Dancing Mask For Chiefs Item Number: E20570-0 from the National Museum of Natural History
Notes
FROM CARD: "EXHIBIT HALL 9, 1987. IDENTIFIED IN EXHIBIT LABEL AS HUMAN-EAGLE MASK, COLLECTED AT THE VILLAGE OF BELLA-BELLA IN 1875. DANCING MASK REPRESENTING BIRD. ILLUS. IN BAE 3RD AR, PL. XVI, FIGS. 28-9, P. 176."Ian Reid (Heiltsuk) of the delegation from Bella Bella, Bella Coola and Rivers Inlet communities of British Columbia made the following comments during the Recovering Voices Community Research Visit May 20th - 24th, 2013. This mask is a humanoid, it's a human ancestor to be danced in the potlatch. The mask depicts human eyebrows and eye sockets, but instead of a nose and lips, it has a beak. It is carved out of alder wood.
Item History
- Made in British Columbia, Canada
- Collected by James G. Swan in British Columbia, Canada
- Received during 1876
What
- Name
- Dancing Mask For Chiefs
- Identification Number
- E20570-0
- Type of Item
- mask
Who
- Culture
- Bella Bella (Heiltsuk)
- Field Collector
- James G. Swan
Where
- Holding Institution
- National Museum of Natural History
- Made in
- British Columbia, Canada
- Collected in
- British Columbia, Canada
When
- Acquisition Date
- during 1876
Other
- Accession Number
- 004686