The leather mask of Moy-ber-oh was made from the undressed hide removed from the head of a bear. The ears and nose were preserved by the craftsman. On the left side he made a cut under the chin, and on the right side — along the cheek to the corner of the mouth. The mask has not been preserved very well since its original creation in the second half of the 19th century: the fur was lost and skin rips appeared.

Similar items were used by the Kazym Khanty, an ethnic group settled in the Kazym River area, when performing the “bear dance”. The copy from the museum’s collection was obtained in 1914 by the researcher Innokenty Nikolayevich Shukhov.

The bear was a revered animal among both Khanty and Mansi peoples. The chants of these peoples mentioned that the bear was the ancestor of humans, a totem animal that people should worship. This veneration was expressed, among other things, in bear festivals, which were held at least once every seven years. Bear festivals, or games, were the most ancient ceremonies that consisted of chants, dances, and masked pantomimes.

The veneration of the bear was found in many ethnic cultures, which can be traced back to archaeological finds. The purpose of this holiday was an attempt to reconcile the bear’s soul with the hunter who killed it. When killing a bear, the Khanty did not say that they “skinned” or “killed the bear”; instead, one might hear “we took off its sacred malitsa (coat)” or “the sacred animal has passed away”.

The bear was usually hunted by two or three people, usually in daylight, so that no one could see it, especially women. It was believed that they were unworthy to look into the bear’s eyes, as this would foretell bad luck and force the hunters to go back. Even when the bear carcass was brought into the house, women hid their gaze. For reasons of honor and dignity, before killing an animal, it was obligatory to wake it up in order to be on equal terms with it.

Bear games were held for four days on the occasion of the capture of a female bear, and for five days if a male bear was killed. When cutting up a bear carcass, strictly established norms were observed. The killed bear was “cleaned” with water or snow, earth, and moss (depending on the geographical region and time of year).