The personified sun is usually shown in Kwakwaka'wakw art as a human figure with a hooked beak-like nose and a corona of decorated rays surrounding the face. This sun mask in the Burke collection was done by Jack James, a Kwakwaka'wakw carver from Alert Bay.

The paint is green, black, and red.

The paper is tan. The ink is black and red.

The paper is gray. The ink is black and red.

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

Galokwudzuis, Crooked Beak of the Sky, is one of a household of monster birds and creatures, associates of the Man-eater Bahkwbakwalanooksiwey, the motivator of the major dances of the Tseyka, the winter ceremonial of the Kwakwaka'wakw. Of these dances, the first is the Hamatsa, impersonator of Man-eater himself. The Tseyka dances come from ancestors' fabled experiences with the creatures of the supernatural world, and the public dramatizations of those encounters are among the most prestigious ceremonial acts. (Holm, Spirit and Ancestor, 1987)

The steel is double bladed.

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 Sculpin mask epitomizes the flamboyance of Kwakwaka'wakw theatrical sculpture. Jagged contours, bold, intertwined forms, and snapping, fanning, and waving appendages--all covered with contrasting and complex patterns of strong color--create creatures of startling fantasy. The subdued, wavering light of the dance house softens those contrasts amd unifies the forms. The sculpin swims to the rise and fall of its song in a sea of firelight and swirling eagle down. (Holm, Spirit and Ancestor, 1987)