Les Festes De L'os a L'alt Vallespir

154 Miscellanea Catalonian Journal of Ethnology December 2018 No. 43

Claudie Voisenat CROSS-BORDER COUNTRY OF ART AND HISTORY OF THE TECH AND TER CATALAN VALLEYS

Lead anthropologist in the drafting of the candidacy dossier to include the Bear Festivals of L’Alt Vallespir on the UNESCO list of intangible cultural heritage. Lecturer at École du Louvre and head of research for France’s Ministry of Culture, working alongside the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) at the Institut interdisciplinaire d’anthropologie du contemporain. The Bear Festivals in L’Alt Vallespir 1

hree villages in L’Alt Valles- gated by the Tech River and its tributaries. L’Alt 1 pir, Arles2, Prats-de-Mol- Vallespir refers to the upper basin of this river, This article was written in collab- oration with Christelle Nau, head lo-la-Preste and Saint-Lau- which begins in the Costabona foothills. It is of the Bear Festivals’ UNESCO rent-de-Cerdans celebrate a mid-mountain area associated, since 2012, candidacy.

the Bear Festivals (or Bear with the French Grand Site of Canigou, which 2 Hunts/Days) every year in constitutes its southern side. With a popula- Arles-sur-Tech. late winter. Lasting a few hours, the Festivals tion of around 5,200 inhabitants, the three consist of young male villagers who dress and rural municipalities together cover an area of T 2 make themselves up as bears and, surrounded over 220 km , with predominantly woodland by a pack of Hunters, roam the streets scaring landscapes that open into deep stream pools passers-by who run and hide or egg them on. and what were once high-altitude pasturelands.

Festivals of time-honoured tradition Given the area’s isolating geography, the Bear The territorial region known as Vallespir is the Festivals and the corresponding customs have result of organisation amongst the former Cat- primarily been passed down through oral tradi- alan counties prior to the Treaty of the Pyrenees tion. As far as we know, festivals involving bears in 1659 and the subsequent establishment of date back to a distant past. The ninth-century the current French-Spanish border. This border archbishop of Reims, Hincmar, condemned The Bears from the three Festivals gathered in Prats-de- territory, the southernmost of metropolitan the turpia joca cum ursis (vile games with a Mollo-la-Preste (2013). France, comprises a number of valleys irri- bear), as well as other games of a despicable JEAN DABAT The Bear Festivals in L’Alt Vallespir Miscellanea 155 nature involving masquerades and obscene and representations carried out by the media. Paraules Clau: Festa de l’Os, representations. El Llibre de les Solemnitats After the first ethnographic research was con- Alt Vallespir, Arles, Prats de Barcelona (The Book of Solemnities of ducted at the beginning of the 1970s, scholars de Molló, Sant Llorenç de Barcelona) of 1424 provides an account of and researchers would take a growing interest Cerdans a man dressed in black lambskin to give the in the topic.7 Palabras Clave: Fiesta del Oso, Alto Vallespir, Arles-sur-Tech, appearance of a bear during the Corpus Christi Prats-de-Mollo, Saint-Laurent- procession (Duran and Sanabre, 1930: 12).3 The majority would choose to highlight the de-Cerdans Festivals’ antiquity and their link to a highly Keywords: Bear Festival, L'Alt Although their origin and prior evolution are rich legendary background. The Festivals’ start Vallespir, Arles-sur-Tech, Prats- de-Mollo-la-Preste, Saint- something of a mystery, the Bear Festivals of date, 2 February, coincides with two related Laurent-de-Cerdans L’Alt Vallespir have been the object of several religious celebrations: the Purification of the ethnographic mentions, appearing as far back Blessed Virgin Mary and the Presentation of as the nineteenth century, which claim to have Our Lord Jesus (also known as Candlemas). 3 “Os o onsso ab tot son com- borne witness to the celebrations. One of the According to some historians (Pastoureau, pliment, e es de pells de anyins oldest known references to the Festivals dates 2007: 149), the Catholic Church may have negres” (An excellently-repre- back to 1835, when historian Dominique initiated these two cultural celebrations, which sented bear, composed of black 4 lambskin) (Duran and Sanabre Henry spoke of them, although without take place 40 days after the winter solstice, to 1930: 12). specifying the geographical area: hamper or replace ancient pagan devotion to 4 […] une mascarade de tradition que chaque the bear. This ancient devotion is evidenced Dominique Marie Joseph Henry année voit se renouveler. Un homme de la lie by the Europe-wide belief that bears come (1778-1850), historian and curator du peuple se déguise en ours ; ses camarades out of hibernation on 2 February (or around at the Villa de Perpignan Library. vêtus de haillons les plus sales, et barbouillés that date), a belief which appears in numerous 5 de la façon la plus ignoble, l’accompagnent meteorological sayings, such as the following: “A masquerade of a tradition repeated year after year. A man et le font danser au bruit assourdissant de Per la Candalera, l’ós surt de l’ossera, i, si from the dregs of the village sifflets, entonnoirs, crécelles et de tambours troba que fa bo, se’n torna a fer un gaitó dresses up as a bear; his com- 5 rades, donning the dirtiest of rags […] un usage de grande antiquité. (Henry, (On Candlemas, the bear leaves his den and with their faces sullied in the 1835: CVI-CVII). and, if he sees it’s a nice day, goes back to most despicable way, accompany napping) (Amades, 1951: 967). him and make him dance to the deafening sound of whistles, A few years after Henry’s account, English folk- funnels, rattles and drums [...] a lorists Violet Alford and Basil Collier were able Bears are plantigrade animals showing a like- custom of great antiquity.” to provide a much more detailed description ness to humans in many ways; they are also 6 of the Festivals’ structure (Van Gennep, 1999: the subject of numerous legends, of which p. 771-775. It delves into various 771-775).6 The description was completed the most widespread in the Pyrenees revolves previous works, including Alford, 2004 (1937); Collier, 1939; with ritualistic interpretations inspired by Sir around John the Bear, the son of a woman Amades, 1950; and other local James Frazer, which fed the local imagination and a bear who, after many adventures, frees, scholars.

