VANCOUVER - One of the host First Nations for the 2010 Olympics and a British Columbia spirit committee are among a number of groups who have teamed up to launch celebration bells for the Vancouver Games.

The bear bells will be distributed on Vancouver's North Shore, where Cypress Mountain will play host to Olympic freestyle skiing and snowboarding.

The cow bell - perhaps best known for a classic "Saturday Night Live'' sketch in which Christopher Walken tells Will Ferrell "I've got a fever and the only prescription is more cow bell!'' - is typically the noisemaker of choice at Olympic ski and snowboarding events.

But Doug Smith, chairman of North Vancouver's Spirit of BC Committee, said Tuesday the bear bells are a way of life for area residents who carry them whenever they venture into the woods.

He said they offer a unique opportunity to put the region's stamp on the Games.

"For most of us, the Olympics really is going to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience and so I'm really looking forward to just the excitement that that creates locally,'' Smith said Tuesday after the bells were unveiled.

"It's a chance for us as local residents to come together and celebrate and a chance to show off the beautiful North Shore to the world.''

The bells were blessed by members of the Squamish First Nation during a bear dance Tuesday. During a mountaintop ceremony, band members donned costumes and circled the bells while singing traditional songs.

The bear bells are attached to green wristbands.

Each wristband has three bells, and for the Squamish First Nation the number signifies not only past, present and future, but also water, land and air.

The district of West Vancouver, the city of North Vancouver, and North Vancouver's Grouse Mountain are partners in the bear bell project.

One group that is not involved with handing out the bells, however, is Vancouver's Olympic organizing committee, or VANOC.

Smith doesn't believe that will be a concern.

"There's no issue whatsoever with a local community coming together and showing off their signature item and so VANOC will have no concern with that whatsoever.''