Carved Dancing Figure Carving (Oolalla, Ulala)

Item number E89038-0 from the National Museum of Natural History.

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Notes

From card: "Head, arms, and lower legs of wood, carved and painted red and white, lower legs attached to body by buckskin. Hair fastened to skin on the back of the mask-like face. "carved dancing figure or skeleton of the Oolalla or wood demon. worn on the head and rigged with string to move the legs and arms, very rare and obtained with difficulty." Swan's descriptive catalogue. "... taken apart after the ceremonies are over and not refitted till another performance when they are refitted and painted." See accession records for additional data. Refer To: "Boas, F.: Social Organization and Secret Society of the Kwakiutl Indians, USNM A.R. 1895, fig. 201 (p. 651), p. 653. LaFarge, O.: Pictorial History of the Amer. Indian, 1956, Ill. p. 211. Loan: R. H. Lowie Museum 12/31/64, loan returned Feb 15, 1966. Illus.: Hndbk. N. Amer. Ind., Vol. 7, Northwest Coast, Fig. 12a, pg. 250." Identified in Handbook caption as "Ulala carved wooden dancing figure, red and white, part of a headdress that represents the canibal spirit (Caamano 1938:292)." Illustrated: USNM Annual Report for 1895, Fig. 201, p. 651, identified there as "Headdress of Olala." On p. 653 of this publication it is noted about 89038, 89039, 89072 and 89073: "In his dances the olala of all the northern tribes use headdresses which represent a corpse...."