.

Barrett: Pomo Bear Doctors

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 biirakal-
ba-kldjon, 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! I 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! I

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

12 This loss of magic power and their consequent capture was explained as a
supernatural penalty for their attempt to kill more than four victims in any
one year.

13 One informant ascribed the source of Pomo bear doctor knowledge to the
Lake Miwok, to the south. This opinion, of course, conflicts with the preceding
origin tale.

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ACQUISITION OF POWER

Even as late as the closing years of the nineteenth century many
of the Pomo were convinced that bear doctors were still active; this
in spite of the fact that the whites had at that time long possessed
complete control of the entire region, and had succeeded, purposely
or otherwise, in suppressing most of the aboriginal practices of the
Indians. Evidently the belief was a deeply rooted one in the native
mind. On the other hand, since the nefariousness of the alleged
practices would cause them to be carefully concealed, there are now
some Pomo skeptics who maintain that bear doctors never existed.

Both men and women of middle or old age could become bear
doctors, the same name'4 being applied to both. In fact, it is said
that women sometimes made very successful bear doctors; even a
woman so old and feeble that she could hardly walk would acquire
great powers of endurance and swiftness through this magic.

It is said that a bear doctor always learned from an old person
who was or had been one. The training for both men and women was
precisely the same and they were on a par in every way. A female
bear doctor could not operate during her menstrual period, but a
male bear doctor was similarly restricted by the menstrual periods of
both his wife and his female assistant or the other female members
of his household. He was even prohibited from going near his bear
hiding-place during his wife's menstruation. The periods of other
members of his household also restricted him.'5

No specific fee was paid for instruction in bear-doctoring, but the
instructor was given a large share, usually one-half, of the spoils
obtained by the new doctor in his murders. Also he could command
the assistance and protection of his pupil, who must stand ready, if
necessary, to lay down his life for his instructor. Each bear doctor
selected some friend to whom he willed his entire outfit and whom he
instructed fully in its use. Upon his death this protege took possession
of the paraphernalia and the hiding place of his friend and used them
as he saw fit.

14 The bear doctor was known to the Pomo as gauk burakal, "human bear."
BRirakal specifically denotes the grizzly bear. The brown or cinnamon bear is
lima, but black individuals, which we reckon as of the same species, were called
cdy5 biirakal, "black grizzly bears," by the Pomo.

15 It would appear that restriction depended rather upon co-residence than
blood kinship. The extent to which the taboo might accordingly affect a bear
doctor 's activities will be realized when we reflect that it was customary for
several related families to reside in one house, each family having its own door
and each two families a separate fire. In the center of the house was the
common baking pit.

Barrett: Pomro Bear Doctors

A bear doctor might "catch" a man who was out in some lonely
spot, particularly a solitary hunter, take him to his hiding place, and
teach him his secrets.'6 Particularly was this the case if the bear
doctor happened to be a man possessed of few friends, since it was
thought necessary for him to will his paraphernalia to some one.
Stories are told of specific instances in which persons have been thus
made captive and instructed. Thus:

An old she-bear caught a young hunter from a village in the Santa Rosa
Valley. She first jumped out upon him from her hiding place and frightened
him badly. She rolled him about on the ground and made as if to kill him.
Though greatly frightened, the boy made no outcry, but watched her closely.
Finally she sat astride him for quite a long time and the boy ceased to be
alarmed. She then led him away over the long journey to her hiding place on
a high, rocky peak east of Santa Rosa. On the way they heard, late in the
afternoon, the people down in the valley calling his name as they searched
everywhere for him.

Finally they arrived at the bear 's cave in the rocks, where she had a bed
of moss and leaves just as a bear usually does in its den. In the early part of
the evening the boy became homesick and fearful of his fate and began to cry.
It was then that the bear doctor revealed herself. She removed her suit, showing
her human form, and said to him: "I did not catch you to kill you. I desire
only to show you how we become bear doctors and instruct you in our magic.
Only human beings live in this section of the mountains. In the morning I
shall place my bearskin suit upon you and you shall practice bear-doctoring."
This did not, however, reassure and comfort the boy, and he continued to sob
and weep during the greater part of the night, despite the repeated assurances
of the bear doctor that she would not harm him, but was, on the other hand,
just like an elder sister to him and wished to teach him powerful magic. She
finally prepared a good meal for him and he forgot his fright and, temporarily,
his own people.

