Many American Indian tribes consider the bear as the healer of the Nations.
They believe that the Sweat Lodge is a symbol of the bears cave or the womb of mother earth, where he retreats in the winter to heal himself from all that he has endured the previous year.
Several tribes use bear doctors to heal themselves through Sacred Ceremony, which consists of chanting, and dancing, while the bear doctor wears a bearskin, and the healing of sick patients, where all join together in a circle and dance with the bear, as the desired healing occurs.
Medicine men of old followed the bears to observe their eating habits, and found that bears use several healing herbs to cure themselves of whatever ails them. Using these healing herbs, bear doctors discovered how to cure ailments that cause suffering. Bear doctors have been known to cure cancerous tumors, broken bones, arthritis and even addictions to substances such as drugs and alcohol. Though many may find such claims hard to believe, to American Indians healing from bear doctors is a well known occurrence in this modern day of scientific medicine.
Most bear doctors ask patients to see a medical doctor, and use the scientific medical practices of modern medicine, in conjunction with traditional healing practices. To true believers, healing through traditional methods, such as bear doctors and medicine men, is and always will be a first resort when any ailment afflicts them, though modern medicine is always a part of the healing process. Bear doctors are a first rather than a last resort of the healing process for many American Indians, and for that reason the bear is and will always be an important part of healing.