Les Festes de l’Os de l’Alt-Vallespir tenen Las Fiestas del Oso del Alto Vallespir The Bear Festivals in Alt-Vallespir takes lloc una tarda de final d’hivern. A tres acontecen una tarde de finales de invier- place on a late winter afternoon. In three pobles de la vall, homes joves vestits d’os no. En tres pueblos del valle, jóvenes villages of the valley, young men dressed recorren els carrers, jugant a espantar la hombres disfrazados de oso recorren las up as bears go thought the streets, trying gent. calles, jugando a asustar a la gente. to scare people. L’interès per aquestes manifestacions El interés por estas manifestaciones va The interest on these celebrations has in- augmenta a partir dels anys vuitanta. Per en aumento a partir de los años ochenta. creased since the eighties. For its inhab- petició dels habitants, que hi estan forta- Por petición de los habitantes, fuerte- itant’s petition, who are highly involved ment lligats, són presents des del 2014 mente ligados a las fiestas, des de 2014 on the feast, it was introduced in the a l’inventari francès del patrimoni cultural éstas forman parte del inventario francés inventory of the French intangible cultural immaterial i candidates a la inscripció de del patrimonio cultural inmaterial así heritage. It has also been a candidate to la llista representativa de la UNESCO. cómo son candidatas a la inscripción de be registered to the UNESCO’s repre- La seva valorització cultural s’acompanya la lista representativa de la UNESCO. sentative list. Its cultural value comes with d’una aproximació etnogràfica de la qual Su valorización cultural se acompaña de its ethnographic approximation to which aquest article en dona compte. una aproximación etnográfica de la que this article explains. da cuentas este artículo. 156 Miscellanea Catalonian Journal of Ethnology December 2018 No. 43

alongside his companions, a group of prin- in summer to garner attention from visiting 7 cesses being held captive in the underworld. tourists. Today, the Festivals adhere to a more Such as Daniel Fabre and Jean- Dominique Lajoux. The scholar In Vallespir, various local versions of the legend set schedule: the first Sunday in February in Robert Bosch mentions the main exist in which a bear kidnaps a shepherdess, Arles, and the first and second Sunday of the ones in his chapter “Les grands keeps her under lock and key in a cave and tries Académie de Montpellier’s winter break in témoins de l’ours” (Bosch, 2003). to mate with her. The girl is ultimately saved Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste and Saint-Laurent- 8 by hunters or forest dwellers who cunningly de-Cerdans, respectively. Carles Bosch de la Trinxeria, who was born in Prats-de-Mollo-la- draw the bear away from the girl before tak- Preste, lived in La Jonquera and ing it down. Another local version modified Another important adaptation, a direct result made a living by managing his by the Christian Church was transcribed by of people’s change in mentality regarding the lands. An avid traveller, he pub- 8 lished numerous essays, some of writer Carles Bosch de la Trinxeria in 1891; Festivals over the last few decades, involves the which are tied to the Renaissance. in this case, the girl is shown praying or a her- celebration of more child-friendly Bear Festi- In his story, the writer mentions the mit is said to appear (Bosch de la Trinxeria, vals. In all three villages, children are directly shepherdess of Mas de Cremadells (located in Saint-Laurent-de-Cer- 1997: 56). A wide range of other stories were involved in the festivities: not only do they dans), and the plot takes place also told du mythe au roman, de la légende au have a role in the Bear Festivals for adults, they near the chapel of Nostra Senyora fait divers9 (Fabre, 1969) that would go on to have also become the leading actors in festivi- de les Salines, located not far from Maçanet de Cabrenys. There is inspire a number of plays at local theatres or ties organised specifically for them, which has also a Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste fairs as well as collective, ritualistic or festive given rise to an effective way of passing the Bear version, which sets the story around ceremonies. Also the result of this process are Festivals’ values and customs from one genera- the chapel of Nostra Senyora del Coral. the Bear Festivals, whose scenes and figures are tion to the next. In Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste, as highly characteristic: the Bear, women being children were already out ‘playing bear’ in the 9 “From myth to novel, from legend chased, Hunters and Trappers (Manaires in playground, the adults decided to create the to event”. Catalan and Trappeurs10 in French), who would Junior Bear Festival in 1986. Around 15 years make their appearance as a way to evoke the ago, the children’s Festival in Saint-Laurent- 10 The characters included in the Bear bear hunters and exhibitors of old. de-Cerdans used an old bear costume, hence Festivals are typically identified and the name Old Bear Festival. Finally, Arles put named in the Roussillon-Vallespir Other surrounding municipalities, such as Pi, Catalan dialect. When characters together the Little Bear Festival in 2014 as part are identified in French, we have Vilafranca de Conflent, Cortsaví, La Manera, of a participatory project aiming to get different chosen to keep the terms in their Ceret and Els Banys d’Arles, also organised Bear generations involved. original language. To learn more about the Trappeur, see the glos- Festivals, although these would end up fading sary at the end of the article. out by the end of the nineteenth century. The A single narrative for unique three remaining Bear Festivals in L’Alt Valles- festivals 11 The importance of the music played pir are therefore unique in that they are the Arriving from the outskirts of the villages, the during the Bear Festivals has been only ones to have persevered with remarkable Bears upset village order for a good two or three studied by Oriol Lluís Gual (Lluís, determination over the years. According to hours, running through the streets and stalking 2017). local memory, very rarely were they cancelled, passers-by, all the while being chased by the except during the world wars and a few times Hunters, from whom they repeatedly escape. in Arles during the 1950s. Short, comic plays are put on in each square, each following the same structure: aggression, Such perpetuity is explained by the fact that capture, death and resurrection of the Bear, the Festivals have never ceased to evolve and followed by a newly endeavoured flight down adapt to social change. The date of celebra- a nearby street. The action is accompanied tion is one good example. The Festivals were by the crowd of spectators, who cheer to the originally set on 2 February, Candlemas Day, rhythm of the Bear’s movements and yell “hou which, in times gone by, marked the start of hou” at the beast to provoke and aggravate the Carnival season. Then, from the 1920s, him, not to mention the Hunters’ shotgun they were moved to the Sunday falling closest blasts, the rallying Meneurs and the music of to Candlemas. During the 1960s, the Festi- local folk bands.11 At the end of the festivities, vals were scheduled during the schools’ win- the villages’ main squares are the scene of the ter break to make it easier for families to get unchanging and symbolic shaving of the Bears, together and celebrate. In some extreme cases, during which they are stripped of their animal like in Arles, the Festivals have even taken place nature and accepted back into the community. The Bear Festivals in L’Alt Vallespir Miscellanea 157