During the night she taught him her songs, and at daybreak began to instruct
him in the ritual of donning the suit. This, of course, required that he should
completely strip himself. At first he was much ashamed, but the bear doctor
told him that he must not be, any more than if he were only exposing his nose.

About midday, this part of the instruction being finished, she put her own
suit on him and gave him his first practice. She told him to first jump four
times along the ground and then jump up and try to catch a high limb of a
near-by tree, trying repeatedly until he could catch the limb. Then he would
be able to do anything that she could.

She then stepped back, looked him over, and smiled at him. This made him
conscious and he hung his head and did not move until she commanded him to
jump. At first he jumped only short distances, but he continued his practice
for four days, each day donning the suit with the elaborately regulated ritual,
and finding, each day, that he could jump a little farther and a little higher
than on the previous one. At last he succeeded in reaching the limb and in
jumping down at one jump and back to the starting point in four more.

His tutor rejoiced at his success, and said: "Now you will succeed in every
16 Usually, however, a person caught in this way was used as a "head rest"
and servant, it is said, and received no instruction whatever.

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way and enjoy good luck, secure plenty of beads and other goods, be able to
travel far and possess great endurance."

She then gave him a complete outfit and told him that he would thereafter
procure an easy living and wealth if he would use it and observe the secret
rites she had taught him. She, herself, had acquired great quantities of property-
beads, food, and other commodities-which she stored in her hiding place.

A bear doctor was not permitted to kill more than four people in
one year, upon penalty of the loss of his magic power and consequent
capture upon his attempt to kill the fifth.

ASSISTANTS

A bear doctor must always be assisted by some one. He usually
hired some female relative who could be trusted to secrecy. She wove
for him the water baskets which formed part of his costume and cooked
for him the special food which he must eat while operating as a bear
doctor. She must observe the same restrictions as the bear doctor
himself, abstaining from meat or foods containing blood in any form,
and also from sexual intercourse. The evil consequences of a violation
of these restrictions did not befall her, but the bear doctor himself
was sure to be killed in combat or captured, which meant certain death
at the hands of an outraged populace.

This assistant was never the bear doctor's wife, but the wife, if he
had one, must remain abed in the morning until the sun was high and
the bear doctor was well on his way from his hiding place. She might
then rise and go about her daily routine as usual. If he had no wife,
his female assistant must observe this restriction for him.

In making a suit, it was necessary for a bear doctor to have an
assistant who not only helped in the actual construction of the suit
but also sang the long series of songs required during the ceremony
when the suit was first put on.

HIDING PLACES

Since custom prescribed that every person leaving a village told
where he was going and the purpose of his mission, it was difficult for
a bear doctor to get away, undetected, for the pursuit of his nefarious
practices. All his preparations must, therefore, be made in perfect
secrecy. Very frequently he gave as an excuse for his absence that
he intended to go in search of manzanita berries or hunting in some
distant locality, sometimes announcing a stay of several days. Since
he was forbidden to partake of food or water on the morning of the

Barrett: Pomo Bear Doctors

day he wore the bear costume, he usually ate and drank heartily the
night before, and repaired to his hiding place before daybreak. To
lend color to his excuses, he uusally brought home some game or berries.
As a rule these were not handled at all while wearing the bear suit,
although apparently it was believed that no penalty was attached to
doing so.

Whenever possible a bear doctor found some natural cave or se-
cluded spot in a deep cafion, or in the most rugged mountains. If
necessary, he dug a cavern, as related in the foregoing myth, taking
care to scatter the fresh earth about in such a manner that it would
not be detected. Such a place of seclusion was called yelimo, butrakal
yelimo, or kabe ga.

Near by a level " practice " ground, called ciyo xe gai, literally
"bear dance place," was prepared, where, the weather permitting, the
bear doctor performed the ceremonies connected with donning his suit.
In bad weather these rites were performed in the sheltered cavern.
This practice ground was simply a level place in the bottom of a cafion
near the cavern. It was an elliptical clearing about twenty feet long
by ten to fifteen feet wide. No trail led to it, the bear doctor and his
assistant exercising the greatest care to obscure as much as possible
every evidence of their movements, not even a broken twig being left
about as a clue.

