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 black, red, and green.

The paint is black and red.

This canoe is a small model of the Westcoast seagoing type, in use from below the Dalles to the north end of Vancouver Island and in all the inland waters of Puget Sound and the Strait of Georgia. The Makah and their Westcoast relatives across the Strait of Juan de Fuca were the master builders of this style of canoe. (Holm, Spirit and Ancestor, 1987)