|
|
Post by Montezuma on Apr 15, 2022 1:33:58 GMT -5
"The respect held for the Kodiak bear by the Alutiiq people is undeniable and has transcended centuries. While the Kodiak Island Natives have historically hunted the bears as a large source of meat and hide, the head of the bear is traditionally “left in the field as a sign of respect to the spirit of the bears” (“Kodiak Bear Fact Sheet”). Similarly, according to the Lake Country Museum and Archives, Native Alaskans would wear the claws of the Kodiak bear around their necks during ceremonies and rituals. The claws are seen as a symbol of success and are believed to “bring strength and power to an individual,” specifically the individual who killed the bear and wears its claws (Carney)."
"The relationship between the bear and the people of Kodiak Island is heavily intertwined with a connection to the spirit world and a source of strength. While that relationship has shifted along with modern times, the community of Kodiak Island still relies on the great bear, with the Alutiiq Museum and the Kodiak Brown Bear Center glorifying the history and cultural importance of the animal."
www.akwildlife.org/news/the-kodiak-archipelago-the-importance-of-the-kodiak-bear-in-the-naming-of-alaskas-largest-island
|
|
|
|
Post by Montezuma on Apr 15, 2022 1:44:40 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Montezuma on Apr 19, 2022 19:54:45 GMT -5
"Mexican silver grizzly was known to indians as they were revered as a symbol of strength and independence with sacred powers."
|
|
|
|
Post by Montezuma on Apr 21, 2022 21:00:50 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Montezuma on Apr 23, 2022 0:32:42 GMT -5
"Hunting and eating bears is forbidden in Lakota Sioux tribes. The bear represents justice and punishment, as well as courage, confidence and a grounding energy. The bear is also a symbol of protection, with tribes recognizing the way a mother bear defends her cubs."
www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://symbolikon.com/downloads/bear-lakota-sioux/%23:~:text%3DHunting%2520and%2520eating%2520bears%2520is,
"Chief’s son (Cree Indians), eldest brother (many Native Americans), evil genius, great bear, king of the plains, matohota (Sioux Indians), Moccasin Joe (early frontiersmen), and silvertip."
lewis-clark.org/sciences/mammals/bears/grizzly-profiles/
"The indiand gave unbounded reverence for this bear (grizzly bear). When they killed one, they exculpated speeches for bear, then smoke a taboo and call it elder brother or ancestor."
"The Indian with whom i lived in Californian Serria held the grizzly bear in great respect and veneration. Some writters said that they were afriad of these terrible King of the beasts."
"They venerated the bear as a Paternal ancestor."
books.google.com.pk/books?id=hLf3DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=grizzly+bear+king+of+the+beasts+indians&source=bl&ots=LNWzurtYou&sig=ACfU3U0RR8_JXgVQEj_OP9y_bUJ-M6w8TQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjgxZ-iu6n3AhUi4YUKHczSBIcQ6AF6BAgaEAI
|
|
|
|
Post by Montezuma on Apr 24, 2022 22:22:33 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Montezuma on Apr 29, 2022 21:57:23 GMT -5
To know more about california grizzly bear importance in native amerucan indian culture, we will now go through this book:- |
|
|
|
Post by Montezuma on Apr 29, 2022 21:58:55 GMT -5
"Wild animals in particular were invested with extraordinary significance, and for size and ferocity the most impressive species encountered in California was the grizzly. It was the only truly dangerous animal. Whether an Indian met the bear in its actual form, as known to the white man, or saw it with imagined and usually evil attributes beyond our comprehension, it was an integral part of his environment and one of the factors that shaped his life."
"Because of this belief in the inherent wickedness and ferocity of the grizzly, the most effective curse a Wintun could hurl at another man was "May the grizzly bear eat you!" or "May the grizzly bear bite your father's head off!" ( Powers, 1877 ). By contrast, the black bear was considered sacred and lucky. It would run from the Indians, and they could hunt it for its flesh and pelt without fear."
