This mask represents one of the mythical human-eating birds that appear during the Hamatsa dances, the most important of the Tseyka dances. The appearance of these masks helps to calm and tame the initiate Hamatsa dancer, who has been possessed by the Cannibal Spirit. The dancer, hidden by a long fringe of red-dyed cedar bark, imitates the high-stepping actions of the bird, shouts the bird's call, and snaps the hinged beak loudly at important points of the dance. (Holm, Crooked Beak of Heaven, 1972)

Masks worn in the taming of the hamatsa vary widely in size. At just over one foot in length, this crooked beak mask is among the smaller masks. It may be an example of a type called heyhliwey, a small forehead mask worn by the hamatsa himself or his female attendant during his last, tame dance. However, because the jaw is hinged and controlled with a cord suggests that it was intended to be used in the humsumala or cannibal mask dance. The short snout, simple painting, and the form of the nostril are characteristic of hamatsa masks made around the turn of the century. (Holm, Crooked Beak of Heaven, 1972)

The paint is white, red, and black.

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 paint is red, white, black, and green.

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

Throughout the Northwest Coast, the raven takes a prominent place in mythology and art. It is important to note, however, that these representations are not all of the same mythical being. This mask depicts Gwagwakhwalanooksiwey, the man-eating raven who lives with the cannibal spirit in his great house in the mountains or at the north end of the world. An unusual feature distinguishes this particular raven mask. Typically, hamatsa masks of the early twentieth century are painted black with white eyesockets and red lips and nostrils. The use of orange paint and green paint around the eyes is known but rather uncommon. (Holm, Crooked Beak of Heaven, 1972)

Perhaps an example of the heyhliwey, or taming forehead mask, this small raven mask is an example of the restrained, sensitively designed hamatsa masks of the 1880s. The wearing of the heyhliwey on the forehead of the hamatsa's wife or sister is done during the last quiet dance of the hamatsa, and is said to symbolize the fact that the cannibal masks have been put in their places and the wildness of the hamatsa himself has been removed. (Holm, Crooked Beak of Heaven, 1972)