THE MAG-IC SUIT

The suit of the bear doctor, called gawi. was made as follows:
First, an openwork basket was woven of white oak twigs to fit the
head and with openings for eyes, nose, and mouth. Disks of abalone
shell with small openings to permit actual vision were fitted into the
eye openings in the basket. This basket served as a foundation over
which to place the skin of the bear's head. It was made so that it
exactly fitted the wearer's head and remained in place even when he
moved violently. The covering of this helmet, as also the outer cov-
ering for the rest of the body, was usually made of real grizzly bear
skin, though a net covered with soaproot fiber was sometimes used.
The skin of the bear's head was shaped, but not stuffed, so as to retain
its proper form, the eye-holes of the skin being made to fit the shell-
filled eye-holes in the basket. The remainder of the bearskin was
fitted exactly to the body, arms, and legs so as to perfectly hide every
part of the body and give the wearer the appearance of a grizzly.

When soaproot fiber was used in making the bear doctor's suiit, a

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fine net was first woven and thickly covered with shredded soaproot
fiber (ap tsida). This was woven entirely in one piece and so arranged
as to completely cover the wearer from head to foot, including the
basketry helmet just mentioned. It laced in front.

A low shoe, with the sole rounded and shaped somewhat like that
of a bear's foot, was worn. This shoe was made of woven basketry
held between two hoops and so arranged that the foot went between
the two sections, which were attached directly to the costume. It
was said that sometimes, also, similarly shaped shoes were placed upon
the hands. At other times nothing was worn on either hands or feet.

Before donning the suit an "armor>' of shell beads was put on.
Four belts covered the abdomen. Each was about six inches wide and
made of a different size and form of beads. One, called hmftki, covered
the umbilicus. The other three, which were placed one above the other,
completely covered the remainder of the abdomen, chest, and back up
to the armpits, and were called respectively kibiikal, catani k'fltsa, and
tadatada. The last protected the heart, and was made of very large,
discoidal beads. Ordinarily these bead belts were woven in the usual
way. Sometimes, however, one or more of the four was covered with-
out by a layer of woodpecker scalps. Strings of shell beads were
wound closely about the arms from wrist to shoulder and the legs were
similarly covered. All these beads served as a protection against
arrows in case the bear doctor was attacked by hunters.

A type of body armor, made of wooden rods and used in open
warfare, is said to have been sometimes used by bear doctors. This
conisted of two layers of rods obtained from the snowdrop bush
(bakol), each rod being about the size of a lead pencil. These were
bound together with string, one layer of rods being placed vertically
and the other horizontally, in such a manner as to make a very close
and effective armor.

Two globose, three-rod foundation baskets, called kuitc tcad6tcadoi,
and each about three inches in diameter, were half filled with water
and each encased tightly in a closely woven fabric made of milkweed
fiber cord, or in a casing of rawhide. One was then tied, inside the
bearskin suit, just under each jaw or under each armpit. In the soap-
root fiber suit, small pockets were woven on its inner surface for their
reception. The swashing of the water made a sound (pluk, pluk, pluk,
pluk) resembling that of the viscera of a bear as he moves along.
Sometimes, instead of these baskets, a slightly larger pair of plain-
twinint were tied one at each side at the waist. The doctor never

Barrett: Pomro Bear Doctors

wore more than one pair at a time and ne-ver wore a single basket
alone. Canoe-form baskets ten or twelve inches long and with un-
usually small openings were sometimes carried in place of the small,
globose baskets above mentioned. They were sometimes filled with
water, as were the small baskets, and at other times were used as
receptacles for beads, berries, or other commodities.

Plate 7 (frontispiece) shows a Pomo bear doctor suit, in the Pea-
body Museum of Harvard University, reproduced by courtesy of Mr.
C. C. Willoughby. This is a model. While differing in some details
from the explanations received from informants, it confirms them in
substance.

WEAPONS AND THEIR USE

A bear doctor usually carried one and sometimes two elk-horn
daggers, called bo6 a, literally "elk horn." Such a dagger was from
six to ten inches in length and was made by pounding at its base and
breaking off the large end point of an elk antler and sharpening its
tip. It was rubbed on a grinding stone and smoothed throughout its
length and a hole was bored in its base through which a loop about
two feet long was passed for suspending it about the neck or from
the belt. This loop was always of string, as this is not affected by
dampness.

Obsidian or flint knives, called bat!, were sometimes used in addition
to or in place of the elk-horn dagger. The blade of such a knife was
made by first striking the larger flakes from it with a hammer stone
and then chipping its edges with an antler chipping tool. This blade
was set into a split oak handle and bound securely with string, but
was not pitched. Both of these were thrusting weapons.

Other weapons were sometimes used, even the stone pestle being
employed as a weapon.

