The Bear Festival of the Even

Drawing on the memories of her older relatives, Natal’ya Grigor’eva attempts to reconstruct the ritual sequence involved in the preparation and performance of the once-important Bear Festival of the Even people, while also exploring its deeper meanings. These stages include the ritual hunt, the careful dismembering of the bear, and the respectful treatment of individual body parts, as well as the laying out of the bones and skull to ensure a successful journey of the bear’s soul to the afterlife. This is meant to convey to the bear that it was treated with honor by humans. In turn, this respectful handling is intended to help maintain harmony between humans and nature. Grigor’eva’s notes also served as the script for a choreographic interpretation of the Bear Festival. Rehearsals for this performance are shown in a separate film.