Frontlet Headdress Item Number: A4173 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Headdress with frontlet. Frontlet depicts eagle with killer whale above and human-like face below. Painted black around eyes and beak, blue around mouth, red on forehead, side of face, mouth, and claws. Mirrors inset for bird eyes. Frontlet is inlaid with abalone shell pieces around three edges, with an extra, smaller, row on sides. Shell pieces are tied on. Ermine pelts, some with red cloth tied to them, drape down at the sides and back. Only a few sea lion whiskers still extend at top.

History Of Use

Among the Kwakwa̠ka̠’wakw, a frontlet or forehead mask like this is known as a pak̠iwe’. Its name changes to ya̠x̠wiwe’ (“dancing on the forehead”) when it is part of the full headdress — including a cylindrical crown with sea-lion whiskers at the top and an ermine-skin trailer — that is featured in the T’ła’sa̠la or Peace Dances (also known as the Dluwa̠lax̠a or Returned-from-Heaven Dances).

Narrative

Previously belonged to Jim Charlie's father. Said to be 70 years old in 1952. It appears that the ermine train may have originally been longer, as the cloth appears to have been cut off at the bottom?

Item History

What

Name
Frontlet Headdress
Identification Number
A4173
Type of Item
headdress
Material
silver alloy metal ?, glass, abalone shell, wood, ermine skin, sea lion whisker and cotton fibre
Manufacturing Technique
inlaid, sewn, painted and padded
Overall
height 28.5 cm, width 28.0 cm, depth 25.0 cm

Who

Culture
Kwakwaka'wakw
Previous Owner
Jim Charlie
Received from
Jim Charlie (Seller) and H. R. MacMillan (Funding source)

Where

Holding Institution
MOA: University of British Columbia
Made in
British Columbia, Canada
Collected in
Village Island, British Columbia, Canada and 'Mimkwamlis, British Columbia, Canada

When

Creation Date
between 1880 and 1900
Ownership Date
before December 16, 1952
Acquisition Date
on December 16, 1952

Other

Condition
good
Accession Number
1849/0003