Bear doctors often operated in pairs, and sometimes in greater
numbers. They frequently deployed so as to cover a considerable
area in their hunt, and had a method of intercommunication. If a
prospective victim was sighted at some distance, the bear doctor stood
erect on the top of the nearest ridge, with his back turned directly
toward him. This signal brought the other bear doctors into positions
to surround the victim. Informants maintain that in the actual attack
a bear doctor frequently stood unconcernedly, near the path of his
victim, and with his back toward him until he was quite near. He
then whirled and attacked suddenly. They stated that this was also
the method of attack of a real bear.

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It is said that the only way to overcome a bear doctor was to seize
his head or shoulders and jerk off his helmet. This completely re-
moved his magic power. The story is told that Kamachi, a very brave
and powerful man formerly living at the Yorkville Rancheria, mis-
took two real bears for bear doctors, attacked them in this manner,
and finally succeeded in killing them.

RITES OVER THE SUIT

When the suit was put on for the first time by the bear doctor, the
following elaborate ceremony was performed. The assistant took up
his position in the center of the practice ground, having on one side
of him four hundred counting sticks, each about the size of a lead
pencil, nicely arranged in even rows. Directly in front of him was
the entire bear doctor's suit, except the beads and bead belts; that is,
the basketry helmet, the bearskin garment, the two water baskets, the
dagger of elk antler, and the obsidian knife. These were the articles
which were strictly ceremonial, and which must never be handled by
women or children for the reason that they were the property of the
particular supernatural beings under whose patronage the bear doctor
operated and whose powers were invoked for his success, especially
by means of a long series of ritualistic songs sung by his assistant
during the ceremony of donning the suit, now to be described.

While the assistant sang the ritualistic songs, the bear doctor who
was to wear the suit danced up toward it four times each from each
of the four cardinal points in the following order: north, west, south,
and east. Each time the dancer advanced toward the suit, the singer
raised above his head one counter from the one side and as the dancer
receded placed it on his opposite side. Thus this portion of the
ceremony took sixteen counters. Having thus approached the suit
four times the sacred number four, the dancer picked up with his left
hand the basketry helmet and danced with it four times around the
practice ground, the singer keeping tally with the necessary four
sticks. He then danced four times up toward and back from the
place on the practice ground where he intended to temporarily place
this object, so using another four counters. Thus there were used in
all with this one object twenty-four counters.

He did precisely the same with each of the remaining five articles
of the suit. Thus one hundred and forty-four counters were trans-
ferred from the original group to the singers opposite side.

Barrett: Pomo Bear Doctors

He next took all six of these articles in both hands and performed
the same cycle of twenty-four dance movements that was employed
in handling each separately, so using one hundred and sixty-eight
counters up to this point.

He then repeated this entire cycle of one hundred and sixty-eight
dance movements in precisely the same order and manner as just de-
scribed, but using the right hand instead of the left, thus using three
hundred and thirty-six counters up to this point.

He next repeated all the foregoing movements exactly in reverse
order in every respect; taking up the articles in reverse order and
dancing toward the cardinal points in reverse order and using the
hands in reverse order, thus using six hundred and seventy-two coun-
ters up to this point.

He finally took the entire suit in both hands and went around the
practice ground four times in a clockwise direction and then four
times in a contra-clockwise direction, thus using in all six hundred
and eighty counters, indicative of that number of separate movements,
or rather one hundred and seventy distinct types of movements each
repeated four times.

Throughout this entire ceremony the assistant sang ritualistic songs
invoking, in the ascending order of their importance, the aid of the
particular supernatural beings under whose patronage the bear doctor
was supposed to be and with whom he caine into direct contact.
According to one informant, these were, in order, brush-man, rock-
man, shade-man, spring-man, pond-man, mountain-man, and sun-man,
though a large number of others are also included.17 In fact, it seems
probable that all the spirits of the Pomo world are supposed to be
directly concerned. The following were specifically mentioned by the
informants:

English         Eastern Dialect   Central Dialect
Mountain-man      dan6 gak          dano baiya
Water-man         xa gak            ka baiya
Night-man         duiwe gak         1we baiya

Valley-man        gago gak          kakS baiya
Brush-man         se gak            see baiya

Roek-man          xabe gak          kabe baiya
Spring-man        gapa gak          gapa baiya
Shade-man         cly6 gak

Fire-man          xo gak            ho baiya

17 Another informant gave as these chief spirits sun-man, mountain-man,
wind-man, night-man, water-man, and valley-man, though not stating that t.hey
were considered in this order.

