Oski is also another name for the god Odin from Norse mythology (see List of names of Odin) and was Argentine caricaturist Oscar Conti

Oscar Conti (Oski)

Oscar "Oski" Conti was a prominent Argentine cartoonist and humorist.-Life and work:Oscar Esteban Conti was born in Buenos Aires in 1914. Enrolling at the National Fine Arts School, he helped finance his studies by creating caricatures for local advertisers...

's nickname, as well.

Oski or Oski the Bear (named after the "Oski Wow-Wow" yell

The Oski Yell

The Oski Yell is the University of California Berkeley spirit yell from which Cal's mascot, Oski the Bear, derives his name. Although Oski appeared in 1941, the yell was first performed around the turn of the 20th century. The yell's origins are uncertain, although the University of Illinois...

) is the official mascot

Mascot

The term mascot – defined as a term for any person, animal, or object thought to bring luck – colloquially includes anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name...

 of the University of California

University of California, Berkeley

The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...

 and has been a tradition at the school since making his debut on September 26, 1941 during the football season-opener against St. Mary's. Up until 1941, live bears were used as mascots. Nowadays, the bear

Bear

Bears are mammals of the family Ursidae. Bears are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans, with the pinnipeds being their closest living relatives. Although there are only eight living species of bear, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats throughout the Northern...

's activities are overseen by the Oski Committee, which also appoints a new Oski whenever a replacement is required. Oski chugs beer through a hole in his right eye,http://www.oski.com/article.php?story=20041022211227881&query=tube, stands at 5-foot-7-inches, and wears a size 15 shoe.

Oski's identity is protected by the Committee and wearers of the suit generally do not disclose their having worn the suit. There may be multiple members of the Committee who wear the suit depending on their schedules.

Oski as presented in Cal fight songs

Oski is mentioned by name in several California fight songs. In the songs, the name "Oski" is used interchangeably with the title "Golden Bear". Several of the songs give an impression of Oski being a powerful guardian-being dwelling in the heavens, as well as sallying forth from a lair on Earth. Oski is identified as the astronomical constellation Ursa Major

Ursa Major

Ursa Major , also known as the Great Bear, is a constellation visible throughout the year in most of the northern hemisphere. It can best be seen in April...

 (the Great Bear). Although Oski has his benign side ("patient" and "silent"), he is more often presented as growling, fighting, rumbling, grumbling, thundering, and shaking the ground. He is described as sturdy and mighty. It is said of Oski that he "wears a Paderewski

Ignacy Jan Paderewski

Ignacy Jan Paderewski GBE was a Polish pianist, composer, diplomat, politician, and the second Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland.-Biography:...

 hair", referring to Oski's shaggy hair.

Oski is described as as "Our totem

Totem

A totem is a stipulated ancestor of a group of people, such as a family, clan, group, lineage, or tribe.Totems support larger groups than the individual person. In kinship and descent, if the apical ancestor of a clan is nonhuman, it is called a totem...

", and Cal's teams (or perhaps Cal students in general) are described as sons of the Golden Bear. In one song, Oski is referred to as "He" with a capital "H", as one refers to the Deity

Deity

A deity is a recognized preternatural or supernatural immortal being, who may be thought of as holy, divine, or sacred, held in high regard, and respected by believers....

. One song appears to attribute to Oski the ability to fly through the air.

These characteristics are seen in the following lyrics of Cal fight songs:

Fight for California

Fight for California

Fight for California is the official fight song of the University of California, Berkeley. The tune is a march and is from the "trio" or final strain of the "Lights Out March" written by Earl Elleson McCoy in 1906. The lyrics were written by Robert N...

 --

Our sturdy Golden Bear
Is watching from the skies;
Looks down upon our colors fair,
And guards us from his lair.

Big "C"

Big C (fight song)

"Big C" is a fight song of the University of California, Berkeley. It was composed in 1913 by Harold P. Williams, with lyrics by Norman Loyall McLaren. It was written to commemorate the construction of the large concrete "C" in 1905 on the "rugged Eastern foothills" of the Berkeley campus. The song...

 --

Golden Bear is ever watching;
Day by day he prowls

The Stanford Jonah

The Stanford Jonah

The Stanford Jonah is a fight song of the University of California, Berkeley written in 1913 by Ted Haley as an entry into a song contest held by the Daily Californian...

 --

When our Oski rips through the air.
Like our friend Mister Jonah

Jonah

Jonah is the name given in the Hebrew Bible to a prophet of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th century BC, the eponymous central character in the Book of Jonah, famous for being swallowed by a fish or a whale, depending on translation...

, Stanford's team will be found,
In the tummy

Stomach

The stomach is a muscular, hollow, dilated part of the alimentary canal which functions as an important organ of the digestive tract in some animals, including vertebrates, echinoderms, insects , and molluscs. It is involved in the second phase of digestion, following mastication .The stomach is...

 of the Golden Bear.

Cal Band March --

And when the game's done,
California's Golden Bear has carried the day.

California, We're For You --

All our rival's hopes are doomed to die,
When our Golden Bear looks down on high;
Hear our Oski's mighty thunder,

...

Brawn and brain are all in vain
Unless our spirit's there
In ev'ry son of the Golden Bear.

...

Let the echoes ring our Oski

Golden Bear --

Oh, have you seen the heavens blue, heavens blue,
When just sev'n stars are shining through, shining through
Right overhead a jovial crew?
They're joining hands to make the Bear

...

And oh, that Bear's a glorious sight, glorious sight,
A-circling 'round the pole all night, pole all night;
And once you've seen him, you're all right,
You've seen our California Bear.

...

He has a very patient air, patient air,
He wears a Paderewski hair, 'rewski hair,
He's the center rush of the heavens I swear,
Our silent, sturdy Golden Bear.

...

A Californian through and through,
Our totem, He, the Golden Bear.

Make Way for the Bear --

Rumbling, grumbling, loud upon the air,
Sounds the growling of the mighty Bear.
Californians gather 'round his Lair,
And march to Victory.

...

Marching along for California
We stride beside the fighting Bear.

California Marching Song --

Californians fight with the sturdy might
of the growling Golden Bear.
Our Oski sounds and shakes the ground
As vict'ry fills the air.

External links

• Oski.com includes many photos of Oski.
• Official Cal Athletic Site Oski biography.
• The original Oski discusses the mascot's origin.
• Cal Songs from the Cal Marching Band website.