2023 Eyes of the World -Americas - The Healing Power of the Bear

For the indigenous people of North America, a bear was not just a bear and humans merely one type of being among other beings. The bear also possessed a soul and was considered a supernatural being that was viewed with a mixture of awe and fear. The calmness, self-assurance and imperturbability expressed in the bear’s expression on the Healing Power of the Bear are a fitting reflection of this.

In the mythology of the indigenous people of North America, who nowadays refer to themselves as Native Americans or First Nations, great strength and healing powers were attributed to the bear. In some legends, bears instructed humans in medicine and herbalism and there are even stories in which bears change their shape to live unrecognised among humans.

The Native Americans of the Great Plains performed a bear dance before hunting a grizzly, in which the hunters, led by a shaman in a bear skin, asked for the protection of supernatural powers. Before, during and after the bear hunt, many taboos were enforced with the aim of reconciling the bear's soul with death. These rituals express a view of the world that is unwilling to make a distinction between humans and nature. Animals, plants, stones and the elements also possess a soul. The serious-looking and good-natured expression of the bear on the Healing Power of the Bear reminds us that we should live in harmony with nature.

On the coin’s obverse, a snarling bear stands upright against a forest background, the image framed by an ornament reminiscent of Native American handicraft. The reverse features a stylised bear head in close-up looking directly at the viewer through emerald-green eyes made of crystals by Swarovski®.