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English        Eastern Dialect  Central Dialect
Disease-man      gak kalal        ital baiya

Insanity-man     gak dag6l        dakol baiya
guiks&           ghiksui         kuiksui

Whitled-leg widow  kama sill daket miya cakfi katteiu
Dream-man        maru             mara

Wind-man         yai ki           ya teate
Pond-woman       dan6 kawo

Blind-man       uil bago         uil nasai
Sun-man          da tca

Sun-woman        da mata

Deer-man         bice gahik      pee tca

To all these he sang songs and made prayers the substance of which
usually was: "You know what I am doing. I am doing as you do
and using your ways. You must help me and give me good luck. "

He sang to and invoked particularly Sun-man because he was an
all-seeing deity and knew everything that happened all over the earth,
and more particularly because as Sun-man rises with the sun each
morning he comes with his bow and arrow drawn and ready to shoot
on sight any wrongdoer. Unless, therefore, Sun-man was propitiated
and previously informed of the bear doctor's intentions, he was likely
to shoot him just as the sun appeared above the horizon. The sub-
stance of his prayer to Sun-man was: "I am going to do as you do.
I shall kill people. You must give me good luck."

When the suit was finally put on there was a certain amount of
ceremonial procedure. The beads used as armor were first put on the
naked body. The arms and legs were closely wound, each with a
single long string of beads. The bear doctor then danced around the
practice ground four times in a clockwise direction and then four
times in a contra-clockwise direction. He next advanced towvard and
receded from the suit four times each from the north, west, south, and
east. He then made four times a motion as if to pick up the suit, and
again four times the motion of putting the suit on, after which he
donned it and was completely ready for his journey, being endowed
with all the supernatural powers of the bear doctor.

Throughout the entire construction of the suit, and also through-
out the ceremony connected with putting it on, he turned his head
around toward the left after each separate action, such as lifting up
or putting down any article and after each dancing up and back
toward the suit, or running around the practice ground.

Each subsequent donning of the suit was quite simple. The bear

Barrett: Pomro Bear Doctors

doctor picked up each article separately and made a motion with it
four times toward the part of the body it was to cover, turning his
head four times to the left after each of these sets of four motions.
He then put on the suit and danced in a contra-clockwise direction
four times around the practice area or the interior of his cavern, as
the case might be, after which he was fully ready for his journey.

In case of inclement weather the bear doctor dressed in the shelter
of the cavern, but if the weather was fair this was always done on the
practice ground.

In undressing, on the other hand, the bear doctor performed no
ceremony at all, but simply took off his suit and carefully laid it away,
hanging up in the cavern the bearskin itself to keep it clean. It was
necessary that a bear doctor swim immediately upon removing his
suit. Still dressed in his bead armor, he went, therefore, to his swim-
ming place, removing the beads and piling them on the bank. This
was done so that if discovered he had immediately at hand a treasure
with which to buy secrecy. The penalty paid by an informer who
had been thus bribed was certain death at the hands of the bear doctor.
Upon emerging from the pool, he returned to his cavern, carefully
folded the belts and strings of beads and laid each away separately
until the suit was again needed.

COMMUNICATION BETWEEN BEAR DOCTORS

Informants state that the various bear doctors all over the country
knew each other.18  Two or more of them often met by chance at
some spring or other secluded spot in the mountains, and at such
times discussed their activities. They might tell each other where
they expected to be next month, or what mountain they would use as
a hiding place and base of operations next year.

Each bear doctor acted independently and knew no restrictions of
any sort so far as his fellows were concerned, nor had he or his relatives
any immunity from the attacks of other bear doctors, for one bear
doctor might become enraged at another and cause his death or that
of some of his relatives.

The only persons who were immune from these attacks were the
captain of the village and his immediate family. He knew all the
bear doctors and received a share of their spoils in consideration for
his friendly protection.

18 So far as could be ascertained, they formed no organized society, and never
met as a body.

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Any bear doctor or person who knew all the secrets of bear doc-
toring usually took his relatives, or, at any rate, certain of them, to
this hiding place and showed them enough of his secrets so that they
would lose their fear of bear doctors and not be frightened when they
heard of the death of some one through an attack by bears. Such
partially initiated persons always mourned the loss of the victim as
did the rest of the people, but were not, in reality, afraid of the bear
doctors.

