Nakhnokh Mask Item Number: 1-1457 from the The Burke: University of Washington
Exhibit Label
No documentation accompanies this striking piece, but it is probably a Nakhnokh mask--that is, a mask representing a hereditary spirit name. When the name is assumed by its owner, it is dramatized in a pantomimic dance using a mask illustrative of the name. Nakhnokh or spirit names refer to animals or to people, often foreigners or those with unusual physical or personality traits. Certain Nakhnokh are violent or antisocial. (Holm, Spirit and Ancestor, 1987)
Item History
- Received from Mrs. Walter C. Waters
What
- Name
- Nakhnokh Mask
- Identification Number
- 1-1457
- Type of Item
- nakhnokh mask
- Material
- wood, alder wood ?, human hair and paint
- Overall
- height 26.0 cm, width 23.0 cm, depth 17.0 cm
Who
- Culture
- Tsimshian ? or Nisga'a ?
- Received from
- Mrs. Walter C. Waters
Where
- Holding Institution
- The Burke: University of Washington
Other
- Credit
- Purchased from Mrs. Walter C. Waters
- Motif
- Human
- Collection
- Burke Museum Ethnology Collection