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Nuu-chah-nulth transformation mask
Northwest Coast masks manifest shamanic transformation, usually an animal changing into an ancestor or one animal becoming another.
This Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) mask, when presented wide open, reveals a human face, but when the two side pieces are closed, it forms the head of bird of prey. A ceremonial dancer could pull on its strings at the appropriate moment to re-enact the story of a clan ancestor transforming from animal to human.
Provenance
Ex collection Heye Foundation, National Museum of the American Indian, inv. 20/7615
Acquired by the museum in 1945
Ex collection Everett Rassiga, New York
Acquired by exchange with the Heye Foundation in February 1969
Ex collection Merton D. Simpson, New York
Ex collection Martin & Faith-Dorian Wright, New York
Publication(s)
Exhibition(s)