Mask

Item number 1349 from the The Burke: University of Washington.

Private

Item Records

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Information about this item is no longer available from the The Burke: University of Washington. It will not be removed from any projects in which it has been used, but is no longer included in search results.

Data
Data Source

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Automatically Generated From Material

The wood is cedar.

Exhibit Label

According to the collector, George T. Emmons:
Wooden mask, representing the spirit "Koushtae-Kak", the land otter man, ornamented with copper lips and eyes. Whole mask painted black, controlled by a shaman of the "Ta-quay-tu" family of the Hootz-ah-tar (Hutsnuwu) tribe, living at Angoon, Admiralty Island. When practicing about the sick or bewitched, four spirits are first worked and a certain payment is made to the shaman. If the patient does not improve then an extra payment is made to the shaman and he calls upon more spirits. Each spirit is supposed to resemble one of the masks and to be dressed just as the shaman is dressed when he puts on his mask. For each mask there is a particular song with the dance. In each case the spirit comes to the shaman, enters into his body and takes complete possession of him, while he impersonates the spirit, yet he controls the spirit and requires it to do his will."