118 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 195 



Skinner describes the Bear society as follows: 



The Matdgaxe, or bear dance, was one of the so-called mystery dances, and had 

 four leaders, two waiters, and a herald. Before performing, a cedar tree was 

 pulled up by the roots and set up in the center of the lodge. During the dance 

 one of the participators would go up and break off a branch and scrape off the 

 bark. Then he would circle the lodge four times, show it to the members, and 

 announce that he would run it down his throat. He would then thrust it in until 

 the tip barely showed. After a moment he would pull it out, and the blood 

 would gush forth. One shaman had the power of thrusting the cedar through 

 his flesh into his abdomen. After he pulled it out he merely rubbed the wound 

 and it was healed. Still another would swallow a pipe, cause it to pass through 

 his body, and then bring it out and lick it. 



Big-goose once saw a man, who was performing in the bear dance, take a 

 muzzle-loading rifle and charge it in everyone's presence. Another man circled 

 the tent singing, and on the fourth round he was shot by the Indian with the 

 gun; everyone thought he was killed, but he soon sprang up unhurt. Another 

 performer took a buffalo robe, had a third man re-load the magic gun, and fired it 

 at the robe. There was no hole visible, but the bullet was found in the center 

 of the robe. [Skinner, 1915 c, p. 792.] 



My informants AMC, Ed Primeaux, and Leonard Smith described 

 the "magic musket" trick of the Bear society as well. Leonard 

 Smith stated that when Shaky, the famous Northern Ponca shaman, 

 performed the act he used bluestem grass to extract the bullet from 

 the "bear's" body. 



Though the Ponca Bear society no longer existed as an organized 

 group there were, during the period of my fieldwork, a few Southern 

 Ponca who claimed bear power and practiced as individuals. WBB 

 was a bear shaman at one time, but he abandoned the practice when 

 he "turned Christian" (i.e., joined the Peyote religion). He once 

 stated that when he practiced as a Bear doctor he painted his hands 

 black with yellow between the fingers in imitation of a bear's paws. 



Likewise Henry Snake told me that he had once been offered 

 bear power by an Omaha shaman while visiting near Macy, Nebr., 

 on the Omaha Reservation. Snake expressed disbelief in the Omaha's 

 power, so the Omaha told him, "Come down by the river tomorrow 

 morning. Bring your wife and she can see it too." He then men- 

 tioned a certain place, quite secluded. Snake and his wife went to 

 this location at the appointed time, and shortly after their arrival 

 a huge black bear appeared, walked near them, and then disappeared 

 in the brush. "It was that old man, disguised as a bear," com- 

 mented Snake. In spite of this evidence of the Omaha's power, 

 however. Snake did not take up the "bear way." 



The T^e-watsi or Buffalo "doctors" society, as indicated above, 

 was devoted to the healing of wounds. Skinner (1915 c, p. 792) notes 

 that — 



. . . there were four leaders, two waiters, and a herald as officers. This 

 society is now obsolete, as there is little call for the practice of surgery because 

 there is no more war. If a man were wounded the buffalo doctors got together 



