МАЭ № 571-1/1

Mask

Kodiak Eskimos

prior to 1843

I.G. Voznesenskii's expedition

wood, cloth, sinew, baleen, intestine, puffin beaks, paint, sinew, intestine, seaweed, straw, cloth

This mask and masks No. 571-1/b, --2/a, --2/b represent a toothed sperm whale. The strips of baleen with feathers on the end symbolize the “spurts” of water released by the whale when breathing. These masks were used during ritual celebrations dedicated to ensuring successful hunting in the upcoming hunting season. According to I. G. Voznesenskii, the performance consisted of six acts. In the first act a set of four hunters’ masks were used: No. 571—1/a, --l/b; No. 571—2/a, --2/b. This set also includes “the beaks of jokester-birds which were worn in the mouths of six naked boys who opened the first act of the play. The Alutiiq name for these beaks is “Chuxket” (No. 571—3/a, --b, --c, --d, --e, --f.—S.K.), and “six pieces of feather bows carried in the left land of each actor in the first act and called ‘kamuatet.”(No. 571—5/a, --b, --c, --d, --e, --f.—S.K.) (PFA RAN. F. 142. Op. 1 Prior to 1918. No. 9. Page 67)

Ethnography of America