This baseline plot comes to a different end in goes off to hide in nearby thickets, before being 12 each village. quickly discovered by the Trappeur, Roseta and “The call of the Trappeur”. the Hunters who have gone out in search of 13 The Bear Festival in Arles him. The group traps the Bear, chains him up Roussillon term meaning “cloth dolls”. Today, the Turtles usually The Arles Bear Festival presents a version of and leads him to the village, at which point he have stuffed animals tied at the end the festivities filled with dance and theatre. escapes down a street, with the other characters of sticks which they use to imitate The morning of the Festival, its main figures – in pursuit. The route taken within the village a turtle’s movement as it sticks out and hides its head. The body is organisers and actors alike – meet for breakfast is marked by stops in the squares where the made of white sheets that cover at the village banquet hall at 10:30 am before same scene is repeated, varying slightly each their armour, which is constructed the festivities kick off; this is called theAppel time thanks to the actors’ improvisations. At out of metal hoops. du Trappeur12 or the Meeting of the Trappers. the centre of a circle made by the Hunters, Here, the Trappeur calls out to the villagers and the Trappeur and the Bear face off; the nine Hunters to encourage them to join the bear Barrels, divided into groups of three, and the hunt taking place that afternoon. As he recites four Turtles make an attempt to distract the his speech in Catalan, his partner Roseta (a boy animal and slow him down. The Bear attacks dressed as a girl) skips around him. This prelude the Barrels and tries to snag the patotes13 of the to the Festival is peculiar to Arles. Turtles, who stick out and hide their heads like real turtles. Roseta, who is being used as Around 15 actors participate in the Festival. bait, cowers behind the Barrels; when the Bear Apart from the Bear, the Trappeur and Roseta makes a grab for her, they roll around on the (the main characters), there is also a group of ground to stop him. The Trappeur steps in to Hunters and other unique characters such as separate them and finally traps the Bear, who is the Botes (Barrels) and the Tortugues (Turtles), then chained up and held on the ground while who interact with the Bear and aggravate him. the crowd cheers. At this point, the Trappeur recites a declaration, providing an account of Around 2:30 pm, at Fontaine des Buis, on the the capture, reminding listeners of the dan- The Bear from Arles with the bank of the Tech and far from the villagers, gers of the Bear, especially for women, and Trappeur and Roseta (2010). the Bear is prepared. Once in full costume, he heralding the bravery shown by the Hunters FRANÇOIS GORRÉE 158 Miscellanea Catalonian Journal of Ethnology December 2018 No. 43

as well as his very own talents as a trapper and few times throughout the year for the folk plays 14 his ability to show the beast how to dance the they put on and to perform the shaving scene. A group dedicated to practising traditional dances that organises xinxirinxina. The actors dance all together in a the Festival. circle to the song of the Bear; just then, the Bear Amongst all of the costume pieces, the Bear’s head is by far the most important. It is a motor- 15 escapes into the crowd and hastens towards the The theatrical and folkloric nature of next square. The play is performed as many cycle helmet covered in goatskin and the eyes the Festival led to its inclusion in the as seven times in different parts of the village. are glass spheres. The mouth is strikingly large, French folkloric repertoire, a unique around 20 cm long; it is left slightly open, which characteristic of the Arles Festival. The balcony of Chez Bouzage is one of the stra- allows spectators to witness the 26 frightening tegic sites of the Festival. The Bear, theTrappeur wooden teeth that have been painted red. There and Roseta climb up to the balcony and look is evidence of the unique shape of the head for one another as they move from one window dating as far back as a century, appearing in the to the next. They hold on to each other tightly, work of Joan Amades (Amades, 1950: 676m hug, play a quick game of hide-and-seek and vol. 1), an image which served to remake the then head back down to the street to continue head during the 1960s. The rest of the actor’s their journey. The hunt comes to an end in the body is outfitted in a full-body suit made of a church square, where they enact the shaving furry synthetic brown fabric blend. scene, otherwise known as the Dansa del Bar- ber (Dance of the Barber). For this scene, the Of all the costumes, it is the Barrels’ which has Hunters form a large circle to keep the specta- changed the most over the years. During the tors out, and the Barrels and Turtles find their first half of the twentieth century, the Barrels place to watch at the inside edges of the circle. were played by four men wearing barrels of fired Just then, the Bear makes his appearance in clay made by a local craftsman. Two faces with the square and the final play begins. The Bear frightening eyes were painted on, a long nose brandishes the Trappeur’s long cane, waving it made of wood was added and strings of garlic about and poking at the Barrels. Once he has or pieces of hay were attached as hair. A belt wreaked enough havoc, the Bear grabs hold of a with eight to ten cowbells and handbells put random girl in the crowd and attempts to drag a final touch to the ensemble. The Bear would her inside a cabin made of branches and leaves smash the large barrels of fired clay with a cane built in one corner of the square and meant just before the final shaving scene. Following to imitate a bear’s den. However, the young the death of the craftsman who made them, the girl escapes his clutches, and, as he chases after barrels of fired clay were replaced with wooden her, the Bear is finally taken down by hunter ones, which, in turn, were replaced with plastic Domingo, who fires a blank round into the drums, as they were lighter and sturdier. Now- air. The beast is then sat on a chair. Here, the adays, they are painted a variety of colours and Trappeur and Roseta begin to dance, skipping decorated with branches of broom. to and fro a few times, mocking and jeering at the Bear before he is shaved. At this time, a red The most important feature of the Bear Festival bib is placed around the Bear’s neck, and the in Arles is its theatrical and folkloric nature15, Trappeur, playing around with a plastic apple the result of tradition dating back to the 1950s. as if it were a shaving brush, eventually slides Unlike in the other two villages, where the Bear the blade of a wooden axe across the beast’s Festivals have been celebrated continuously cheeks as if to shave his face. The Bear’s head since their beginning, in Arles the Festival was is quickly removed and the crowd roars with not held between 1953 and 1962. The Alegria glee. The three characters drink from a wine jar association decided to relaunch it, although with a long thin spout while the band starts to with little success. In order to boost attendance, play the Ball del Córrer (Running Dance), to the Festival was moved to the summer and held which the entire village begins to dance. around 15 August. As a summer activity, the Bear Festival in Arles became a crucial element In Arles, the costumes for the Bear and the for the representation of traditional Catalan other main characters are kept by an association culture in Vallespir. At that time, the Bear hunt known as Alegria14, which makes use of them a was much shorter, regarded as a simple pretext The Bear Festivals in L’Alt Vallespir Miscellanea 159

