This set of four masks represents the supernatural brothers who were created at the beginning of time by the supreme spirit, Ahlkuntam, and given the task of ordering the world. These and other supernatural beings were honored in the Nuxalk Winter Ceremonial, called Kusiut, comparable to the Kwakwaka'wakw Tseyka. The oldest and most powerful brother was named Yula'timot (He Who Completes Any Task with a Single Smoothing Motion) and is credited with creating fire. The second brother brought rain and was called MaLapa'litsek (He Who Completes Any Task with a Single Stroke of his Adze). The creator of trees, MaL'ape'exoek (He Who Completes Any Task with Two Strokes of his Adze) was the third brother. IL'iLu'lak (He Who Completes Any Task in a Single Day), the fourth brother, created the world.

The paint is white, blue, red, yellow, and black.

The paint is green.

The paint is black, white, and red.

Tall, glossy black dorsal fin, hair streaming from the trailing edge, is the mark of the killer whale: the most imposing natural animal of the Tlingit world and a crest of the Wolf phratry. Here the orca is combined with the wolf itself in a powerful crest headdress, collected by George Emmons from the Stikine Tlingit. Emmons did not identify the clan that owned the headdress, but described it as of "totemic significance," worn by the chief--to whose care it was entrusted--only upon special occasions when the whole family was present. (Holm, Spirit and Ancestor, 1987)

The paint is light blue, red, and black.