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History Of Use

The Cup’ig believe that all animate beings and inanimate objects have souls. When out on the land, a hunter might glimpse the soul of his prey, revealed as a human face. The style and subject of the mask indicate a manufacturing date between 1920 and 1940. Nunivak Island’s indigenous caribou population became extinct following the introduction of firearms in the late nineteenth-century, and in the early 1920s domesticated reindeer were introduced to the island. After 1936, the eyeholes in masks were eliminated and eyes were painted on instead, possibly to diminish the power of the mask as the population adapted an evangelical form of Christianity. Likely this mask was made for the tourist market, as it shows no signs of use.

Iconographic Meaning

The frowning face in the centre of the mask indicates a female caribou or reindeer. The hoops represent the layers of the universe, while the feathers are the stars.

Specific Techniques

Paint made of red ochre, vivianite and kaolin clay.

Description

The main body of the mask (part a) is in the form of a caribou or reindeer with two attached antlers (parts b and c). The centre of the body of the mask has a circular face with cut out eyes, nostrils, and mouth with teeth, around which, on the outer of two protruding circles directly in front of it, are the other attached pieces. Part d: feather with fish at 12 o'clock position, part e: feather with knob, part f: feather with hand, part g: feather with knob, part h: feather with fish, part i: feather with knob, part j: feather with fish, part k: feather with leg, part l: feather with knob, part m: feather with knob, part n: feather with leg, part o: feather with knob, part p: feather with fish, part q: feather with knob, part r: feather with hand, and part s: feather with knob. (Note: going clockwise from d). The main mask is made of lightly coloured wood. The feathers are dark brownish-black. The antlers, and hand and leg pieces are reddish-brown. The fish are painted blue and red, and the knobs with a blue line around the middle.