for the final shaving scene, which was held in to the costumes, such as the cowbells on the The Bear from Arles faces off against the Turtles and Barrels the Town Hall park and required paid entry. Barrels’ belts, have made their reappearance. (2015). Thanks to proposals put forth by the villagers, Likewise, other more radical changes have been MARIE ADAMSKI in 1986 the Festival was moved back to winter put up for discussion, especially in terms of and has been held ever since on the first Satur- re-evaluating women’s role in the Festival. day or Sunday in February. It was also at that point when the Bear Festival was fully restored, The Bear Festival in Prats-de-Mollo- with all the features that characterise the cele- la-Preste bration today, with traditional characters given The Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste Bear Festival, the spotlight in staged performances. otherwise known as Bears Day, is distinguished by the presence of three groups of characters: This journey makes the Bear Festival in Arles the three Bears, the Hunters, who are played the most suitable for discussing the nature, by young male villagers and the friends of those traditional or otherwise, and evolution of these playing the Bears, and finally the Barbers, celebrations. While there are those who advo- played by older men and sometimes referred cate for a complete return to tradition and thus to as the White Bears. All together, there are the disappearance of relatively new elements, around 30 male participants of an array of ages. such as the plastic apple or the wooden shaving This generational blend represents, along with axe, others plan to turn the Bear Festival into an the mâchurage, one of the Festival’s defining even more attractive event. In Arles, however, features. new elements are likely to appear elsewhere: the Little Bear Festival, a celebration aimed specif- The Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste Bear Festival ically at children, could serve as a guinea pig marks the halfway point of the village’s Car- for blending tradition and innovation. Here, nival festivities, which play out over four days. certain previously forgotten elements relating Always taking place on a Sunday, Bears Day 160 Miscellanea Catalonian Journal of Ethnology December 2018 No. 43

kicks off at breakfast. The Barbers take turns the Bears throughout the Festival and play 16 year after year inviting each other into their the Melody of the Bear. Each Bear costume The three villages kick off their respective Bear Festivals with a homes, while the Bears and the Hunters meet requires three sheepskins. On the day of the ceremony during which the mayors at village cafés. Festival, two skins are placed on either side of turn the Patte de l’Ours (Bear Paw) the actor’s body over a jute robe and stitched over to each other. This object is in fact a real bear paw originating The Festival begins at around 11 am when together around the shoulders and down the from the Bear costume created the mayor of Arles-sur-Tech turns over the sides with a mattress needle and twine. The in the 1990s in Saint-Laurent-de- Bear Paw to the mayor of Prats-de-Mollo-la- third sheepskin is used to create the headpiece. Cerdans. Throughout the year, the 16 Bear Paw is kept in Saint-Laurent- Preste. Shortly thereafter, the actors and male A few weeks before the Festival, an order is de-Cerdans, whose mayor hands villagers start to dance a contrapàs (a popular placed for approximately 25 sheepskins.17 They the Bear Paw over to the mayor of Catalan dance) to the music of folk band La are cleaned and dried before being individually Arles on the Sunday of the Arles Bear Festival. The mayor of Arles Principal de Girona, following which are the selected; then, a week before the Festival, they then passes it along to the mayor highly attended sardanas, the three or four are tailored to fit the actors’ bodies. Each Bear of Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste at the concentric circles of which end up covering beginning of their Bear Festival. also wields a self-made cane measuring around Finally, it is returned to the mayor of the entire square. two metres in length. If necessary, they may Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans on the change them out at some point during the day’s Friday that marks the start of their At morning’s end, the Bears and their Hunters journey, as they often break under the forceful local festivities. trek up to Fort Lagarde, a monument that sits blows the Bears make against the ground as a 17 atop the hill where the Old Town lies, where sign of defiance. The skins are divided up as follows: nine skins for the three adult they have lunch together. Meanwhile, the Bar- Bears and six for the three Junior bers ‘get ready’ in the village bars, waiting there The first Bear in full costume starts to warm Bears; the remaining ten skins are for a few hours until the arrival of the Bears. up, inviting one of the Hunters to dance with reserved for the substitutes. him by tossing him his cane. After a few tosses Around 1:30 pm at Fort Lagarde, the Bears back and forth, the Bear throws the cane down begin their public preparations. As they prepare and jumps on his adversary and tackles him The Bear from Prats-de-Mollo- la-Preste and his Hunters themselves, about 15 musicians play traditional to the ground. This is when the long-awaited (2014). instruments. These same musicians will follow moment of transformation begins: the Bears JAQUES MIOT The Bear Festivals in L’Alt Vallespir Miscellanea 161

cover their canes, their instruments of defi- unsuspecting passers-by. The mâchurage can A girl having been mâchurée (painted with soot) in Prats-de- ance and power, with a mixture of oil and soot, range anywhere from a quick smear on people’s Mollo-la-Preste (2015). before moving on to their arms and any other faces to face paint after tackling them to the JAQUES MIOT part of their body left uncovered, and com- ground. In the latter case, the Bear grabs hold pleting the transformation by spreading the of his prey and falls backwards onto the ground mixture on their faces. Onlookers accompany with the person landing on his chest. Once on the entire operation by singing along to the the ground, the Bear typically turns his victim Melody of the Bear. The tension between the over to keep him or her from moving; other actors and the spectators increases. To mark times, they roll around together. At the same the end of their transformation into bears, the time, the Bear rubs his body, especially his arms men let out a particular cry; a deep, guttural and face, against the victim, leaving him or her sound imitating a bear’s growl, at which the as covered in the black mixture as possible. crowd cheers, creating a highly intense scene. The honoured few to which the Bear wishes to Once fully transformed, the three Bears climb give this special treatment will first be invited upon the Punta18 to show their domination to a ‘dance’. He tosses them his cane, following over the village they are about to invade. The which there ensues a half-danced exchange Bears let out threatening cries and wave their where predator and prey toss the cane back canes about, while the crowd of villagers gath- and forth before the Bear decides to ‘attack’ ered below responds to their defiance in song. his victim, tackling them to the ground and Three shotgun blasts mark the start of the hunt. covering them with a generous amount of the The Bears and Hunters run down different black mixture. This altercation typically ends paths to surprise the people waiting below, with a slug of wine. However it might happen, grabbing and tossing aside anyone who might being marked by the Bear is an honour and a be able to “hunt”, before hastening downhill sign of distinction; the black mark is considered towards the village. a trophy.

