The bear ceremony combines deeply religious elements with the merriment
of eating, drinking, singing, and dancing. All participants don their
finest clothing and adornments. Prayers are offered to the goddess of
the hearth and the deity of the house, but the major focus of the
ceremony is on the deity of the mountains, who is believed to have sent
the bear as a gift to humans. After the bear is taken out of the
"bear house," situated southwest of the house, the bear is
killed. The Sakhalin Ainu kill the bear with two pointed arrows, while
the Hokkaidō Ainu use blunt arrows before they fatally shoot the
bear with pointed arrows, and then strangle the dead or dying bear
between two logs. Male elders skin and dress the bear, which is placed
in front of the altar hung with treasures.