"His ferocious disposition, according to the Yokuts, was clearly evident even in death when the muscular fibers bristled erect as his flesh was cut with a knife ( Kroeber, 1925 )."
books.google.com.pk/books?id=1QVZFQu01KcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=california+grizzly+book&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiV8LCt67r3AhWkSvEDHSxBDIEQ6AF6BAgEEAM
|
|
|
|
Post by Montezuma on Apr 29, 2022 22:03:41 GMT -5
"In the cosmology of the Luiseno ( native American people of coastal California ), grizzlies, along with stinging weeds and rattlesnakes, were the avengers whom the great God Chungichnish invoked upon those who disobeyed his commandments ( C.G. Du Bois, 1908 ). The Wiamot, or Chingichnich of the Juaneno, is said to have announced that after his death he would ascend to the stars and from there he would watch people and send bears and other terrible things to punish the faithless ( Kroeber, 1925 ). The Pomo had a hedonistic conception of heaven and believed that the good Indian, after death, would enjoy its delight."
"But the ghosts of the wicked Indians had to stay behind in the bodies of miserable and tormented grizzlies, forever roaming the wilderness to be hated and loathed by all who saw them. The Wintun likewise believed in this unhappy palingenesis and would not partake of the flesh of the big bears for fear of absorbing lost souls. It was bad luck, too, to dream about grizzlies, for one who did would then sing bear songs, throw fire around in a hysterical manner, grunt, and walk on all fours ( Loeb, 1932 )."
"It is seldom that the Indians, with their imperfect weapons, venture to attack this formidable animal; and whenever one is killed by them, the occasion becomes a matter of great rejoicing, and the fortunate victor is ever after held in great esteem by his comrades."
books.google.com.pk/books?id=1QVZFQu01KcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=california+grizzly+book&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiV8LCt67r3AhWkSvEDHSxBDIEQ6AF6BAgEEAM
|
|
|
|
Post by Montezuma on Apr 29, 2022 22:05:47 GMT -5
"The terror that the grizzly inspired among the Indians is not surprising in view of the superstitions associated with the beasts, as well as their natural ferocity."
"When Dr, Pickering traveled in California with the United States Exploring Expedition during 1841 he noted that, because of the grizzly, Indians "kept on the hills and other high ground very carefully avoiding the favorite resorts of this animal" ( Cassin, 1858 )."
"Throughout California the Indians entertained a strongly developed feeling of kinship with wild animals and particularly with the grizzly. Whether they had the cold nerve to hunt the beast or whether because of timidity they tried to stay out of its way, they felt the bear was more closely one of them than any other animal."
books.google.com.pk/books?id=1QVZFQu01KcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=california+grizzly+book&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiV8LCt67r3AhWkSvEDHSxBDIEQ6AF6BAgEEAM
|
|
|
|
Post by Montezuma on Apr 29, 2022 22:17:15 GMT -5
"The Chumash, living near the "Valley of the Bears," a land of long grassy swales, studded with oaks, where grizzlies were unusually plentiful, evidently believed that all who died there became grizzlies."
"Besides "grizzly-bear shaman," other typical names were "bear shaman," "bear doctor," "human bear," "bear man," "man bear," "werebear," and "were-bear shaman." All referred to the grizzly and none to the relatively innocuous black bear."
"The westside Mono believed the grizzlies that carried away women were really this kind of werebear, and that the children by such unions were half bear and half human ( Gifford, 1932 )."
books.google.com.pk/books?id=1QVZFQu01KcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=california+grizzly+book&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiV8LCt67r3AhWkSvEDHSxBDIEQ6AF6BAgEEAM
|
|
|
|
Post by Montezuma on Apr 29, 2022 22:22:07 GMT -5
"The Indian belief that certain men, for good or evil, could transform themselves into grizzlies obviously belongs to the realm of fancy. More difficult to disprove is the often defiant belief of some tribes, particularly those of central California, that bear-men encased themselves in the actual skins of grizzlies for the purpose of taking human life more easily. In this garb, they roamed the country, slaying and robbing whomever they encountered, whether friend or foe ( Curtis, 1924 ). They were greatly feared, and other Indians always tried to elude rather than to fight them; for by their malevolence, rapidity, fierceness, and resistance to wounds they were capable of inflicting greater injury than real bears ( Kroeber, 1907 )."