Throughout the hunt, men and women sing The Hunters, far from facing off against the 18 and clap their hands to cheer and egg the Bears Bears, actually help them and point out the ‘Punta’ is the name given by the residents of Prats-de-Mollo-la- on, or to draw their attention. In turn, the Bears prey they should not forget about. They also Preste to Fort Lagarde’s Bastion wade through the crowds, smearing the previ- manage crowd control, moving people out of Sainte-Marguerite, which towers ously mentioned black mixture on the face of the way to make room for the attacks. Addi- over the village. 162 Miscellanea Catalonian Journal of Ethnology December 2018 No. 43

tionally, the items they need for the hunt are and the Barbers dance to the sound of the folk 19 divided up amongst them. These include a band’s Ball del Córrer. Eventually, friends join The character known as Meneur in Prats-de-Mollo-la-Prest, is typically bottle of sunflower oil and a box of soot that in as well. The day-long event finishes off with referred to in Catalan as the allow the Bears to reapply the mâchurage after more sardanas and festivities in the village cafés. Manaire in the other two villages. each attack by mixing the two ingredients The Manaire is the most important of the three Barbers. together in their hands. They also carry a full Essentially none of the elements of the Festival leather wineskin. Finally, one of the Hunters are permanent and therefore are not especially 20 Since the beginning of the 1980s, is charged with helping the Bear up with the well cared for or safeguarded by the village. That after the release of a number of cane while the other two use rifles loaded with is, except for a few accessories that are held onto documentaries and films featuring blanks to shoot into the air each time the Bear from year to year, such as the chains, axes and the Festivals, the celebrations have taken on a new dimension, one that catches a new prey. plastic containers. Practically all of the costumes is more touristic and spectacular. are renewed every year. Thus, when the weather is right, When the Bears finally find their way to Plaça the Bear Festivals can gather a few del Firal, the Barbers will have been waiting Over the past 50 years, the Festival has under- thousand people in a single day. for them for some time. Dressed in white and gone two major changes. In the 1960s the role in full white make-up, the Barbers march to of the Bears was still played by a member of the the music of the folk band in rows of three, underclass, who was paid a small fee and given one behind the other. Each group comprises a pair of espadrilles for his trouble. The Festival a Manaire19, who jangles a chain against the was considered vulgar and antiquated, from a ground and whips it at people’s feet; an axe time gone by. Playing one of the Bears was not wielder, who pretends to sharpen his weapon held in high esteem and, according to Prats’ against the pavement; and a Boudin, or ‘Sau- older villagers, only the young, working class, sage’, who carries a plastic recipient filled with poor women from the higher village would wine in which he submerges an entire blood ‘run from the Bear’ in a game of provocation sausage to saturate it with the liquid. Each of the and escape. The more middle-class girls from three groups is assigned a Bear and his Hunters. the lower village sought to remain untouched by the black mixture. This line of thinking Finally, black and white face off in a series of began to change from 1979 after a film was confrontations that occupy the various squares released about the Festival (Chegaray, 1979). of the lower village. Each group of Barbers The media coverage changed people’s minds, worries solely about its designated Bear, trying and masses of spectators began to attend the to trap and dominate him. The Bears threaten event.20 To help manage the increase in attend- them with their canes. Although the Bears ance, a third Bear was added. At the same time, consistently end up in chains, they never cease the role of the Bear became a more gratify- to escape and run off to continue blackening ing one, as it required both athleticism and onlookers. It is an utterly chaotic scene: the self-control, two qualities that are essential to three groups advance and intermingle in the play one of the Bears today. The Bears’ higher square and in the surrounding streets; the Bears classification meant themâchurage would also flee with the Barbers hot on their tail; finally, be seen in a more positive light. The black mark they end up on the ground with the men in became a sign of honour, acknowledgement white on top of them. of young women’s powers of seduction and, when it came to men and women of a certain When the three Bears have been fully worn age, recognition of prestige within the Prats down, they are brought to the centre of the community. Nowadays, ending up without square and sat in chairs. The folk band plays any black marks is cause for disappointment, the Melody of the Barbers while the men rub and one of the Bears’ most important duties the blood sausage drenched in wine (as if it is to not leave anyone out. were a shaving brush) on the Bears’ faces, before pretending to shave them with the blade of the Additionally, violence management has axe. Finally, they remove the Bear costume and become primordial for the Festival. The Bears throw it towards the crowd. The Bears, with no longer throw their canes at the Hunters’ legs their newly restored humanity, the Hunters to cause them to trip and fall while running. In The Bear Festivals in L’Alt Vallespir Miscellanea 163

fact, the Hunters main role is to supervise and known as the Old Bear Festival. When the The Bear from Prats-de- Mollo-la-Preste, chained up ensure the safety of the Bears and the spectators. mayor of Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste turns over by the Barbers before the final On another note, the Bears are often engaged the Patte de l’Ours21 (Bear Paw) to the mayor of shaving scene (2015). by young outsiders, drunk and with a twisted Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans on Friday evening, JAQUES MIOT idea of the Bear Festival as some ‘savage’ or a spectacular feast kicks off, bringing together ‘virile’ event, who react to the actors’ feigned all the villagers. Saturday is given over to a roughness with real violence. Such intercultural parade followed by a fancy-dress ball. The misunderstandings, kindled by contemporary Carnivalesque mood will even spill over into society’s general tendency towards judicialisa- the next day; in fact, some residents take part tion and the attending spectators’ consumer in hunting the Bear in full costume. eagerness for extreme yet safe experiences and thrills, take a heavy toll on the Festival, the At two in the afternoon at a hunting shack actors and the organisers. In hopes of raising outside the village, the Festival organisers begin awareness of the participatory nature of the Fes- to dress the young man playing the Bear. In tival, recent years have seen the villages’ efforts Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans, the costume is move away from interference and towards made out of real bearskin with a space in the mediation. Ultimately, they wish to convey neck for the actor, in full face paint, to stick his that knowing how to ‘celebrate the Festival’ face out. At the same time, the other characters is a crucial aspect in enjoying it to the fullest. participating in the upcoming hunt get dressed in the garages of private homes. The Bear Festival in Saint-Laurent- de-Cerdans At around three o’clock, the Bear and the Mon- The Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans Bear Festival aca, a traditional Sant Llorenç character with takes place on the last of the village’s three days two bodies, meet up. It is a brief moment just of Carnival celebrations, starting on Friday before the hunt begins and the Hunters quickly 21 afternoon with the Bear Festival for children, trap the Bear behind the Capella de la Sort, See note 16. 164 Miscellanea Catalonian Journal of Ethnology December 2018 No. 43

