Mask

Item number A8366 from the MOA: University of British Columbia.

Public

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Data
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Description

Forehead codfish mask. Mask has protruding snout and hinged jaw; face is blue with red nostrils, mouth and ears, and black eyebrows. A metallic grey substance is present on parts of the painted areas.

History Of Use

This mask was used at the end of the sisawk headdress dance.

Narrative

In 1959 John Davenport Clayton sold this collection of Bella Coola belongings (A8360-A8376) to the Campbell River Historical Society (Museum). The collection comprised 17 masks, headdresses, and other ceremonial items, as well as 3 cedar boxes. In 1963 the Campbell River Museum sold the 17 masks and ceremonial items to MOA (not the boxes). Objects in this collection may have come from Nuxalk households via sale, or exchange (as collateral towards money owed on goods purchased at the store), or may have been placed with the Claytons for secure storage during a time of floods and fires, and ended up remaining with the Clayton family?