This ceremonial raccoon headpiece is used in an annual Southern Water Tribe ceremony to celebrate nature. This ceremony usually takes place before the winter hunt, when the hunters collect meat and pelts for the upcoming season. The raccoon headpiece is worn by a hunter who asks nature to grant him a bountiful hunt and places an offering of food or an equivalent into a large bonfire. After he finishes, he passes the headpiece to the next person who repeats this until all the hunters in the tribe have participated.