where he has sometimes taken a young girl. back of the group. The Bear is caught over and 22 TheMeneur then chains the Bear up and drags over, each time managing to escape against Perdica: vulgar version of the Catalan word prèdica (declaration) him to the square located just below. There, the the flow of the crowd while grabbing at the (Alcover, Moll, 1968). The term is Hunters and other young men make a large girls and women in his way, which gives rise used in Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans circle around the Meneur, the Bear and the to bouts of yelling and scattering. The chaos to refer to the text recited by the Meneur. Monaca to protect them from the gathering is further intensified by the narrowness of the crowd. In the centre of the circle, the Meneur streets and the exploits of other actors: the pulls the Bear this way and that while reciting Hunters protect the Bear while pretending to the Perdica (sic)22 and showing off a medal chase after him and the Monaca waves its cloth he is wearing around his neck, a gift he has arms and legs around erratically while those been given as a reward for his great talent. The around do their best to dodge the blows. Then two walk around the circle of Hunters, which there is the Vell (Old Man) and the Vella (Old slowly turns clockwise, while the three main Woman), together known as the Escalfador characters move in the opposite direction. The (Bed Warmer), two men dressed as an older Monaca walks around the main characters and couple holding a bed warmer in which they the Hunters while delivering a barrage of blows burn pigskin and which they manoeuvre, with with its cloth arms and legs. the help of a long handle, between women’s legs. The Nen Petit (Young Boy), otherwise The Perdica comes to an end just as the Bear known as the Brouette (Wheelbarrow), is also escapes and hurries towards the village with the in action. In this case, a man dressed up as a Hunters and spectators in pursuit. The crowd’s baby rides in a wheelbarrow, which is pushed movement is soundtracked by La Principal by a group of young men who go about trap- del Rosselló, a folk band, playing the tradi- ping girls and throwing them on top of the The Bear from Saint-Laurent- tional Bear Festival music while spectators sing de-Cerdans joined by the baby while shaking the wheelbarrow to make Meneur and the Hunters along. The entourage is also accompanied by it look like they are having sex. The Botifar- (2015). two bands, one at the front and another at the rons (Blood Sausages) are there too. Dressed in MAIRIE ADAMSKI The Bear Festivals in L’Alt Vallespir Miscellanea 165

white with faces painted white with a mixture costume will take over the chase until its end The shaving of the Bear by the Meneur in Saint-Laurent-de- of water and flour, the actors move throughout at Plaça del Syndicat. Cerdans (2015). the crowd equipped with a metal pot filled MARIE ADAMSKI with wine, which they use to drench a piece Once there, the Hunters form another circle of sausage before rubbing it in women’s faces. to block off the crowd, which fills the square, A woman-only group called the Figueretes spills into the street leading to it and makes its (Little Fig Trees) appeared several years ago to way up to the viewpoint situated above. While stand up to them. Not only do they attack the waiting for the main characters to arrive, the male spectators with smashed figs mixed with Escalfador, the Botifarrons and the Figueretes muscatel, they also challenge the Botifarrons run around and push each other into the mid- and provoke simulated battles between the dle of the circle before ultimately finding their two groups. place just outside the circle to make room for the main characters to enter. TheMeneur , The movements are not laid out beforehand; armed with an axe, declaims his final, slightly they are, above all, the result of each character’s modified Perdica and maintains a tight grasp own initiative and ingenuity. They do, how- on the Bear, who makes incessant attempts to ever, arrange themselves along the Bear’s route flee. When his speech is finished, he forces the through the village, which is only interrupted Bear to sit down on a tree trunk placed in the by a stop in each square, where the initial Per- centre of the square and dances around him. dica scene is re-enacted. At the same time, the Monaca walks around the square violently shaking its body to make Halfway through, after the most important its cloth limbs go wild. Suddenly, the Meneur, Perdica scene, performed in the great Plaça with a single blow of his axe, slays the Bear, who de l’Església, the entourage takes a break to rolls on the ground as the enlivening music switch out the Bear. A second actor in his own comes to an abrupt stop. The headpiece is 166 Miscellanea Catalonian Journal of Ethnology December 2018 No. 43