"He concluded that "it is highly probable, though not susceptible of proof, that certain men... actually on occasion wore bear-skin suits for the sake of the bear-like qualities to be gained thereby." Beals ( 1933 ) pointed out that because the bear-man had a tremendous psychological advantage over a lone Indian, to whom even a real grizzly was an object of dread, he was in a better position to commit a murder, if he so desired, than was an ordinary person. Beals concluded that "there seems good evidence that bear shamans... actually dressed as bears and in this disguise actually killed people."
books.google.com.pk/books?id=1QVZFQu01KcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=california+grizzly+book&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiV8LCt67r3AhWkSvEDHSxBDIEQ6AF6BAgEEAM
|
|
|
|
Post by Montezuma on Apr 30, 2022 20:49:52 GMT -5
Book:- The Grizzly Almanac by Robert Rich
"The Blackfeet called it "The Unmentionable One" or "The Real Bear" ( nitakyaio ). They called the black bear merely "Bear" ( kyaio ), denoting its lesser status."
www.amazon.com/Grizzly-Almanac-Illustrated-Cultural-Americas/dp/1592283209
"The grizzly is easily the most popular animal in the National Parks. He really is the greatest animal on the continent. The grizzly walks: there is a dignity, a lordliness of carriage, and an indifference to all the world that impress themselves on the attention. Although known to the white race only a little more than a century, the grizzly has been a part of the life and legends of the Indians for countless generations. Often feared, frequently admired, his brain and brawn are featured again and again; he is always the acknowledged chief and master of the wilderness."
www.gutenberg.org/files/42277/42277-h/42277-h.htm
"He realized the fundamental similarity between the long claws of the bear, and other wild creatures, and his own fingernails; that they had fingers and toes and ribs and a backbone, just as the Indian had. He knew they had a brain, heart and blood system and genital organs, and all the rest - of the same constitution and physical function as his own and his wife's. In conception and birth, throughout the sustaining of life, and the passing into the limbo of death, there was very little difference between them. When the bear stood erect, he walked like a man. But he was always the mightier of the two. And the bear was smart. "A bear is wiser than a man," an old Abnaki Indian sage once philosophized, "because a man does not know how to live all winter without eating anything."
"Probably the first white man to ever witness the Bear Dance of the Utes, and one of the few to be privileged to learn some of its tenets, was Verner Z. Reed. In March of 1893 he was permitted to attend the sacred ceremony held in the valley of the Rio de los Pinos, a beautiful little tributary of the great San Juan, in the southwest corner of Colorado. Incidentally, this is not far from one of the last rugged strongholds where both the grizzly and the Utes are today struggling against complete extinction as species in that state.
The Utes believe that their primal ancestors were bears ( grizzlies )," reported Reed after learning what he was permitted to know about the significance of the ceremony and its traditional background. "After these ( the bears ) came a race of Indians, who, on dying, were changed back into bears, and as bears they roamed in the forests and mountains until they died, when they went to the Future Land and lived with the shades ( spirits ), preserving the forms of bears, but having human wisdom and participating in the pleasures of immortality. It is believed that this transmigration ceased a long time ago, but the bears of the present ( 1893 ) are believed to be descendants of the Ute bears of old, and are therefore related to the Indians. Bear worship, in one form or another, tinges many of their ceremonies."
"The Utes believed that the grizzlies possessed great magic powers and wisdom, which they were capable of transmitting over long distances, and they also believed that the bears were fully aware of the ancestral relationship between themselves and the Utes. The ceremony of the Bear Dance was therefore an aid to continuing and strengthening this friendship and also of charming the dancers as a means of protecting them from death by these mighty bears. There were also other motives involved in the affair. Important among these was the sending of messages to their dead relatives and friends who dwelt in the land of immortality; also to assist the bears to recover from winter hibernation, to find food, and to choose mates; and it was on occasion for springtime courting and love-making among Indians themselves."
"That the bear was accorded human relationship, and semi-divinity, with a spirit of a higher order than others, even above man in some instances, is borne out in the lore and legends of a great many primitive racial groups in North America and other continents as well."
www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-samsung-gj-rev1&sxsrf=ALiCzsZDbL-020Qw19xj6FhuAvGlYqxgUQ:1651370129513&q=The+Beast+That+Walks+Like+Man+Harold+McCracken&si=AC1wQDC27MMuB4JWWMNoqozt0Ye-pYzx6qoJ3ntktXCv4anVErswnF_0_ybQ7TW-T0VsH5G4_5XCG92eZQZSdpe-X-6nNENAWG7CEoTDePXgXgnfxFNq1sph9a7viHhMsqc32W7RKrxklBKVXpLHA68ecj1JJI77TD8wzXMQqbvAetTI5HNuMnp4lgeqsVVwOcyL5_YCaujME8SISAxNfj0JZb9jEuO96A%3D%3D&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiHkdmPmb33AhWG4IUKHawoBsIQ3LoBegQIAxAB&biw=412&bih=767&dpr=1.75
|
|
|
|
Post by Montezuma on Apr 30, 2022 21:21:07 GMT -5
Book:- Man meets grizzly by Young and Beyers
"Man feels both fear and admiration for the grizzly. He has respected and even, in some instances, as was the case with the Indians, venerated the grizzly bear's prowess and courage. The white man has on the whole been more grudging in his admiration, especially when he has felt his person or livestock to be threatened. The Indian alone has given his homage gladly. For the Indians, it was a signal honor to kill a bear in combat, when only spears, bows and arrows, or the limited rifle they had acquired from white traders were used. Chiefs sometimes wore necklaces of grizzly claws as indisputable tokens of their bravery."
