Museum Purchase: Indian Collection Subscription Fund, Rasmussen Collection of Northwest Coast Indian Art.

Museum Purchase: Indian Collection Subscription Fund, Rasmussen Collection of Northwest Coast Indian Art.

Museum Purchase: Indian Collection Subscription Fund, Rasmussen Collection of Northwest Coast Indian Art.

Large, round, wall panel carving in the style of a spindle whorl. The motif at the lower centre is a frog, whose back legs are composed of salmon heads, while the frog’s front legs are feathers from a pair of thunderbirds. Circles of oxidized copper make up the eyes of the creatures. The background, between the animals, is painted grey.

Wooden feast dish (parts a-i) consisting of three large, deeply carved bowls (parts a-c), the whole forming a supernatural creature called a sisiutl. The bowls each sit of 2 sets of wheels that are loosely joined by mortise and tenon arrangements. The two end bowls (parts a and c) each depict the head and body of the serpent with a large protruding snout, carved eyes, ears and bared teeth. The middle bowl (part b) has a carved and painted human-like face on the sides, with two hands on the joins. Two large ladles (parts d-e) balance in the mouths of the sisuitl, projecting outward like tongues, held in by their handles. On top of the heads are four horn-like extensions (parts f-i), one at each end and two in the middle section. The bowl is painted with black, white, green, red and yellow design elements. There are holes in the overlapping slotted pieces for dowels (not incl. with dish).

DISCOVERY ROOM (AMNH - EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, NEW YORK, NY, USA, 2001)

Museum Purchase: Native American Acquisition Funds.

Rasmussen Collection of Northwest Coast Indian Art; Gift of the Native American Art Council.

The huxwhukw, or mythical Raven, represents one of the supernatural associates of Baxwbakwalanuksiwe’, the cannibal spirit, which appears in the form of birdlike masks in the tseyka, or red cedar-bark ceremony. These masks are commissioned as part of the inherited privilege of being a hamat’sa society initiate. The masks and the dances in which they are worn pacify and tame the hamat’sa, who personifies the cannibal spirit and the insatiable nature of life, and who ultimately exhibits the honored behavior of a high-ranking person. The articulated beaks clap dramatically during a performance, accompanied by the dancers’ characteristic cries.

Worn during the winter ceremonial dances that accompany a potlatch feast, this mask represents the prestigious inherited privilege of a high-ranking individual. The layers of commercial paint reveal that this mask was repainted at a later date, perhaps to refurbish it when passed to a new owner, a hamat’sa society initiate dancer. Masks such as this one are still carved and worn in dances by Kwakwaka’wakw artists and inheritors of this privilege. Ironically, at the time of its creation, First Nations’ ceremonial practices, including the dancing and display of this headdress, were illegal under Canadian law. The artists working during those arduous years of forced assimilation and oppression are celebrated for carrying on traditions that continue in practice today.