then removed to reveal the wearer’s face. The actor’s belt, while the two arms fall to either 23 Bear, now a human again, finds a girl from the side and the two legs hang from his back. The In the 1990s, the Festivals Committee purchased the skin crowd with whom to dance a paso doble; the limbs were originally filled with hay, which was of a Pyrenees brown bear from first Bear, the Hunters and the villagers join in later replaced with foam. A large black smock a taxidermist in Prades, who shortly thereafter. Finally, the folk band begins covers the two bodies, making it difficult to see transformed it into a suit. This single costume was used by two actors to play sardanas. where the actor’s body ends and the costume taking part in the Hunt. Ten years begins. The dual nature of the character is fur- ago, three further bearskins were In Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans, roughly 30 ther enhanced by the accessories: both figures purchased, two of which came from a Canadian nature reserve. The minutes are required to fully dress the Bear. wear a red handkerchief around their neck as skins were made into a spare, less The costume is real Canadian bearskin, which well as a white cap. What’s more, two identical worn-out costume. Thus, there are covers the actor’s body, arms and legs.23 The three costumes in all: one worn by and expressionless masks hide the two faces, the children at the Old Bear Festival skin is tied together using a system of cords causing confusion as to which belongs to the and two made of real bearskin for and eyelets. The bear’s head is attached to a actor and which belongs to the doll. Back in the adults. helmet and the neck area is open to allow the the 1970s the masks were black, followed by 24 wearer to breathe. Each actor playing the role masks of a lighter colour years later, and today As shown in the photos on display of the Bear wears his own costume, both of they are white. in the Maison du patrimoine et de la mémoire André Abet in Saint-Lau- which are kept in the village at Maison du rent-de-Cerdans. patrimoine et de la mémoire André Abet. The Escalfador’s bed warmer, the Nen Pet- it’s wheelbarrow, the little cart in which the Until the 1940s, the costume was made of Figueretes carry their figs as well as all the other sheepskin.24 Later, in the 1950s, a harness objects used by the characters who gravitate maker sewed a new suit together using around the three leads are not fixed or marked goatskin and made a giant bear head out of in the collective imagination. The Festival papier mâché. In the 1960s, the latter cos- undergoes constant change and is no stranger tume was added to the collections of Casa to integrating new elements and coming up Pairal Museum (Perpignan’s old ethnographic with innovations and adaptations based on museum), where it is still kept today (inven- public and, in a broader sense, societal trans- tory code: 2014.0.362). This costume was formations. eventually replaced by a slightly more close-fit- ting one, still made out of goatskin and paired This very same dynamic between tradition with an impressive papier mâché head. Today, and modernity is what brought about the this second costume is kept at Saint-Laurent- Figueretes. In 2011 a group of young women, de-Cerdans’ Maison du patrimoine and used having seen that they could only play the for the children’s Bear Festival. role of prey or victim, decided to take action. Dressed in purple tutus, the Figueretes use figs TheMeneur ’s costume is that of a woodcutter. to stand up to the Botifarrons and try to keep He wears dark pants, a checked shirt, a wool- them from rubbing sausages on people’s faces, len vest, a red cummerbund and a barretina a traditional aspect of the Festival. In fact, the (a traditional Catalan hat). His accessories Figueretes themselves are the result of a long include a hefty wooden medal featuring a bear history of borrowings, imitations and ahead- standing upright on his hind legs; a chain, of-the-time inventions. The Figuereta first which he uses to tie up the Bear from the appeared in the Costumari Català (Collection start of the hunt; and a wooden axe, which of Catalan Customs) written by Joan Amades is employed at the end of the event to shave (Amades, 1950: 201, vol. II). Back then, the the Bear’s face. Figueretes were men dressed in long capes and hoods that bounced dried figs around on the TheMonaca costume has been kept by the end of fishing poles, which children would same family in Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans at try to grab in their mouths without using least since the early twentieth century. The task their hands. For around 10 years, this char- has been passed down within the family from acter formed part of the Carnival entourage father to son for at least five generations. The of the day before the Bear Festival, and was an costume’s body and head are attached to the impassive fisherman wearing a Chinese hat The Bear Festivals in L’Alt Vallespir Miscellanea 167

The Monaca in Saint-Laurent- de-Cerdans (2015). MARIE ADAMSKI

that would surprise children by making a fig boys and girls who take part, which also helps or a chocolate appear out of nowhere right the adult celebration to evolve. The last time before their eyes. Once again re-enacting old the Festival was held, in February 2018, the systems of opposition (Amades spoke of other Escalfador was played by two adolescent girls characters that would wave sausages around who threatened both girls and boys with their on the end of fishing poles), the residents of bed warmer. Likewise, the boys who pushed Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans have enriched the the wheelbarrow carrying the Nen Petit chose Bear Festival’s cast of characters by increas- both boys and girls as their victims. ing the roles played by women. No longer restricted to the role of prey or seductress, Conclusion women can now be allies and antagonists, The fact that these celebrations, included since while continuing to respect the original December 2014 on the French Inventory of meanings evoked by the traditional figures. Intangible Cultural Heritage, are thriving The child-friendly Old Bear Festival boasts today is a testament to their ability to safe- increasing levels of parity between the young guard and enrich their significance while also 168 Miscellanea Catalonian Journal of Ethnology December 2018 No. 43

