Bear Festival definition of Bear Festival in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Iyomante Matsuri (Bear Festival)

January-February

Among the Ainu people of the northernmost islands of Japan, especially on Hokkaido, the baiting and killing of a young bear was not considered a brutal act but a ritual send-off to the spirit world. The "divine" cub was ceremoniously fed and cared for, then killed and arranged with fetishes. Some of his own cooked meat and a dish of his own blood, along with cakes and dried fish, were laid before him. He was supposed to bring these gifts to his parents when he arrived in heaven. After a time, Ainu belief has it, he would be reincarnated and return to earth as another cub.

CONTACTS:
Ainu Museum
2-3-4 Wakakusa-cho
Siraoi, Hokkaido 059-0902 Japan
81-1-4482-3914
www.ainu-museum.or.jp/english/english.html

SOURCES:
EncyRel-1987, vol. 1, p. 160; vol. 2, p. 86
FolkWrldHol-1999, p. 681
JapanFest-1965, p. 207

Bear Festival

a complex of rituals associated with bear hunting among numerous forest peoples of Europe, Asia, and North America. The bear festival is a manifestation of the bear cult that existed among these peoples. Generally, the bear festival was held in order to propitiate the bear that had been killed during the hunt. The meat of the bear, in this case, was eaten according to strict ritualistic rules.

Some peoples of Siberia and North America arranged dances during which the masked dancers danced before the carcass of the bear. Among the Khanty and Mansi these dances acquired the form of a primitive drama on hunting themes. The peoples living along the Lower Amur and on Sakhalin raised bear cubs especially for the bear festival. The similarities in the rituals of the bear festivals among different peoples are explained by the common characteristics of the conditions of the hunting economy and the religious and magical concepts associated with them. Among a number of modern peoples (for example, the Khanty and Mansi), the bear festival has lost its magical significance and has become a form of traditional folk entertainment.

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No references found	2) The Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival in Cambridgeshire is one of the more unusual annual events. 3 things to do this weekend by The Mirror (London, England) uk JANUARY 14-16: Celebrate medieval-style at the Straw Bear Festival in Whittlesey in the Cambridgeshire Fenlands where there's plenty of dancing and a man dresses in straw. Great UK days out by Sunday Mirror (London, England) ” They put their plan into motion over the three-day bear festival called BearCity. Cuddlesome 'BearCity' Proves There's More To Bears Than Fishing by Staff / On Top Magazine	Beamon, Bob Beams servoed rotational method Bean bean anthracnose Bean Aphid bean beetle bean blight Bean Goose Bean Harvester Bean Hollow State Beach bean managed persistence Bean Ore Bean Weevil Bean, Alan Bean, Judge Roy Bean, L. L. Bean, Roy Beane, Sawney beanie key bear Bear Brook State Park Bear Butte State Park Bear Creek Lake State Park Bear Creek Pioneers Park Bear Driver Bear Festival Bear Flag Revolt bear grass Bear Head Lake State Park bear hug Bear Island Bear Lake County Bear Lake National Wildlife Refuge Bear Lake State Park bear market Bear Mountain Bear Mountain State Park bear paw Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge Bear River State Park Bear Society Dance bear trap gate Bear Valley National Wildlife Refuge Bear's Den bear's-breech bear-baiting bearberry beard Beard, Charles Beard, Charles A Beard, Charles Austin	Bear Creek Valley Sanitary Authority Bear Creek Watershed Education Partners Bear Cross bear cub Bear date Bear dog bear down bear down bear down bear down bear down bear down bear down against Bear Down Arizona bear down on bear down on bear down on bear down on bear down on bear down upon bear down upon Bear Down, Arizona Bear Down, Arizona! Bear Down, AZ Bear Down, AZ! Bear Driver bear ear bear ear bear ear bear false witness Bear Festival Bear Flag Bear Flag Museum Bear Flag Revolt Bear Flags Bear Flattener Bear Flatteners bear foot bear fruit bear fruit bear fruit bear fruit bear fruit bear fruit Bear Fund Bear Funds bear garden bear gardens bear grass bear grass bear grass Bear Growth Capital Partners bear hard upon Bear Head Lake State Park bear heavily bear hug bear hug bear hug Bear Hug Test Bear hugging Bear hugging

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2) The Whittlesea Straw Bear Festival in Cambridgeshire is one of the more unusual annual events.

3 things to do this weekend by The Mirror (London, England)

uk JANUARY 14-16: Celebrate medieval-style at the Straw Bear Festival in Whittlesey in the Cambridgeshire Fenlands where there's plenty of dancing and a man dresses in straw.

Great UK days out by Sunday Mirror (London, England)

” They put their plan into motion over the three-day bear festival called BearCity.

Cuddlesome 'BearCity' Proves There's More To Bears Than Fishing by Staff / On Top Magazine