The paint is green, red, and black.

The renowned Kwakwaka'wakw artist Mungo Martin identified this transformation mask as his own work. It was made for a chief named Lagius, probably around 1920. The style of carving and painting are recognizable as that of Mungo Martin or his stepfather and mentor Charley James. Although the mask is called Crane in the museum records, the gray color and the hunched attitude when folded are reminiscent of the great blue heron, a bird common to the Kwakwaka'wakw country and often miscalled crane in English. (Holm, Spirit and Ancestor, 1987)

Whistles, such as this two-toned one, are secretly blown during the Tseyka to signal the first approach of a Hamatsa dancer who is possessed by the Cannibal Spirit. Horns were used in the Tlasula, after the disappearance of the initiate dancer, to announce his or her return in the guise of a supernatural being.

This dish is carved in the form of a reclining human figure, knees drawn close to the body, head extending outward at the opposite end, and hands grasping the edge of the bowl, which encompasses the whole torso. The carving of the disk-shaped head is highly stylized in the Kwakwaka'wakw manner and is painted black, yellow, green, and white. A carved rim resembling rope surrounds the face. It probably represents the twisted red cedar bark that has such a prominent role in the Tseyka ritual. (Holm, Crooked Beak of Heaven, 1972)

Elegant carved dishes and delicate spoons like these were used on a daily basis. Their dark and greasy surface reveals their use for serving fish and sea mammal oils, which enhanced the flavor of dried fish and berries.

This bentwood bowl has high ends and low sides that imitate the shape of a carved oil dish. The formlines painted on the surface are in a freer style than those of nothern artists (compare the bentwood box to the right).

The paint is white, red, and black.

The paint is black, green, red, and white.

After the disappearance of the excited headdress dancer and the sounding of the Tlasula horns announcing his imminent appearance, the attendants usher in a dancer, or group of dancers, whose function it is to display the inherited privilege toward which the entire Tlasula dance is focused. Some dances, such as the Gyidakhanis, feature groups of dancers and are re-enactments of mythical incidents or dances acquired from supernatural contact by an ancestor. (Holm, Crooked Beak of Heaven, 1972)