PANTHER DOCTORS

While the bear doctor was the most important of magicians, there
were also mountain lion or panther doctors, who were also possessed
of considerable power. Very little was learned of this class of medicine
man save that the head part of their suits was made of the head and
neck of an actual panther skin drawn over a basket frame similar to
that used by the bear doctor. The remainder of the suit was made of
shredded soaproot fiber woven on to a fine net, which was said to
simulate quite well the skin of the panther.

The panther doctor wore no bead armor as did the bear doctor,
but wore a necklace of small and finely made shell beads around his
neck. He always carried a bag filled with valuable beads with which
to bribe to silence any one who might discover him. The bear doctor
used the beads comprising his armor for this purpose.

COMPARISON WITH YUKI BELIEFS

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",
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 Yuki20 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

19 Kroeber, loc. cit.

20 This comparison is based on manuscript data of Dr. Kroeber concerning
the Yuki.

Barrett: Pomo Bear Doctors

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 inight
discover him.

The mode of attack and the dismemberment of the victim were
quite similar in both tribes.

COMPARISON WITH MIWOK BELIEFS

The Northern Sierra and Plains Miwok called bear doctors sulik
milko. These shamans donned bearskins, but, like their Yuki col-
leagues, had bears as spirits and exhibited their powers publicly. Like
the Yokuts bear doctors, they were thought able to transform them-
selves bodily into bears.

The Miwok relate how a man was hunting in the chaparral south
of the Stanislaus when a bear appeared and asked what he was doing.
The Indian replied that he was seeking an arrow lost in a shot at a
red-headed woodpecker. The bear led him into its cave, kept and
taught him for four days, and sent him home with several bears as
guides. A white man, married to an Indian woman, instigated the
building of a dance-house to give the bear doctor an opportunity to
show his alleged powers. The latter accepted, came, walked into the
fire, pushed aside the flaming brands and made himself a bed in the
coals, arose after a time unharmed, swam, and resumed his human
form.

The Miwok panther doctor was similarly met and instructed by a

1917]

463

464      University of California Publications in Am. Arch. and Ethn. [Vol. 12

panther. He wore no skin and possessed no power of transformation.
He did, however, acquire the panther's ability to hunt, it was thought.
In extreme old age he revealed his experiences and then died at once.

It is clear that the Miwok panther doctor is merely a shaman who
has that animal as his personal guardian spirit, and that except for
his power of transformation and the character of his guardian, the
Miwok bear doctor does not essentially differ from an ordinary shaman.

It seems therefore that the institution of the bear doctor has
attained its most extreme form among the Pomo.

SUMMARY

1. The origin of bear doctors is assigned by the Pomo to the myth-
ical times before men existed, when birds and mammals possessed
human attributes. The first bear doctors arose from a relatively
insignificant incident, which led one of the smallest of the birds to
develop his magic powers.

2. These powers are believed to be now acquired through the
wearing of a special suit which endows its wearer with rapidity of
motion and great endurance, but which does not itself actually trans-
port him or perform any act.

3. The powers are received through elaborate ritualistic songs and
prayers to certain supernatural beings under whose patronage the
doctor operates. These songs are largely sung not by the doctor him-
self but by an assistant while the doctor performs an elaborate dance
with the various parts of the costume preparatory to actually putting
them on for the first time.

4. In addition to this constant assistant, the bear doctor must have
a female aide, who makes certain parts of his paraphernalia and cooks
his special food. He is subject to certain restrictions connected with
the menstrual periods of this female aide and his wife, and they, in
turn, are subject through him to certain other restrictions.

5. Although all-powerful under ordinary circumstances, a bear
doctor apparently loses all his magic power as soon as he is captured.

6. Bear doctors are all known one to another, but form no organ-
ized group or society. They are also usually known to the chief, to
whom they pay tribute and give guarantee of immunity from attack
in return for his connivance and protection.

1917]                Barrett: Pomo Bear Doctors               465

7. In exceptional cases the bear doctors are harmless, but in the
main their object is to kill and plunder, and they carry special weapons
for this purpose. They do not practice curative medicine in any form.

8. There are apparently other kinds of magicians similar to bear
doctors. One of these, the "panther doctors," has been specifically
mentioned.

These statements reflect the opinions of the Pomo. Some of the
practices described by them could easily have had a basis in fact.
Whether and to what extent they were actually performed remains
to be ascertained.

Transmitted November 28, 1916.