"Indians who go in quest of him ( the grizzly ) paint themselves and perform all the superstitious rites customary when they make war on a neighboring nation."
www.amazon.com/Man-meets-grizzly-Encounters-modern/dp/0395291941
"The Pawnees, who called themselves the Chahiksichshiks or "men of men" and who lived in the great valley of the Platte River, had a legend very similar but much more elaborate than the one previously cited. It was "The Story of Ku ruks la war' uks ti" ( "Medicine Bear" ). The hero of this interesting saga of Indian Americana was a certain poor boy of the Pawnee tribe. He was so poor that he is not even given a name at the beginning of the long story, and it is related that his whole family was so destitute that everyone looked down upon them. However, the lad decided to find honor or death; and he went to a fabled place among the hills, where there were many cedar trees and there were many skeletons of his people who had been killed in a mysterious manner. In the center of this strange graveyard he found the cave of a family of grizzlies. The father was not at home, but the friendly old she-bear said: "I am sorry that you have come here. My husband is the one who kills persons and brings them here for the children and me to eat. You had better go back to your people quickly, or he will eat you up ... He is one of those bad bears - a grizzly - medicine!" The poor boy, however, insisted on waiting to face this terrible man-eating bear.
When the monster returned and saw the bold young intruder, he pounded the earth with his great paws, snorted like thunder, and blew red dust from his nostrils. He shouted that he was chief of all the grizzlies and head of all the animal lodges, and there was no living creature on earth as strong or who had as much supernatural power. The poor boy was very frightened, but he bravely faced the demon, defying all his wrath and power. Greatly admiring this unusual courage, the grizzly finally promised to adopt the boy as his own and bestow all his powers upon him."
"In this imaginative story there is a mingling of primitive drama, poetic justice, and mystic animal worship. To tell it briefly is only to spoil it; and even in all its translated detail it unquestionably loses a vast amount of its original conception, as it once was related in all its orthodox sincerity of complete belief by the tribal patriarchs of the proud Pawnees.
The grizzly invested the poor boy with invulnerability to being injured in any way by the weapons of his enemies, and he taught him the magic of literally wiping away the wounds inflicted upon others and of restoring life to those who had been killed."
"When the lad finally returned to the lodge of his own father, the people quickly learned about what had happened. He had such great supernatural powers that he was able to go right into the midst of enemy warriors, without any fear of personal injury, and slay the tribal enemies with reckless abandon. And so it came to pass that "old men were calling his name, young women were singing his praise, and old women came to dance before him. People no longer made fun of his father or mother. Now they looked upon him as a great and powerful person." He was given the distinguished name of Ku ruks la war' uks ti or Medicine Bear, and sometimes they called him Ku ruks ti carish, which means Angry Bear. He brought great honor to his tribe, finally married the chief's beautiful daughter, and became a great chief in his own right - all because of the grizzly bear."
"These are but a few of the Indian's legends in which the grizzly was accorded a worshipful distinction and homage and which show the influence of these animals upon the red man's culture."
www.google.com/search?client=ms-android-samsung-gj-rev1&sxsrf=ALiCzsZDbL-020Qw19xj6FhuAvGlYqxgUQ:1651370129513&q=The+Beast+That+Walks+Like+Man+Harold+McCracken&si=AC1wQDC27MMuB4JWWMNoqozt0Ye-pYzx6qoJ3ntktXCv4anVErswnF_0_ybQ7TW-T0VsH5G4_5XCG92eZQZSdpe-X-6nNENAWG7CEoTDePXgXgnfxFNq1sph9a7viHhMsqc32W7RKrxklBKVXpLHA68ecj1JJI77TD8wzXMQqbvAetTI5HNuMnp4lgeqsVVwOcyL5_YCaujME8SISAxNfj0JZb9jEuO96A%3D%3D&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiHkdmPmb33AhWG4IUKHawoBsIQ3LoBegQIAxAB&biw=412&bih=767&dpr=1.75
|
|
|
|
Post by Montezuma on Apr 30, 2022 21:29:26 GMT -5
Book:- Grizzly years by Doug peacock
"Our official wilderness, the National Parks, are being civilized. They stress scenery and standardized recreation. The Blackfeet used these mountains for vision quests; their medicine people sought their patron animal, Real Bear, as a spirit guide, because the grizzly was more than the animal wearing the fur coat, he was the Medicine Grizzly."
