Wooden Mask

Item number E169106-0 from the National Museum of Natural History.

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Notes

FROM CARD: "BIRD'S HEAD WITH A VERY LONG BEAK WITH A MOVABLE JAW, WITH LONG STRINGS OF CEDAR BARK HANGING FROM LOWER PART OF HEAD AND TUFTED ON THE TOP OF THE HEAD. PAINTED BLACK EXCEPT FRONT PART OF THE HEAD, AND THE EYE, NOSTRIL AND EDGES OF THE BEAK OUTLINED IN RED. USED IN THE FOURTH DANCE. REFER TO: USNM. REP. 1895, PL. 78, P. 449. ILLUS.: P. 67, PL.30, CELEBRATIONS CATALOGUE, SMITHSONIAN PRESS, 1982. LOANED TO RENWICK 12/3/81. RETURNED 1983. CANNIBAL CRANE MASK, CA. 1880-94. NAKWOKTAK KWAKIUTL INDIANS; FORT RUPERT, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA. CEDAR; RED, WHITE, AND BLACK PAINT; SHREDDED CEDAR BARK; NATIVE CEDAR TWINE; IRON PLATE AND RIVETS 38 1/2 X 61 1/2 X 7 (97.8 X 156.2 X 17.9) NMNH 169106; COLLECTED BY FRANZ BOAS. THE KWAKIUTL SAW MYRIAD FORCES AT WORK IN THE WORLD, ALL NEEDING TO BE BALANCED. THROUGH RITUAL THIS BALANCE WAS ACHIEVED. THE CANNIBAL CRANE WAS A MYTHICAL CREATURE THAT PREYED UPON MEN, JUST AS MAN PREYS UPON OTHER CREATURES FOR HIS FOOD. DURING THE LONG, COMPLEX WINTER CEREMONIALS, THESE CREATURES APPEARED IN THE HUMAN WORLD, THREATENING TO BRING DESTRUCTION TO THE HUMAN SOCIAL ORDER. TO ALLAY THEM, HUMANS REAFFIRMED THROUGH THEIR RESPONSIBILITES TO THE SPIRITS. CONT.SEE CARD.According to Marianne Nicolson (artist/researcher), Brian Nicolson and Mike Willie of the Dzawada'enuxw First Nation of British Columbia, "this represents a huxwhukw, a type of crane which may be extinct."Ho'xhoku Mask.