МАЭ № 571-2/1

Mask

Kodiak Eskimos

first third of the 19th century

I.G. Voznesenskii's expedition

wood, sinew, intestine, baleen, baleen, puffin beaks, paint, sinew, intestine, feather, straw

height with the baleen 105 cm, height with the disks 43 cm, width with the disks 46 cm, height of the body of the mask 30 cm, width of the body of the mask 23 cm, width of the profile 25 cm

“The first dance; an oil lamp burns inside the barabora; laftaki (seal pelts—S.Korsun) are on either side of the lamp, on them are two dancers who have rattles in their right hands and sticks in their left hands dancing in a circle. The dancers are completely naked. On their heads are feathers and masks made like the visors worn by knights: they are decorated with pieces of seaweed soaked in oil . . . In their hands are bundles of white feathers like wings. At first they move to the singing and occasional banging of the drums in two lines, then they stand face to face and make continual movements with the hand which is holding the rattle, swinging it from right to left; one bends to the ground while the other rises and throws his head back; these bends, which are most comical, are repeated several times. Finally they spin around and begin to run around the oil lamp, trying not to knock over with their speeding legs any of the young men who are tired and no longer twirling. The observers signal their approval with a yell and then it is over. In the center they place a rock which serves as a stumbling block during the time they are running around in a circle. This dance lasts three quarters of an hour.” (Liapunova1967: 30)

Ethnography of America