page_title: Kwakwakaʼwakw art
section_title: Masks
hierarchical_section_title: Kwakwakaʼwakw art / Crafts / Masks
context_page_description: Kwakwaka'wakw art describes the art of the Kwakwaka'wakw peoples of British Columbia. It encompasses a wide variety of woodcarving, sculpture, painting, weaving and dance. Kwakwaka'wakw arts are exemplified in totem poles, masks, wooden carvings, jewelry and woven blankets. Visual arts are defined by simplicity, realism, and artistic emphasis. Dances are observed in the many rituals and ceremonies in Kwakwaka'wakw culture. Much of what is known about Kwakwaka'wakw art comes from oral history, archeological finds in the 19th century, inherited objects, and devoted artists educated in Kwakwaka'wakw traditions.
context_section_description: Masks were a vital part of Kwakwaka'wakw art and culture.  The mask was crucial in dances in order to portray the character conveyed by the dancer.  As such, a wide array of masks exist, depicting mythological beings, animals, forces of nature, and other humans.  Some masks are decorated with feathers and "hair", usually represented by animal fur or strips of cedar bark. The following are a select few important types of masks:
  Hamatsa ("Raven-cannibal") masks are large pieces carved in the form of a raven, with an elongated or curved beak.  "Multiple" masks also exist, where two or more raven heads are used in the same mask.  Cedar bark is commonly used to form a "mane" around hamatsa masks.
  Tsonokwa or Dzunuk'wa ("Wild Woman of the Woods" or "Giant" or "Giantess") are made with wild, unkempt hair and distinctly protruding lips. She had wide eyes, facial hair, and sunken cheeks.
  Komokwa ("Wealthy one", "Chief of the Sea") masks are crafted to represent the sea.  Features include fish-like eyes, gill slits, scales, and occasionally an ornamental seabird crest.  Round holes or painted circles can be found around the nose and cheek, and have been interpreted as air bubbles, octopus tentacle suckers, or anemones.
  Bookwus ("Wild man of the woods") masks are carved with deep inset eyes, a hooked nose, and features similar to those of a human skull. The bookwus (also bukwús or bookwuu) lives near streams or forests' edges and collects the souls of drowning victims. His masks are usually green, brown, or black.
  Noohlmahl or Nulamal ("Fool") masks depict violent buffoons sent by the hamatsa.  They are easily distinguished by an exaggerated nose flowing with mucus, and a humorous twisted expression.
  "Sun" masks were usually round, with a hawk-like figure in the middle.  Pieces of wood emanating from the edges symbolize the sun's rays.  Sun masks are usually painted white, orange and red.  Flattened copper is sometimes used on the mask's face.
  "Moon" masks tend to depict a young male with features of a raven, such as feathers or a beak.  Masks exist for both full and crescent moons.  To do this, masks are sometimes completely round, round with painted crescent, or simply a mask with a moon figurehead crest.
  "Echo" masks symbolize speech and ventriloquism.  These masks are distinguished by a set of interchangeable mouthpieces, each a detachable carving itself.  The pieces are inserted into the lip region of the mask body, and each represents a being with a different voice.
  Transformation masks are complex, intricately built masks designed to depict the dual nature of mythological beings.  The Kwakwaka'wakw carried this art to its highest form.  The masks are used in dances, where the dancer may "open" the mask via a series of strings in order to reveal a second figure, usually a "human" mask concealed within an animal exterior.  Transformation masks are constructed from several sections, the outer sections come together to form the animal or mythological form, which then split to the sides to reveal the interior mask.
caption: Dancers with hamatsa masks, photo by Edward S. Curtis, 1914
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