The exhibition features sections that explain the potlatch and the specific dance and story associated with the DIA s masks. Voices of Kwakwaka wakw carvers, elders and scholars help tell the story of the masks. Native Americans of the Northwest Coast have been potlatching for hundreds of years. Dance of the Forest Spirits shows how the Kwakwaka wakw continue to express their culture through the potlatch, despite the changing circumstances in which they live. Dance of the Forest Spirits is the first exhibition in the Gibbs Learning Center, located off the Farnsworth Lobby.
Labels offer suggestions to help adults explain some of the ideas to young visitors.
The Detroit Institute of Arts.