adapting to social change. Notable changes From the ‘do it ourselves’ attitude character- 25 have underpinned the Festivals’ history in ising the Festivals inthe twentieth century to The changes came to a climax between 1968 and the end of the the twentieth century and the beginning of today’s well-advertised yet criticised events, 1980s, the result of the first filming the twenty-first. Formerly centred on pasture the will of the Festivals has had to evolve in to take place in Vallespir. The Bear and industry, these societies have undergone order to preserve their original spirit and keep Festivals begin and end in village cafés or at the dance, and popular transformations, as have their complex, oppo- the local traditions alive. meals are involved. sition-based rituals, although without dis- 26 torting their meaning. To the ancient rituals The anthropological research promoted by Emile Leguiel, a resident of Prats- associated with death, fertility and the pass- the French Inventory of Intangible Cultural de-Mollo-la-Preste, offered his ing of winter into spring, these societies have Heritage27 has been conducted as part of the testimony in the 1950s, speaking of the Bears in the following way: added male-female opposition to recognise candidature process to get the Bear Festivals “pour bien remplir leur rôle, ils the seductive power of girls and the virility in L’Alt Vallespir added to UNESCO’s Repre- doivent être un peu gris”, which in of boys; the Festivals, therefore, continue to sentative List of the Intangible Cultural Her- English translates to “to really fulfil their role, they have got to be a bit signify a rite of passage for both sexes. Most itage of Humanity. Since 2017, Cross-border tipsy” (Leguiel, 1908: 264). Mean- importantly, however, the Festivals today Country of Art and History of the Tech and while, Violet Alford mentioned that highlight community ties. In Prats-de-Mol- Ter Catalan Valleys has been in charge of the “un homme du comité des fêtes à la barretina écarlate” (a man from the lo-la-Preste, getting face painted or invited candidature process and of the roll-out of Committee of the Festivals wearing to dance by the Bear is perceived as a right safeguarding measures. This organisation, a scarlet barretina) met her in Arles for native villagers and an honour for outsid- holder of a French seal awarded by the Min- “déjà copieusement ivre” (already quite drunk) and remembered ers. With an agrarian, local background, the istry of Culture, aims to give new value to how “deux ours commencent par Festivals have become a chance for residents heritage that has been the object of thorough stocker cinq litres de vin rouge documentation and research, therefore plac- chacun (two bears began to pack spread across the region to gather and cele- five litres of red wine each) in 25 brate together. Following the same processes ing special emphasis on the evolution of the Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste. (Alford, of change seen in society, women have made Festivals. 2004: 32). their voices heard and have become increas- 27 ingly active in the celebrations. Some partic- In contrast to any traditionalist or folklorist See http://www.culture.gouv.fr/ ipate directly, as is the case of the Figueretes approach that would view tradition as the Thematiques/Patrimoine-culturel- immateriel/L-inventaire-national/ in Saint-Laurent-de-Cerdans, while others present-day upholding of an inherited past Inventaire/Fiches-de-l-Inventaire- help to organise and promote the Festivals. in its original, unmodified state, the Bear Fes- national-du-PCI/Pratiques-festives The gender dimension, while indeed an tivals are evidence that the bonds between and https://www.pci-lab.fr/index. ever-present, central theme of the Festivals, cultural elements and the communities cre- php?option=com_fichesinventaire is no longer rooted in discriminatory, unequal ating them are alive and constantly reforged. &view=fiche&Itemid=389&id=60 relationships between the sexes. It is not the Festivals’ material objects which are passed down; these are merely symbolic Despite everything, the Carnivalesque ele- codes in a permanent state of reinvention. ments of the celebration remain inseparable Rather, what is transferred from generation from the phenomena of transgression and to generation is the will to perpetuate, in the excess witnessed in.26 The consumption of present and with forms adapted to it, a cul- alcohol in particular helps participants to tural element considered vital to the commu- transcend, to go beyond their own nature nity’s existence as a social and cultural entity. in order to incarnate strange or wild char- If the transmission is interrupted, it will not acters. Given certain obstacles and safety be because a practice of the past has been lost, requirements, and considering the demands but rather because the will and need to uphold of an increasingly large pool of spectators, the bonds and cultural cohesion have dissi- the actors’ activity has come under signifi- pated. In this regard, as anthropologists and cant scrutiny, as has the need for actors to historians alike have suggested (Hobsbawm appropriately handle the feigned violence. and Terence, 1983; Lenclud, 1987; Hartog, The implementation of safety regulations has 2003), tradition does not make sense without also given way to heightened organisation and the influence of modernity. Tradition is con- administrative management, which involves stantly updated and reinvented to produce a taking out insurance, mapping road blocks retrospective view, while its connection with and requesting grants. the past, an essential element in upholding a The Bear Festivals in L’Alt Vallespir Miscellanea 169 feeling of cultural community, comes from From this perspective, the Bear Festivals are a sort of inheritance without testament alive and in resonance with the changes in (Arendt, 1972: 11), given that the descend- today’s world; they date back to a distant past ants themselves decide whether or not they yet they are prepared with a modern-day taste choose to be heirs. for savagery; and they aim to attract community members and outsiders. As such, they are However, although loyalty to the past is con- full of obstacles and paradoxes that represent sidered of little importance, with the excep- them and enhance their richness, as well as tion of a few, more ‘traditionalist’ stakeholders their fragility. The Festivals’ candidacy for concerned with upholding certain elements inclusion on UNESCO’s Representative of the Festivals that are, in fact, quite recent List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of (from their childhood), the conviction that Humanity is the least striking of these par- the Festivals must continue to reflect a sense of adoxes. n community belonging – that ‘do it ourselves’ feeling and the awareness of cultural cohesion – remains pivotal.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alcover, A.M. and Moll, F. Collier, B. (1939). Catalan Fran- Henry, D. (1835). Histoire de Lenclud, G. (1987). “La tradition (1968). Diccionari català-valen- ce, London. Roussillon : comprenant l’histoire n’est plus ce qu’elle était… Sur la cià-balear [online] Palma de Mallor- du Royaume de Majorque, first notion de ‘tradition’ et de ‘socié- ca: Editorial Moll. Retrieved from: Duran, A. and Sanabre, J. book, Paris: Imprimerie Royale. té traditionnelle’ en ethnologie”, http://dcvb.iecat.net/ [Consulted (1930). Llibre de les Solemnitats Terrain, issue 9, pp. 110-123. on 19 March 2018]. de Barcelona, volume I, Barcelona: Hobsbawm, E. and Ranger, T. Retrieved from: https://journals. Institució Patxot. (1983). The Invention of Tradition, openedition.org/terrain/3195 Alford, V. (2004). Fêtes Pyré- Cambridge: Cambridge University [Consulted on 7 August 2018]. néennes, Barcelona: Loubatières Fabre, D. (1969). “Recherches Press. (1st edition 1937). sur Jean de l’Ours, Conte po- Pastoureau, M. (2007). L’ours, pulaire, deuxième partie, Essai Lluís Gual, O. (2017). Les der- histoire d’un roi déchu, Paris: Seuil. Amades, J. (1950). Costumari d’analyse thématique”, Folklore, niers ours : une histoire des fêtes Català (5 volumes), Barcelona: revue d’ethnographie méridio- de l’ours, Costumari de Catalunya Van Gennep, A. (1999). Le Ediciones Salvat. nale, volume XXII, 32nd year, issue Nord issue 1. folklore français, du berceau à la 2 summer: 2-23. tombe, Cycles de Carnaval-Ca- Arendt H. (1972). La crise de la Leguiel, E. (1908). “Le Carnaval rême et de Pâques, Paris: Robert culture, Gallimard. Fabre, D. (1968). “Jean de l’Ours” d’autrefois à Prats-de-Mollo (Sou- Laffont. Folklore, revue d’ethnographie venirs de ma belle-mère)”, Revue Bosch, R. (2013). Fêtes de l’ours méridionale, volume XXI, 31st year, Catalane, Perpignan : Société en Vallespir, Perpignan: Trabucaire. issue 1 spring: 10-16. d’Etude Catalane. Tome II, vol. 21, p. 262-267; vol. 22, p. 299- Bosch de la Trinxeria, C. (1997). Hartog, F. (2003). Régimes d’his- 304; vol. 23, p. 367-370; vol. 24, Montalba, Girona: Brau Edicions. toricité. Présentisme et expérience p. 387-392. du temps, Paris: Le Seuil.

GLOSSARY

name given to the character who with a long cane and the chains meaning monkey, or from the Oc- Mâchurage: Neologism arising represents both the bear hunters of they would use to tie up the bears. citan monèca, meaning cloth doll. from the French verb mâchurer, old, easily identifiable by the long, which describes the act of black- solid cane they would carry as one Monaca: This character is unique Trappeur: This is the French equiv- ening the participants’ faces with of their weapons, and the Mon- to the Bear Festival in Saint-Lau- alent of the English term trapper. At a mixture of sunflower oil and soot. treurs d’ours, the bear exhibitors rent-de-Cerdans. A life-size cloth the Bear Festival in Arles-sur-Tech The closest translation in English present in squares, markets and doll is wrapped around the hu- the Trappeur takes on the aspect is “face painting”. trade fairs who, across the boarder man wearer, resulting in a figure of a Canadian trapper and expert in France, were still around at the with two faces, four arms and four bear hunter. Meneur: Known as Manaire in beginning of the twentieth century legs. The term may originate from Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste, this is the and typically identified themselves the Old Catalan word moneca,