www.google.com/search?q=grizzly+years+doug+peacock&oq=grizzly+years+by+doug+&aqs=chrome.1.69i57j0i22i30l2j0i390l2.8482j0j4&client=ms-android-samsung-gj-rev1&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8
"American Indian legend relates that the grizzly bear is the ancestor of the race. "Him arms and him legs, jus like Indians." The Cree Indians according to Harold McCracken in 'The Beast That Walks Like Man', describes the grizzly bear as "him stomach...him heart...him everything all-same. Him walk like Indian too."
books.google.com.pk/books?id=L0ggAQAAIAAJ&q=the+bear+almanac+by+gary+brown&dq=the+bear+almanac+by+gary+brown&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjxhraJob33AhXcQ_EDHTNvAeIQ6AF6BAgIEAM
Grandfather Grizzly
"According to stories once told by natives of the Pacific Northwest, the grizzly bear was forged by the Great Spirit, who begat the animals of the world from his walking stick. With the heavy end of his staff, the Great Spirit sired a mighty beast to rule the others. It was so powerful and contentious that it chased its maker to the top of the world. This direful creature was the primordial grizzly bear."
"Early grizzlies - according to the legend - walked on two legs, lived in families, spoke their own language and used heavy clubs as weapons. One day, the Great Spirit's daughter wandered into the forest and lost her way. She became frightened and called for help, only to be discovered by a family of grizzlies. Filled with pity, they invited the young girl to stay with them. She fell in love with their handsome son and the two were joined in marriage. Their children inherited traits from both parents and became the first Native Americans."
"When the Great Spirit discovered what had happened, He flew into a rage. How dare the grizzlies create a race of men on their own? As punishment, He forbade the grizzlies to speak, ordered them to walk on all fours and instructed them never to use their clubs again."
"This story, and others like it, helped the tribes of the Pacific Northwest to understand their own origins, as well as those of the grizzly bear. As a consequence of these legends, they felt that very little separated grizzlies from men and referred to the grizzly bear as "grandfather," "old man" or "elder brother." Some tribes would say, "Our arms, legs, fingers, toes, ribs, backbone, stomach, heart and genitals are nearly the same, and grizzlies walk like men, placing their full foot on the ground with each stride."
"As further proof of the two species' kinship, Native Americans cited the grizzly's ability to stand like a man on two hind legs. According to belief, grizzlies actually retained all of the abilities disallowed by the Great Spirit; they simply kept them hidden."
"One variation of the grizzly origin story, likely inspired by the commonplace occurrence of two-cub litters, depicts the ancestral woman and bear giving birth to twins. Among tribes that ascribed to this belief, twins were often sequestered in a special lodge, referred to as "grizzly bear children" and raised differently from others. It was even believed that they had special powers".
go.discovery.com/tv-shows/great-bear-stakeout/about-grizzlies/grandfather-grizzly/
|
|
|
|
Post by Montezuma on Apr 30, 2022 21:36:33 GMT -5
Ancient Pueblo-Anasazi rock art of a warrior with a bear claw shield - New Mexico.
|
|
|
|
Post by Montezuma on May 11, 2022 22:33:09 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Montezuma on May 11, 2022 22:54:19 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Montezuma on May 11, 2022 23:06:54 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Montezuma on May 21, 2022 21:08:06 GMT -5
A prehistoric Bear artifact discovered in California.
"It was fashioned by California Indians around 7,000 to 8,000 years ago. Created in the way that they made arrowheads or spear points, the stone artifact displayed markings of being chipped into a specific form. The unique shape gave speculation that the small item might have had some religious connotations to the local members of the Luiseño and Juaneño Indian Tribes."
"This prehistoric artifact is called the “Chipped Stone Bear" and is the Official California State Prehistoric Artifact, as adopted by the California Legislature on June 24, 1991. As an effigy in prehistoric times, it is still revered today as one of the earliest examples of representational art recovered in the Western United States."
www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=25962
|
|
