The American Indian was much given to ceremonies. As an example the
Bear Cult among the Assiniboine, Dakota, Black foot and Sarsi tribes paid
homage to the Grizzly for his strength and ferocity. To take one carried with
it high honors.
The Bear knife was considered by the Bear Cult a sacred object to be used
in rituals as well as in battle. If it were offered to an aspirant or proposed
candidate, he had to undergo severe personal punishment in order to prove
his worthiness as a keeper of the blade.
Specs;
Blade; 6 3/8th inch x 3/16ths x 1 1/2 inch double hollow ground spear point
browned saw steel with hidden tang.
Handle; Black Bear jaw bone ( teeth have been left in for aesthetics ) with
slabbed oak scale and bolster. Rawhide sewn over wood and bone
and lashed with rawhide lacing. total handle length is 6 inches.
OAL; 12 3/8 inches
Sheath; 8/9oz leather covered in rawhide and adorned with a buckskin fringe
horse hair tassels, brass and horn beads and brass and tin cones.