Dance Mask
date: label: Accession Date
content: 9 Feb 1882
name: label: Donor Name
content: Edward W. Nelson
notes: label: Notes
content: FROM CARD: "SMALL HUMAN FACE 2 WOODEN HOOPS, FACE PAINTED WHITE WITH BLACK HAIR AND RED MOUTH, ROUND EYEHOLES. ILLUS.: HNDBK. N. AMER. IND., VOL. 5, ARCTIC, FIG. 18, PG. 299. CARVED WOODEN MASK WITH TEETH OF INSET WOODEN PEGS, PAINTED WHITE W/ BLACK HAIR & RED MOUTH. INVENTORIED 1977."
label: Notes
content: This object is on loan to the Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, from 2010 through 2027.
label: Notes
content: Source of the information below: Smithsonian Arctic Studies Center Alaska Native Collections: Sharing Knowledge website, by Aron Crowell, entry on this artifact https://alaska.si.edu/record.asp?id=138 , retrieved 12-28-2021; see web page for additional information: Mask, Inupiaq. A man's face is depicted on this 19th century King Island mask, part of a set of three that were probably used together in a single performance. King Island dancers dressed in masks and special regalia for the Walrus Dance, Wolf Dance, Polar Bear Dance, and other performances held in the qargi, or ceremonial house. Many are still performed, each tied to a traditional story of its origin. This male portrait mask, purchased on King Island by Smithsonian collector Edward W. Nelson in 1882, has not yet been specifically identified by contemporary Elders. In the book King Island Tales, Frank Ellanna of King Island described some of the many songs and dances that people of this Bering Sea island traditionally performed during mid-winter, or Sauya.tuġvik [the Time of Drumming].For the "competition dance," men wore women's clothing and masks to hide their faces, and women danced disguised as men; it seems possible that this mask was used for that purpose. Dancers wore different types of masks and special regalia for the Wolf Dance, Polar Bear Dance, and other performances. When not in use, masks and drums were hung up in the qagri [community house] . Masks were used throughout the Iñupiaq region for the Messenger Feast, whaling festivals, and other social and religious ceremonies. The King Island Singers and Dancers, Northwest Iñupiaq Dancers, and other groups carry on the traditions of Iñupiaq dance.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 3 Feb 2022
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: King Island, Bering Strait, Alaska, United States, North America
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: Eskimo, Inupiaq
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 82A00003
label: USNM Number
content: E64226-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Mask
physicalDescription: label: Length - Object
content: 30 cm